it would be probably a good idea idea to just find out how tired i am. everyone always says that when they leave these jobs. but i have no reason to have any concerns about the future of this department and usaid so long as we continue to do what we really are doing, really make the case to a broad base of the american public about who we are, what we stand for, the work we do, why it's important. and i am looking forward to this year. i don't want to think about what might come next because i don't want me or any of us to divert our attention. i think the best case we can make is to do the work we're doing every day at the highest possible standards and trying to achieve the best outcomes for

our country. and then the election is, you know, going to i'm sure suck up a lot of the attention from following areas that we think are so important. you know, trying to resolve frozen conflicts. trying to, you know, bring food and health care and education to desperately poor people. trying to build up america's reputation and reality in so many places in the world. but the good news is, you know, maybe we can even get more done if they're not paying attention. [ laughter ] so just factor that in. i think from my perspective, i will just work as hard as i can till the last minute i have the honor of being secretary and certainly do everything, no matter what i do, which i have no idea what it will be, to support all of you. and i am happy to work with vice president biden, who does an

excellent job and is a huge advocate and supporter for this department and for usaid. so it's a little odd for me to be totally out of an election season since as secretary of state i cannot participate. but, you know, i didn't watch any of those debates. [ applause ] >> that will have to be the last question as you have another engagement. >> well, thank you all very, very much. let's keep going! [ applause ]

here's what we have coming up for you today on c-span 3. up next, indiana governor mitch daniels gives his annual state of the date address. then from davo, switzerland, a speech from german chancellor angela merkel. a little later another state of the state address. this one from georgia's nathan deal. april 15th, 2010, i had arrived in paris, walked into the hotel room -- the hotel lobby. met general mcchrystal for the first time. and he looked at me and he said, so you're the rolling stone guy. i don't care about the article. i just want to be on the cover. >> mikeal hastings wrote about the commander of u.s. and nato forces in afghanistan in the june 2010 issue of "rolling stone." >> i said, you know, well, sir, i think it's between you and lady gaga. i was just making some -- trying to make some joke not knowing lady gaga was actually going to

be on the cover. general mcchrystal replied, just put me and lady gaga in a heart-shaped tub. i thought, like, this is a different kind of general. this is going to be a different kind of story. >> just several mornts later as a result of the article general mcchrystal had been fired. michael hastings continues the story and talks about his new book "the operators" sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span's q & a. i do believe that the west for all of its historical shortcomings, and i'm scathing in my book in discussing these shortcomings, because they have to be admitted, for all of these shortcomings, the west still today represents the most acceptable and workable, universally workable, political culture. >> in 1991 the united states was the only global super power. today, how to restore its status in the world. from former national security

adviser brzeninski. saturday night at 10:00 eastern on "after words." also this weekend on "book tv" did fdr use world war ii as a cover to create a more powerful executive branch? sunday night at 10:00, the new privacy is no privacy. "book tv" every weekend on c-span 2. earlier this month, indiana governor mitch daniels gave his final state of the state address. he spoke about education reform, infrastructure spending and the right to work legislation on union rights. his remarks from the state house in indianapolis are about 30 minutes. [ applause ]

[ applause ] [ applause ]

>> thank you very much. [ applause ] >> members of the general assembly, honored guests, fellow citizens. for an eighth time and the final time, you afford me the unrivaled privilege of this podium as it's my last such chance to express my appreciation for the public service you each perform and the hoosiers for hiring me twice so i could try to perform my own, i'll start with a heartfelt thank you. [ applause ] >> but the time for reminiscing will come later. much later. tonight and all nights in today's indiana must be about the future. where we are and where we're

