condition cannot be denied health coverage or cannot have their coverage turned away. that was a very important one. it is those sorts of things more than a lot of money going out the door. host: as you can see by the phone lines, they are all lit up. montana, republican line. caller: hello. i would like to ask you, the cbo said that this is going to cost the american public $1 trillion. i know that there was a better way to pass this bill that would make insurance that would go across state lines, millions of other ideas, but congress just pushed this down the american people's throat. people like myself think it is always of money -- think it is a waste of money any time you have a bureaucracy and more people in the health care system -- you

the wages are -- for naught. guest: he brought up the price tag, and all the estimates are that this law over the next decade will cost about $1 trillion. what the administration and the congressional budget office will say in addition is that it is paid for, and what they mean by that is that it is not expected to increase the deficit. in fact, there are projections that it could reduce it a very small amount. the way it is paid for is a combination of things -- some are tax increases on the wealthy, certain industries, insurers. we had take effect on july 1 at tanning tax. there are some areas where he will seek money squeezed out of

the system -- where you will see money squeeze out of the system -- the medicare advantage program, as well as hospitals, which agreed to receiving lower growth over the next decade. it is a whole combination of things to get to that $1 trillion. host: what are you finding in public attitudes right now? guest: it is interesting. there have been all sorts of polls out there, but one by the kaiser family foundation, a well-respected, a nonprofit organization, another by gallup, that are suggesting a slight rise in acceptance or -- i am hesitant to use the word popularity on stopping like this, but acceptance might be the better word. the country is still pretty evenly divided, but they are seeing some indications that other people are growing a little bit more comfortable with

this law, or certain provisions of this law, or, frankly, they have other things they are more worried about. host: have you found that most people have been affected or not affected by this so far? guest: so far not affected. but by 2014, absolutely everyone will, because of the individual mandate. host: independent line, chicago, good morning. caller: i had a quick question about accountability. do you really think that individuals will stop smoking, stopped eating 4000 or 5000 calories a day? i think it is wrong for me to work hard every day and then the government tells me i have to take the fruits of your labor to pay for individuals who smoked for 20 years and now have long cancer. guest: great question, great question, and something that i wonder if lot about. we have seen smoking rates in this country come down

dramatically over a few decades. we have seen people wear seatbelts, something we did not do even when i was growing up i can remember writing in my parents station wagon and standing on that hump in the back seat. changes can take place through a combination of educational campaigns, awareness, taxes or penalties, you name it. now the focus is on healthy eating. it is a difficult one, because congress thought about something like a soda tax and decided not to go that route. but in this legislation, employers right away are going to get much more latitude in the way that date price insurance for their employees -- the way that they price insurance for their employees. i did you get a discount or you pay extra if you do not get your provided screenings. if you do not take this help

survey on-line so you can figure out if you might have diabetes and we can get you into our program. in some ways, the employer will have a powerful tool over workers to either incentivize or penalize them if they do not start living in a little bit healthier. host: susan, omaha, nebraska, a democrat. caller: the one thing i it would like to say is that i tried to work, but people would fire me because i had epilepsy. i felt like if i am getting kicked out of the work force, what am i going to do? my mother kept hammering in my head, "oh, apply for disability." i did not want to give them disability. i did not want the taxpayers money. i wanted my own money. the only thing i could do was go to the street, and they took

care of me until i was 32 years old. but i got tired of going to jail. i just did not think it was fair. now that i am on disability, because the laws here not so strict, living off of what i live and comparing it -- laws here got so strict, living off of what i live and comparing it to what i was making, it is better to live on at the st.. guest: first of all, i am sorry, it sounds like you have had incredible hardships, and i'm glad to know you are doing better now. as you know, it is illegal to discriminate in the workplace against people with medical conditions. i do not say that that does not happen, but it is illegal and it is distressing to hear a story like that. i wish i had a magic solution to

a situation like that, peter. it is disconcerting to hear. host: next call for ceci connolly, talking about the health care bill signed about 100 days ago by president obama -- houston, david, republican, and you are on. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i spoke to you two months ago regarding competitive bidding as a small medical provider in houston, and he basically said you expected -- you basically said he expected that to continue throughout the health- care industry. i'm curious if you have any feedback as to how the house bill might be coming across -- host: what is that, caller? caller: it is an amendment that basically says they needed to eliminate competitive bidding because of different issues that

kendrick meek brought up in the bill, that is excluding providers in being able to provide service in the medicare program through up bidding process -- host: we got the point, i think ceci connolly probably has an answer for you, but as you know, during the debate there was a lot of discussion regarding medical and equipment providers, and i recall that houston was one of the areas targeted for fraud, as well as florida, kendrick meek's home district is that fair? caller: there are certainly fraudulent issues that have gone on in the houston area, but what bothers me is that congress has used this competitive bidding idea as an anti-fraud measure. i do not see how it is it cms had done due diligence and a properly in rowling providers to begin with and checking them out to begin with to make sure that

this never took place. guest: i am a tiny bit confused. are you opposed to competitive bidding? host: it sounded like he was great he is not with us anymore. -- it sounded like he was. he is not with us anymore. guest: i confess i have not heard that bill moving in this session, and i suspect that it will not make it through in this legislative progress. it means that it would have to start all over again in 2011. at least in the near term, it is unlikely to become law. host: but there was a lot of discussion about equipment suppliers. guest: that's right. as you point out, there have been incredible fraud cases that been discovered and prosecuted it is frequently the republicans who say that there is much more waste and fraud and abuse in the system we should be bringing out to get more savings, and

there are a couple of measures in the new law that have some more money to investigate those cases. host: ceci connolly, what is going to happen to medicare advantage? guest: medicare advantage is a program within medicare for seniors that would like to sign up for a managed care, private managed-care insurance option, as opposed to the traditional fee-for-service medicare that most seniors still get. these managed care plans these have been attractive to many seniors because they can often offer extra benefits -- eyeglasses, sometimes a gym membership, prescriptions even before there was a prescription drug benefit. but there have been a number of studies suggesting that those plans have been essentially over paid by the government. the whole reason that they started was that they argued that managed care it should

seize money, a more efficient way of delivering care, and no one be all, these programs were getting about 8% -- and lo and behold, these programs are getting 8% more than traditional medicare. congress said they would bring it more in line with money that we spend on a traditional medicare, and what that means is that seniors may see some of those experts, like the gym membership, disappear. host: next call, north massapequa, new york, democrat. caller: hi, peter, hi, ceci. i manage the web site democratz.org. the democratic party, of which i am a liberal member, as disappointed me and millions of seniors and disabled people by gradual change that you cannot believe in. the $250 is really small in

