with a big bang. in the beginning, it was slowing down under the force of gravity of all the mass within it. . >> all the matter that we know and love, matter that we are made of, mars is made of, galaxies are made of, and so on, is about 4% of the energy of the universe. 22% of the universe is in the form of dark matter. this is a matter that we know is there because we see its gravitational effects, but which we cannot see. it is a bit like when you fly at night in an airplane, you look

down, and all you see is white from loomis cities. most of the mass of the earth is in the dark. most of the mass of the universe is dark. we think that these may be in the form of some exotic subatomic particles which, if we are really lucky, maybe the larger collider the geneva will actually discovered. 72% is in the form of this dark energy. here comes the embarrassing part -- we don't really have a clue what this energy is. we know its effects. it is speeding the universe up, but we don't know what it is. you remember that 70% of the earth is covered with water. imagine that we do not have a clue what water is. this is the situation we are currently in. next topic, the distance scale and the age of the universe. edward hubble, after from our

telescope is named, discovered in the 1920's that the universe is expanding, but he discovered something more than that. he discovered that there is a tight relations between the distance between -- distance a certain galaxies and the distance it is speeding from us. once you have a relation between the distance and the speed, and the relation, but the way, is linear so if something is more distant, it moves faster from us -- once you have a relation like this, you can roll it back, like a video that you run backward, and you can discover when it did the expected start. if i tell you that the distance from here to baltimore is -- i don't know what it is -- 40 miles, let's say, it will take you an hour to get there. of course, it never does, because the parkway is always full of repairs and things, but that is a different question. in this particular case, you can use this to roll the movie of

the universe back and discover how old are universe is. the problem is, in astronomy, while you can determine speeds relatively easy, because you use something that is similar to the doppler effect, this thing that when something moves away, waves gets spread out, so you can, by seeing how waves gets spread out, it tell how fast it is moving, distances are very difficult to tell in astronomy. you look to the sky and looks to dimensional. how do you tell distances? one of the ways we do this is to use these special stars, because these stars have the property that they vary in their light intensity very regularly, but it is not only that they do that. there is a very tight to relation between the period of the variation and how bright of the stars are. basically, all you need to do is

measure this period, and you can tell the intrinsic brightness of the stars. once you know the intrinsic brightness, and you know what brightness to measure, you can tell how far away they are, because we know the brightness falls like the inverse square of the distance. with hubbell, we have done this for tens of galaxies with these variables, and we now know the age of the universe to be 13.7 billion years. until a few years ago, we knew this number 2 and accuracy of about 10% or so. before hubble, this number was not known to better than within a factor of two. we recently used to these variables in this galaxy. we know the distance it very well from other measurements. and we are now using this and

managed to improve the value of the hubble constant or rate of expansion of the universe, and we know these two better than 5%. we know the rate of expansion of the universe better than 5%. evolution of galaxies in the cost of star formation rate. this is the hubble altered the to field. this is the deepest damage in visible light ever taken. -- the deepest in age in visible light ever taken. there is another start summer up here. other than that, every point of life -- light see here is a galaxy with 100 billion stars like the sun. every point of light here. there are some 1000 thousand galaxies in this image alone, -- 1000 -- 10,000 galaxies in

this image alone. in the observable universe, there are some 200 billion galaxies. we can look a little bit closer at this, and one thing that we see is that you are used to seeing galaxies that have these very nice shapes, the spiral shapes or elliptical states, and so on. you look here, and most of the galaxies here look like train wrecks. i mean, this is really horrible. not only that, but we can actually determine that the physical size of these distant galaxies are smaller than galaxies today. i don't mean that they look smaller. they are physically smaller in size. these two features, the smaller size and the fact that they are so disturbed in the morphologies, if it very nicely in our picture of how structure in the universe forms. structure in the numbers forms

but we say hire or quickly -- hierarchically, by mergers and acquisitions. they merge to for bigger things, which merged to form bigger things, until you get the grand design spiral's you see it today and the electrical spiral's use today. the universe was smaller and denser, therefore there were more collisions. as a result, the morphologies were more disturbing. with an eye towards the future, because i will tell you what we are doing with the new instruments, we just installed aboard hubble a camera that has on it and infrared channel. because the universe is expanding, the farther you go, the more and more things are shifted towards the red. if you want to see the very distant universe, you have to

look in the infrared. i can tell you that very soon, and by that, i mean perhaps even this coming month already, we will take an observation like the hubble altered the field with this in for red channel on board the camera, and this will give us an even deeper image of the universe than we ever had. eventually, we will need the james webb space telescope, which will be hubble successor, which will give us the image of the very first galaxies of the universe. now, we can use these deep images to tell us something else. the universe as a whole was forming new stars. the whole universe, and what form it was -- at what rate it was forming new stars.

we already knew that some seven or 8 billion years ago, the universe was forming new stars as a whole. at a higher rate than it is today. but with hubble, we looked at when the universe was 1 billion years old, and we discover that the numbers that was already forming new stars at a higher rate than it is doing it today. once the universe started forming stars, it started to do that furiously. it reached a peak of some seven or so billion years ago, and then -- and since then, the rate of star formation in the universe has been declining. the universe was at the beginning very hot, and therefore, all the atoms were ionized. when the universe expanded, it cooled down, and when it was about 400,000 years old, all the electrons were caught inside atoms. because these recombination.

the caustic microbe background we see comes from that time. however, there were still no sources of light there. there were no stars or galaxies and so on. at some point, the first sources of light started appearing. each source of light, because it has ultraviolet radiation, ionized its neighborhood. those fears of ionization then increased, it started overlapping, and eventually, the whole universe, the whole intergalactic medium, was reorganized -- reionized. from one -- from a few hundred million years to about a billion years. you are all interested in mars, rightfully so. but you know that until 1992, we did not know of a single planet

outside our solar system. in our own solar system, we knew nine and then and we know eight now. pluto was demoted. we did not know if a single planet outside our own solar system. in 1992, we discovered the first planets around other stars, but that was the peculiar start, all pulsar, which of these very dense objects. the first planet around the sun like stark was discovered in 1995. only 14 years ago. in these 14 years, we now more of more than 350 extrasolar planets orbiting other stars. most of these plants were discovered from the ground, not by hubble, but hubble contributed if you absolutely unique observations to this field. let me show you just a few of those.

in a few cases, the plan it actually goes -- our line of sight is such that the planet eclipses its star. when that happens, the light of the stardom's by about 1% to 2%. these are real observations by hubble of one such and giving of 1% to a 2%. hubble can see this dimming with high precision. the planet blocks sunlight, but the atmosphere of the planet also absorbs some of the light coming from the start. by looking at wavelengths that corresponded to particular atoms, we can tell which ones are in this atmosphere. in this case, we discovered sodium. in another planet, we discovered methane and water, in fact, in this planet's atmosphere.

hubble is telling us the composition of the atmosphere of some extrasolar planets. in addition, in this particular case, beginning -- the dimming, because the store went in front of the planet -- but look here. there is suddenly this bump. the planet went in front of a star spot. just like us sunspot. we discover star spots on another start. most of the extrasolar planets were discovered in the solar neighborhood, not too far from the sun. one observation that hubble did was in the part of our galaxy, halfway across our galaxy. we observed for a whole wheat 140,000 stars, and we discovered 16 candidates of planets around these stars.

we found, basically, that the frequency of planets is about the same all across the galaxy, which tells us that in our own milky way galaxy, there are billions of planets. hubble also image to the first solar plant -- imaged the first solar plan date. -- planet. in this case, we were able to actually image this planet around this start. super massive black holes are in centers of galaxies. we knew that there were super massive black holes in other galaxies. there is one in our own galaxy. it has about 4 billion at times the mass of the sun. hubble show that there is at the

center of every galaxy, or least everyone with a bulge of stars at its center said, has a super massive black hole at its center. they range in mass from a few million solar masses to a few billions of amasses. -- a few billion solar masses. it also has a very powerful jet, which we see with hubble. the jet is for to win this super massive black hole accretes mass onto it, and there are two jets powered from the centers of this disk. but hubble discovered something more. how do we discover that there is a black hole there? if there is no black hole, then the stars in the neighborhood of the center just moved every which way. when there is a black hole, stars move in a more regular

fashion. by being able to resolve individual stars at the centers of the galaxies and determining how they all move, we were able to determine the presence of the black holes and the masses. but hubble discovered something more, that there is a tight relation between the mass of the black hole and the mass of the central bulge of the stars at the centers of these galaxies. in particular, the more mass of the bulge, the more massive than the black hole. -- the more massive the ball, the more massive black hole. it is not like the galaxy evolves and a black hole is false and they don't care about each other. the fact that the mass of the lackl is correlated with the mass of the bulge tells us that the abolition of the galaxies and the central black holes are action -- the evolution of the

galaxies and the central black holes are actually correlated. it tells us something very important about evolution of galaxies. gema ray bursts were discovered a long time ago, but then the gallery observatory was discovering them about once a day, and it was very embarrassing that for a few years, they collected a few thousands of gamma ray bursts, and we did not know, because the dam are ray observatory was not able to tell us very accurately where the first is. the boxes were quite large. we cannot identify them in any other way flanks. we were unable to tell whether these dammar ray bursts -- gamma ray bursts were in our own universe or another galaxy or where. we did not know if they were in our backyard or halfway across

the universe. but that, by a combination of an x-ray satellite, which come in that particular case, was an italian satellite, and optical observatories on the ground, we were able to locate these things. in particular, what hubble did in this field is for the first time the show as images of the host galaxies of these dammar ray burris. we discover that gema ray bursts are accustomed logical distances. -- costa logical distances. they happen in calyxes of all types. -- in galaxies of all tapes. they're easy to find if they have a green circles around them. but we drew them after the fact. the thing to notice here, that they don't occur especially at

centers of galaxies, because you might have thought that they have something to do with any clear activity of galaxies. but they absolutely don't come in this case -- many times it is completely off from any center you can tell. we know that a part of these gambari bursts -- gamma ray bursts are ones that last longer than two seconds or thereabouts , and are associated with classes -- with collapses of the very massive stars. they are the same types of things that produce supernova explosions. but they produce these very powerful gamma ray bursts. there is a second class of them are great bursts that are short duration, shorter than two seconds. they are thought to be the result of merging two neutron

stars that are in a binary system. this is primarily observed by satellite called swift. this is the andromeda galaxy, one that pat -- one of our nearest neighbors. about the size of the milky way. this is what the field looks like, and this is what the hubble image looks like. there are 100,000 stars in this image. you can see a lot of galaxies in the background. look at these globular clusters of stars here. this is a collection of stars at about the 100,000 to 1 million stars that you see in andromeda. the interesting thing at this is that looking at local group galaxies, hubble is able to

resolve all the stars in these galaxies, and tell as a result of these what are the ages of these populations and so on. for example, the halo of our own milky way galaxy is kind of uniformly old, about 12 billion or whatever, than 12 billion years. in and, uh, there was a step -- and from now, there was a surprise, because it was found that there is one of formulation that is as old as the milky way, but a second one that is about 4 billion or 5 billion years younger than the population. the question is why is that? remember that i told you that galaxies occur by mergers and coalescing. what we think happened is that some four so billion years ago, andromeda suffered when a major collision with one of its satellite galaxies, and that

kicked stars from the disk into the payload. that is why you see the population that is considerably younger. by looking at this year by telex -- at these nearby galaxies, we can tell how our populations default, and thereby also understand things about how the very distant galaxies were galaxies evolves over time. here i am showing you a simulation of two galaxies colliding, and every now and then, this is stop and shows the hubble image of two galaxies interacting. you can see how you get close matches between some of the results of these simulations and the results of some images that we've taken with hubble. here is another one. this is the same simulation that just continues in time. every now and then you see that we freeze it and then we show

you a hubble image of a pair of galaxies. you see how closely they match. you never know which ankle you are going to see these. you have to rotate this in the simulation to get you the match. and we released, about a year ago, a 59 such colliding galaxies. the birth of stars and planets. so we look at a variety of the stars, young star is being born. we always thought that when a cloud of gas collapses because

of angular momentum, it forms a dissed -- it forms a disk. we have actually seen these. they operate in the upper and lower services, and the two jets. in other cases, we measured outflows. you can see the outflow as it is advancing. this is the orion nebula, one of the nearest star forming regions to us. i draw your attention to things that look like this. this is a dark a disk of dust. there is the star in the middle. you can see it the start peeking through this desk this. -- this dust disagreed with these are our proprietary disks. -- this dust disk. what these are our pro-planetary disks.

the dust coalesces and it forms rocks, the rocks coalesced, they form planetesimals, things like earth, and things that sometimes stay like earth, if there is gas and it creates gas on top, it creates things like jupiter. you use the close of images of these proto >> -- here you see e close-up images of proto- planetary disk. you see the jets coming straight out of the column of dust and gas. the famous eagle nebula. these eliminate and scope to the environment. -- these eliminate and sculpted the environment.

the cone nebula. this is another famous star farming region. this is exploding any minute or maybe has exploded already. all kinds of columns of gas and dust. if you take a closer look at some of the region's here, there is a star being born. here is another one being born. in 1994, a comet collided with jupiter. we thought this was an absolutely once-in-a-lifetime event. we thought the sabbats about every dozen years or so.