going. a reporter asked recently, what keeps you up at night? i replied, i generally sleep well. but if i ever do have trouble, i don't have to count sheep. i count all the states i'm glad i'm not the governor of. [ applause ] >> around the time i first took office a radio caller expressed a fairly common sentiment. he said i like what you say you stand for but republicans, democrats, nothing ever changes. nothing's ever different. i recall responding, sir, i'm care chl not to promise what i'm not sure can be delivered. but i'll promise you one thing. in a few years, you may disagree with decisions we've made or actions we've taken. but you will not think nothing's different. i'm pretty sure that good man would agree tonight that things are very different in indiana now. then, we were broke and other

states were flush. tonight, while states elsewhere twist in financial agony, indiana has an honestly balanced budget, a strong protected reserve in our state savings account and the first aaa credit rating in state history, one of just a handful left in america. [ applause ] [ applause ] our credit is better, imagine this, than the federal government's. another host of states raised taxes again last year while hoosiers are taxed at the lowest levels in a long time, thanks in part to the lowest property

taxes in the nation. [ applause ] while other state governments stiff their venders, close parks, delay tax refunds and ignore unacceptably poor service levels, indiana state employees are setting national standard for efficiency. tonight, hoosiers are served by provably the most productive government workers anywhere. indiana has the fewest state employees per capita in the country. the fewest we've had since 1975. and yet our parks have never been in better shape. your tax refund comes back twice as quickly as it used to. and the average customer got in and out of a license branch last month in less than 14 minutes. [ applause ] i'm not the only one to notice.

in a national survey last summer, 77% of hoosiers described their state government as efficient. far above most states and the second highest rating in the nation. you neekly, in public sector america, indiana now pays state workers on a performance basis. so those doing the best job are properly rewarded for their superior efforts. but i know that the reward they value as much as money is simple recognition from the citizens they serve. and i hope you'll show them right now that you value them and their hard work as much as i do. [ applause ] careful stewardship of the

taxpayers' dollar and ceaseless efforts to improve public services are matters of duty and basic good government. but they are not the fundamental goals of public life. they're just means to the real goal. which is to make our state a place of opportunity and upward mobility and a better standard of living. a place where young people and people not so young know that they can start with nothing and make a good life. from our administration's first day, this has been the central objective around which everything else was organized. we have worked relentlessly to move indiana up the list of great places to do business. we set out to build the best sand box in america. a place where men and women of enterprise knew if they risked a buck on their idea or their dream, they would have the best possible chance to get it back with something left over they could use to hire the next hoosier. we've made steady progress. coming from nowhere to the top tier in every ranking.

number six, according to the nation's site selectors, number six, according to "ceo" magazine. number five according to real estate decisionmakers. but it isn't nearly enough. it was our ironic bad luck to create a top economic climate, just as the nation plunged into its worst modern recession and business investments slowed to a crawl. we became the prettiest girl in school the year they called off the prom. despite these head winds, our recently strong state revenues show that something positive is happening to hoosier incomes. in 2010, the most recent data we have, indiana incomes grew at the eighth fastest rate in the country. [ applause ] here's another encouraging sign. more people are moving into indiana than moving out. our population is growing at the

fastest rate from iowa to maine. maybe best of all, thousands of college graduates moved into our state last year, more than moved out. [ applause ] there is no better indicator of economic promise in today's world than success at attracting top talent, and we are. we are not where we want to be. nowhere close. but with a welcoming business climate, enormous investments in new public infrastructure and a stable fiscal picture, we are poised for more progress and better days. beyond the statistics lies a more basic difference in the indiana of today. we are now indisputably seen as a leader. in hundreds of articles about fiscal prudence, economics, transportation, corrections, child protection and so on, we are cited constantly as an

example for others to examine. from cleveland, ohio should follow indiana's lead and dive in. from detroit, indiana has many of the answers. as seen in indiana, it certainly is possible. from north carolina, fortunately, there's no need to speculate about how a state might proceed. indiana has already done it. it's more than words. we now experience the sincerest flattery all the time. our economic development corporation has been copied by ohio, wisconsin, michigan, and iowa among others. our corrections program by oregon. our employee health care by oklahoma, missouri and florida. our performance-based personnel policies by tennessee and wyoming. our air quality modeling and permitting by kentucky and south carolina. our online university, wguindiana, by texas and