comparison when people go into the doughnut hole and they will have thousands of dollars to pay. and then for the prescription drugs to have a 50% discount, we will get wiped out when the drug companies it doubled prices next year. i have a question -- why do elderly and disabled people have to pay two sets of monthly premiums and two yearly deductibles, which are expensive, to get one prescription drug benefit that would have gone into medicare part b, which covers some medications and now, and they should have covered every medication? for this reason, the democrats, which have disappointed me -- i refuse to vote for a senator or representative in 2010, and in to doesn't 12, if there is no prescription drug benefit -- and in 2012, if there is no prescription drug benefit, i

refuse to vote for the president, either -- guest: lots of good, important points there. $250 compared to thousands more that some of these seniors paying -- that is a relatively small amount, no doubt about it. i think what we heard in the frustration in this call is reflected in the polling, peter. we have seen consistently from the beginning of this debate right up until today that the group's most unhappy about this law it tends to be senior citizens, for many of these very reasons. now, i think in full fairness here, we have to point out that the medicare prescription drug benefit was enacted by a republican congress under republican president. again, all of these things are much more complicated than they initially seem. but i certainly understand that there is still a great deal of frustration with that. host: if i remember correctly,

you cover, just out of high school, the clinton health care debate. how does this compare? guest: in terms of substance or politics? host: substance. guest: substantively, the obama administration took a very different approach, to say that quite clearly we will maintain the existing private, employer- based health-care system. we will not mess with that too much, because they recognize that in the clinton debate, when there was a proposal for upending the entire system, people got very nervous and alarmed. if you are one of the 180 million people today in this country who get their health insurance through their job, chances are you are not going to see many changes. host: next call, chirico, pennsylvania, republican. -- erie, pennsylvania,

republican. caller: 94 c-span. the president said clearly, as i understand, that none of the tax dollars will be going to fund abortions. yet i see that the abortion pill coverage will remain, which is an abortion. it is a chemical abortion, basically. i understand that tom coburn are heard an amendment to remove it, but democrats defeated the amendment -- host: what is your second point? caller: the second is that the under 26 can stay on their parents' health care coverage. i heard discussion on the radio in detroit that this will discourage marriage, an unforeseen consequence, because many young people. under the age of 26 -- guest: discouraged? host: marriage. guest: i had not thought about that, to be honest with you.

that is an interesting thing to look into. with respect to ru486, there are real differences of opinion on that, and i don't think that i am the person to arbitrate that. host: are those each individually sponsored health- care plans that may or may not fund -- guest: yes, and it is very much depending on which helped plan. it is worth noting that today, again, in the private insurance market, where most of us are still getting our coverage, i think about half of the health insurance policies already cover abortion. a lot of people may not realize that, but that has been something of the industry standard for awhile. host: is there any talk about maybe segmenting insurance where you can pick and choose, a la carte, like the type to do with

cable a few years ago? i may not want to pay for an ob/gyn, but i may want to pay for x. guest: we will see in 2014 when the health-insurance exchanges are up and running. there will be several levels or tiers of coverage. they are going with a bronze, silver, gold kind of thing, but you could envision it as you would ask for a very basic, some might say here bound, kind of coverage for catastrophic plan. other people would like to spend their own money and get a wider coverage plan. host: george r., independent line. go ahead with your question for ceci connolly. caller: good morning. very quick, this bill needs to be repealed as soon as possible. we were told the three

outstanding allies and the beginning to one is the cost, that it would be under $1 trillion . the cbo was told to withhold the figures -- guess what, it is over $1 trillion. host: what is your second point? caller: the health-care fund -- they will take money out of medicare, up $500 billion coming out of medicare. rationing of health care, which the new czar -- i think it was dr. bernstein, a recess appointment recently, has come out and said that not only will we ration, with our eyes open, make a decision on who lives and dies -- host: we will have ceci connolly respond to those three things. have you been affected by the new bill yet? caller: -- not -- not yet --

guest: lots of good points. i do not mean to sound flip about large sums of money, but as far back as 2007, we knew that this would cost over $1 trillion over a decade. the savings coming out of medicare over the next decade -- a big chunk of the money is the savings from medicare advantage, that we talked about here this morning. not any court medicare benefits, but some of the things like eyeglasses and gym memberships could be lost in the process. another chunk of this medicare savings, and they are not cuts, they are slowing the rate of growth, but those savings will come from an agreement that hospitals made saying, listen, we will take less in federal medicare payments in return for

many of these millions of people getting health insurance coverage, because hospitals know that right now they are taking care of them in the emergency room for free anyway. that was a little bit of the trade-off there. that is what makes up most of the $500 billion. host: speaking of dr. donald berwick, two of your colleagues in "the post" have opinions. david ignatius writes, " washington is not irrational world. it's a never never land where politicians from both parties and be well our debt and deficits and resist efforts to do anything about them." another one of your colleagues, ruth marcus -- these are both columnists.

ceci connolly is a reporter. "as a matter of politics, the president's choice was, well, the polite word would be bold. the less polite word -- b oneheaded. he offered opponents a loaded gun with his talk about rationing." who is donald berwick? guest: he is a pediatrician from harvard, has run a quality institute in massachusetts, and much of it has been doing work to get hospitals to reduce required infections. he has said that you can improve quality and lower costs in today's health care system. a lot of people think that we

have got the best health care system and they don't want to hear that actually, our quality is not that great, and a lot of people don't want to that we could spend less money on health care. -- and a lot of people the one here that we could spend less money on health care. but that happens to be true. this administration put his name out there but did nothing to promote him or defend him in any way. that is a tough situation for any nominee in today's environment to be thrust into. host: and he did use the word "rationing." guest: absolutely. he has said quite often, and people have the videos to prove it, "we have rationing in our system today and i am a proponent of rationing." that is absolutely his position. host: you live in mexico for

several years. what did you find about their health care system? guest: what you see in mexico and many latin american countries where we had a chance to travel is more of a two- tiered system. that is a concern in the united states as well -- are we moving in that direction? you have a basic level of coverage of people there. but to get more of the cutting edge kinds of technologies, to really be at a top-notch facility, costs a good bit more money out of your own pocket. one interesting battle twist, i recall -- if you had a friend or family member going in for surgery, that person had to ensure that a certain number of people came and gave blood before you got your surgery. it is sort of an interesting approach to things. host: did your health care through "the washington post" cover you down there?