-- we thought this happens every thousand years or so. some things that are only 200 meters may happen as frequently as tens of years or so. when the first fragment of the comet was broken into it two dozen fragments, and those fragments hit one after the other, buand there i am with darker hair gathered to see the first fragment about to hit. this is the limb of jupiter. as we follow this, a point of light appeared, and it became brighter and hire, and that it became like a mushroom, and that collapsed on to jupiter. what happened is that the fragment went in, material came back out, from the exploding fragment of comet and some of to

miss -- some of jupiter's atmosphere material. it for something like and a mushroom cloud. it eventually left scars in all places where the fragments hit. some of them lasted for as long as a few months. i hope that all of you heard, but some of you probably heard, that a, it just hit jupiter -- that a comet just hit jupiter a couple of weeks ago. we are right now in the middle of commissioning hubble after the last servicing mission. these are such unique events that we stopped all activity and watched it, actually give time hubble to observe it. here it is. we observed the spot. here is all of jupiter, here is

the spot. you can see how similar it is to previous hits. in this case, it was discovered by an australian amateur who first discovered it. hubble give this high resolution image of the impact of this thing. we have a couple of more visits to see if this thing is going to spread out. you see the observation, the impact from july 19 of this year. interstellar life and death. the start button up in 2002. a large pools of light, propagated as light propagates. it eliminated farther and farther regions. this is what we see here. up. -- nothing is expanding here. we observe it every few months,

and this is what it looks like. when stars like the sun and die, they form these beautiful shapes that we call planetary nebulae. this is the eskimo, this is cat's-eye. absolutely stunning images. when a more massive stars explode, this is the crab nebula, the result of a supernova explosion in the 11th century. it was observed by korean, japanese, chinese, native american -- let's call them astronomers, or least observers of the time. just before servicing mission for, we took a few images with our old work force. here they are. this one we call the fountain of

youth, because it looks like drops of water, but also because these are actually clusters of the very young stars. some of you may know about our "you decide" contest, where we ask the public to vote on one of six targets that hubble will observe. this is the target that was chosen, and it produced a spectacular image. it was one of the very last images taken by the camera. it is an image taken after -- we have an electronic board that stopped working. for about a month, the telescope was not working. i already saw in my head of the title that they will give to this observation. they say, upon returning to work, hubble scores a perfect tan. we did this with that image of actually two colliding galaxies.

this galaxy was actually completely stretched into a spiral that forbid these images. we had this servicing mission, and i will show you 3 or four images from that. here is an unusual sight, because of the perceived risk of the mission to hubble. this is something that does not happen in launches into space station. two shuttles ready to go. endeavour the shuttle launch. i was there and it was absolutely gorgeous. these are the astronauts working on hubble. the person here is john, who has been there three times. he is the real hubble huggers. he has gotten too hard -- gotten

to hug hubble several times. this is after they released into orbit. and the shuttle landed safely, and we have the astronauts, the crew visit us last week. they have repaired existing instruments, and hubble has had its largest, and of working instruments it has ever had. we are looking at all of these to be continued. thank you. [applause] do we have time for any -- >> ok. >> ok.

i was curious, when you look at globular clusters and ask about the dynamics, is there any particular interest in metric for dark matter there to play a role in the dynamics of globular clusters, and the smaller scale measure interesting? >> not particularly about dark matter. there are interesting things about them. first of all, they are some of the oldest objects in the universe. second, they may harbor intermediate massive black holes. in fact, there's been a suggestion of two clusters where maybe one such lackl has been observed. usually when observed closer, they turn out not to be true, or at least not certainly be true. in terms of dark matter, there is dark matter surrounding old structures that form, but there is nothing particularly more interesting about dark matter

around globular clusters and then there is about galaxies and clusters of galaxies. >> when you observe an infrared with hubble, will that give you follow on correlating it is between hubble and the web telescope? >> with some luck, the james webb space telescope is scheduled to be launched in 2014. the hubble space telescope is scheduled to work for a least five years following the servicing mission, which brings you to 2014. everybody agrees that if the instruments work perfectly, there is no reason not to extend hubble's like to six, seven, eight years. we may have potential for overlapping of the two telescopes, and we would have fantastic coverage away from ultraviolet -- all the way from ultraviolet to hubble in for

red. the james webb space telescope could go to mid-infrared. >> you would have the ability to cross culprit the instruments, i assume. -- cross-calibrate the instruments, i assume. >> it is not just a matter of calibration. it is like the difference between our eyes seeing only the color green or seeing all the colors that we see. >> great talk. i just had a quick question about the beginning of your talk about speaking of dark matter. you had mentioned that we don't really know what it is composed of. but there may be some exotic particles that it may be composed of. either in the leading candidates for that? are there -- and the leading candidates for that? -- are there any leading candidates that? >> the leading candidates are

these latest stated particles that have been suggested. these particles come in principle, could be discovered in the large cake from collider. but the energy may not be sufficient to actually discover them. we will have to wait and see. there are other candidates, but this, i would say, is the leading candidate for dark matter. any other questions? >> can you hear me? i have a question regarding the -- first of all, i should announce that i'm not a technician in any sense. i'm from the mathematics community, as opposed to the scientific community. there are several things about our current interpretation, if i understand the interpretation correctly, that i don't understand.

if i understand it correctly, something like 79% to 95% of our theory is not confirmed yet. dark matter, dark energy. the pioneer anomaly -- has that explain? and if there are stars in galaxies in the for this extent, does that add a further skepticism to the basic assumptions of our understanding of things? i'm sure, as i guess, that was -- whether or not anybody is looking at that basic assumption, which, if i understand it correctly, is based -- could you speak to some of that? >> first, let me take exception with your statement that things are not confirmed. we see the effects of very

clearly. there is no question that we see the gravitational effects of things like a dark matter. there is no question that the expansion of the universe 6 is accelerated. in that sense, these things are confirmed. what is, for example, the nature of the particles that constitute dark matter, and what is the nature of this dark energy? is it associated with quantum energy of the vacuum? or is it some feel that we still have not yet identified? and so on. how are we progressing on this, and is anybody thinking about any other possibilities? the answer is yes and yes. in the case of dark matter, there is one theory that is called -- stands for cancer vector scalar.

it is a modification of our theory of gravity, which suggests that there may be is no dark matter, but we need to change our theory of gravity in some particular fashion. this is just about at the point where it can make some predictions. the problem is that so far it, those predictions are not particularly distinguishable from predictions of dark matter. it will be awhile before we are able to tell whether we need to change the theory in that case or not. in the case of dark energy, there have been other types of alternative theories of gravity say that maybe you could get excellent without dark energy. in particular, with gravity escaping into the dimensions that we don't proceed. people have developed quite intricate models of those. so far, in experiments that have to do with lunar ranging, and a

landing on the moon will allow us to do better experiments on that, and the experiments that have been done in the lab, so far, they do not confirm those alternative theories. at the moment, dark matter and dark energy look like the best candidates. we will continue to work to try to find in nature of both of those components. >> do you have anything and a pioneer? >> on what? >> the pioneer anomaly. >> some people suggest that these theories -- the early version of that is modified newtonian dynamics -- can also explain the pioneer anomaly. but there have been more mundane solutions that have to do with radiation from the spacecraft and so on. while we don't know for sure what the answer is, it is not like people are not looking at that. >> you very much.

[applause] -- thank you very much. >> of you from the brady press briefing room at the white house. robert gibbs, the spokesman for the president, will be doing the daily briefing and a couple of minutes. they are running a little bit late today. the president at this hour has been meeting with senate democrats. we will likely hear more about that meeting as well. we will have live for you as a strike until the, in the items in the news and phone calls from today's washington journal. as well. six senate finance committee negotiators reconvene to reform health care deadlines, while party leaders from the debate into the august recess. they plan to meet throughout the weekend over the month-long

break to try to reach a deal by september 15. while players continue to insist progress is being made, democratic senators are ramping of the finger pointing, accusing each other of standing in the way of meaningful reform. also this morning in the new york times -- this story on spurring car sales. the fate of the cash for clunkers program remains uncertain, even as people flocked to dealers to trade in those old gas guzzlers. and another story from "the washington times." two top republican activists have formed a nationally based expenditure group dedicated in taking down the senate majority leader harry reid.

the two will head the dump harry reid political action committee. although none of the top republican town declared it their intention, there strategy is to challenge -- and their strategy is to challenge mr. reid. you may have seen some of this video. angry protesters shouting and democrats over the weekend, only and leaving them one hope of getting the message out. in texas, one official was drowned out by a noisy demonstrators has he tried to talk about health care reform. we have our first phone call on the republican line. caller: cash for clunkers, if

anyone thinks that the democrat party is for the so-called working man, i think this is proof positive that they are more interested in money than they are their constituents. also, about this trip of bill clinton to north korea, they were going to send a delivery -- hillary along to accompany him, but they were afraid they were going to take on too much sniper fire. you know how that goes. host: good morning. if you want to give us a call, republicans, 202-737-0001. democrats, 202-737-0002. we read this story earlier from the "wall street journal." "without singling out officials,

mr. gardner, question the wisdom of giving the federal reserve more power to oversee the federal -- financial system." the headline is, the treasury secretary, after debate, wants to see some of these controls and these agencies as part of the domestic agenda. next phone call from los angeles. caller: i wanted to give you a couple of stories about my experience in going through the process of purchasing a car. a few years ago i bought a camaro. i was never even told what the

percentage of the loan was going to be. they said my score was low, and you can have the car, but a couple of days later, we will tell you what it will be. it ended up to be a 20% loan. about the third year in alone, i lost my job. therefore, i ended up contacting this company and i let them know that i could not afford to pay them, but i could afford about $415. they worked with me a few months, and then after that, after several situations of getting hassled, after sending them extra money, they decided it was best for them to take it back.

host: from the "new york post" dan rather is going after his old bosses at cbs. the former anchor yesterday filed a $70 million lawsuit against cbs executives saying there fraudulent conduct caused him significant financial loss in his chosen trade. next is mitchell from miami. democrat line. caller: i am glad you brought up that situation, but i wanted to comment on bill clinton first. dan rather came in at the right time, the right place. the republican party and those hate mongers, they went after and threaten companies that were sponsored, and that was a shame.

moonvies should not have gone for the okie dokie. dan rather is a good man. he is going to win. now that i have said that, clinton is good for this situation. i think we need more of him to go into situations and perhaps we can get a positive and there. on cash for clunkers, i think we are going to get money back from the government. that will be cleaner for our air. all of these young people observing these tactics that the republicans are doing, everything they are doing is really - -- negative. they do not think about their children. if you see all these people put testing, you do not see 18-year

olds. they are trying to have their time in college and they are embarrassed because their parents are children of the dixicrats. there are bad for the country and we need to move on. thing got for c-span. the corporate broadcast industry helped the situation, and this is why we have c-span. corporate does give back, but we should not be hypocritical to think that it is all about money. the government needs to be involved, should be involved, and by the way, the government held the insurance industry just a few months ago. he's hypocrites need to stop what they're doing because they are not good for the country. host: i am not sure i understand your point about corporations and broadcasting.

caller: the fact that all of you in the cable industry are supporting c-span, and the idea and theory that you give back. this is a blessing that we get. as a result, here we are able to dialogue. you get good comments, that comments, but we are able to dialogue. on that premise, we are able to move the country on the platform of cleaner air. host: i just want to make sure that you are clear that the cable and satellite industry does support this network, you are right. you can visit our website and seen that we receive no government dollars. caller: that is true, and i am

supportive of all of these ideas. the same people who were criticizing, believe it or not, in their same cities, and don't you think those foreign companies have come to the south from the north? they got in touch with these car companies and these hypocrites are driving the same cars. they even invest into halliburton and other corporations. they are hypocrites. you talk about god is good? when judgment day comes, i will not get and what ever line they are in because they say one thing and they live in different way.

host: wayne from texas, on the republican plan. caller: on the government cash for clunkers, i just went down on saturday and went to trade in my car. i was told by one and the major ford companies that the government has not paid them for 48 cars. therefore, i cannot use that benefit yet because they stopped taking money for it. i do not understand if the government is going to offer this. anyway, i hope this gets straightened out. host: to bar the president

travels to elkhart, indiana. detroit is also holding its third malemayoral election in fe months. kwame k resigned last september after falling to cover up an affair with a top aide. linda from los angeles. good morning. caller: of want to talk about health care. i think we are being sold a bill of goods. it is like a carnival act that is trying to sell us snake oil. they are going to plow that

field and not check for land mind. there is no way they can check every person in the country. -- for landmines. illegals are still going to go to the emergency room, and they will pass the bill to the people who have insurance. it seems to me our elected officials are turning our country into minimum paid employment. we have over 1 million in the country legally who want jobs. they have done nothing to deport the 30 million who are here illegally.

they also allow refugees from other countries. there is no way we can provide jobs for all these people, and health care, and it is a vicious circle. host: in case you missed it does today, john mccain saying no, cementing his role as president obama's critic in chief. he will be voting against the confirmation of sonia sotomayor. the debate will begin this afternoon and will continue for the next couple of days. senate republicans have asked for one hour each in their conversation. a final vote could come on thursday. a swearing in could come in as early as thursday evening, possibly friday. that depends on what happens on

the senate floor. greensburg, north carolina. good morning. caller: you read an article about protesters at the town hall meeting. host: that is right, this is the front page of "politico." caller: these are organized protests by the republicans. there was a former congressman who was behind that. they showed some of the talking points that protesters were given to go around to all of these town hall meetings and disrupt. that is not fair for the people who are coming to these meetings to listen. i understand one certainly has the right to protest, but they are disrupting the meeting so that the person cannot get any information out.

