activities and accomplishments of the federal igs. each year your report includes data on government wide potential savings and total savings to the government from all ig audit and recommendations. can you explain the difference between potential and total savings, i think we have a chart here somewhere. there we go. can you explain the difference between potential and total savings? >> let me just take a step back. my understanding of the data -- and this is based on the data that each office compiles in response to requirements, and the data categories talk about potential savings because it is very difficult to measure actual savings. so my understanding of the data that we're providing we give a number for potential savings from audits, and another for potential savings from

investigations. we add that up and have a total number of potential savings overall. it is very difficult to track actuals because of the nature of the criminal justice system, for example. >> so but you do this reporting. it's coming out of your office. >> yes. the council does the report. >> so your annual reports for the last five fiscal years, 2006-2010 show a promising trend, is that fair to say? >> i think you're right. i've looked at the results for the last three years, not the last five because i didn't do that. but the last three do look as if we're on a very upward trend. i will note that a large portion of the recoveries have been due to the postal service ig and some of the work on pensions and ebt. >> let me show you the stats. the graph up here shows that the

potential savings from all ig recommendations and the actual savings to the government have increased over the years. i understand it's hard to get the actual number. so i guess these are pretty close estimates. no matter how you look at it, the fiscal year 2006 potential savings only 9.9 billi$9.9 bill the total savings, $16.7 billion. by fiscal year 2008 potential savings were $14.2 billion, and the total savings went up to $18.6 billion. by fiscal year 2 two 010 potential savings shot up to 80.2 billion and the total savings went up to 87.2 billion. does this appear to be accurate to you? >> i appreciate you asking me

this question. this is the first we've seen the chart and i would be very happy to take the chart and analyze it in light of the data we have and provide you some comments on it. for the record. >> i guess what i'm -- i think that one of the things we find is that in government today there is a lot of talk about federal employees and you know, what they don't do and what they don't accomplish. and agencies that don't accomplish certain things. and many being concerned about savings, seems like this would be something that would be at the top of your list as far as what you're effective at. because that's something that we all are interested in. but you're not that fwam these charts. is that what you're saying? >> yes. i think generally the numbers appear to me to be accurate but i would like to take a closer look.

>> based upon what you see there is a positive trend going forward. >> yes, there is a positive trend. >> you generally comment on why that might be? without even knowing all of the numbers. is there something happening that we don't know about? >> well, i would like to say that as the the ig community matures and gets more experience that we are getting better at identifying the issues that really require oversight and that's showing payoff in terms of dollar recoveries as well as recommendations to improve programs. i would like to say that. >> just say it. >> i will say that. >> you said it. to me it looks like potential and total savings increased dramatically. what does this say overall about the community of inspectors general under the administration. can you comment on the effectiveness and some of whom are acting. in other words, we have concerns about vacant sis.

but the people in acting and permanent positions apparently they are doing something significant because that's a big jump from a few years ago to now. >> well, just to comment on the jump i want to reiterate a large portion is due to the postal service ig accomplishment. to get to your larger point about the acting igs and their organizations, i have spoken to many of them recently, all of them have told me, the ones i have spoken with, they are go ig after their mission full speed ahead, prould of their offices, that they feel they issued hard hitting reports with real dollar recoveries and feel that their offices continue to operate at a high professional level. >> as i close i would agree with that. and i want to publicly thank them for what they do. i think it would be almost

impossible for us on this panel, in this committee, to effectively and efficiently do our jobs without you. and without the igs. with that i'll yield back. >> on that agreement we'll stand in recess until just a few minutes after the seconds of two votes which means about 15 minutes. thank you. >> this house oversight committee hearing on vacant inspector posts taking a break now. heading over for a vote on the rule debating a bill that would replace automatic budget cuts street take place next year. you can see live coverage of that vote on c-span right now. we'll rejoin this hearing after those votes and as the chairman said in about 15 minutes.

>> defense secretary leon panetta and the chair of the joint chiefs of staff will brief reporters today scheduled for 2:00 p.m. eastern. we'll have it live on c-span-3. later in the day here on c-span3, a conversation on u.s./russia relations. russia's newly sworn in president putin is skipping the meeting. he says he is busy finalizing his new cab nebraska he is sending russian prime minister dmitry medvedev in his place. the discussion on u.s.-russia relations will start live here on c-span3 at 5:00 p.m. eastern. yesterday mitt romney campaigned in oklahoma city with oklahoma governor mary fallon. it was hours after president obama anoujsed his support of same-sex marriage.