guest: yes, absolutely, because you are out on assignment. host: los angeles, republican. thanks for holding on. caller: i had more of our commented that a question. i recently went to a medical center, and had an x-ray and saw an orthopedic. it was just one visit repor -- it was just one visit. they had held roughly firefighter $69 -- had billed roughly $569. it is an encouragement for old people like me not to go to doctors, because we are not high on their priority list in terms of patients. you are always ask if you have secondary. for them to get $62 for an x- ray, in disappointment with an orthopedic, i was stunned -- in this supplement with an orthopedic, i was stunned --

host: did medicare pay for this? caller: $62. host: did you pay out of pocket? caller: i am not sure, but i can see the resistance of them to accept old people. i am literally going to buy a give and send it to the doctor bird i feel horrible that he is being -- shafted i am -- litter i am -- i am literally going to buy again and send it to the doctor. i feel horrible that he is being shafted by this. guest: i am not familiar enough with that procedure and the exact dollar amount of speed on that specifically, -- and the exact dollar amount to speak on that specifically, but this is the concern for physicians. frequently, when you get these statements, that it whopping number is an number that almost nobody pays. you are probably looking at the

two extremes of the inflated estimate and a very low payment from medicare. i think that most the time, reality is somewhere in the middle. host: i am sure a lot of people hurt $569 and thought, for an x- ray? guest: even the folks who have private insurance are negotiating a discount off of that number as well. host: louisiana, democrats' line, please go ahead. caller: how are you doing this morning? guest: good. caller: the american people are not happy with the law they are passing it is affecting people already paid . all the people that are paying for health care are already getting increases, already, on the bills from this.

why couldn't they just pass when the insurance companies for health insurance could c ross state lines and anyone could buy insurance from anywhere in the country? guest: we are continuing to see health insurance premiums rise, and that was a concern throughout the debate. it is likely to continue for a variety of reasons, but especially in this economy, people really feel that pinch. it will take awhile to start to squeeze down the growth rate, if it can be done at all. with respect to the idea of purchasing insurance across state lines, it is a very popular, attractive idea. it is a little bit more complicated in reality, because today, our health insurance is still largely regulated by each state, and so they're a different regulations about -- there are different

recollections about what you get covered and how the insurance operates and each state. some medical care in new york, for instance, is a lot more expensive than in new hampshire, where i used to live. if everybody in new york wanted policyan insurance from new hampshire, the pricing may not work out. host: it reinforces the state's role in some ways, through reinsurance and things like that. guest: and these grants going out for states to start looking more aggressively at premiums paid on the other hand, i really noticed that secretary sebelius, a former state health insurance commissioner, seems to have that hat back on lately. she is out there hitting hard at the market changes. it is an interest of hers and

she is focusing hard on it. host: next call, you are on with ceci connolly "the washington post." caller: i hear a lot about cigarettes and cancer is it causes. but what about alcohol? that causes cancer and accidents that cripples innocent people for life. what are they not doing anything about alcohol? why is it just about cigarettes? guest: a very good point, absolutely, and when i hear in the discussions. many of these things are societal, cultural attitudes that do not necessarily change easily. there are many, many americans out there that feel very much that they ought to be entitled to either a cigarette if they feel it relieves their stress, where a drink after a hard day at work -- or a drink after a hard day at work. there is not necessarily

anything wrong with that. but experts tell you is that it is the people with addictions and people who go too far with these habits. it's a tricky situation in this society. host: are they addressed in this healthcare bill? guest: we do not see a lot of the specifics on the very spirit there is money for prevention and wellness, -- we do not see a lot of specifics in this area. there is money for prevention and wellness, the medicare programs, some of the other insurance regulations, where you will get more prevention money spent by the federal government. you might think of them as a baby steps, peter. host: last call, san antonio, jimmy. caller: i wanted you to comment on a news article i heard from fox news this morning about the irs went t-- wanting more funds

to train irs agents to administer the health care. guest: sure. we were talking a little bit earlier in the program this morning -- the irs is another agency that will have an important role going forward in this health-care law, because beginning in 2014, every american, virtually every american, with a few exceptions, will have to cover some health insurance. it is known as the individual mandate, a lot like a driver who wants auto insurance. that will be enforced largely by the irs. you will, on your tax return, have to submit some indication, some prove that yes, indeed, you have some health insurance coverage, and if you do not, there will be penalties. able start very small, i think around $90, in 2014, but they will rise if

>> the national governors' association annual meeting will continue later today when a number of governors will talk about childhood nutrition and obesity. that gets under way at 3:00 p.m. eastern. we will have it like for you here on c-span. and we have more from the governors' meeting in boston tomorrow when the state executives will focus on redesigning state governments. it will include the wall street journal's alan murray. that starts at 1:00 p.m. pacific here on c-span. you'll hear about -- from former wyoming republican senator alan simpson and former white house chief of staff erskine bowles. the two men now co-chair the committee on fiscal reform.

that will be a 9:30 p.m. eastern on sunday on "washington journal." >> the most important mission in journalism is to confront those who are in power, to question those who are in power so that we can prevent abuse of power. >> since 1986, jorge ramos has anchored on the largest spanish television news network in the u.s. will spend an hour with him sunday on c-span's q&a. >> c-span is now available in over 100 homes -- 100 million homes, bringing you a direct link to politics, history, and nonfiction books, created by america's cable companies. president obama is in las vegas today with senate majority leader harry reid. he took time out to speak on the

economy. his remarks from university of nevada, las vegas last about an hour. -- half an hour. [applause] >> thank you very much. thank you. [applause] u.n.l.v. [cheers] every time i come here i have to tell everybody my wife was a cheerleader here. [cheers and applause] it is an understatement for me to say that i'm here -- that is my pleasure to be here today. [applause]

it is an understatement to say that nevada has been tested and economically like never before. but we have to work to get our economy back on track and we have got a lot of fighting ahead of us. more importantly, we've got lot of fight left in us. isn't that right? [applause] and really, how we react to this crisis is about to renewing our future and not repeating the past. there is one way to get out of this mess, being honest about what got us into it. let me just say a word. the we have all watched very closely -- i read the sports page when i first get up every morning. the lebron james situation. [laughter] i do not know much about those basketball teams, but i know about a team that i have served

on for the past 18 months. it has been a good team. we have been able to accomplish a lot. in fact, one eminent pundit and scholar says it is the most productive congress in the history of the u.s. [applause] he said that because we have been able to -- we are in of the things that we've been able to accomplish. more than 2 million acres of wilderness, more than 1,000 miles of the seashore and other things, we have been able to pass legislation. [applause] people fought -- in fact, ted kennedy did for 40 years -- to

have a program for national service. we now have one where young men and women can be involved in the environment, health care, working with people that are poor. they can get a few bucks for that and when they finished the program, if they go to college and we help them. if that is national service. -- that his national service. [applause] every one of my family smokes. they all were adapted to smoking when they were teenagers. but we have changed the lot -- of addicted to smoking when they were teenagers. but we have changed the lolaw. [applause] credit-card companies were running rampant. there were unfair to the consumer, especially the matter class -- the middle class. no longer will they control -- no longer will they do that.

