friday. we see in sterling virginia individuals inspired by isis going and purchasing weapons seeking to attack targets in this particular region. we need to be funding local law enforcement. they are the first responders, both the police and sheriffs department and the offices in orlando -- officers bravely doubled that particular incident yet we are asking the law enforcement communities and first responders firefighters and others to deal with this ever-growing complex challenge as funding levels get cut. the federal grants for local counter

terrorism programs. governors from across the country are meeting in des moines, iowa. gary herbert and vice chair terry mcauliffe held a news conference at the start of the conference joined by iowa's

governor terry branstad. >> we will go ahead and get started. i am scott madison, the executive director of the national governors association. feel free to take your seats. welcome. this is the 108th summer meeting of the national governors associati association and taking place with the backdrop of a lot of serious issues across the nation and world and of course two major party conventions taking place in the next couple weeks. i am happy to introduce the chairman of the national governors association from utah, governor branstad and we have the vice chairman, governor

mcauliffe from virginia and the host, the longest serving governor in the mystery of the united states terry branstad. we are happy to have him. [applause] >> and now, it is funny, people say the meeting is going great so far and i say it is good laws of governor branstad. i am turn it over to david yepsen and many of you probably know david. heavy has been with the des moines register and on public television in different capacities and now he is head of the paul simon public policy institute at the southern illinois university and hails from jefferson, iowa. i will turn it over to david. thank you very much. >> thank you, scott. [applause] >> before we get started, i would like to turn it over to

the host government for opening comment or two. >> david, thank you. i want to welcome all of you to iowa. scott said this was the 108th meeting of the governor and i have only been to 21 of them. i want to thank the committee that put this together. jay buyers with the greater des moines partnership, paula field who is the mayor of johnsonton and the person who runs the iowa office in d.c. they deserve the credit for puts this great plan for the governor's conference together. we are delighted to have you. his used to be the old bets auditorium. i watched many basketball tournaments and wrestling meets here. i cannot believe how it has been transformed. it is a beautiful facility. we had our inauguration, last inauguration here, and we have a

lot of wonderful events and conventions. you may notice there is a convention hotel being built next door. a lot of activity, a lot of construction going on in des moines. it is a wonderful time to be able to host you. i would like to say the weather is always like this in july in iowa but you may find that not to be exactly accurate. we are excited and proud to host. this is the second time des moines has had the national governors association here. the last time was in 2005 but things have happened since. we have the sculpture garden and this facility and the wells fargo arena next door. tremendous construction going on in east village. so we hope you enjoy your time here. we think it is going to be a wonderful opportunity for the governors it share ideas and

learn from each other and focus on issues that are important to our country and people. thank you. >> thanks, governor. welcome to our guests. governor mcauliffe is no stranger to iowa. >> been here a lot. >> i might have a question about that. what i would like to do is you all are talking about special initiatives in your states. so i would like to spend time off the bat talking about each one of those initiatives and asking you questions about that. this is, being an election year, this is iowa so i have political questions and then we will throw it open to the media questions. sound all right? >> yeah. >> governor herbert, starting with you. you have an initiative fighting poverty in your state. how is that effort different

from things that have been done in your state and other states to fight poverty? >> thank you, david. let me thank governor branstad for the hosting of our national governors association conference here and giving us the opportunity to come to iowa when you are not running for president. we have a chance to enjoy your hospitality and your wonderful facility and larry hogan from maryland is here as well. nice to have you with us. i think one of the opportunities we have with the national governors association is to highlight the successes of the states because the respective states are doing really wonderful, good things. they are getting things done, solving people's problems and improving people's lives and that is what this whole initiative we have is about. on poverty, which is a big issue for all of us, in utah we have a successful economic growth taking place. maybe the best in the nation.