>> thank you all for coming today. i want to thank chairman panell for hosting us today and all of those who have come to be part of our welcoming team to governor mitt romney to the great state of oklahoma. and it is my great pleasure to welcome governor romney, the next president of the united states, from the great state of oklahoma. >> thank you, governor. [ applause ] >> governor romney, i'm sure you have heard that you are now in the reddest state in the nation. >> congratulations. >> senator john mccain when he ran for president in 2008 carried every single county in the state of oklahoma. so i'm promising that i'm going to do all i can to help you carry every county, every 77 county in the state of oklahoma to help you in your race for the president of the united states. in oklahoma is a great state,

we're a very conservative state, governor. we are people who believe in the power of the individual, we believe in economic freedom, we don't believe that government solves all of our problems. and i know governor romney that you believe in the same thing, and that is why i am here today to lend my full endorsement and support of governor mitt romney for president of the united states. >> thank you so much. [ applause ] >> i'm going to do everything i can to help governor romney and his campaign. i know governor romney, that i believe, like i think many oklahomians believe and many people in our nation believe that our nation is headed on the wrong track. and we need a president who is going to get our nation back on the right track. it's critical to our future. and i know governor romney, you're going to get our nation

on the right course going in the right direction. i know that governor romney, as i believe, as i also believe knows that our nation is on an unsustainable financial track. we cannot sustain the spending, the debt, that our nation experiences right now. he also believes like we believe that it's taking away our freedom as individuals and our freedom here in a free market system. when president obama came into office, he came with the promise of hope and he came with the promise of change, and of course we got change, it wasn't the change that we believe in, he promised that he was going to unify our country. he also promised that he was going to create jobs and that he was going to help america be more competitive in a global economic environment. but after four years, after four years it's become very apparent that the president has a different agenda, that will not lead america in the direction

that we believe it needs to go for economic prosperity, economic growth, and certainly does not do what it needs to do to protect our individual freedoms as individuals in our nation. his policies have failed. they have not created the type of jobs that he has promised they would create. he has not been able to reduce our deficit, in fact, our deficit has grown as all of you know. and his policies have been to borrow, to tax, and to spend our way into prosperity. he believes, governor and -- in big government. we in oklahoma don't bheev in big government. we believe in individual freedom, in a competitive free market system. and now rather than the president learning from his mistakes and his policies, now he promises he's going to give us another four years of what we just had. i don't believe that's right for america. he told us he is going to double down on his policies. so if he doubles down on his policies what we've already been

able to receive from him is an extra $4 trillion in debt, and our nation, he's also brought us what i believe is many unconstitutional policies, unaffordable reforms that has not been good for our citizens, certainly not good for our nation. he's promised that he is going to bring us higher taxes. his promises that he's going to work with big labor and he promises that he thinks we need more government to help control our lives. we don't believe in that. but unfortunately, i don't think that his policies that he -- that the president initiated is going to lead us in the direction that we need to go to build a stronger, more prosperous economy and certainly better schools and a better educated work force either. in fact, i just don't believe that the four years that we have is going to take us where we need to go in the future. so that's why we need a change in course and a direction. and that is why governor romney,

we're going to do everything we can in oklahoma to help you. in oklahoma, governor romney, we do things differently. we're not like the rest of the nation. we are a state that was built on people who came here looking for a better life. we are a state who had people who were pioneers that believed in hard work, that believed in free market system, that believed in individual responsibility. we have people who came to oklahoma as farmers, as small business people, as entrepreneurs, as people in the oil and gas industry. we were just talking about the strength of it. people who became engineers, that became doctors, educated in our state, people who know how to innovate, how to create jobs, how to provide and create the right time of atmosphere for prosperity. and we in oklahoma also know that it's the private sector that helps build that strong economy, not a bigger, more intrusive federal government. government romney understands

this. he has spent his life helping grow free market systems, grow jobs, opportunities, helping american families support their families in a way that will be good for their future. he knows how to turn things around. he knows how to take problems and be able to find ways to bring solutions to those problems, to turn things around. and that's what we need in our next president. we need a president that is going to change the course of our nation, change the course that president obama has set forth to us which is the wrong direction. governor romney will do all this by bringing principles of competition and whether that relates to our free market systems, and frankly, even principles that will bring us back into what our constitution has allowed for individual freedoms and our individual rights, whether it's on health care, whether it's on the education of our children. and governor romney will also help our nation steer back in the right direction as it