we will control them in the right way. [applause] we have done a lot of other things. mortgage fraud, we have done some things that relate to what we do in times of crisis. but the most important thing that we have worked on -- and it was really hard, but necessary -- health care reform. [cheers and applause] and for those who say that this team could not afford to do it, tell everyone who raises the question during the first 20 years of this legislation it will reduce the debt by $1.3 trillion. [applause] no longer will insurance companies be able to willy-nilly denied insurance because of a disability of a kid or because

of diabetes or another problem. that is no longer the law. we have changed it. how have we done this? we have done it by working together as a team. we know who is response will for what took place in nevada. -- responsible for what took place in nevada. we have looked all over for a place to start a business for 20 years. if you wanted to start a business, the place was here. but greedy wall street took that away from us. that is unfortunate. they gambled with our money. they gambled with our jobs and they lost. and it hurt in nevada more than any other place. and win big insurance companies deny health care, we took them on. we are working on leading in

renewable energy at this great university. [applause] have we done enough? of course not, but we have promised to fulfill the role of renewable energy and there are thousands working in nevada because of that promise. [applause] never again will americans be required to bail out the banks that have created their own problems. if [applause] -- [applause] and one thing, we're holding bpr accountable and we are not apologizing for doing it. -- we are holding bp accountable and we are not apologizing for doing it.

[cheers and applause] we have a lot to do. we are not going to wait for a long time from now. right now, we are improving our economy. we want to make sure that every nevadan has a job. that is important. but we will lead in nevada in renewable energy and is something that we have made great strides in doing, and a lot of that is because of the work we are doing with this@ university. this university is going to be leader in renewable energy, especially solar energy. [applause] i am not here to be raised republicans, because throughout the country -- to berate republicans because throughout the country there are those that are doing a good job. the senate republicans have been

the have of"no." and that is not how it is throughout the country, but that is how it is in the senate. p h$it has been a struggle. they're betting on a failure. we are betting on a success. it is a bet we are going to win. [applause] finally, i want to say a word about our honored guest today. i have had the good fortune of working with you very closely. he is a man of great patience. he is a man who is calm and cool and the vote -- delivered in every situation i have seen him in. he is a man who is -- deliberate in every situation i have seen him in. he is a man who isikoff always check -- who is always at his best. barack obama is a great friend

and is a pleasure to have him here. [applause] the president knows we are a state full of fighters. we'll continue to fight for what needs to be done. we are the battle born state, 1864, october 30 force1. we will continue to fight because we are on the right side of this fight. i am so honored to introduce to you my friend and your friend, the president of the united states, barack obama. [cheers and applause] >> thank you, everybody. thank you. please, have a seat.

well, thank you, harry. thanks for giving me a chance to get out of washington. it is very hot there. [laughter] it is hot here, too, but there's a little more humidity there. i just love coming to esophagus and been here. -- coming to vegas and being here. [applause] i noticed that for some reason air force one is more crowded when we are coming to vegas. i am not the only one. somehow, i need more staff and logistical support. [laughter] a couple of extra secret service guys. [laughter] 0?00?i want to introduce a couf people quickly. u.s. representative dena titus is here. [applause]

nevada secretary of state ross miller is here. [applause] dr. neil somosterek is here with his family and they are doing a great job at u.n.l.v. [applause] and all of you are here and i'm thrilled to see you. [applause] but i am especially here to be with my friend and your senator harry reid. [applause] one of the first stories i heard about. is that he was a boxer back in the day here in nevada -- that i heard about harry is that he was a boxer back in the day here in nevada. she is laughing. she's like, i cannot believe in. [laughter] -- i cannot believet. [laughter]

you do not believe it because he is so soft-spoken. but when he first told me he said, barack, i was not the fastest. i was not the hardest hitting, but i knew how to take a punch. [laughter] he knew how to take a punch and he became a pretty good boxer because he would simply outlast his opponents. he had a strong-willed -- a stronger will. i think that tells you something about the kind of person he is, the kind of senator he is, the kind of majority leader he is. he is a fighter, and you should never bet against him. that is what we need right now and that is what nevada needs right now. [applause] that is what nevada needs is someone who is going to fight for the people of nevada and for the american people. you know that he was not born with a silver spoon in his

mouth. that is much like nevada. when you are going through tough times, harry reid has been there. he knows what it feels like to be scraping and screaming and struggling. -- scraping and scrimping and struggling to make ends meet. when his own home state is having a tough time, when the country is having a tough time, he knows he has to be fighting on behalf of not those who are powerful, but on behalf of those who need help the most. let me tell you, when we first took office amidst the worst economy since the great depression we needed harry's fighting spirit because we have lost nearly 3 million jobs during the last six months of 2008. the month i was sworn in,

january 2009, we lost 750,000 jobs in that month alone. the following month we lost 600,000 jobs. these were all the consequence of a decade of the misguided economic policies, a decade of stagnant wages, a decade of declining incomes, a decade of spiralling deficits. so, our first mission was to break the momentum of the deepest and most vicious recession since the great depression. we were going to stop the freefall and get the economy and jobs growing again. and digging out of this mess require us taking some tough decisions, and sometimes those were not popular. and carry new they were not popular. i knew they were not popular. but they were the right thing to do. and harry was willing to meet those fights because he knew that we had to change course, that to do nothing, to simply continue with the policies that

have gotten us into this mess in the first place would mean further disaster. and to fail to act on some of the great challenges facing the country that we have been putting off for decades would mean a lesser future for our children and grandchildren. as a result of those tough steps that we took, we are in a different place than we were a year ago. an economy that was shrinking is now growing. we have gained private-sector jobs for each of the past six months instead of losing them, almost 600,000 new jobs. but as terry pointed out, that is not enough. i do not -- as harry pointed out, that is not enough. i do not have to tell you that. the unemployment is still high, particularly in states like nevada. a lot of you have felt that being personally, or you have someone in your family that has felt the pain. maybe you found yourself under water on your mortgage and have