they are being bused in. host: a spokesperson for the national republican committee says that they will begin circulating in regular e-mail to reporters highlighting the protests at democratic town halls. the title is "recess roasting ." democrats feel the heat at home. you can see some video of catherine sebelius receiving that kind of treatment. caller: that is what i am talking about. they were bused in. they were brought in specifically to disrupt that, and that is what is unfair. also, the republicans have

decided to become the no republicans, no matter what the president wants to do. also, with the protests at town hall meetings, they are protesting on behalf of the insurance companies. the chief executives get such high salaries, people need to look at them, because they are trying to maintain their position. my daughter need a procedure right now that the insurance company says they will not pay for. people who are satisfied with their insurance, they should wait until they get into a medical situation, and they will see how the insurance company handles it. host: thank you. another

demonstration, organized protesters just like the one to stop the recount. on the "washington times" we will be talking about new orleans and the issue of mental illness. barbara joining us from kentucky. good morning. caller: the comment that i had is on this cash for clunkers program. i do not know if people realize this, but first of all, dealers were advertising it before the regulations were even finalized. regulations were even finalized. many are having them sign papers that say if your car does not

end of qualifying for the program, you will be responsible for the credit. or they will have to bring their old car back. i understand why they are trying to get these older cars off the road, but when they do, that takes those vehicles out of the marketplace. there will be people who cannot afford a higher price vehicle. some are just looking for a cheaper car, and that will not be available. some people will be looking for a lower priced vehicle, and they do not have the money to go to something more expensive. they will be negatively impacted. another thing i have heard is some regulation with regard to

qualifying for the program is that it needs to be insured for the last year. you need to have the tunnel for at least one year. they do not want someone buying the vehicle for $1,000 and then turn around and sell it for $4,500. i'm hearing people coming in off the street asking for a letter, saying that their vehicle had been injured for one year. i wonder if this possibility will be on the dealership or government to make sure the information they are providing is authentic. host: white house counsel john at stake, focusing on the greg craig. in a statement from the chief of staff who says we have addressed these rumors before and they are nothing more than typical

washington parlor games. while we are focused on the economy and two wars, others attempt to point fingers to promote their own status. the lohan ben is a story about the private security chief who is quitting. -- below that is a story about the private security chief who is quitting. her resignation highlights the difficulty the obama what house has had on its cyber security efforts. the president first outlined his plans in a speech on may 29, announcing his intentions to create a position that he has yet to fill. next, -- next phone call from davis, calif.

caller: regarding cash for clunkers, a lot of baby boomers, they turned away from domestic auto manufacturers because of the history of high handed tactics they used in sales. the previous guest you had, when given the opportunity to say which manufacturers were benefiting from this, she said toyota. my generation turned away from domestic auto manufacturers because of the tactics they used in selling their vehicles. also, the quality of the automobiles. i used to be in the car business, selling. i got so sick of it. one of the tactics they used

was if you got a customer, you got them into the finance office. that woman who said that she called for her mother and said that they were not interested in money, that is right. they want them in the finance office so they can benefit from the higher interest and then sell it right back to them. i do not know what is going to happen to the >> we will take you live to the white house. he press briefing should get under way more into early -- should get under way momentarily. the white house went over a number of issues with president obama. reporters spoke to him after the meeting. the associated press reported that the majority leader says the cash for clunkers bill will

be passed before the recess. it will have additional funding, and the senator says it is obvious critics lack the votes needed to block the bill. president obama entering the room here at the white house. live coverage on c-span. [singing happy birthday] >> this is because you love her. [applause]

>> [inaudible] thank you. >> blow it out to make it come true. [applause] >> let's get a picture. >> we wish for world peace and no prejudice, but we also said that she hopes for a real health care reform bill. i will leave that up to you how you want to distribute the cupcakes.

[applause] >> are you liberal -- are you a little overwhelmed their backs -- are you overwhelmed? we did not tell her ahead of time. we don't tell people ahead of time. we did not call her and tell her we were coming over here. now we have had the main event and let's get to the more

mundane topics, like what ever you want to ask. >> president clinton's trip to north korea, is a prayer at -- is it fair to say president obama supports this? >> we put out a statement this morning that this was a private mission, that we were not going to comment on while the former president was on the ground in north korea. as a result, i don't have anything more to add. >> you can understand why people could see this as an opening for further discussions with north korea. >> this is a very sensitive topic. we will hope to provide some more detail at a later points.

our focus right now is on insuring the safety of two journalists that are in north korea right now. >> i will take a second question. >> it is more like your third, but go ahead. >> they seem to be woodworking back there tonight. >> it seems to be the unemployment rate has actually worsened. why is the white house going to indiana and what do you hope to accomplish? >> the unemployment rate has gotten worse baer says the president was there in february. -- it has gotten worse there. you could probably count on one or two hands where the unemployment rate has improved. use all this in the gdp figures, a tremendous downturn in the

economy. -- you saw this in the gdp figures. even quarters where there was modest growth, that now there is a decline in the economy. the president will use this event and a number of cabinet secretaries, and the vice president will use tomorrow's events to make announcements on battery technology and capability in cars. this is an area of the country that has been particularly hard hit. as a result of the economic downturn, you have a city that relied heavily on the manufacturing and production of rv's. in a severe economic downturn like this, you have seen tremendous pull back in demand for these. the president will not just make

this particular announcement about recovery dollars, but talk about what we are seeing more broadly in the economy and some innovative ways that we can address create jobs over the long term. i think the unemployment rate is likely to get worse on friday when a new economic figures coming out. we have seen some good signs, the gdp figures from last week are one of them, but the president will use this occasion to discuss the steps that will be taken to pull the economy back from the brink and lay out what he is continuing to work on in order to get the economy back on track. the people know firsthand what the economic devastation this country has seen over the past many months.

don't just look at the economic figures since the last time the president was there, if you go back one year, you had an unemployment rate at 5%. the unemployment rate is somewhere between 16% and 17%. you can see the degree to which the economy has slid in a short amount of time. i think that is what the president will focus on tomorrow. >> i have one question on iran and north korea. the former president is in north korea, at a very high-ranking former official. some people are saying his presence there is a reward for bad behavior. what is your thought on that? >> i will not get deep into this issue. i do think we have looked at, as i said a few months ago, we are

not equating -- we look at detainment and other issues separate. we hope that the north koreans would look at it the same way. that is how this administration has approached this. >> [inaudible] on iran, president ahmadinejad will be sworn in tomorrow. some of the u.s. allies will be sent as -- will be sending representatives to attend that ceremony. does the u.s. absence indicate it does not recognize the legitimacy of ahmadinejad's reelection? >> let me get some guidance on our participation. i think we have said throughout this that this was a decision and debate on going in iran. that iranians would choose their leadership. the president has discussed our

goals for reaching out in order to ensure that they don't develop a nuclear weapons program. >> does the administration recognized him as a legitimate president? >> he is the elected leader. >> is it your contention that the anger some members are experiencing over health care reform is manufactured? >> i think some of it is. you have some groups today, conservative for patients' rights that have bragged about organizing and manufacturing that anger. >> how is that organizing and getting people to come to town hall meetings any different from a liberal group doing the same thing? >> what you have seen is they have bragged about manufacturing that anger.

you have somebody that is very involved, a leader in that group that is involved in the status quo, a ceo that used to run a health care company that was fined by the government for fraud. that is a lot of what you need to know about the motives of that group. >> aipac just issued a statement saying they are deeply disappointed by the administration's choice to award a presidential medal of freedom to one person. they repudiate her views on israel and bias against the jewish state. do you have any comment about that? >> she was the first female president of ireland. she was somebody who we are honoring as a prominent crusader of women's rights in ireland and

throughout the world. there are statements that she has made the president does not agree with. that is probably true for a number of the people the president has been recognizing for their lifetime contributions. >> i know you said you did not want to get too deep into north korea, but how is president obama getting updates on his negotiations if this is a private mission? >> hopefully we will be more free to talk about this later on. >> [inaudible] >> i will not get into it. >> they had a message from the president. can we say if that was the case? >> i said that was not true this morning. >> [inaudible] >> when was the last time president obama spoke to president clinton? >> i think it was when former

president clinton visited the white house in march. >> what is the relationship? >> i think they have a very good relationship. the present and former president is a pretty small club. -- be president and former president is a small club. they're not many who understand the pressures and issues that confront a chief executive. obviously they talked during the campaign some and have talked a couple times since he has been in here, but not since he visited a few months ago. >> on the meeting with the democratic senators, some made it sound like it was nothing but happy talk, a symphony as it was described. >> i don't disagree.

>> were there disagreements? >> i was not in the luncheon. i know that there were basically two topics that were discussed at some length. all that had been accomplished over the first six months, and particularly in pulling back from the edge of a economic depression, and the importance of continuing to work together to ensure that we get a strong health care reform bill to the president's desk. >> i want to see if there is any of date. there are still a lot of democrats who say we need more details from the president on the bill. >> i think harry reid answered this by saying he talks to people at the white house two times a day on this. >> the president has not publicly said what he wants on this bill.

>> i think the president has been very clear about the principles he sees involved in health care reform. >> [inaudible] >> i can check. josh was in there and i can check with him to see what degree. >> what is the status on releasing sales data for cash for clunkers? >> i need to check with the guys on the economic team. the figures i released yesterday were sales data through saturday or sunday, but i don't know what the status is on the rest. >> is the administration releasing at as fast as they can? >> we are focusing first on the way the program works his dealers -- is dealers give the based on the mileage difference in what you are trading in

whether you qualify for a $3,500 rebate. dealers are out there making this commitments. we are to -- we are trying to file those as quickly as possible and ensure that car dealers get that money, that they are forwarding on as rebates. we will certainly provide impression we can on a timely basis. >> why did you [inaudible] we know that clinton did not sneak over there. >> you don't think he went hiking and just ended up there? >> [inaudible] >> i don't want to belabor this but i am hopeful at a later point we can have a more fulsome conversation. >> when you have information you

release it pretty quickly? >> what parameters were provided to president clinton before he left? >> nice try. >> they describe it as a pep talk. how much of tomorrow is a pep talk and how much of it is a reality check? this is what we can do but this will take awhile? >> the president has always discussed the fact that this will take a lot of time. if you look back at -- you have a recession that started in december of 2007 i don't know how many months, that is 21 months ago, so we did not get here over the course of a couple of months.

let's understand that many communities in the midwest, some of whom are dependent upon auto manufacturers and parts supplies, felt job loss dating back well before december of 2007. i think the president's will continue to bring the message that he has come out that it will take some time -- the message she has, that it will take some time to get our economy back on track. if you look at where we were in january, what we now know is happening to economic output measured by gdp, we discussed in this room not just jobs but we discussed economic output, financial stability, we discussed regulatory reform, we

discussed housing foreclosures. i think if you look at -- nobody predicted we would be standing here today provided that almost every bank that is part of the tarp program got funding not from additional public sources, but through the raising of private capital. we are on pace to, by november, modify the mortgages of 500,000 americans that need help as part of the home affordability program. we have seen some progress that the economy has not retracted at nearly the pace that it was just one quarter ago.

>> [inaudible] these jobs are not coming back. >> i think his responsibility is to talk about the things we're doing to lay the foundation for job growth and laid the foundation for continued economic success. i think the president has always understood that it is important to be straight with the american people about where we are, about where we need to go and some decisions we will have to make to put our country back on the right track. that is some of what he will do tomorrow. >> back on north korea, i think everybody understands the sensitivity of this issue. there is a geopolitical overtone to this. under what circumstances will the white house be willing to

share with the american public what is happening? >> when we felt comfortable doing so. i think the last statement made mention the fact that we would not talk about this while former president clinton was in north korea. [inaudible] >> i will not prejudge the outcome of the trip. >> is this publicly linked? >> i will ensure that i don't do anything that will jeopardize that. >> why would you believe that, speaking about this trip jeopardize that? >> safety is the best policy. >> [inaudible] >> surprisingly no. >> [inaudible] >> no.

>> where does the administration believed the $2 billion should come from within the stimulus package? does it have a preference? >> i owe this to john. i need to look of the legislation and i will get it for john. the money comes from an energy efficiency program previously approved. >> that is what the administration supports? >> yeah. >> do they reject the notion that this money could come from the tarp program? >> you could not do that without a change in the law or approval of congress. >> [inaudible] >> it could not be done unilaterally. it makes it more difficult.