relates to energy. an american-produced energy. oklahoma knows a little about producing energy, governor, as you and i were just talking about. but unfortunately, president obama has been hostile to american made energy. he's done so many things that has held our nation back from creating those jobs, creating american economic independence, also creating our independence from foreign countries that have provided oil in the past. we in oklahoma know how important energy is to our national security and our economic security. we have over 300,000 jobs in our state related to the oil and gas industry. so, i appreciate the fact that governor romney is willing to listen to work with us, to solve many of these challenges that face us on our energy independence as a nation. president obama, in my opinion, did not have the courage to do the right thing for the nation and that is to afroov keystone

pipeline. that will help bring more energy independence. he could have brought billions into our economy, certainly created hundreds ever thousands of jobs that would have benefitted not only our nation but in particular oklahoma. governor romney will be a partner for us. he won't be -- he won't establish a government that's like our boss. he knows the appropriate role of government, not only our individual lives but in our business environment. and i believe governor romney has both the vision and the experience and the know how to keep america moving in the right direction. we are a great, great nation, and we need to do everything that we can to get us right back on course to be that great nation that all of us believe in. so, i am here today to say that i fully endorse governor mitt romney for the next president of the united states and i'm going to do every single thing i can to bring you votes from oklahoma

and to help you on your campaign. ladies and gentlemen, please welcome governor mitt romney, our next president of the united states. [ applause ] >> thank you. thank you. quite an endorsement. and quite a record you have in this state, governor. and you republicans, i know we're in republican headquarters here, so this tends to be a very friendly audience. and i appreciate the chance to be with you today and to salute you on the changes you've brought to oklahoma. i hope the rest of the nation is watching. your unemployment rate is below 6%. 5.6? 5.4. don't miss the extra .2. 5.4%. there are lessons here. and among the lessons are these. one is to improve education, to make sure that kids are getting

a high quality education you applied that a through f system, grading schools, putting the kind of transparency in our education system that makes the education here one that other nations look at and say it's getting better in oklahoma. you made oklahoma a business friendly state meaning you want to bring jobs here. entrepreneurs, innovators, enterprises that will create jobs. you also have energy resources. you've taken advantage of to make sure the cost of energy is reasonable in this state. and that makes it easier for manufacturing to come to oklahoma. for businesses that use a lot of energy to say oklahoma's a good place to locate. these things aren't mysteries. they aren't real hard to understand. good schools, good energy policies, favorable labor policies that have a fair balance between labor and management. tax policies that encourage enterprises to grow and to come to your state. these things make sense. what we're finding in washington, however, is a president who has a very

different view. i think it's harping back to the, well, the old policies of the liberal past. and those policies just don't work. i think the president is just being guided by things that have been spoken about by liberals for years and years proved not to work. and you go through them piece by piece. the idea of raising taxes on small business. it doesn't help. it hurts jobs. he wants to raise the marginal tax rate from 35% to 40%. on small business. that will kill jobs. he's also tried to change the deal between labor and management. trying to impose unions where the workers themselves are not given a right to a secret ballot. that will not attract jobs. raising the dent bt in this country. the massive debt scares away investment in america. that does not create jobs. of course with regards to

energy, on almost every front, the president has made it harder to take advantage of the energy resources we have in this nation in coal, gas, oil, nuclear. we all like wind and solar, but we're not going to -- as the governor said, we're not going to be flying airplanes with the windows on them. that's not going to work. we have to have other resources that are low cost and budgeted in this country. now, when the president ran for office and gave his speech in denver at the democratic convention, he laid out the measures upon which progress would be determined. one, he said, progress would occur if we're creating jobs. he hasn't been successful doing that. his policies, these old liberal policies, have not created jobs. in fact, we've now had 39 straight months where nationally the unemployment rate is above 8%. 39 straight months. 23 million, 24 million americans

out of work or stopped looking for work or in jobs well beneath their skill level. just a tragedy. the president also said he'd measure progress by whether people were able to pay their mortgages. well, we know there have been record foreclosures. he said we measure progress by whether incomes are going up ar down. the last four years the median income in american has dropped 10%. middle-class families are really feeling squeezed in this country. i've had the occasion over the last -- well, the last couple of years of meeting with families and talking to them about their circumstances and their lives. some have jobs, many have jobs o and so statistically it looks like they're working and you they may must be fine because they're employed, but they're working for less money, working in a setting where incomes have not risen, working at a time when gasoline prices are up, where the cost of health care is up, the cost of food up and