face the terrible prospect of losing your home. maybe you are out of work and worried about how you will provide for your family. maybe you're a student at u.n.l.v. and wondering if you'll be able to find a job when you graduate, or if you will be able to pay off your student loans, or if you'll be able to start your career on the right foot. the simple truth is that it took years to dig this whole. it is going to take more time than any of us would like to climb out of it. but the question is, number one, are we on the right track? and the answer is yes. and number two, how do we accelerate the process? how do we get the recovery to pick up more steam? how do we fill this whole faster? -- fill this hole faster? there is a big debate in washington right now about the role that government should play in all this. as i have said in my campaign and have repeated many times as

president, the greatest generator of jobs in our -- in america is our private-sector. it is not government. it is our entrepreneurs and innovators who are willing to take a chance. it is our businesses, large and small, who are making great -- making payroll and working with suppliers and distributing goods and services across the country, and now across the world. the private-sector, not government, is, was, and always will be the source of america's economic assess -- success. that is our strength, the dynamism of the american economy. that is why one of the first things harry reid did, one of the first things we did was cut dozens of taxes, not raise them, cut them, for middle-class and small business people. and we extended loan programs to put capital in the hands of startups, and we worked to reduce the cost of health care

for small businesses. and right now, harry is fighting to pass additional tax breaks to help small businesses across the country. but he is also trying to look out as a decree for nevada. he understands, for example, that -- look out specifically for nevada. hindustan's, for example, that tourism -- he understands, for example, that tourism is a strong part of the economy. in he is trying to do that, bring folks here -- and he is trying to do that, bring folks here. our obligation in government, especially times like these, is to break down barriers that stand in a way of innovation, to unleash the ingenuity that springs from our people. to give an impetus to businesses

to grow and expand. that is not some abstract theory. we have seen the results. we have seen the -- what we can do to catalyze job growth in the private sector. one of the places we have seen it most in need -- is in the clean energy sector. an industry that will not only produce jobs for the future, but help free america from our dependence on oil in the process, clean up our environment in the process, improve our national security in the process. let me give you an example. just yesterday, i took a tour of smith electric vehicles in kansas city, missouri on the way here. this is a company that has just hired its 50th worker. it is on its way to hiring 15 more. it is aimed at producing 500 electric vehicles at that plant alone. [applause]

these are spiffy looking trucks. and they are used by fortune 500 companies for distribution -- pepsico, frito-lay. they're also used for the united states military. electric trucks and they are very strong, rate on hp. the reason for their success is their entrepreneurial drive. but it is also partly because of a grand that we are offering -- a grant that we are offering companies that manufacture electric vehicles and the batteries that power them. because of these grants, we will be going from only having to% of the global capacity to make advanced batteries that go in trucks and cars that run on electricity, we will go from 2% to 40% in just in the next five years.

[applause] that will create thousands of jobs across the country, not just this year or next year, but for decades to come. it is an aunt -- a powerful example of how we can generate jobs and robust economic growth here in nevada and across the country by incentivizing private-sector investments. that is what we are working to do with the clean energy manufacturing tax credits that we enacted last year, thanks to harry's leadership. [applause] some people know these tax credits by the name 48-c, which refers to their section of the tax code. but here is how they work. we say to clean energy companies, if you are willing to

put up 70% of the capitol for a worthy project, a clean energy project, we will put up the remaining 30%. to put it another way, for every dollar we invest, we leverage two more private sector dollars. we are betting on the ingenuity and talent of american businesses. [applause] these manufacturing tax credits are already having an extraordinary impact. a solar power co. -- solar power company called aminex received eight roughly $6 million tax credit -- received of roughly $6 million tax credit, a tax credit that there were able to match with $12 million in capital -- that they were able to match with $12 million in capital.

that is just one of over 180 projects that received manufacturing tax credits in over 40 states. the only problem we have is, these credits were working so well there are not enough tax credits to go around. there are more worthy projects to -- then there are tax credits. -- there are more worthy projects and there are tax credits. -- than there are tax credits. we only have $2.3 billion to invest. we had almost four times as many requests as we had tax credits. my attitude and harry's attitude is that if an american company wants to create jobs and growth, we should be there to help them do it. that is why i am urging congress to invest $5 billion more in these kinds of clean energy manufacturing tax credits. that would more than double the

amount we made available last year. [applause] and this investment would generate more than 40,000 jobs and $12 billion or more in private sector investment, which could trigger an additional 90,000 jobs. i am gratified that this initiative is drawing support from members of congress from both sides of the aisle, including republican senators richard lugar and orrin hatch. unfortunately, that kind of bipartisanship has been absent on a lot of efforts that harry and i have taken up on that -- in the last year-and-a-half. we fought to keep nevada teachers, firefighters and police officers on the job, and to extend unemployment insurance and cobra so people have insurance while they are looking for work. we fought to stop health insurance companies from dropping your coverage based on pre-existing conditions or write

when you get sick, or placing lifetime limits on the amount of care that you can receive. we fought to end wasteful subsidies that go to banks that were acting as unnecessary middleman for guaranteed student loans from the federal government, and as a consequence, freedom of tens of billions of dollars that are now going directly to students. which means more than 1 million students have access to financial aid that they did not have before. [applause] and we are now on the cusp of an acting wall street reforms that will empower consumers with clear and concise information that they need to make to make financial decisions that are best for them, and to help prevent a crisis like this from ever happening again, and putting an end to the predatory lending and the subprime loans that had all kinds of fine print and heavy fees that have been such a burden for the economy in a state like nevada, and have not been fair to the individual

consumer in the process. that is what harry and i fought for. and frankly, at every turn we have met opposition and obstruction from a lot of leaders across the aisle. that is why i am glad i've got a boxer in the senate. [applause] he is not afraid to fight for what he believes in. when harry and i are going to keep on fighting until wages are rising and americans are headed back to work again and we have recovered from this recession and we are actually rebuilding this economy strong again before. [applause] that is what we are committed to doing. so, nevada, i know we have been through tough times. and not all the difficult days are behind us. there will be some tough times to come. but i can promise you this. we are headed in the right direction. we are moving forward.

we will not move backward. and i am confident that if we continue moving forward and people refuse to turn back towards and we are showing the kind of fighting spirit as harry reid, then out of this storm brighter days are going to come. thank you very much, everybody. [cheers and applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] . .