>> one of the best. >> and we are grateful for that but we know there are people still struggling. there are people that are left out and generational poverty, intergenerational poverty is a big issue. we decided it is not a one-size-fits-all approach when you talk about poverty. there is situational poverty where somebody has maybe a medical condition or event that happens in their life that causes them to become impoverished. intergenerational poverty is generation after generation and habitual and bad processes and over the grandparents, parents and now the children are trapped in poverty. we are trying to break that cycle. we are addressing it by understanding one that it is unique and we need to address the underlying causes.

we are collecting data and can identify -- we have 29 counties and 10 countries are more prone to poverty. we have families and analyze their standing, economic wellbeing and education. with the children, are they prepared to go to kindergarten? getting a good education? education is the key to breaking the cycle. we collect that data and put programs in place with mentoring and coaching that help those unique families so they can break that intergenerational poverty. we then collaborate in ways that has never been done before with the governor's office, our legislature, our different agencies whether it is workforce services, the juvenile courts, local government. and that coordinated effort is helping families lift themselves

and break that intergenerational cycle of poverty and the results are impressive. utah's poverty rate is one third below the national average and youth poverty rate is 50% lower than the national average. we are on to something that is good and would like to share with the rest of the nation. >> do you think -- right now in america, big problem with income inequality. i don't know anybody that is happy with the fight against poverty on either the left or the right. there are a lot of criticisms made in the way we are trying to combat this in society. do you think you found a sweet spot that might work for other states? or is this just only going to work in utah? >> i think most of us as governors in the respective states recognize that the concept of a one-size-fits-all doesn't work. all states are different. we have different cultures,

regions and politics. you need something that works were for your respective state but the principles are similar. education is key, making sure everybody has an opportunity. focusing on the children. sometimes it is too late for the grandparents to change and be retooled or better education skills to get a better job. but for the young people it is not. i think the focus of all elected officials ought to be in growing a healthy economy, the best thing we can do for those who are impoverished is give them a job. not just a government handout. let's give them assistance but find a way for them to help themselves. i think the human spirit is the desire to pay your own way and support yourself. we are trying to give skills to the rising generation and i think all states can share that.

respective regional differences and what works in utah may not work in virginia or in this great state of iowa. i think there needs to be flexibility. >> thank you. governor mcauliffe, cybersecurity. strikes me as an odd thing for state government to attack. what can states do that the federal government and private industry are not already doing? >> very important question. let me first always thank governor branstad and the first lady for a spectacular reception at your beautiful capitol. it is great to be here and i have seen you many times. david, i was here in january and took a picture in front of the bank sign, minus 25 below 0. so i appreciate the beautiful weather we are enjoying. on a serious note, our thoughts go out to all of the folks in france who lost their lives and the people injured.

i see john bell edwards from louisiana who went through difficult issues down there. big issue, like a lot of it, comes back to security and national security and what we need to do. the states are more important or as important as the federal government because most of the data on an individual is kept at the state level. our health care records and state tax records. the states are very important. my initiative i will announce tomorrow is all about cybersecurity. it doesn't matter if you are democrat or republican, as a governor, your responsibility is to keep your citizens safe. we need to make sure we are protecting their data, we have to protect our businesses, and personal information. in virginia, we have had sense january 1st, 53 million cyber attacks. that is four cyber attacks -- 300,000 a day.

131 turned out to be very cease area. we botched 4,000 malware attempts on citizens. we need to be out front. in virginia and maryland we have important assets in our state and are constantly under attack. our initiative, and we were the first to put up framework and i want all states to learn what we did to put together the framework to make sure you are doing everything you can to stop these cyber attacks. it can destroy business -- look at anthem. one of the largest breaches in the country. saw what happened at opm. and talk to target about the damage it did to their business. the states i would argue are at the forefront.

we had the governor meetings with the governors who are appointed to meet with dhs and we have an agreement about information sharing with the federal government, with the states, to our guard to make sure we are protecting our citizens. >> with the exception of change encouraging me to change my password what can a governor do that is different than what the federal government is doing. give us specific examples. you mentioned things changed. give us specific examples >> you will hear from one of the chesterfield county folks who are here on the technology front and he and our state guard went into the localities to do a deep dive on their own protections. >> the national guard? >> our state guard with the

department of homeland are going into localities and doing a deep dive on their cyber aspects. it is frightening what we found at the local level. the data is not protected. you can bring in the most sophisticat sophisticated technology. we are the first state with every vendor has it setup where no one can commit fraud. every card was the first one out with the chip technology. you cannot do business with virginia without the chip technology. there is a lot of things you can do. and obviously most importantly is working with the federal government to make sure you are bringing in everything you need to protect it. but it is also the job creation. 209,000 jobs are open in cybersecurity. i tell every parent starting pay is $88,000. i am forfitting the pay role.