>> with the statistics released so far, i know they have not released all of this. based on what you know so far come up for the -- four of the top five best-selling models come from toyota. >> 47% of cars sold were from the big three, which were slightly larger than their current market share of 45%. i think the top-selling car through this program is the ford focus. would you have seen this we are comfortable because we have seen people are making decisions to buy cars for the first time in a long time. two, this program was also designed to take cars that get

far worse gas mileage, which pollute more, for something that is safer for our environment and protect our security. i think the statistics we have shows 61% increase in fuel mileage. >> the original legislation was dropped in the negotiations. i don't remember this ever coming up. did the administration actively seek removal of that provision? >> i know that some of those provisions -- >> you can continue to watch this online at c-span.org. we're going to leave this now for a scheduled coverage of a hearing on capitol hill that will look into better funding for transit systems, including testimony from transit officials.

it is just getting under way. live coverage here on c-span. >> how this could result in the continued expansion of public transportation options and facilitate economic growth, improved energy security, lower greenhouse gas emissions and alleviate traffic. today i want us to look at the investment needed to keep our existing transit systems for writing. the federal transit in ministration released an astonishing report. it estimated that the seven largest transit agencies, there is a $50 billion backlog in order to maintain a state of good report. to address this, spending on these needs would have to almost double from $5.4 billion to

over $10 billion per year. the report says if we do not increase our investment in maintaining transit system soon, we will face a crisis. the april report gave us the facts and figures, but we can all agree that the wake up call about the condition of the transit equipment was the tragic events of june 22. just after 5:00 p.m., the washington metro train hit another one that was stopped on the tracks. nine people were killed and 80 were injured. our thoughts and prayers are with all of those affected. one of the most important things that we can do to honor the memories of those who died is to provide agencies the resources needed to keep this from happening again. the cause of the crash is

ongoing, but one of the factors we are looking at closely is the computerized system. we need to make sure this is not repeated. i want to be clear that i believe the washington metro system is safe and we're working with the safety board and will learn from this tragedy. but as a federal government, we need to be sure we are adequately monitoring and providing resources to keep these systems running safely. we will hear testimony from transit agencies around the nation about how we can do better, but there are a few areas where i hope you can get a -- where i hope i can get each of you to touch on. we need more funding for the rail modernization program.

and perhaps fix for emergency spending authority as situations arise that are particularly urgent. i would like to hear your ideas about funding needs. in addition to the finding that may be needed, i think the fda should work with agencies to maurer effectively use the resources they already have. -- work with agencies to more effectively use the resources they already have. i know there is a lot of interest in and different views on how to modify the existing modernization fund. i don't want this hearing to become a squabble between transit systems, but i would like to have input. there were several agencies that wished to participate but could not. i welcome them to provide input on the committee in writing. we need a better understanding

of the definition of state of repair is. we also need to develop a system to report the condition of transit access. we do not want these systems to be bogged down in red tape, but it appears we need more information and transparency. i look forward to hearing from all of you, starting off with our distinguished administrator of the transit administration. before i turn to the administrator and my distinguished colleague from hawaii, if there was any statement you would like to make at this time. >> i want to thank you for convening this subcommittee on housing, transportation and community development.

and to welcome our eyewitnesses -- welcomed our witnesses. we will be increasing the availability of resources to repair, upgrade and expand real transit systems. although a is important to modernize our nation's existing rail infrastructure, we must also develop rail in areas without systems to improve mobility and promote smarter growth. one city continues to develop its rail system. the local contribution will likely be 70% of the cost, but it will still need significant federal support. i thank the witnesses for appearing today and look forward to working with members of the

committee to increase resources available for transit. thank you for conducting this hearing. >> thank you, senator. we will start with our first panel. we will have two panels. our first is the administrator of the federal transit administration. this is his first appearance before the committee. it has been a pleasure to work with an administrator who understands the senate as well as the national transportation issues. we look forward to a long-term relationship and your thoughts today on the critical issue of what is at the heart of the ability to operate in the 21st century. the floor is yours. >> thank you, it is quite warm to return to the senate and be among old friends. if we are pleased to discuss the state of good repair of the

public transportation system. in the interest of safety and reliability, it is imperative that we stay on top of the aging condition. deferred maintenance items, if left undetected, it can become a safety risks. the issue of our transit infrastructure are inextricably linked. role in the oversight of these systems is limited. we are prohibited from establishing a national safety standards for a large segment of the rail systems for bus systems. the new in ministration finds this status quo to be unacceptable. -- the new administration finds this unacceptable. we need to address the gap in transit safety oversight.

even with our limited state the authority, know that we continue to assess transit infrastructure and encourage best practices by the industry. as we address this issue, it is essential that we remind ourselves that rail transit remains a safe way to travel, far more than using our highways. teo transit agencies you will hear from have been dorgan -- two transit agencies have endured 13 fatalities. the fact is that highway accidents in the areas of washington and chicago claimed at least that many lives each month. despite the state's record of the industry, we have been called into investigate several accidents in the past. they invested -- investigated

the chicago metro rail in 2006. the accident resulted in the failure of a track structure. this screw served as one of thousands holding cta rails to ties in the derailment. it is corroded and the form. you could pull scores like this right out of the rail with your bare hand. this equipment dated back to the original installation and was never replaced. the ntsb report stated that the derailment should serve as a wake-up call to all transit agencies with equipment that ages with each passing day. the findings speak to the core of our challenge, the infrastructure is aging, but in maintaining a state of good repair, we can not limit our

focus just to the aging systems. the washington metro system is a very young agency. many of our new systems are using new technologies for which we don't have a lot of experience. washington metro years ago was required to replace tracked signaling equipment before the end of its service life. for some systems, the biggest risk factor may be a screw like this one, but for other is the biggest risk could be in the programming of a circuit board that could only be a couple years old. and to ensure safety and good repair, we must take a comprehensive approach that identifies and controls all potential risks. we must have systems that demand continuous improvement where all employees are held accountable

for safety. there is also a vital human factor that cannot be ignored. if important witness is deferred, it sends a negative message to employees who must work with those conditions. employees may wonder if they should continue to report those problems if there is no action taken. we registered a record 10.3 billion transit trips in the u.s. last year. our agencies are working their equipment long and hard to keep up with demand. that pace of activity takes a toll on people and equipment. these factors point to the need for every transit issue to have a program in place and a point of the need for adequate funding from all levels of government. marginal infrastructure conditions persist despite the

increasing financial support through the fixed guideway program, as well as increasing support through the urbanized grant program. we find that the systems that are adequately financed are those with a dedicated source that provides predictable revenue stream. it allows for long-term capital investment equipment. new jersey transit has benefited from its own trust fund. other agencies can draw a designated amount from taxes. other agencies had no dedicated funding source. the solution is not going to be found solely at the federal, state or local level. it will need to be a priority at all levels and insist priority -- insist industry addresses the most critical problems first.

they have made state of good repair priority. in april 2009, we published a study that was supported by the senator durbin and other members of this committee. that study assessed level of investment needed to maintain the state of could prepare for the nation's seven largest rail systems. they carry 80% of the nation's transit ridership in order to assist agencies in correcting this backlog, we are developing a transit and set course in conducting a review of asset management practices. we are also expanding on this study and will take in a broader agencies, we will look not just at the same definition of state of good repair, but we will

solve the problem of identifying the portion of deferred maintenance that is safety- critical. we will work with industry on trying to better define what this composes. i want to thank you for the opportunity to testify and am happy to take any questions. >> thank you. you talked in your testimony about held commuter rail systems are regulated -- how will systems are regulated by the railroad administration, while other ones are seen by -- while others are overseen by state agency. should they all be under the federal railroad in ministration? should be enhanced fta powers? what are your views on that? -- should we enhance fta powers?

>> we've formed the committee to get to just that. we just gave an update on our work the other day. what is more important than whether the fta does it is that someone does it. it needs to be someone who has the funding and authority and personnel to compel the attention of the transit agencies. that is the concern we have with the current system. we have a total of 28 of them, the average personnel strength of these agencies is 1.1 fte per agency per year. >> what does that mean? >> slightly more than one person. if you take california out, which has 12 person agency, you actually have less than one person on average for the

remaining agencies. what that tells us is this is being treated as a collateral duty within transportation, where many of the departments had stood at the bare minimum in order to reply -- in order to comply with the regulation. when i testified in the house, i testified next to a representative and they were testifying on behalf of additional authority so they could have is some teeth in order to compel the attention of the agencies they oversee. we also have a concern about the independence of some of these organizations. this is not a situation that we allow in any other area of transportation safety enforcement. >> when do you expect the secretary to issue a report? >> we will be working through

august on this. we hope to get it out as early as possible. we have had several meetings already and will have a meeting shortly. >> we look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible. i have a poster here that one " washington post" cartoonist thinks it may be a good idea to create a cash for rail cars. i don't know if that is a good idea or not, but i do wonder even in the recovery act where we put $750 million, which is nice morton and forward -- which is nice movement forward, but it does not make much of a dent. what is your view as to how we need some of these very significant needs? we want to move people

increasingly to transit. we learned in these type of gas prices the consequences of not doing so. americans increasingly move into some of the greatest ridership levels we had seen. they have stayed there because most of these systems are effective. safety is an incredible part of what we need to promote. as we drive people into these systems that we want them to participate in to have a high speed system that gets them to their opportunities for work or entertainment, at the end of the day we cannot guarantee that it will have the type of system we want to attract the ridership. if we are looking at $50 billion in costs that your agency has documented. what is your sense of this?

should we have a large temporary program, should be increased funding for existing programs? as part of that answer, if you can talk to me about -- i have had two arguments about how to reform will modernization funding. some say the only way to do this is 2/need. others say this gives a perverse incentive for local agencies. -- some say the only way to do this is to divide by need. should we be finding based on objective criteria? how do we need the challenge that we have of $50 billion of your agency's determination of work to be done? how do we go about that and what is the policy decisions to be made, as we meet the financial challenge, how does that get

dispersed? >> i think you spoke to one of the solutions in your opening statement. are more resources needed from all levels of government? i think so. we also need to get agencies of doing a better job of targeting the most gullible assets. there are two elements to that. -- targeting the most vulnerable assets. it is important to point out that certain assets we don't you as safety-critical ashley had a very real impact on ridership. for example, crowded platforms, disabled air-conditioner s, escalators that don't work. they not -- they may not be viewed as a safety-critical, but they can move people out of the transit servants -- move people out of the transit service.

you are about 45 times more likely to die from an accident on the highway been in transit. it becomes a safety-critical issue. on the issue of what kind of program should we make, i would say we want to do a link with additional funding to better asset management. that is not to say the best definition will come out of the beltway, this is something we have been working with our people for some time and plan to continue through round tables and a dialogue. there is a very diverse practice out there among the transit agencies on how best to attacked -- to identify their critical of deferred maintenance and address it. as it relates to the formula, i would make this observation.

i would say that the current formula is a bit of a hodgepodge. it is hard to define precisely what the strategic goal of eight is because you have seven different tiers of finding. i think you do want to define what the goal is and then build a formula around it. as part of that goal, you talked about perverse incentives. you do want to do something about a mandated level of effort on the part of state and local government, because we had examples of certain agencies who fell into more dramatic disrepair due to the absence of attention on the part of state and local government. if you take a snapshot of who is

in the worst shape now, you do run the risk of not appropriately rewarding governments that did the right thing. >> thank you very much. senator. >> thank you very much mr. chairman, and welcome. i know you are familiar with honolulu rapid transit project. let me say that the project has completed its fta compliance analysis study of more than 2.5 years ago, but it has been awaiting approval from fta to interplanetary engineering since then -- to enter preliminary engineering since then. we have been collecting dedicated local tax revenues amounting to more than $300

million to fund its share of the project. before your arrival, honolulu pulse protracted use of getting to pe seems to be similar to challenges that other cities have faced. recognizing that the administration will have recommendations for statutory changes as a part of reauthorization. this is my question -- are there other actions that you can take in the short term that do not require legislation that could help expedite the project approval process? >> yes, there are, and we have begun to take some. there are three discrete universes' of the changes.

one is a change to agency guidance. we just published last week a series of changes that are oriented towards eliminating paperwork burden that has not been in tactful to the process. we hope to do more. -- they have not been impactful to the process. some of these involve eliminating steps in the process that are duplicative or not necessary. for example, i am not saying we have endorsed any of these proposals, but you pointed out the alternatives analysis that all -- that honolulu went through. there is an alternative process for compliance with nepa.

we are figuring out whether we can eliminate a step right there. we are also looking at areas, especially for more experienced transit agencies, that might not need as much technical assistance from the agency in the early stages. maybe they could come in for a funding determination by presenting a whole package later in the process, rather than having to go through the aape final grant approval process. these are all things we are looking at. this is an area where we hope to come forward with something in the near term. there are many other elements that will have to opine on our ideas. obviously, the level of resources for the program will matter to how many projects we can bring into the system.

>> thank you for that. with respect to the administration's proposed 18- month extension of existing highway and transit programs, can you explain how the 18-month extension might impact projects seeking the execution of the full funding grant agreement during the 18-month extension period? will befda have sufficient authority -- will they have sufficient authority to enter into grant agreements with those projects that will be ready to begin construction during that time? >> what we commonly referred to as contingent commitment authority, it will depend on the duration of the reauthorization. at present, the amount of commitment authority we get is

dictated by a three-year snapshot of resources of the program. i understand there is legislation being considered in the senate that might expand that to five years, but the wider the snapshot, the more resources we have. one of the reasons why we did not put forward and 18-month package was to provide stability to the program, not just not trans itnew starts, but for funding so that the transit agencies can expect what they will receive and what our highway agencies should expect to receive. we will use the authority we have. no, there will be some that will be ready to go to construction that if we receive no additional authority, could be slowed down. >> thank you very much. my time has expired.

>> let me ask you one last question. is there a well-accepted definition of what is a good state of repair? is the fta and transit agencies on the same page? >> i don't think it is a matter of the fta being on a different page. there are maybe 12 different pages out there, but the major transit agencies don't necessarily seek to capture the same definition. some focus just on the age of assets, some focus on the aged and recapitalization, some had a more robust effort to try to capture what their backlog is, some try to get to a state where they show no backlog, some recognize they will always have one and it should be at a certain number of years that they can inshore it.

we have been working with our trades and agencies -- a number of years that they can insure it. sometimes the definitions are about the -- there is room for improvement and plenty of opportunity for more dialogue to try to coalesce around a single definition, especially when you think about federal mandates around it. .

>> as i call you, if you would start coming up, i would appreciate it. carol braun, the chairwoman of the chicago transit authority. -- carol brown represents one of the most active agencies in the country. it proves helpful as the chicago transit authority meets its challenges and we learn -- we are anxious to learn about how they are utilizing existing funding. john catoe is the general manager of the washington area metro authority. it serves the federal government and has recently suffered from tragedy. the subcommittee appreciate you taking time to appear before us during these challenges --

during these challenging times. we look forward to your testimony. please accept our condolences for the tragedy that happened in june and our willingness to work constructively to help move it forward. richard sarles is the executive director of new jersey transit and has a compelling story to tell about its efforts in repair efforts. my home state system has efforts to share. we look forward to hearing those. dr. beverly scott, the general manager and chief executive officer of the metropolitan atlanta rapid transit authority and chair of the american public transportation association. she will bring the perspective of an agency that was not in the april 2009 fta study that has

substantial needs. we readily recognize the rail modernization needs exceeds those stated in the study. she will be able to give some thoughts as the chair of the american public transportation association. we want to get you all up, we are going to shortly be having votes, so we will along as far as we can and recess when we are compelled to go to the floor and have three votes which will mean that when we recessed, we will be about half an hour in recess. i would ask you to limit your testimony to 5 minutes so that we can get to questions. your full statements will be included in the record. with that, why don't we start with this brown. -- why we start with miss brown.