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>> wraping up with the president earlier today. the national governors' association annual meeting will continue later today when the governors will talk about childhood nutrition and obesity. that gets under way. caught p.m. here on c-span. -- that gets underway at 3:00 p.m. here on c-span. we will have live coverage of the national governors' association plenary session on saturday. there will be more from the governors as they talk about the federal budget deficit. we will hear from the former clinton white house chief of staff who is now co-sharchair oe

board for fiscal responsibility. we will be returning to the annual meeting at 3:00 p.m.. until then, a discussion of the government's role in protecting workers on the scene of the bp oil spill. of the national institute for occupational safety & health, which is the division of the institute of health? >> it's a part of the centers for disease control and prevention. host: well, tell us about your organization and its role in the gulf cleanup. guest: well, c.c. as well as the other components for the department of health around human services are responding to the gulf oil crisis from the health perspective. we are the department of health and human services, so we're concerned about the health of the responders and the community and talents health of

consumers that are buying and eating sea food from the gulf. we have the food and drug administration which is a part of the department of health and human services also, and they together with the ocean yanek, noah, are monitoring the seafood from the gulf. host: now, doctor, are you also working with the clean yum workers? guest: yes. together with the occupational safety and health administration is to make sure that we're protecting the response workers from the kinds of exposures that they are experiencing in their response work. host: what are you finding from the cleanup workers down there as far as health concerns? guest: well, one of the big issues that a lot of people focus on is exposures to crude oil. whether crude oil dispersements, but our biggest

problem is heat exhaustion and heat issues. in the gulf area there's a lot of heat and humidity and the heat index gets quite hot during the day. and we have workers who have to be protected from oil so they have to wear gloves and foot wear and suits, and that creates an additional workload. plus, some of them have to have respiratory protection, which is a heat load. so that's the primary issue the heat stress. host: if we could talk about the crude oil exposure and what being around that chemical does to people. what happens to people? guest: well, it depends on whether the crude oil is fresh or whether it's weathered. these are interesting terms. but as the crude oil bubbles up from the source, you know, through the water column, usually the shorter carbon

chains, they tend to be more volatile and they go into the air easier, and then people can breathe them easier. they account for the oweders and those types of things, and they can be very harmful. but as the oil bubblets up through the water column, a lot of those bubble up in the air and distributed into the general atmosphere. the oil as it comes ashore through those 50 miles and wave action etc, gets weathered. a lot of those voltills dissipate and disappear. but there are still harmful chemicals within weathered crude. 10 one of the big issues is we don't want workers or reporters to be handling weathered tar balls or tar crude with their hands, because it can be irritating to the skin. host: just irritating to the skin? is it more than irritating? or is it dangerous?

>> it is dangerous. guest: because those are toxic chemicals and certainly if you're at the beach, wear sandals, don't let your kids pick up the tar balls and roll them around their hands and squish them with their fingers or anything. we don't want any contact with oil even though they are weathered, it stills contains chemicals that can be harmful. host: we're talking about public health and the gulf of mexico oil spill. let's put the numbers on the screen. we've set aside and dedicated our fourth line for oil spill cleanup workers. we want to hear from you and hear your stories. 628-0184 is the number for you to call. so please go ahead and start dialing in. dr. john howard, director of the national institute for occupational safety & health.

he is our guest. how is the health -- the public health aspect of the gulf cleanup coordinated? there seems to be a lot of overlapping agencies there. guest: well, there are a lot of federal agencies responding. and each one has a specific mission. but we're coordinated by working through the unified command. admiral alan is the incident commander in the department of homeland security. so they are the primary instant commander. for the department of health and human services, for instance, we have a physician, admiral james galloway who is admiral alan's health advisor. so wef6 a presence in the unified command. e.p.a. and f.d.a. has a presence in the unified command and other agencies. so we're integrated at the unified command headquarters, which really helps, because that's operationly where things happen.

but outside of that, there are folks in every federal agency that are responding to this. scientists, etc, who are working on issues back at their laboratories or looking at seafood. for knowa, they have individuals flying over the area in planes, doing samples. host: air samples? guest: yes. host: so what are you finding when it comes to what's happening for the air and how that's affecting people? guest: for the air, as opposed workingers sampeled by osha in terms of their response work. for the general population, though, we're seeing either very, very low levels or undetectable. although there was a report i heard this morning where the epa was rorget some air in venice and grand isle that they were seeing some issues there. i don't have any details about that, but i did hear it on the radio this morning.

host: i want to tell you again, we have a dedicated line for gulf oil cleanup workers. we want to hear from you, 628- 0184. area code is 202. how many folks do you have down there? guest: well, for the federal response, there are several thousand folks that are working. both in the gulf as well as working back in their home areas where their departments are. you have to remember there are probably close to 30,000-40,000 response workers that we have workers at the source. we have workers who are engaged in burning oil in vessels. we have others that are engaged in booming and skiming the oil. we have thousands of shore line and marsh cleanup workers. we have workers doing decontamination of equipment and w5u8d life. we have workers that are

responsible for manageing the waste stream. taking the oil from the beaches and disposing of it properly. so there are workers in every area. host: dr. howard, you were head of this agency during hurricane katrina, correct? guest: yes. host: how does this compare, the public as pecks of this spill in guest: well, it's a different kind of crisis. hurricane katrina was water inunda this is the population where people were severely affected by katrina. this is another trauma. it adds to the stress that everyone in the gulf is feeling right now. host: the first call comes from mobile, alabama. it is an oil spill worker. you are on with dr. john howard from the national institute for

safety and health. caller: i believe they are fudging the evidence because of the money. the coastal states do not want to lose the money for tourism. they are making it sound like there is nothing to it. this is deadly. it is a real hazard. they are playing it down because of the money. host: can you tell us what you are doing down there as an oil spill worker? caller: we are out on the water. oil is everywhere. they pretend like it ain't, the local media. they are all trying to cover it up because they want the money. guest: i think the oil dispersants contain toxins also. hydrocarbons are not innocuous chemicals. i agree with you.