code writing and such are the jobs of the future. i have 656 cyber companies. got home from israel and announced a major deal that will bring an israeli cyber defense company to bring their center to virginia. >> any progress in the whole issue of ransom wear? businesses are being attacked by this and paying ransoms in bitcoin to get their data back. any progress on that? >> that is the federal and the fbi talked about at the winter meeting what we need to do in that regard. 53 million attacks in virginia. every governor can have the same data. we are not unique. we need to make sure we are -- and what i will do and hand out tomorrow -- is all of the steps we have done to protect

companies and citizens. we have the most data at the state level. our health care system. >> governor branstad, you talk about veterans and project home base trying to find jobs for veterans. tell us a little bit about that effort. >> i am very proud to say in 2014, the iowa legislature passed our home base iowa initiative. it passed with strong bipartisan support. i appointed leonard boswell and maybe -- bob myer who lead the effort. they are both retired colonels from the military and have done a great job. we have placeded over 2,350 veterans in good jobs, elum have a credit for veterans who

purchase homes in our state. and green counties was the first home base county in the state of iowa and now we have 40 home base communities that are counties and cities in some cases. we are 19 of our universities and colleges that have become champions and certified as college and universities that are really doing all they can to help veterans. we offer in-state tuition whether from iowa or not for veterans, spouses and dependents to go to our state universities or community colleges. we are excited about the way it is taking off. i signed the bill at camp dodge in the gold star museum on memorial day of 2014 in my uniform. i am proud of that. i got out of the service in '71 and proud to be able to still get into it. but i am excited about the

tremendous bipartisan support this program has received and the difference it made. at the planning session we will hear from one of those iowa veterans who through home base iowa. >> wouldn't they have gotten jobs anyway? >> some might have. but by having coordination and a direct effort made using the opportunity through the internet to communicate to people coming out of the military about the jobs available in iowa and having these job fairs and all of that i think we dramatically increased in terms of the employers. every member of the iowa business council is a home based business and so we have home base businesses all over the state, thousands of them, and so the collaboration and coordination and the community involvement, all of that is making a real difference. making veterans feel welcome and obvio

obviously iowa is a relatively low-cost to live and we have employers saying we need people with these skills and we can't find them. but people are coming out of the military and i know the reduction going on in the federal military and we want to get as many of those talented people as we can to locate in iowa. so far it is off to a great start. >> a lot of veterans come out of service with problems. do you find they have difficulty finding jobs because employers are weary of hiring veterans? >> unfortunately the unemployment rate among veterans is relatively high in this country. i am proud to say in iowa it is much lower. general tim moore put together a program for all veterans to assist veterans that have problems and issues. one of the things i think that really makes a difference is if a veteran feels welcomed and supported by business workers

and communities that makes a difference in dealing with the issues they have from the experience they have from serving. we have challenges but i feel really good about the way it is being addressed in the state. >> just an open question to all of you. it strikes me on each problem a governor does something just by using the bully pulpit and putting the focus on it. focusing on cybersecurity or veterans or intergenerational poverty. is that right? are there other ways governors can use the bully pulpit to push public policy along? >> the bully pulpit is one thing to generate public support. we do represent the public and the issues out there. but it is also more than just a bully pulpit. it is about working with different agencies. bringing people together with different points of view and saying can we come together and

compromise and worth together. that is the strength the governors have, bringing the legislature together, public private partnerships. i know on the veteran's issue we took it on as a need and worked with schools and said when the veterans come back from military service they have skills and should be getting credit for those skills. i was trained as a surveyor and today if you come back to utah you can go to flight technology college and get a certificate and be a licensed surveyor because of the training i got in the army and not have to go through additional schooling. that is the schools, working with the government, veterans, private sector, and utah has ruls of an unemployment rate for veterans below 3%. -- results. >> governor mcauliffe, other examples in virginia where you