>> thank you for the opportunity to testify today and talk about the needs of the chicago transit system. to buy and chairman of the board of the chicago transit authority, the second-largest transit agency in the country. we carry nearly 1.7 million riders a day. on to under 42 miles of track throughout -- on 242 miles of track. we are the primary trend the system in eastern illinois. we operate the elevated train system that has become an odd -- that has become an icon system -- iconic symbol of chicago. sadly, that system is aging and in poor health. the oldest rails were built between 89 and 1900. the oldest subway was built during world war two. our oldest railcar dates to 1969. it has 1.7 million miles on it and our oldest bus drivers was

built in 1907. -- our oldest ourgarage was built and 1907. this is in addition to the fully funded capital plan and it does not include expansion products that total over $4 billion. $6.8 billion is a shortfall needed to bring the system into a set of good repair. if the largest maintenance need is about $4 billion. this includes rail stations, rail structures, track work, power substations, contact rail and cable. we need $1.2 billion to repair and replace our rail fleet. it travels 225,000 miles today. 20% of our feet -- of our fleet is over 30 years old. the standard useful life is 25 years. our rail stations average age is

24 years. we need to replace the system, and with $1.2 billion, we could replace two-thirds of the fleet. we are very thankful for the federal rail modernization funds levers seat. we have are against those funds to reduce our 15 minute per mile slow zones on our blue line 27%. we completed the repair work in 2008 just as rider ship had increased by 5% due to a sudden spike in gas prices. at the same time, vehicle miles traveled on the road test client. the good news is even after gas prices were cut in half this fall, if the people who had switched from driving to transit continue to ride the trains and buses rather than return to driving. had we not fixed these loans, those people made to transit would have be -- what have become frustrated with the unreliable service and quickly returned to commuting in their cars. the whole point of my being here

is to stress the importance of maintaining the nation's transit system. like my counterparts, i believe the help the transit system will help to alleviate congestion on the nation's road and a sustained investment is critical to our nation's well-being. that is why i am so pleased that 12 members of the senate, including the chairman and other centers asked for the report on the rail modernization needs. the share of the state of good repair highlighted in this report is over $4 billion. that means the rail contract, and railcars have passed their useful life, leading to an increase in slow sons to ensure safety in the system. we are in dire need of modernization. your leadership in redressing this issue will go a long way to fix the problem. fta report provides a blueprint for modernizing the system by refining the modernization program where funds are

allocated based on age, type of system, and maintenance needs. realignment of the program will likely lead to an increase in funds for agencies fundscta and new jersey transit and others. thank you for leadership on this issue and i asked you to consider the recommendations as a deliberate the transportation authorization bill in the coming months. thank you again for the opportunity to testify. i would like to answer any questions you might have. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today. i would like to thank you for your leadership on transit issues, especially in regard to legislation dealing with the lease-back arrangements and climate change. sometimes we are called america's transit system or america's subway. metro is the largest public

transit provider in the national capital region treat nationally -- capital region. nationally, we are the sixth largest bus station in the united states. we provide service to 1.3 million customers a day and provide trips to hundreds of millions of riders each year. those who reside within the washington metropolitan area, as well as visitors from all of the nine states and across the world. metro is now beginning to feel its age. to use a comparison that any house honor would relate to, our crowded house is now 33 years old. our need to go far beyond the spring cleaning and a fresh coat of paint. we have a wet basement, rusty pipes, cracked tiles, old electrical wiring, and the equivalent of a 1976 model car

in a 100 year old garage. our capital needs over the next 10 years totaled more than $11.4 billion. these needs include replacing our oldest railcars, including those involved in the tragic accident from june 22. we need money to replace leaking tunnels and crumbling platforms, upgrading our tracks and associated infrastructure, to this escalators and elevators, and replace about 100 buses each year. replacing old bus utilities is also a need. especially the ones that are over 100 years old. we need to update critical software. we also need power and control system upgrades, additional railcars to run longer trains and reduce overcrowding.

as you stated in your comments, metro experienced a tragic accident on june 22. two red line cars collided outside of our metro rail station. i and all rail employees are terribly saddened by the loss of life and injuries that occurred that day. while the national transportation safety board has not yet determined their cause of this accident, it has refocused attention on the state of rail infrastructure around the country. there is clearly ample demand for many transit systems for additional federal support to sustain the safety and reliability of their system. the work we have done to keep transit systems in a state of good repair might not be exciting at times to hear about. but without it, service and safety will suffer. there will be more delays due to

failing infrastructure. that means lost time for customers and lost productivity for the region and the nation. the funding provided by the federal government is critical to our ability to keep our systems running safely and reliably. if we do not receive sufficient funding now, service as well as safety will decline. i want to raise an additional issue before i conclude. as more people are riding public transit, metro is already reaching capacity on many parts of the system. as i have stated on several occasions, with this region and nation witnessed on inauguration day, january 20, where 1.5 million people crowded into the system will become a daily event in the very near future. we need to make investments to expand the capacity of the system to accommodate the rider

ship growth such as purchasing addition railcars and making the upgrades in power and in its facilities to accommodate them. as the subcommittee considers ways to meet the infrastructure needs of the transit system, i encourage you to develop a source of funding at the federal level for this project to expand capacity on existing systems so that we may meet future writer should demands. in conclusion, i appreciate the interest in the state of america's have derail infrastructure. we had metro parking -- are committed to do whatever it takes to make sure the system is as safe as can be and provide the best possible service now and in the future. thank you. >> thank you very much. mr. sarles. >> new jersey transit is the nation's largest statewide public transportation system, providing nearly 900,000 weekday

trips on to under thousand buses, [unintelligible] and commuter rail lines. we also operate under its trains daily on the amtrak northeast corridor. i would like to thank you for providing the opportunity to testify today on the criticality of providing [unintelligible] for mature public agencies. the program was created by congress to provide funding to establish transit agencies and improving existing systems, including improving existing in the structure and other things. in short, the rail modernization program was created to modernize and director of all mature transit agencies across the country to a state of repair. when it comes to a state of good repair, new jersey transit is a success story. we inherited in the structure and equipment from predecessor bus companies and railroads like

the pennsylvania and erie lackawanna, dating back to the early part of the 20th-century. unfortunately, public transportation under private ownership throughout much of the mid 20th-century suffered from significant disinvestment and lack of maidens. from its investment -- from its in segment -- from its inception, we have focused on restoring the equipment and facilities to a state of good repair. it has taken three decades to bring new jersey transit to a state of good repair and we will need to continue to concentrate efforts in this regard to maintain infrastructure and equipment. in fiscal year 09 alone, we spent two-thirds on repairing capital maintenance. during the '90s, we expensive and -- significant resources on the connectivity of the system, including midtown direct service to montclair and the construction of the frank lautenberg stations to secaucus. new jersey transit expanded the light rail systems in the

1990's. the hudson bird and light rail lines. had this -- as is public -- as those projects were completed, we emphasize the word in a set of good repair. that effort has reduced -- has produced tangible results. new jersey transit is in the middle of the largest rolling stock upgrade, providing the relocation of 41 pieces of equipment. we invested over $100 million in four critical mobile bridges, replaced by ducks, replaced wooden ties with concrete ties, and completed a automated upgrade. we declared in may of this year, the new jersey capital transit programs have forced the state of good repair to the system. continuing this success will require renewed enhancement of federal funding and adequate funding for reaching a been to prevent premature degradation of equipment and infrastructure. how did we get here?

it started with the bipartisan support 30 years ago and was recently, our focus on the state of the repair was reinvigorated by the governor, directing the authorization of the state transit trust fund and a jersey transit produced an annual investment in the state legislature. that strategy promotes a set of good repair as a top party followed by core capacity improvements and expansion of the reach of our system. new jersey has consistently provided funding for the trust fund, the new jersey transit capital expenditures. the governor has allocated more than 40% of new jersey's transportation capital funds to new jersey transit. these funds are matched 141 by [unintelligible] from the federal government. -- these funds are funds1 for 1 federal funds.

what to do to maintain good repair? i urge this committee and kong -- and congress to increase funding for public transportation through the rail modernization formula and the urbanization formula. as aging systems expand to meet demand, i would caution there are things congress should carefully consider. any kind program that distributes money in a way disproportionately decreasing funding to transit agencies in states of the repairs is problematic. i would suggest and the -- [unintelligible] another situation congress is considering is anything that proscribes which projects advance ahead of others. it would not be prudent to determine which bridge should be fixed first. those decisions should be made by this closest to the infrastructure and equipment. we have made significant dance -- significant advances by making our top party and pushing decisions on how to spend good

repair money down to engineers and eight nuns staff to evaluate and the structure and equipment. i have concerns related to proposals that suggest information about if the structure conditions should be collected on a federal level, put into a database where an algorithm would produce its list of what should be fixed. i want to reiterate that a state of good repair has been our top priority from its inception and i appreciate this committee allocating valuable time and resources to consider time and resources to repair the nation's transit agencies. >> thank you. dr. scott. >> thank you for the opportunity to present testimony regarding the state of good repair and rail transit modernization needs. as we begin, i would like to also thank you for your extra night leadership on the issue which continues to haunt a number of transit systems like my own. just a few facts and perspectives about our transit

rail modernization needs. candidly, the big ugly and the room, the state of good repair. we're the ninth largest in the united states and one of the future one transit stations designated by the degree of common security. we were created in the 1970's and funded locally by 1% sales tax. today, that sales tax generates over $300 million, down significantly over the last 18 months. annually, we invest over 50% of that local sales tax generated in the capital. every day, we carry more than half a million passengers. we carry more people in our region on monday then reside in this it -- on one day than reside in the city of atlanta. we have had much welcome federal participation. this year, we celebrate 30 years of transit rail service in the

atlanta region. our rail system includes 48 miles of double track, 38 stations, 330 real cars, 104 miles of mainline track, three railyards, 20 miles of yard track, 109 elevators, thousands of cameras, call boxes, vital really switches, and just to give you a sense of the magnitude of the operation trade the best but admittedly incomplete information protect at -- projects instead of good repair requirement of about $5.2 billion over the next 20 years to preserve the existing system. today, the share of real modernization is on annual basis at of about $37 million. in a nutshell, we are representative of an important and growing slice of transit systems in the country. all, like us, or modern -- were modern, but are aging and just

beginning second generation plants to the system. in a matter of speaking, we are the baby boomers of the transit industry. 20-35 years old, no more than new kid on the block, but just all too often, it seems like we looked up one day and suddenly we were middle-aged. largely operating in high-growth areas of the country like the atlanta region with continuing demand for rapid service expansion while we don't expect the same explosive growth we experienced in the '80s and '90s, another 3 million people are projected to come into the atlantic region by 2015. you find staggering concentrations of physical infrastructure rehabilitation and replacement needs coupled with a devastating turnover of experienced personnel at all levels resulting from retirements that are understandably very -- but understandably clustered. finally, not a fully appreciate

organizational steps -- organizational shift from being a building organization to operating organization. having been in the industry for 30 years, this requires a very different skill set, competency, and organizational focus. in closing, i would like to stress the point that the challenges confronting us in addressing the issue of state of good or fair are industry-wide. virtually every community and transit operating is -- operator is [unintelligible] i applaud the serious focus in this area and strongly support the expansion of the april 2009 state of good repair report to conduct an industry assessment of state of good repair beyond the seven largest systems included in this report. it is my belief that investment coupled with real programmatic restraint, a level playing field, outcomes based, meaningful reforms metrics, strong federal oversight, in-

depth technical assistance and serious incentive for local investment are key elements to the prescription needed to help us move forward. i believe that ultimately there must be consequences for those systems and communities that are not truly [unintelligible] of the federal investment. our industry is so behind in the state of good repair and class asset management and large measure, that's attributed to under investment. many transit system managers really don't know what they don't know, or more importantly, should know about the state of the repair in their system. while it is not right, human nature being what it is, all too often they melees sets and overtime and when you continuously defer projects and don't have the funding 80 two -- funding needed to replace in the structure. before you know, it becomes ok to be ok. then after another seven, 10, 20

years, it becomes ok to simply get out the door without an obvious safety defect problem. for an industry clearly depending on big things that move, moving safely and efficiently with precision, is a glide path to mediocrity when our core servicing system expectation and standards [unintelligible] this is the real challenge that faces our industry and communities we serve in our nation. if we continue to neglect the real and systemic issue of state of good repair. at the end of the day, what is the overall transit vision and expectation? and national transit system of first choice or one of last resort? thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts. >> thank you very much for these very honest reflections. we will start a round of

questioning with the distinguished ranking member of the full committee, senator shelby. we appreciate and being with us. i appreciate mr. catoe and dr. scott, you're mentioning our testimony about the legislation -- i know how important that is. i hope our colleagues from virginia, maryland, and georgia would join us in the process of cosponsoring legislation that would help us move along. i do know how consequential it will be if we don't get some relief therefore transit agencies across the country. mr. catoe, i know the investigation is still going on and i don't expect you to comment about what the results will be. we will wait for results, but have you as an agency from that experience learned anything in

the context of what we're talking about here that is of value to the committee and would be of value to other agencies? >> let me tell you some of the steps we have put into place. the mattress system, as i mentioned, is over 35 years old. prior to the accident, we were running various tests on our system once a month. since the accident, we run test twice a day and based on the recommendations from the national transportation safety board, we are in the process of developing a real-time detection system. that will take time to develop, but it is under way. the other aspect of looking at the system and what we have learned, something we knew and had planned for, the need to replace cars once they exceeded certain life expectancy. the issue the ntsb discussed