washington. and at every governors meeting, someone says, if only we could pull off a deal half as good as indiana did with its toll road. [ applause ] the latest realm in which indiana is now a leader is, perhaps, the most important. from coast to coast, others are praising how reforms of public education. one national magazine wrote that indiana has gone, quote, from the backwaters of education reform in america to the front. the fordham institute said no one has been more successful in providing a comprehensive reform plan for a system that is failing america's children. and then there's this. from even farther away. the daily telegraph of london wrote that in education, quote, england would do well to follow

indiana's lead. the days when education debates started and stopped at dollar signs are over. and high time. from president obama down, everyone now recognizes that leaders in education are defined not by what they put in, but by what they get out. but just for the record, and despite frequent misrepresentations to the contrary, indiana is a leader in what we put in. with this year's spending increases, plus the additional funds we requested for full-day kindergarten, k-12 spending is now 56% of the entire state budget. the highest percentage of any state in the nation. [ applause ] no state anywhere devotes more of its state funds to education. but that's not why others are following indiana. it's our new commitment to rewarding the best teachers.

liberating principals and superintendents. and providing low and middle-income parents the same choices as their wealthier neighbors. that's what's caught the world's attention. and this year, when we end the cruel, defeatist practice of passing children who cannot read into fourth grade, and when our most diligent students begin to graduate from high school in 11 years and get a head start on college costs with the dollars they earned through that hard work, others will take notice of indiana yet again. there are few subjects more studied or more intriguing than leadership. leaders come in many forms and often from unexpected directions. but some qualities are common among them, and one is that leaders never loaf. they never slip into complacency, settle for things as they are or stop pursuing innovation and excellence of result. if they do, leadership will pass and new leaders surpass.

leaders who loaf aren't leaders for long. along with all the accolades, indiana now bears this burden of leadership. the duty to keep pressing ahead. this administration will not loaf. we have made out a long list of self-assignments for our eighth and final year. our economic development corporation captured a record 219 new jobs transactions in 2011. we've raised the bar to 250 for the year ahead. we will press hard to accelerate further tahead of schedule, undr budget delivery of our major moves transportation program. in 2012, we'll invest $1.2 billion in road and bridge construction, the sixth straight record setting year. [ applause ] the last contract on the hoosier

heartland corridor will be let next summer, and the entire project finished by 2013. the last contracts on u.s. 31 from south bend through kokomo will be let this year and we'll celebrate completion of the entire corridor into 2015. i-69 will be open to traffic from evansville to crane as will the entire port to port highway in northeast indiana. [ applause ] the sherman minten bridge will be rebuilt and reopened by march, and upriver an agreement on a new bridge from utica to louisville will be in place, cementing indiana's place at the forefront of the public/private partnership movement. we will build the state's 3,000th mile of bike and hiking trails and reach our goal of a trail within 15 minutes of every hoosier. unknown to most citizens, the air and water of indiana is now

the cleanest in living memory. in 2011, every indiana community met all national air quality standards for the first time in the history of the clean air act. [ applause ] last year we wiped out the last of a 550-case backlog of old and, therefore, less strict environmental permits and are now the only state completely current. our goal for 2012 is to maintain this status. and if national limits are lowered yet again, to find a way to meet those standards, too. we'll complete our successful overhaul of what was once america's worst welfare system when in february, the tenth and final region is converted to our reformed public/private system. backlogs have been slashed by