can use the bully pulpit and focus attention on specific problems? >> at the end of the day, people expect you to keep the economy safe and grow the economy. i have a very republican legislature. lots of tea party members in the virginia legislature and my general assembly and house of delegates i have 66-100 republican. we just had the biggest surplus in history. i got 90% of what i wanted in the budget. you have to work together in a bipartisan way to get it done. there are times, david, sometimes unfortunately partisan politics gets in the way and you have to take your action. as governor, you have to move forward. i am aggressive on executive orders. virginia governor is a powerful governor. you only get one term but a powerful governor. i have done 71 vetoes and

haven't been overridden yet. i have been out front on the veteran's issues. very important. we transitioned s15,000 a year and have 27 military bases. every employer says get me a veteran. i can hire every veteran i get. with the young workforce they think not showing up for work on friday is how life it. you have a four-day workweek. that is not how it was for any of us. you work five days a week and you get paid for five days a week. we moved ahead and are the first state to end veteran homelessness and are proud of that. i just restored 206,000 felons and 40 states did it already. we have a bad history in virginia since 1902 of racial

disinfranchisement. you would have thought i burned the capitol down. i did what 40 states did already and it was the right thing to do. at the end of the day the governors have to produce. we don't have filibusters and can't kick the can to the next day. we have to act every day. >> i am reminded of something former governor pete du pont said and that is a governor can do anything he wants but can't do everything we wants. today you might say he or she. >> he is absolutely right. pete du pont was governor when i came in and that was the piece of advice he gave me and many others. we tried to do that. you mead to focus. -- need. you cannot try to do 40 things. focus on maybe two or three key

priorities each year. 2014, it was home base iowa. 2013, we focused on education reform and property tax relief. this year, we were able to get action on our bio chemical tax credit. we are the first state in the country to have it and think it could be the next generation of products made from corn replacing petroleum chemical products which are better for the environment, create jobs and increase income for iowa farmers. that is what is key. you just can't try to do everything or you are likely to not get much done. if you focus on those and spend your time and the bully pull-foot and your effort and you go out to motivate grass root support that can improve your chance of getting to the legislature. especially if you are like

governor mcauliffe or me, most of the time i have been governor, the other party controlled either both houses or one house in the legislature so you don't get anything done if you don't get bipartisan support. >> let me mention, i think terry said something correctly and as a governor you cannot kick the can down the road. other than governor branstad we are here for a limited period of time. you have to concentrate and focus on whatever the issues that are here today. you campaign and say if i am elected i will do this and this so there is pressure to get it in in four, eight maybe 12 years. that is unique with governments. the fact in our 50 states and five territoryies governors are getting things done.

they bring people together and get it done. the states are in fact producing great results in this country today at a time when washington, d.c. seems to be dysfunctional and that is because of the work of the government and legislatures and whether that is opposite parties or divided inside their own party. we have a unique circumstances but governors and states are getting it done today as well as any time in our country's history. >> i just came from a bipartisan press conference to support ttp. democrats and republicans, unfortunately this has been a horrible partisan issue in the presidential election. unfortunately, a lot of rhetoric has been out there. but for the three of us up there it is about jobs. if we don't get the ttp done china will write the rules and agriculture is a huge part of

business and we have to keep the markets open. we all came together, keep the presidential politics out of this, and we have to do what is in our best interest. 39 billion in exports last year and will you close the window to the 11 nations around the globe? it makes no sense. >> in both political parties there is a lot of animosity toward the ttp. what do you say to republicans who are concerned about tpp? >> it is very important to iowa. 50% of echo's business is export and they do business all over the world. a lot of them with the countries that will be part of tpp. we are a major agricultural producing state. it is important to all of our agricultural producers. so it is not perfect. we need to continue and i except some constructive criticism that maybe we can do better.

but let's continue to build on breaking down these barriers and opening up markets and we do that we benefit, we create jobs, and we grow farm income and that is a positive thing and why i am a strong supporter of free trade and the tpp. >> governor herbert, what do you say to republicans who are concerned? >> it is frustrating to us whether it is democrat or republican. there are concerns in a bipartisan way. i don't understand why we can't sit down and come together with a compromise to move forward. our state is into international trade. in utah we speak 130 languages and our international trade is growing exponentially.