with us which did not cause the accident, but has an impact on the amount of impact it can be done as the crash were thinness for vehicles -- crash worthiness for vehicles -- we have talked about that today. in addition to those actions from the investigation, it is to look at the sibling systems and computer backup for that. to make sure the systems you are using are up-to-date and you are using the best possible technology. that requires an enormous amount of investment and capital dollars. >> let me ask you -- your testimony highlights that even a successful agency, without adequately funding -- without adequate funding, performance can suffer. i think the chicago transit

authority has effectively used some of the recovery act funding to deal with some of those challenges if i'm not mistaken. but if you don't get a significant increase in rail modernization in the next six years, what is the system look like? >> we have a $6.8 billion need. if we do not get a significant investment, because must always be safe and make sure the writers are safe, we would need a smaller system. as prior ship increases, that would not be the case. so we would not operate our system, whether bus or rail, our system is smaller and does not carry the number of writers it does today. -- number of riders it does today. >> so you have to reduce services? >> we would reduce services and take buses off the street. we are heavy rail and bus and the investment we need in the

rail modernization, we need to put save us a quick and on the street to reduce the number of routes -- that would reduce the number of routes we serve and would reduce either the frequency or had way of the trains as they continue to age and we can replace them, we would have to increase the headways on the rail system because we would have to operate your trains. >> mr. sarles, in much of your testimony, you have a caveat and i would like to dwell on that caveat. you allude to the fact you are worried about too much federal oversight of how agencies keep themselves in a state of good repair. my question to you is do you oppose any requirement to report the state of repair information? where are the bounds? i know you all want money from the federal government, appropriately so. but it seems to me we have

responsibilities for safety, so what is the right balance? >> we're happy to provide all the information we have on the condition of our system. what concerns me is when i hear discussions of decision of rhythms which means that you take the informations and -- decision algorithms, which means you take the decision and animation and spits out the most important priorities. that type of decision making needs to be made by the transit authority, in our case at least, by the engineers and maintenance and operating people know the system best and can decide where we go first in terms of spending money and providing an formation, where -- in terms of providing information, we're happy to provide it. >> i am not a bigot algorithm guy. we depend on them to hope for -- i am not a big algorithm died.

my personal view is there is a need for the fta to have a sense of what a state of good repair is and what the inflation is to make informed policy decisions and allocations as well. to some extent we can get together and work with the added a trader -- work with the administrator, is very important. >> and we will work with them. >> senator shelby. >> i was not here when the administrator was here, but i have a number of questions i would like to submit for the record. to all the panelists -- have we added to the overall problem by allowing systems to continue to expand and grow without regard to their ability to maintain what they have? i know is a mixed bag, but if

you don't grow, he can finish the system. i know that. but at the same time, maintenance and safety is so important, is it not? >> i would like to note that even the aging systems continue to grow because of demand for ridership. the more people we can move to public transportation, the better. i think growth is good and we need continued investment in the system as well. there is not a public transportation system in the world that is not subsidized by the government. i think the investment needs to be increased so we can encourage people out of their cars for a cleaner, safer environment and on to public transportation. this is to be for all systems

that are middle-aged. we are senior citizens, on our last breath, we need health -- need help. but for middle-age systems, it's important as well. >> but whatever systems we operate, they have to be operated safely. they're moving people with as much speed as we can put together. >> if i could respond a little bit to the question. in my testimony, i talked about the balance. sometimes it is not as pretty to come to a repair of a rail line, but it is absolutely critical. there needs to be a balance of a state of good repair and maintenance of an existing system but, as we observe from the country, specifically here in washington dc, our system assumed it would carry 300,000- 400,000 people.

it now carries in excess of 800,000 people. in the case of the inauguration, 1.5 million people. there has to be a balance of safety and the state of good repair and the money, when necessary, to expand capacity. that is what i support as part of the position this group is taking in its testimony. all that relates to safety. the state of repair means that you have a safe system. >> i would echo those comments. it is an issue of balance. balance and additional funding. we have another 150 million people that will be added to the system in the next 40 years, so we have to do expansion. at the same time, we cannot let that go at the risk of not running safe systems. the challenge that faces us is

that we have to significantly increase the funding on both ends of the spectrum for a set of good repair as well as expansion. alternately, i would call a more with a velvet hand, we have gotten ourselves into this quagmire and we have to have an immediate infusion that is focused on the issue of state of the repair. i understand we got what we got and then ultimately, federal funding decisions in terms of expansion to the least being able to show a modicum in terms of which got in terms of satisfactory use of that investment. i would be supportive of that. but we are in the mess we are now, candidly, putting a hammer down and saying there will not be any growth until we wind up taking place of that would be shortsighted on all our parts. >> i just want to go back to a

little bit of what i said earlier. our first priority has been a state of good repair. we took a system that was totally disinvestment in part of the last century and created one that is in a state of good repair. we always look to spend money first on a state of the repair. but when we look at capacity expansion, one that we are required to do is demonstrate to the fta that not only could we take care of the capacity expansion, but that we have the money to maintain a state of the repair for the existing system. >> is the primary problem lack of funds? the lack of planning? all that? >> thank you. the first thing is a lack of sufficient funds. there is funding, but the needs are grading -- the needs are greater than the amount of funding. if you look at the historical perspective and we talk about

balance, we could probably look back and say maybe we did not have the proper balance of expansion and maintenance of the system. overtime, the amount of dollars for maintenance crew at a higher rate than -- grew at a higher rate than what had been allocated under the federal program. from planning perspective, that needs to be part of the knicks going forward whenever there is appropriations for a new start that we need to build in the formula, what it cost to maintain the system over the next decade or century. >> i would just add that in the case of cpa, our funding problems are also operational. as we try to straddle the operational funding shortfall, we tend to use capital dollars for preventative meighen's which exacerbates our capital needs.

-- preventative measures which exacerbates our capital needs. >> your ridership is 800,000? >> it averages slightly under 769,000. we have had the 25 highest -- >> how much money does that bring in per year? >> roughly about four hundred billion dollars. we recover about 80% of the operating costs. >> so you recover 80% through the cash flow. >> through the fares. operating costs, not capital costs. >> is that basically what the others do more or less? >> i think it is the second-

highest in the country. >> i am at a 20% recovery and with rail, about 35%. >> new jersey, overall we are between 45% and 50%. buses are a little bit lower. >> we are roughly 50% this year. [unintelligible] >> is my understanding federal transit administration does not currently defined state of the repair. do you believe there should be a uniform definition for a state of good repair and should be specific measures and requirements tied to such a definition? is that right? the state of good repair is not defined? >> i don't mind responding.

i think there are various definitions in the industry for state of good repair. what we need to do, working with the federal transit administration, is to ensure we have the same definition and the same measurements in place to ensure the systems are there. the answer to your question is i support a common definition and common standard of measurement throughout the industry to determine status of the repair. >> part of the problem has definitely been under investment. the other issue is that we are all over the map in terms of structure on state of the repair. what that means, having the appropriate for nation and tools, there is rigor required in that area.

i join with my colleague, i don't want to wind up seeing something that becomes a cookie cutter that spits out numbers and all the sudden -- but some discipline is required. >> thank you. thank you for holding the hearings. >> i want to follow up with a couple of last questions before we start this series of votes. we have been fortunate that we got all this testimony before the votes start. senator shelby raises a good question. correct me if i'm wrong, but should not be considering one we are extending service as opposed to capacity to maintain in good condition the existing service we have? that is a challenge to agencies. if there is a demand for greater service and you not meet the demand, there is the flip side of a consequence to that. obviously, ridership goes

somewhere else and the farebox goes down. that has a consequential effect. is that a fair assessment? >> if you don't provide it quality service and enhance capacity, the writer should will drop. -- v. ridership will drop. as i commented, i support the concept of if you are going to build a system you have planned for the made into the system, [unintelligible] there are provisions set aside to do that. that's one of the issues from the process of looking at the reauthorization of the authorization bill. how is an expert? >> if you get 80% back of your operating costs in your case,

which means used to live a 20% shortfall, what you get on your capital costs? >> from the fare box recovery standpoint, there is a zero on capital. that's local level as the federal government. >> the bottom line is that even one of the most highly efficient operations -- operating systems as a 20% shortfall in its operating budget. it's that thing in terms of its ridership as relates to capital needs. this is a fundamental reality of mass-transit system. our colleagues in congress have to understand that, as one of the fundamental issues in whether or not you want and effective mass transit system. my other point is that, in my view, as someone who previously, before coming to the senate,

represented a congressional district that was right across from midtown manhattan. on that fateful day, september 11, came to a very hard way of understanding that in a post- september 11 world, having multiple modes of transportation is critical for national security. on that particular day, when the train stopped, when the bridges were closed, when the tunnel for closed, having another form of transportation, in that case was faeries, bringing people out of downtown manhattan to get treatment in new jersey. while that is different than the type of transit we're talking about now, it highlighted the importance of a post-september 11 world where multiple modes of transportation, in addition to getting to a place for job and

economic opportunity, in addition to improving the quality of life we have as far as sitting in traffic less time and having more quality time with families. in addition to prove -- in addition to improving the air we breathe where respiratory ailments are still too high in this country, in addition to environmental issues, and the addition to planning it in a way you can create bases around transportation systems through transit villages, there is a security component to this. when something happens, god forbid, and i hope it never happens again, that is why we work every day to make sure that, but if it were to happen, we need multiple modes of transportation to get people out of the area of incidents into a place of safety. that's another component we lose sight of along the way. with that, thank you to all of

you for your testimony. the record is going to remain open for one week to allow senators the chance to ask follow-up questions in writing. for those of you who received questions, we ask you to respond to them as promptly as possible. thank you for the dissipating and helping the committee prepare for the upcoming reauthorization legislation. with that, the hearing is adjourned.

>> or the korean media is saying that kim jong il has pardoned two american journalists and ordered their release after the visit of former yes president bill clinton. we will update this story when we get more affirmation. u.s. senate is in session today. members have been working on 2010 spending for the agricultural department. final passage could occur sometime this afternoon. the chamber could also take the measure giving $2 billion for the cash for clint reprogram passed by the house last week. also expected on the agenda is beginning the debate on inhalation of judge sonia sotomayor to be justice on the u.s. supreme court freed a final confirmation report will likely happen before the senate adjourns for its august recess. the senate is live now, on c- span2. >> how c-span funded? >> i have no clue. >> may be government grants.

>> advertising for products? >> public money. >> my taxes. >> how is c-span funded? america's cable companies created c-span as a public service, a private business initiatives, no government mandate, no government money. >> and now they defence department briefing about the ongoing military operations in afghanistan. we will hear from the u.s. general in charge of forces along the afghanistan-pakistan border. this is half an hour. >> good morning, everyone. this is the pentagon briefing room, can you hear me? >> i can hear you, thank you. >> let's get started. our briefer is the commander of

combined task joint force 82 in afghanistan. he and his troops are responsible for security and stability operations in natal's regional command east. this is our first opportunity to get an update from the general assumed command on june 3 of this year. with that, i will turn it over to you for opening remarks before taking questions. >> thank you. hello and thank you for joining me this morning on what is my first pentagon press conference as a combined joint task force 82 commander. two months ago, the second division headquarters replace the 101st headquarters and the combined joint task force 11. during the transition ceremony in afghanistan. since then, combined jordan -- combined joint task force 82 has

worked hard to joining with the 101st and afghan forces in the 14 provinces of command source east. though predominantly army, we have significant contributions from navy, marines, air force, and special operations. these sailors, marines, and airmen fill critical needs ranging across the spectrum of operations. i want to begin by paying tribute to our fallen heroes. here, far from home, brave men and women have given their lives for the cause of freedom in afghanistan, and also to keep all americans safe and free. to their families, friends, and comrades, i offer my heartfelt condolences. no words can diminish the grieving we feel. i want you to know all this honor them for their service. we will remember them and you, each and every day.

many of you are familiar with regional command east. the land area comprises 120,000 square kilometers, the same size as the new york and mississippi. most of the area is steep mountains and tantalized terrain. even relatively flat areas, the high altitude is a limiting factor for a number of agricultural and commercial activities. 9.5 people lived in the areas, mostly near the capital and within 75 kilometers of the pakistan border. population lives mostly along the roads, but a significant numbers quite isolated. in these areas, afghan forces attempt to intimidate through violence and coercion. hear, our main priorities are to protect the population, help build the afghan government's capacity to serve the people and enable sustainable development to improve the lives of all afghans. the security of the afghan people is the main focus.