we are trying to monitor the health of folks like you and others. we are also studying the toxicity of oil dispersants in the laboratory to figure out what kind of toxicity is associated with it. we believe that hydrocarbons themselves in the crude oil and the dispersants should not come in contact with folks like you doing the response. that is why we have recommendations for protective equipment and respirators that are important. i agree with you. crude-oil and its constituents are harmful. we want to protect workers from that. host: when you have local fishermen were local people offering to help, how you supply them to protect their health? guest: the unified command is trying to get everyone coordinated. there are some workers hired by

parishes. we're trying to bring everyone to the same level of protection, training, and knowledge about what they can do as response workers were on a vessel to protect themselves from exposure. regardless of the particular source of the individual trying to help or even a volunteer, we're trying to train everyone to make sure they have the knowledge to protect themselves. host: honolulu, harry, democrat, go ahead. caller: i wanted to talk about changing attitudes and lifestyles. this is the first time i have spoken to you. host: gary, i am so sorry. we have moved on. we're talking about the gulf of mexico oil spill and public health. do you have any comment on that? caller: i want to say something

quickly. social security is paid into. it is not entitlement. it was borrowed by the government to be paid back. host: going to have to leave it there. i am sorry you finally got through and it is not a topic he wanted to talk about. grand isle, karen, her husband is a clean-up workers. caller: the first statement i would like to make is, could you talk about how many -- you talk about how many workers are being brought in. you do not talk about the type of people they're bringing into the community. they are bringing in any one that they can get their hands on regardless of criminal history, current criminal problems, drug dealers, drug addicts. our communities are being inundated.

host: what does your husband do? caller: my husband is a former commercial fisherman. he is participating in the cleanup effort. that is another problem. you will have a hard time finding any of these people who are former fishermen. dissipating in the cleanup effort to talk. they are scared to death to talk to anyone in the media. -- he will have a hard time finding any of these people were former fisherman participating in the cleanup effort who will talk to the media. they are scared to complain about the safety concerns. we have some people who have complained. they have lost their jobs. they have been told they are not needed anymore. guest: one thing we tried very hard to educate workers about is

that there is whistle-blower protections for workers. workers can make anonymous complaints to osha. osha will follow-up on that. there is an avenue for workers who may be intimidated or frightened by working conditions, their employer and not wanting them to speak. i would encourage you to tell your husband that there is an avenue there. an anonymous call to osha is very helpful. host: is paying for the federal cleanup workers and the public safety and public health workers? guest: the unified command has established an invoice system. federal agencies that are bringing employees to the area to respond or do work in laboratories in their locations, they will invoice the unified command. the unified command then seeks

reimbursement from bp. host: has bp been paying? guest: to my understanding, yes. caller: i have three concerns. i have a jack russell, greyhound mix. he loves to go to the beaches. we are about 30 miles away from galveston. he loves to go down there and be a dog. i am so concerned. i allowed him to splash in the water and someone said not to do it. i was going to go down today but i am not certain is safe enough to take him down there. guest: i am going to " we saw jackson, the epa administrator -- i am going to quote lisa

jackson, the epa administrator. you can look at the water and use common sense. no laboratory will tell you if the water is safe or not. you can tell. if you see tar balls floating in the water or on the beach. i would use symbols. for dogs, that is more difficult. if the beach is contaminated, you should check with your local help department and see what their recommendations are. be careful. it may be time for the dog to run along the grassy areas instead of the sand. host: tyler on the independents'line, you are on with dr. john howard. caller: one of my biggest concerns about the whole situation that i think is important to address for the future is that i have.

there is an acoustic switch -- i have read there is an acoustic switch that would have cut it off polo the source, below the ground. the companies involved decided it was too expensive. the cost about half a million dollars. host: we're talking about public health with the oil spill. guest: that is all little outside my field of expertise. host: we will leave it there. lake charles, a democrat, you are on. caller: i have a question about the dispersant and how it was banned in other countries and they brought it to the united states to use on the gulf coast. we depend on our seafood and oil and gas to service the rest of the country. why did they need to use the dispersant? why not just let the oil come to

the surface where it is easier to get to and will not miss of the environment as far as health hazards? they could take off the top of the water directly and prevent it from coming to the shores. guest: that is a little outside my field of expertise in terms of the logic of using oil dispersants. from a public health perspective, we would like to see the least amount of hydrocarbons in the human health space. i cannot really comment on the logic of why the dispersants were used. host: are you supplying your cleanup workers with masks and oxygen tanks? guest: respiratory protection is an important issue, especially for those working at the source. this is the area where the crude oil is coming up from the water column. the volatile oils are higher ate

source. we're monitoring those individuals. they have to be enrolled in the respiratory protection program and have the ability to wear respirators. the workers involved in burning the oil work upwind from the burned. occasionally, the wind can shift. we're asking that bp also enrolled them in the respiratory protection program. for shoreline workers, not so much. we're not seeing as much in the way of inflation hazards. there is a lot of wind blowing. we're not requiring it there. if we see people developing symptoms, that is a different thing. that means we have to evaluate what is going on more closely and monitor the area more closely. we may need respirators for that situation. it will depend upon the particular situation. host: you mentioned your also

monitoring seafood. what are you finding? guest: the two areas that are important. one is the closure areas. fish cannot come from certain areas. that has been expanded. it is the changing picture. the oil itself moves around this 600,000 square mile gulf. the fishermen cannot fish in certain areas. in other areas, the seafood is examined by the fda as it is coming to the market, before it gets into the market. american consumers can be confident that the seafood they are buying in the store has been looked at very carefully. host: is it being tested? if the oil is shifting, the fish shift as well. guest: i have learned something

in this crisis. fin fish swim away from any contamination in the water. the seafood that is creepy crawlers like lobsters or oysters, things that are trapped in waters and do not move, those types of seafood are where you really have to what contamination. they cannot escape the oil. host: the next call is from jacksonville, fla. matt, you are on with the doctor. caller: i have a question for the doctor. in his professional opinion, what is worse for human help? oil, dispersants, or oil combined with the dispersants? guest: that is an excellent question. i am not sure i have the answer. we have to look at the issue. when the exxon valdez spill

happened in 1989, we did not follow up with longer-term health studies. we are attempting that now. we will do that now in this spill. in terms of the toxicity of crude oil and dispersants together, that is an excellent question. we do kno we did not know what synergistic effects there may be. when combined together, they may be greater than the effects of either one by itself. we do not know that. that is what we're studying in the laboratory now. thank you for that question. host: what have we learned from past oil spills that can apply to public health concerns for this? guest: that is another great question. if you look at world literature for other oil spills, tankers run aground. that happens fairly frequently