80%. timeliness and accuracy have soared above national averages. and last october the program earned a cash bonus and an award for most improved in the nation. we've set high targets for continued improvement in 2012. [ applause ] the same is true of our campaign to conserve indiana's natural heritage. the last seven years have seen new records for protection of wetlands and habitats. 50,000 acres by the end of this year. highlighted by the largest such project ever at goose pond. in 2011, we launched new waterways conservation projects the size of three goose ponds in the ma stack tuck bottoms and five goose ponds long the wabash quarter. before long hoosiers will be able to travel over 100 miles down our state's signature river and never leave a protected

wetlands. [ applause ] our coming bisen ten yell gives us an i deal opportunity to extend this historic reverence for the beauty fwod bestored on indiana. i've appoint add commission of a dozen ill lus trees citizens led by my partner becky skillman, by the lejtd dare congressman lee hamilton to guide the great celebrations to come. as a first initiative, i've asked them to oversee a bicentennial nature trust. a statewide project to protect still more of our most precious natural spaces. on our 100th birthday, indiana launched its state park system. a statewide conservation initiative is a fitting sequel, and a bequest from our second century to our third. we've identified state funding within existing resources of $20

million, but that must be just the beginning. the trust is intended to inspire others and to match their donations of land or dollars in a continuing statewide surge of conservation. the commission joins me in challenging citizens, businesses and, in particular, our unique network of community foundations to identify and fund local projects that will safeguard places of beauty for future generations. [ applause ] in this assembly, too, you must set big goals. we should, at long last, intact a law to protect workers and patrons across indiana from the hazards of secondhand smoke. public support has grown and so has the evidence of health risk to workers. it's time to move this long-sought objective to the finish line. [ applause ]

>> we should -- no, we must strengthen our laws against the horrid practice of human trafficking and must do it in time for the super bowl. the kind of event -- [ applause ] -- the kind of event at which the exploitation of young women is rampant in the absence of such a tough law. we should assist students with the cost of higher education by empowering our higher ed commission to limit the credit creep which unduly increases both time to graduation and student expense. undoubtedly, some degrees will continue to justify more than the traditional 120 credit hours. but schools requiring 126 hours for a degree in sociology or 138 hours in special education, or 141 hours in music education

should have to explain why all that time and student expense is necessary. especially when other colleges offer high quality programs in less time and cost. we should deepen the state's response to the terrible tragedy that befell so many at last summer's indiana state fair. a catastrophe so singular merits unique treatment. and i hope you will augment the amounts already provided to victims and their families by the state and private donors. [ applause ] and we should trust the people of central indiana with the decision whether to raise local dollars for mass transit if they believe it crucial to their future quality of life. within weeks, one of the great public careers and, perhaps, the greatest judicial career our state has known will come to a

close. chief justice randy shepherd, let tonight be one of many occasions on which a grateful and fortunate state thanks you for a quarter century of fairness, firmness and farsightedness on our highest bench. [ applause ] [ applause ] part of justice shepherd's legacy will be the landmark report that he and former governor joe kernen co-thorsed producing overdue modernization of our pioneer structures of

local government. one way to honor this great public servant will be to advance more of the sensible and needed reforms set forth by the kernen/shepherd commission. [ applause ] i ask this assembly to do so on their own merits, but also in recognition of this historic public servant. because economic opportunity and building america's best home for jobs is the central goal of all we do, every year should include a bold stroke to enhance it. this year, the choice of actions has become obvious. in survey after survey, but margins of 2 to 1 or more, hoosiers support the principle known as right to work. after a year of studying the proposal, i agree. the idea that no worker should be forced to pay union dues as a condition of keeping a job is simple and just. but the benefits in new jobs

would be large. a third or more growing or relocating businesses will not consider a state that does not provide workers this protection. almost half our fellow states have right to work laws. as a group, they're adding jobs faster, growing worker income faster, and enjoying lower unemployment rates than those of us without such a law. in those ratings of business attractiveness i mentioned, the only states ahead of us are right to work states. what every economic development expert has testified to, we have learned from firsthand experience over seven years and well over 1,000 job competitions, we found that when indiana gets a chance to compete, we win. 2 out of 3 times. but too often we never get that chance because a right to work law is a requirement. especially in this poor national economy, a state needs every edge it can ge