we carried out through close partnering with afghan government officials and national security forces. a key part of the approach is information, which we see as the key domain in counterinsurgency. we understand the true center of gravity is not taliban, but the willing support of the afghan people. we are working hard not only to counter the enemies propaganda of misinformation, but to anticipate and expose them. we are doing this by taking a proactive approach to seize and maintain initiative by pre- empting events and exploiting opportunities. we see the affirmation line of operation as the primary line of operation. along the security line of operation, we strive to protect the population by, with, and through the afghan national security forces. we partner of forces at every level to build confidence, capacity, and credibility and we also learn from our afghan

partners. many of whom are skilled and experienced soldiers and commanders. in the areas of development and governance, we're working closely with the civilian counterparts than ever before. in my career, i have never seen a more focused approach pushed down to the lowest levels. we have integrated civil and military groups, provincial reconstruction teams, agribusiness development teams, district support teams, etc. along this line of operation, we're working with civilian colleagues to connect people to the government by linking local leaders to government resources through accountable measures. the civilian search now under way will be a critical unable or here. all along our development line of operation, weak partner with the department state, usaid, and other agencies as well as the afghan government to build sustainable development through economic growth. mutually supporting efforts to

the un, the independent election commission, and other organizations are a big part of this effort. this month, afghans will go to the polls to choose their next president. the afghan elections are one of the most important things that will happen during our deployment. close to 1.5 million people in our region are registered as first-time voters for the upcoming collection on the 20th of august. the afghan people are clearly making their choice for freedom and did so when it turned out at the registration drives. this is an afghan-run election and we will not take sides. we have an important role to play in the process. we of troops on the ground to support the national security forces through this process and the afghan people who make the decision to vote in the election. the elections will not be perfect, but the outcome will determine who leads afghanistan for the next five years and will determine the credibility

and legitimacy of the afghan government. this -- with this as a backdrop, i am happy to take questions. thank you. >> thank you. >> i'm from reuters. you mentioned you see information as the primary line of operation. are you saying that is more important than fighting and protecting the population? could you explain what that means in practice for your operations and provide reassurance about the differences between information and propaganda? >> yes. as i talked about that, the four lines of operation we have, information operations is the primary line here. i am making a difference in roles between myself and subordinate commanders. that makes a difference in terms of the importance of the fight

against the enemy. i do see the center of gravity as the people and people are the most important piece of this. no question that any of those parts or that portion of your question that you asked. i do differentiate between what you call propaganda, as i look at information operations. it is holistic in the sense that i am talking about strategic communications and messaging. i am talking about information operations in terms of a military term of that, which would include psychological operations, so it is an umbrella. this is a war for perception. we believe it is important to emphasize communications in all that we do. here's my greatest emphasis -- is simply that we have a communications process -- a communications processing team here that speaks accurately and

quickly to the different audiences. that's the primary piece and it has to do it accurate, truthful information, good or bad, as quickly as we can get it. it is a war of perception trade as you know, there has been a great deal of discussion about our enemy and how quick they are in terms of strategic communications. they do not have to worry about whether they are accurate or truthful. most of the time they are not. they just try to be first. we have a tough job here. we have to be fast, but more importantly, i have to make sure we are accurate. hopefully that answer to question. -- hopefully that answered your question. >> i'm from abc news. since the was a tactical directive recently, can you explain what impact that may have had on the operation of

your forces in the region since the directive came out or has this been -- have the following consistent pattern before the directive came out? >> the tactical directive was issued and general's and 10, the center of that is the protection of the afghan people. that is the intent of the order. as you know, it deals with the measured use of force, primarily having to do with airpower, and direct fire, and munitions that can cause greater property and personal damage. again, it is the measured use of that in order to protect the afghan people. in terms of the impact on operations, we have been very deliberate about our use of any mission, a particularly large missions, always with a view toward being careful that we

employ munitions where we would not in danger of non-combatants. we have refocused our efforts as a result of the tactical effort, being initially cautious in this regard. in some cases, it may have slowed the pace of operations in the sense that we take more time and allow situation to develop to ensure we know whether or not civilians are in the area. we may maneuver a little more to gain a more advantageous position where we know we can exclude any civilian casualties, we may in fact back off and cordoned off an area and then call out the enemy for instance. .

>> is this fairly uniform across your area or are some units more closely linked to the afghan army they and others? what is your goal in extending that in the month to come? >> thank you. that is a good question, and it is an important one to me, because the first principle is protecting the population. the second major priority is

building the afghan national security forces. within rc east we're not proportioned and an even fashion. we're beginning to plan with our partners in how to make adjustments. that is primarily because of the position of our forces and the positioning of the police forces is just not ideal to get an ideal partnership headip. a partnership means to me that we can relocate. we obviously operate together continuously, and then i think we will put greater focus on this now to begin working at every level together throughout the force and also through our

planning. my battle space is the battle space of the 2 1/3 commander of the national army -- afghan national army. as we considered the threats in the security of the people, we have to do that together in a greater way than we're doing it today. it is pretty good, but i believe we can make it better. over the next several months, in particular, we will do that. in fact, today we just concluded a conference with our afghan national security force partners as well as our combines security force that is responsible for their training to consider the options and ways that we can improve our partnership. >> do you mean more forces in order -- do you need more forces in order to do the partnership

properly? or do you have enough people if you move people around. >> i believe at this time i have enough to do the partnership in a way that i am describing. will we will need to do is shift boundaries and shift the forces as well. i would add that in terms of partnership and in terms of where we want to go, that i do see a need for a greater capacity within the afghan national security forces. as you know, we look at not only building their competency, but their capacity at a quicker pace than what we have now. >> could you give us an update on the missing soldier that was captured by the taliban militants?

what are the efforts you are doing to bring him that? -- to bring him back? >> from the time he went missing, we started extensive efforts to locate and bring private bird dog back to work forces and to safety. we continue extensive operations throughout our force and also with the help of our afghan partners and other agencies as well. i prefer not to go into any further than that because i do not believe it is helpful at this time. >> general, it is mike with cnn. i wanted to follow-up on my colleague's question about general mcchrystal directive. are you having more or less

success in stopping the enemy will assist directive? he said it is willing operations, but are you having more or less success in stopping the enemy? >> in terms of the success, i do not really see a difference. we are operating a little differently, but with this directive in mind, we plan a little bit differently as well. the other thing that i would say is there are lots of areas where i operate that i very rural and very scarce population, as a result of that, in those areas in most cases the tactical directive is not a consequence. there is no population in the area where we fight. >> this is bloomberg news.

getting back to the training question, can you give us a status update of how many afghans you have in training for the army right now and are you also training for the police? how many are you able to get through the program over and amounts of time? and give us some figures on that. >> i am sorry. i really cannot go into details on that because i am not responsible for the training regiment pendan. i take over the training once the unit is trained as a basic contact of italian. then they come back out to rc east. essentially we begin to refine

their collecting skills, and we work very hard and leading skills. those are our focus areas. the pace of training and production of forces you'd have to go to the general for mike of -- formikah. >> i was wondering if you could tell us about the tactics of insurgents in your area. we seem to be seen more sophisticated attacks, or the reports of those recently. can you talk about the current tactics of the insurgents in your area and what they're addressing any development or change in those tactics. >> actually i will talk a little bit above this because their tactics different regions are

different. i would say that your comments about the sophistication increasing, i look at this over time in the last six or seven months going into the summer that the sophistications are about even or maybe even a little bit less in terms of effectiveness. we have had an increase in the number of significant activities, but what i am saying is the effectiveness in terms of direct contacts and their skills is probably diminish some. that has to do with direct contracts. we did direct contacts -- direct contacts. we are seeing some of the ttp's migrate to afghanistan petted they seem to be skilled in

knowing what areas to use different types of ied's and initiation devices. that is actually my most difficult area right now. the fight is set for an almost area -- the fight is different in almost every area. there are a very different set of conditions. we will, to * see more skilled fighters in terms of the ability to conduct a complex attack. in other areas, the direct buyer contacts are generally not as skilled. obviously as you move into comerck -- konar the ied's

become more common. >> it is mike from cnn again pended on that topic, you had some addressing a lot of the same skills seen in iraq and 70% of your casualty's are from ied's. what is happening with the u.s. in terms of the counter ied effort. are there lessons learned from iraq? or is it just a whole new batch of lessons that you are having to learn of their? >>-- over there? >> we are bringing all of the expertise from iraq and afghanistan to the air here. we have quite a good counter ied

organization at every level. i have one at headquarters that looks at all the different disciplines. we have experts from almost every field that would apply here working on this problem. essentially what i would say is while the number of itt's is going up, the percent of casualties caused by those numbers is saying about flat along the line. that is our expertise and countermeasures having an effect for the good of the soldier. as the numbers climb, the number of wounded will climb right alongside it. there are tough things that we're dealing with. they are difficult problems to solve in terms of technological solutions. >> do you think the marines' operations had any impact on the

situation in your area? have you seen any militant crossing into the pakistani border? >> i am sorry. the first part of your question, you asked whether the operations and pakistan have influenced me? >> i meant the marines' operations. as i had any impact in the situation in your area. -- if they had any impact in the situation in your area. >> i have not seen insurgents entering into pakistan as a result of the southern operations conducted by the marine. we do see that movement right

along the seam between our c east nrc south. -- we do seek that movement right along rc east and rc south. we are aware of that. i cannot say i saw an increase or decrease as a result of the operations from the south. i think as they expand their operations that we will see an impact pitted as commanders we are planning for that as well. -- we will see an impact from that as well. >> when you capture a group of militants that are planting a bomb. had they turned out to be homegrown afghans or are they

from pakistan or other foreign fighters? >> for the most part, they are afghans. we do see some foreign fighters. obviously in many cases the foreign fighters are the ones that bring higher skills and act as the tilak -- facilitators and trainers, but they're not in great numbers. in the last 60 days those that we of captured or killed here were some of the facilitators leaders that lead ied cells. the great majority are afghan. >> if i could ask what affect our the pakistani military

having on the border. >> we have seen a decrease in the cross border activity as a result of the operation. as my commander noted, most notably noticed in the konar. there was not only the operations of pakistan, but on our side as well. it did have an impact on the enemy's ability to move fighters across the border as well as we know they have had difficulty resupplying those that are deeper into the konar as a result of are complementary operations.

in the south, while it is not -- they are not a full-fledged operations yet, they are operating there. we have seen some what of reduction of cross border activity there as well, compared to the past. >> a thank you very much for your overview. i want to turn it back to you for any closing remarks. >> thank you. i appreciate the opportunity to talk to you. in closing, thank you again for joining me this morning. i also want to thank all of the great support of families for year-end labor in support -- for your unwavering support. what makes our team special is the dedication combat experience and professionalism that our soldiers and marines and the unyielding support of the

family members back home. we're able to do what we do because of this kind of support and your support as well. i appreciate the opportunity. airborne. >> thank you very much. we hope to see you again soon in this format. >> thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] >> the peseta is in session today. members have been working on 2010 spending with the agriculture department. a vote is expended -- expected in the next couple of hours. harry reid said after the work on the agriculture bill is finished, they will work on the confirmation of judge sotomayor.

an update on the story we're following, and north -- north korea announced today that they have pardoned to obtain the american journalist hours after bill clinton met with a north korean leader as part of the announce diplomatic meeting. the story goes on to say that k im announced a special part into the two american journalists who had been sentenced to years of hard labor. earlier today, senate democrats met with the president at the white house. they spoke to reporters after the meeting for about 10 minutes.

>> this is a wonderful time we have spent together. we have reflected on how far we have come in the short amount of time the very first thing we did is health care. there was absolute unity in the caucus. different ideas were expressed, but every idea is that we understand that we're going to do comprehensive health care reform. and we have many of the committee's completing their work. everyone recognizes that we're going to do a bipartisan bill if it does at all possible.

we do not want to do a partisan bill. we hope our republican colleagues acknowledge that. we will continue to work with them as long as we have to. the american people want health care reform, and we're going to do health care reform. in spite of the loud, shrill voices trying to interrupt town hall meetings and throw a monkey wrench into everything. we will continue to work hard. there was a lot of experience in that room, and we had someone who was leading us that we all admire so very much. the president did not get one standing ovation, but several. you reminded me -- he reminded me of the days when i was an athlete and the coach was giving me if peptalk before the game. if you cannot of the peptalk ready to take on the world. -- you campe out of the peptalk

ready to take on the world. >> we're going to recommend we do this every tuesday. the president was enthusiastic about where we are and what we have accomplished. let me echo the leaders worldds. four of the five committees have acted. i have a great amounts of confidence and max baucus. i am confident that we can get this done. we are ready and willing to go over the legislation. the process is a dynamic one. we are open. we want people to come to the table and share ideas, whether they be democrats, republicans, doctors, nurses, any who have ideas you can strengthen the participation.

we are determined to get this job done. we're going to be gone for a month. a half-million people will lose their health care coverage in that month. 14,000 people per day. we need to come back with a renewed sense of purpose. so that the american public no longer has to worry whether they have the coverage or opportunity for care if they get into trouble. many of you know i will go to surgery in a few days. i have a great health care plan. i have never worried about my health care plan. my situation should not be different than any other american. if they get sick or need help, they should be able to get it. just because i am a member of congress does that mean other should not have the sense of security as well. i am confident that democrats and republicans can join together to get that done. >> this was an enthusiastic,

comforting, warm reaffirmation that health care reform is necessary for the american people and we working together we will accomplish it. we will get it done this year. we agree it should be bipartisan. it is the right thing to do. the american people want us to work together. second, we agreed that we have to get costs down because costs are too high. we have to get the waste out of the system so the american families do not have to spend as much, american business to not spend as much and the budgets are not too high. we also are dedicated to reforming the health-care industry so many companies are taking advantage of way to many americans care ye.

bottom line is we're going to try to get of our partisan health care bill. -- we're going to try to get a bipartisan health care bill. we are going to get costs down. we're going to reform the health-care industry, and we're going to get coverage for americans. it was a wonderful meeting led by a terrific man, the president barack obama. one of the senators listened to me as we walked out, it is so wonderful to hear him speak. it is like a symphony. he is so good pare and. therefore there is great motivation by our leader to go out and get this done for the right reasons because it is the right thing to do. >> what makes you think you have

the democratic votes to do this? especially in the house? what makes you think you could get it done on a bipartisan basis? >> the preference is to do it together. american people want us to work together. american people do not like partisanship. american people also do not like groups of people trying to kill something that should be done, should it pass, health care reform. we know that we have to reform health care system so we're going to get it done. hopefully we will get it done together first. >> there is high humidity. a couple of questions. the chairman of the committee

talk about energy legislation. we spend a lot of time on a lot of different issues. >> any agreement on cash for clunkers? >> we will pass that. >> when will you do that? to go before we leave here. -- >> before we leave here. as senator baucus said, 80% of the bills are together anyway. the president has been involved in this from the very beginning. anyone that thinks president obama and his people have not been involved in health care reform have not followed what is going on. there is not a day that goes by that i do not talk to several people in the white house. tico's the main thing is is the right thing to do.

when we go much and explained with such conviction about what this is the right thing to do, the american people will start to realize that is the case. polls show that we american people know that much of this is putting an end to insurance companies, then it becomes quite popular. we're going to explain why we're doing this. we're going to make sure people are able to keep the same doctor in saving plan and have the choice they want to have. when the understand that, i think it will work out quite well. >> it is senator bachus expecting to take the lead under the cap and trade bill? >> we're working on that now.