93% of customers for america are outside of america. it is a global marketplace and we need to find ways to interact with each other and the world. as we do, we will foster better relationships and bring about more world peace and understanding and harmony that comes with economic trade. it is important on many levels. we would call upon those fighting this, on both sides of the aisle, to come together and let's find a compromise and move ahead. we don't need the can kicked down the road for the next number of months or years. the president has been on board, many republicans are on board, let bring everybody together on this. >> governor mcauliffe, very touch issue in your party. >> very tough issue. >> what do you say?

>> at the end of the day, the governors are responsible in your state, are the chief job creators. we are responsible. if unemployment goes up or down you either get the credit or the blame. nobody in congress. it falls upon us. i look as this as a job creating activity. what i said to the democrats, and the rhetoric in this presidential campaign has just been so over the top. everyone for their own personal believe trade is why they don't have a job. it is a big complex issue. you cannot blame china, korea and others for taking our jobs. i tell everybody. you get a trade deal and negotiate out the environmental pieces and make sure labor is protected which they have done with the tpp, you give us a fair agreement. i tell you i will go against china and japan and korea and we

will beat them. this agreement is working toward that but putting our heads in the sand saying we will not compete we are doing a disservice to the citizens who elected us to create jobs. let the metrics speak to themselves. our trade is growing. but the biggest factor is if we don't do this, and encapsulated, china will write the rules for the 11 nations and we will be left out. >> the national conventions are starting next we're, this is iowa, i have two battleground states governors here, virginia and iowa and some reports are say utah could be at play. i would like to ask you to put your political hats on and what is the handicapped in virginia governor mcauliffe? >> most polls have hillary up about 68 points.

i feel confidant we will win the state. president obama was the first democrat to win virginia since 1964 and won it twice. the message of job creation, economic development, and i think she is in a very strong position. she will be a little stronger if she would take my advice and take our junior senator to be her vice presidential candidate. takes a lot of pressure off me. >> you know, i got to know you in 2008, you spent a lot of time campaigning for hillary clinton in iowa. she lost. this cycle you were not able to spend as much time in iowa and he -- she won. >> i went to every county if you remember. i visited every county. i got to four this time and that is why i think she won. >> governor herbert, is utah in

play? >> i don't think it is in terms of electing a democrat. it is a pretty big red state. we have a large unaffiliated group that is persuadable. the latest polls show mr. trump up 6-9 points in utah. once we get through the cycle, i think it is hard to conceive utah wouldn't go republican particularly if mr. trump picks a governor as part of the ticket as vice president. we will have to wait and see and i know they referred to the announcement that will happen today. i am hopeful it a governor he picked for the vp. i think it will help him. >> governor branstad, what is

your take in iowa? >> i am sure we will see more activity between now and election day. the polls show it going either way in iowa. i is seen polls showing hillary up by one or two points and polls showing trump up by one or two. we are benefiting with senator grassley as you know. grassley has not missed a vote in 20 years he goes to every county every year and works extraordinarily hard. he has $5 million in the bank. i think he will be a strong help to the republican ticket. is we have a great chance to win the senate. we have great candidates working hard and going door to door and

raising money. iowa is competitive and i will do my part to help trump carry the state. my son eric was in cleveland with the rules committee and that went well. so, i agree with governor herbert, having a republican governor on the ticket would be helpful. i think governors are problem-solvers. >> i could talk politics with the three of you all day long but i am out of time and have to turn it over to you governor herbert. they have asked me to have all of the governors here to now step up to the podium, the three of you, and field questions from the audience. governor herbert, you will call on the questions.