they're having tough times. this is not a glorious, delightful time for people in the american middle class and they need help. there was money wun more promise the president made. he said he'd invest $150 billion into green energy and create 5 million jobs. have you seen those here? i haven't seen those. as a matter of fact, since 2009, there's some 10,000 fewer jobs in the wind energy field than there were. and guess which part of the energy sector has actually grown? oil and gas. oil and gas has grown by 75,000 jobs. president tries to take a victory lap and say, well, look, i'm producing more oil and gas now that i'm president. that would be like me saying that i take responsibility for the red sox winning the world series when i was governor. i'm afraid neither one of us deserve that credit. in the president's case, he's done almost everything in his power to make it harder to take advantage of our natural gas,

our coal, our oil, our nuclear. and is so he certainly can't take credit for the fact that the policies of his predecessor make federal lands better for drilling. the president has proposed to cut back on licenses for drilling by some 75%. as you know, he said no to the keystone pipeline. i have a different vision in mind. i do not believe the old liberal policies of the past. i believe america needs a new, dynamic, bold vision for the future. part of that vision includes energy. i want to explore resources offshore and onshore. i want more perms for drilling. i want to make sure we drill in the outer continental shelf, we once again encourage drilling in the gulf of mexico. and i will certainly make sure that we connect to the -- excuse

me -- to the keystone pipeline. we're not going to connect to the cylindra. if i have to build it myself, we'll drill the keystone pipeline and get the energy for this country. i do have sill lyndra on my mind, no question, because the president's policies were to invest that $150 billion in places like that and tesla. tesla is making cars now, high-end sports cars. they manufacture them in finland. and of course silllyndra is out of business. my policy would be very different. part one would be on energy, a very different approach to energy. part two is making sure we have a level playing field between labor and management. we take the labor stooges out of the national labor relations boa board. throe is to have tax policies oop oom that encourage small business. i'll bring the tax down to 28%

to encourage businesses to grow and invest and hire people here in this country. and finally one more. with regards to health care, you see, old-school liberals believe anytime there's a problem government can step in and run things better than can free people and free enterprises. they're wrong preponderance of the evidence. and obama care is one of the dreams of liberals. one of the first things i'll do is repeal and replace obama care and return health care to our citizens. i happen to believe if we put in place p policies i've described you'll see a resurgence of manufacturing in this country, that enterprises that sent jobs overseas in the past will start bringing jobs back home. i don't have a pessimistic view

about the future of america. i believe in america. i believe in the entrepreneurial innovative spirit of the american people. i believe in the productivity of the american workforce. i believe those things, combined with a government that encourages the private sector rather than dampens it will allow enterprises to come back to this country and grow. we've led the world. you look at how we live our lives now. we send messages on i pads. we take a pictures with cell phones. we work on virtual marketplaces selling things we don't even see. our best friends include people on facebook we don't even know. [ laughter ] and these things were all invented here in america. the rest of the world isn't inventing these things. we're an innovative, inventive people. those skills combined with other great resources we have promise that america will continue to be the economic powerhouse of the world if we get government to be

the ally, the ally of the people, a free people and free enterprises. i love america. i love the people of america. i'm confident in our future. the president's made some bad choices. he's taken us in a course which is reminiscent of the old liberal policies of the past. and the people of america are disappointed in where it's ended. but we're going to bring america back. and much of what you learn right here with the policies of conservativism are policies i want to bring to washington. i believe in this great land, and together we're going to take it back and get it right. thank you so much. [ applause ] great to be with you. thank you. the governor and i want to get a chance to say hi to you and shake your hands. this is not such a huge crowd that we wouldn't be able to do that. i do know a couple of members of the media y asked for a chance

to ask a question or two. we'll let you do that if you want to do that. [ inaudible question ] i have the same view on marriage that i had when i was governor and that i've expressed many times. i believe marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman. [ inaudible question ] states are able to make decisions with regards to domestic partnership benefits such as hospital visitation rights, benefits and so forth of various kinds can be determined state by state. but my view is that marriage itself is a relationship between a man and a woman and that's my own preference. i know other people have differing views. this is a very tender and sensitive topic, as are many social issues. but i have the same view that i've had since -- well, since running for office. okay? [ inaudible question ]

i'm sorry? [ inaudible question ] i believe based on the interview he gave today on abc, it said he changed his view, but you're a better judge of that than i. i just saw the reports that he previously said he opposed same-sex marriage and now according to abc news he's saying that he supports it. so if that's the case, then he'll be abyou'll be able to ma that determination on your own. thanks, you guys. thank you. thank you. and we are back live now on capitol hill for a house oversight committee hearing on vacant inspector general posts. committee members about to return after votes in the house on a measure to replace those automatic budget cuts that are set to take place early next year. two hours of general debate on that under way right now. you can see that live on c-span. while we wait for this hearing to resume, this morning's washington journal posted a conversation on the debate over those automatic