>> senate republicans today called on congress to start from scratch on health care legislation. this is just under 10 minutes. >> good afternoon, everyone.

obviously all this will be in a very important month for all of us to go home and have an opportunity to discuss the way forward on health care. i think there is a bipartisan agreement that we need to improve the american health-care system, the very broad -- but very broad differences in opinion on how to go about that. all indications at this point is that the american people would like for us to slow down and try to get this right because of the magnitude of it. i think they are not interested in another rush in spend like we saw on the stimulus package. aldus will be a good opportunity for all of us on how to deal with this issue and go home and interact with our constituents and come back here in september with a stronger understanding of exactly where

the american people might be on this most important issue. >> when i go back to tennessee, i expect them to tell me over august what they have been telling me the last few weekends, which is that we're headed in the wrong direction on health care. and that we need to start over and get it right. when you have mail clinic -- mayo clinic and thousands of senators saying we're going in the wrong direction, that means you need to start over and get it right. the democratic bills, when broken down just where state, but medicare cuts for about 9000 seniors. 1.6 million tennessee people would run a significant chance of losing their employer insurance, most of those would go into a new government run program.

400,000 of those would go into a failing government run program that already exists called medicaid. we have about 135,000 businesses in tennessee who will be paying new taxes and fines. we need a health care plan that americans can afford. when we're through fixing it, we need a health care plan and government that americans can afford. that will be our objective. >> i had a town hall meeting last night in advance of the august break. i am looking forward to getting out in my state as my colleagues are. and peering directly about -- and hearing directly from the people. it strikes me that the things that most americans probably care about right now is jobs. it is the economy. obviously the cost of health care factors into that and the availability of health care, access to health care all

factors into it. the one thing that we should not be doing is raising taxes when the economy is in a recession in a way that will cost jobs to the economy. most people are making the connection between the cost of many of these health care proposals in the trillions of dollars paid for by new taxes on small businesses, which create two-thirds of all the jobs in the economy. i think the american people are appropriately focused. i think probably when you have unemployment on the threshold of 10% and your economy is shedding jobs every week, everything that we do right now should be dilutive of job creation. i think what the american people are concluding based on what they have seen so far is that the proposals that democrats have put forward in terms of health care reform would cost the economy jobs.

they need to weigh in on this. august will give us the opportunity to share directly from people in our individual states. hopefully will be able to come back in september and it down and talk about things that would reduce costs and improve access and that would not cost the american economy jobs. >> how you expect the cash for clunkers program to play out? will there be a final vote by the end of the wheaeek? >> what i anticipate is that it will be concluded by the end of the week. what we will be negotiating over is the appropriateness of some amendments to the bill, but i would anticipate that the matter will be completed sometime before the end of the week. >> [unintelligible] >> i am predicting we will get a

vote on the proposal some time before the end of the weaker yeek. >> senator baucus said he wants a bipartisan bill. do you think they're really aiming for a bipartisan vobill? >> right now the only thing bipartisan is the opposition to them. clearly a help cope -- a health- care bill that should pass should have bipartisan support. we are continuing to hope that will develop. a major overhaul of 16 of our economy is not likely to enjoy anything other than bipartisan opposition. >> [unintelligible]

>> there are a series of amendments that are meaour membs think would improve the proposal, but we will work on this. thank you. >> at a meeting today with white house economic advisers, vice- president announced the auto rebate program and talk about the administration's $787 billion economic stimulus package. his remarks are five minutes. >> yesterday we had a briefing with the economic team the impact -- about the impact and more optimistic projections that we're seeing. six months ago we gathered here

in the white house worrying about the u.s. economy and whether it has fallen off a cliff. today analysts are trying to determine if the official recovery is already under way. larry summers said six months ago we were talking about whether this recession was when to turn into a depression. now we're sitting here talking about whether or not when it the recession will turn into a recovery. it is a significant change in the last six months. that is because we are starting to see signs of stabilization to parts of the economy. in the final quarter of last year and that first quarter of this year, the loss rate of gdp was around 6%. in the most recent quarter gdp fell as much lower at 1%. many economists have attributed

in large part to the recovery act. one piece of the three-pronged approach that the administration has put together this economy moving again. the recovery act was designed to do three things. it has been mischaracterized by a lot of people. first is rescue. the second is recovery. the third is reinvestment. there is no evidence that it has accomplished the goals it set out to do. state and local spending has increased 2.4% last quarter and a very unexpected reversal. that leads directly to the fiscal relief we have provided to the states. household income has got a much- needed boost in the last quarter, growing at a yearly rate of almost 5% following declines in the previous nine months. business investment contracted less than expected as confidence

is slowly returning to the economy. americans are now confident enough that was certain incentives they are willing to start to spend again. for example, the tax credits for new buyers. this stabilize prices. this gave a boost to 250,000 families. the cash for clunkers program has been an unqualified success. it has boosted consumer spending. our critics say they do not think this program is helping. all of the economic data points to the opposite. i think it would be hard to tell a young family who just bought their first term because of a tax credit or the thousands of people who just traded in gas- guzzlers' for a more efficient

car that it is having no impact. do not get me wrong, we still have a long way to go, less that is not the same as good. we know that growth in gdp is necessary but not sufficient. it is not a sufficient mark for of recovery. for one thing, it will not occur until there are jobs. my grandpa used to have an expression, he said when a guy at the line is out of court, there is economic slowdown. when your brother in law is out of work it is a recession. when you are out of work it is a depression. too many people are of work -- out of work. i can tell you today without reservation, the recovery act is working. when we do recover in brief finish rebuilding and wrestling the thousands of people that

have fallen into a black hole, we also will have begun to lay the platform for a much stronger, more stable economy. let me conclude by saying that, and i think it is a fairly widespread and widely held view that the recovery act is working. it was necessary in continues to be necessary, and we're going to see to it that we execute the remaining portion of the act with the same kind of aggressiveness. think you. -- thank you. >> later members of the president's cabinet spoke to reporters.

>> and you all for joining us here today. -- thank you all for joining us here today. the president has made it very clear that the future of our economy is dependent on us being international leader in a new breed of the economy. part of that is injuring that we develop the skills and jobs that will be necessary for us to compete around the world in the emerging new economy. -- the future of our economy is

dependent on us international leaders and a new green economy. we understand we cannot be successful in building this green economy if we do not have everyone participating around this nation. in particular, when you think about what has happened in this economy, the fact that many minority and low-income communities have been hardest hit by the economic downturn, we must begin with building the connection and the bridges from this administration to the communities and organizations that can make sure that grassroot changes happen on the ground. the president has said over and over again that real change does not come from the top, it comes

from the grassroots. we have to make sure that the bottom up change happens here in washington. we have made an enormously strong start on that with the recovery act. $40 billion that we're dedicating to housing through the recovery act. we have an enormous opportunity to use that as a jump-start on greening housing stock. 20% of the carbon emissions come from our home. so this needs to start at home, quite literally. we spend 5 billion per year on utility payments, just for we are spending, through the

recovery act, almost $5 billion to green are public and assisted housing. that investment is a smart investment because it will actually over time will work -- lower what we spend as a nation. it is smart investment in building the jobs that i talked about. we have begun, through that funding, to building bridges. we have begun to make sure that the jobs that are created by death greening are available to residents of assisted housing. we have been partnering with the department of energy and other partners in government to make sure that all of the dollars that are available are targeted

to making sure public and assisted housing become leading agents for changing the way that we retrofit housing in this country so we can demonstrate new techniques and new models. and to work closely to create the jobs and ensure that they go to the residents of public and assisted housing into the surrounding low-income community spirities. i want to welcome one of my colleagues to say a few words about what she is doing. >> we just took part in an extraordinary confirmation -- shearing on transformation. we talked about transforming to clean energy economy. we talked about the fact that the economy can give us security, energy security for our country and it can give us millions of jobs and can cut pollution to our air and water.

i grew up in the ninth ford in new orleans. -- ninth ward in new orleans. they know better than anyone of of the jobs they can bring. they know firsthand about the ravages of pollution and health impacts that can come from pollution. just today epa will announce $61 billion of recovery act money to go to a job training programs across the country into brownfield cleanup. this is exactly the kind of work that sean donovan just spoke about. including community members. those are high-paying jobs. the pay on average 13, 14, $15 per eye wear. we have a very high placement

rate. -- tehy pay ohey pay on average 13, 14 per hour. thank you very much. secretary christina johnson. >> thank you. we call this the industrial revolution of our time. the department of energy invest about $9 billion in the energy technologies that are critical for us to participate in this new industrial revolution. we spend additionally about $8 billion in what the recession and state energy partnership funds and this includes not only energy efficiency and energy conservation but it is also about training. there was a piece this morning

that talked about there are trillions of dollars in the way we make and use energy and that is what as at stake. had we succeed in making sure that we participate in this marketplace? we need a very talented and educated work force. within five years 60% of our work force may retire year. president obama announced a new program by which we plan to invest tens of thousands of dollars, tens of millions of dollars and distract our best and brightest students into this field. that is very important. the apartment of energy we did the department of energy will announce its business initiative -- , the department of energy will announce a new business initiatives. thank you very much. it is my pleasure to introduce

the president and ceo of the caucus. >> it is wonderful to be here on this day, august 4, 2009 paren and. the birthday of president barack obama. thank you secretary johnson for joining us. the hip-hop caucus and all of us are here today to announce a new and very critical campaign the essence is about creating new jobs and opportunity to do the work of making our plan help year and to decrease the pop -- pollution that causes global warming. we are coming together to mobilize communities of color and low-income communities to have a voice and partake in the

opportunity of our nation's transition to a clean, energy economy. this will create more jobs, opportunities than our current spending on fossil fuels. the building of a clean energy economy in the united states can serve to create new pathways out of poverty. well the 78 million people in this country who are presently poor or near poor, the first milestone will be a national day of service. on september 11, 2009, we will organize events around the country in coalition with the president's initiative, united we serve. anyone can sign up for this at www.greendeblock.net. we will build a highly visible

grass-roots effort to affect culture, to make changes in our community, and to impact house funds are spent when it comes to creating a sustainable, green economy across america. let me be clear, this is not a green jobs moment, this is a clean energy movement. the 20th-century was defined by the civil rights. the 21st century will be defined by clean energy. future generations will measure of us by our success into transitioning into a clean energy economy in building opportunity and prosperity. we are organizing from the streets to the suites. from the hood to the hill. this is for all god's children

because we're all on the planet together. this is our gift to you, mr. president. before change happens, we have to transition. the transition to a clean energy economy will make this country the change that we want to see in the world. this is not a green jobs moment, this is a clean energy movement. [applause] next up will be sadra from green for all. >> i am here on behalf of green for all. i am pleased to be here today because today we sat with a doctor who was on the stage with lorton -- dr. martin luther

king. when today is about is about the administration of communities of color be able to ask the question, where our resources that make our community stronger? african american children and children of color are much more likely to suffer from asthma, live near pollution, and also suffered the most significantly the consequences of a pollution- based economy. this is a recognition by the administration. today is about all of us coming together so that when people ask the question, how does my community get better, that we are here to say if it's better starting with you. september 11 is about bringing people together to make change happen. it happens on the street in detroit, oakland, and richmond

and cities across the country. we start year but know that we begin in our grandmothers kitchens in the communities and bringing resources to the kennedys that need it the most. people ask us, what happened to the recovery? we say the money has not gone out yet, but there has been incredible work to make sure that it does. today is incredible for green for all, the hip-hop caucus, for the administration, because i think there is no greater gift for the president in the country to say that this economy will be an economy that can compete with china and india and that this is about the beginning of the conclusion of all workers into that economy and all members that deserve to be uplifted. today is the sound of the smell as sweet justice. -- of sweet justice.

[unintelligible] >> this campaign is not just a campaign, it is a coalition. there are a number of organizations that have signed on to us. it is not just the hip-hop caucus or green for all doing this. how we're going to do this? this is not a dream jobs moment, is a clean energy movement. for us, we have to convince our generation that this truly is our moment for the 21st century. we have to go out there and convince them that if we do not make a change now, nine years into the 21st century, there will not be a 22nd century. the time is now. we had joined together with the

help of the administration and we know we can do that and change happens now. >> a couple of questions. we understand that greening is expensive p and. we will not see the economic benefits for decades. how can a community, african american community, minority community, be hit with 20% unemployment rate this year who have already suffered a recession before, helping communities hardest hit afford to go green? it is a wonderful thing to feel good for the environment but my pocketbook will suffer.

what is the irrationality? -- rationality. >> i appreciate you asking this. i grew up in the neighborhood that was between a shell refinery and the only job that they had worked in a pollution- based economy. the jobs are disappearing whether we like it or not there y. we cannot afford to be stuck to a dying industry. the reason china is spending $12 million an hour is not because they thought it is the right thing to do, it is because they recognize the economy is growing. what our communities assert -- deserve is to be at the forefront.

i think what we have an obligation to figure out is people think it costs more to be an environmentalist. we have to figure out how to take advantage of this moment and talk to people in the community that we serve. through some of the programs you will hear about things that we want people to know about. >> we're moving a little bit into policy, on top of the grassroots movement. the clean energy bill that passed the house of representatives, the modeling shows that low income families make money from the energy bill. how do they make money? the net increase of benefits to the families from an energy perspective, because of the market-based energy bills