>> i don't know if you need this here. >> so again, we are honored to be here as we begin our national governors association conference. again, our initiative we have had this year for the governors is in fact states solving problems and improving people's life. each state we highlight will have publications to put out and web pages showing the great successes the states are in fact having. again, it gives me hope, frankly, and i think for a lot of people in their respective states seethi -- see things improving because of the work of the governors. we are trying to get washington to do more issues and solve problems than they are capable

when it should be left to the e respected states. if there are any questions you have for any of us we are more than happy to field the questions. >> talking about tpp, could you express briefly the opinions you shared there? >> sure. well, in louisiana we have the largest port complex in the country and one of the largest in the world. so in addition to the manufacturers and farm products we produce in louisiana we are looking to export we are also facilitating the export of products from across the country including agricultural products here from iowa. it is a big deal for louisiana especially in light of the panama canal being expanded so we will have larger vessels. we have an opportunity to capture more of the market. but this partnership needs to be

ratified so we can take advantage of it. those were the sentiments i expressed this morning. it is about economic and job creation in louisiana and a way that shows the interdependence of the state and also of the world. i am mindful that 95% of the people we want to sell services and goods to don't live in the united states. we have to have that access. thank you for the question. >> we have been joined by the governor of puerto rico. buenes dias. any other questions? [inaudible question] >> we see terrorism has taken place and we will have a little report on that in the governors-only meeting and see what we can learn. one thing i think we all understand is the public safety

is really not a partisan issue. the important and appropriate and proper role of government is to keep us safe. and i know our governors are taking that seriously. would any of you like to speak about your issues? >> i mentioned that governor dayton was intending to be here and because of the problems he had in minnesota he canceled at the last minute. governors take this responsibility seriously. governor sand ball was here yesterday. he went back to nevada because a bombing occurred -- not terrorist related activity but it was a bombing that killed one person, the perpetrator died, but several homes were damaged in a small town in northern nevada. my advice to a governor is whenever you have an incident, be it a natural disaster, or

something that happens, it is important for the governor to be there to reassure the people and support the local authorities as well as the others in law enforcement that are protecting the safety. in iowa, we are blessed to have a great public safety department and many wonderful local law enforcement people are providing services to us for this nga meeting we are hosting. i want to say how much i personally appreciate and respect all of those people that risk their lives to protect our safety and wellbeing. i am honored and blessed to live in one of the safest states in the country. next question?

>> i would like to make a comment about medicare and the fraud abuse and issues you are working on. >> medicaid fraud, waste and abuse comments? >> in louisiana on january 12th, we expanded the medicaid program. we used the existing framework to expand the program where we have manage care organizations that are ministering. we don't do the traditional fee for service. by doing that, we have transferred the risk of loss associated with fraud, waste and abuse away from the state and to the manage care organizations in that business. so we have that member per month we are paying for coverage and we transferred that risk to a very large degree and i believe it is working in louisiana. it is one of the ways that we were able to gain so much support in the legislature and the state as a whole to demonstrate we are not doing the

traditional fee per service. it is being minimized and where it does exist it isn't coming at the taxpayer's expense. >> in utah we created an inspector general's office with the primary focus of reviewing medicaid to see if there is fraud, waste and abuse. the fact we have someone's primarily responsibility to review this added to the efficiencies so there is not waste. we don't see a lot of fraud in utah but there is a watch dog taking a hard look and that probably helps prohibit and prevent fraud and certainly making us be more careful with the dollar so there is less waste. any other questions? >> anyone feel compelled?

we have a great program lined up today and tomorrow. we have governors -- did i lose the microphone? i know how it is in iowa now. we are honored to be here in iowa and again the national governors association which is a bipartisan group bringing people together, solving problems in a bipartisan way. i think you will find this association is a good example of how it ought to be. we hope that others particularly in washington, d.c. will look at us as maybe a good example of how we can work together. again, we don't all see things the same way but have mutual respect and learn from each other. we are the laboratories of democracy. we are a little pilot programs going on and trying to experiment and learning from each other. we steal from the best.

we modify and adjust but it is a wonderful system the founding fathers createded with this united states of america. -- created. i am honored to be chairing with these wonderful men and women who are leading in a profound way during this difficult time. we look forward to starting our first session in about ten minutes. thank you. [applause]