in the world. if you look at the world medical literature, you will only find about seven or eight studies. this area has not been studied well. when you look at the studies, he will see that most of them are of the cleanup workers. they are mostly short-term. that means while the response was taking place, people look at the help of the response workers. they looked for skin irritation and i, nose irritation. there is scant literature of chronic or long-term health effects. that is where we have the major gap. that is the gap we will filled now with studies of these folks. host: are any studies indicating there are long-term effects? guest: the few studies done are done primarily from the prestige oil tanker that ran aground off the coast of spain. those studies show there is some concern about pulmonary

function issues, breathing issues. then there are long-term genotoxic issues where dna changes have taken place. no one is sure about what those changes mean because it is a very small population that has been steady. we need to do more of those studies. there is concern about longer- term health effects. host: are you going to put a test group into place? guest: we will have a cohort of folks that we follow through time. host: you are a gulf oil worker, we would like to hear your story. dr. john howard is our guest. stephanie in hot springs arkansas, you are on the air with our guest. caller: my name is stephanie columbus. i am a public health educator from the university of tennessee

originally. i also work with the university of north carolina at charlotte. each public-health educator in graduate school must do an internship. i would encourage you to think about one of your individuals getting in touch with every school of public health in the country. you could have a group of studies from every school with one professor working together on this project when you get that kind of mind-set and as educators who have been involved for years in public health efforts, plus of the students that must do internships any way to graduate, you are going to kill two birds with one stone. guest: that is an excellent suggestion. a lot of golf academic institutions -- gulf academic

institutions are involved in the effort in terms of public health education. the department of health and human services is preparing a lot sheets for population, and behavior help, and stress issues for the population. a lot of that work with outreach and intervention will be done through the gulf coast institutions and by working with local and state health departments. a lot of the folks on the ground will be the type of folks that you are describing. host: bill in key largo. caller: i run a snorkeling company that snorkels from key largo down to key west.

generally, if you just wear a bathing suit -- you just wear a bathing suit. i was wondering if the water quality has been checked for dispersants and oil down in that area. host: have you seen any evidence yet in the keys? caller: i have not seen any things except for a really small pieces of oil floating in the water. host: let's get an answer from the doctor. guest: i would go on the epa website, epa.gov they have oil spill updates that the post all the time. the things epa is monitoring are the things that you are interested in.

i would look there. i would also look on the noaa site. it is another sampler of water quality in the gulf area as well as the loop current. your local help department is extremely important in -- your local health department is extremely important in the key largo area. those are some resources to rely on as well as your own observations. i would want those to be able to advise your customers well. host: fred is an oil spill worker from new orleans. caller: i have evidence i have been able to sneak in and take of nighttime spraying of chemicals along the beach of airplanes with their lights out to bleach the beach to make it

look like the oil is cleaned up. all of the workers that work on the valdez oil spill are now dead. they are dead because of the dispersant is banned in all other countries. they are allowed to be used down here. when the water keeps up sufficiently down here, all of the oil suppressed by the dispersant will rise. we will then see massive amounts of hydrogen sulfide, been seen dispersed into the air to a deadly level. i am volunteering right now. you have to take a course to get down there and do the actual cleanup. i am on the island.

i have been able to sneak in cameras to take pictures. guest: i hope you share your pictures. we all need to be educated. there are chemical constituents with crude oil as well as the dispersants. those are extremely important questions. the toxicity is extremely important. i hope when you do the training that you are able to share some of that information with folks so that they know what you are seeing also. we all need to share all of the information that we have so that we are all education -- educated about conditions. bp is the founder through the unified command. the unified command approves things. bp is the founder.

do you have any contact with pp -- bp? guest: i talking to the medical affairs person for health issues. he has been very supportive of the work we wanted to do. i think the unified command has more of a direct relationship with bp than we do in health and human services. host: ron from burlington, vt., you are on with dr. john howard. caller: i think a lot can be learned from the 9/11 attacks where you have the epa telling the workers that the air quality was fine. now we find out that there are thousands of workers that have respiratory problems. you have tens of thousands of mercury lamp fluorescent bulbs vaporized, things like that

really hurt the people. host: can we learn something from 9/11? guest: this is really a great comment. the lessons we've learned from the world trade center, we are applying them now in the gulf response for public helalth. one of the issues that the caller brought up is certainly one of the most serious ones. in the world trade center, we did not have a list of all the workers there. we are ross during all the workers in the gulf now. -- we are rostering all the workers in the gulf now. we're also doing real-time exposure tests. we're doing assessments to determine if it is safe or not. there is nothing inherently safe about crude oil. when crude-oil escaped its pipes, that is not a good thing. people can be exposed to all of

the toxins within the crude oil. the declaration of safety is not something we are doing. we're trying to protect people from these harmful chemicals. host: you are currently or were in the world trade center help program. guest: i also coordinate the world trade center health program. this caller's points really resonate with me. we are determined not to make the same mistakes again. host: dr. john howard is also a lawyer. you have a law degree. guest: yes, i do. host: new york city, scott, on the independents' line. caller: i want to follow-up on the been seen level.

several radio shows said the safe level of benzene is a four parts per billion. the epa test levels are much higher. the hydrogen sulfide safe level -- the test levels are much higher. billion and the texas level is 1200. method lean chloride is 61 per biological and tested level is 3,000 to 3,400 parts per million. host: so, wrap it up, scott. caller: so, these are three gases that are coming out of the oil plume at the bottom and there seems to be kind of a cover-up going on as to why we are not being told about this and there seems to be a plan in place to evacuate up to 20 million people from the gull area -- gulf area. guest: one of the issues you bring up is the transparency

issue of data that is being collected. for instance, if you look at the e.p.a. website, they post reams of data of air monitoring on all the chemicals you mentioned in great detail. one of their p.d.f. files has 300 pages of data. so, i would encourage everyone to look at that. noaa also does that. the osha website has the data on response workers. so, what we are trying to do in this response is to be as transparent as we can possibly be from the government perspective. so i encourage everybody to look at the results on the websites and be educated about the levels and to ask the questions that you raised. host: brenda, oklahoma city, democrat. caller:

caller: i have two comments much first as to the testing for the workers. because government testing takes forever these people could be dead from the toxins before you ever know if they are affected by them. secondly, object the safety of the seafood, you can't possibly be testing every piece of shrimp that comes out of the gulf. guest: certainly on the last issue that is true. i don't think that that is possible. but batching is one way. f.d.a. is increasing its ability to sample and get at that 100% sample rate that you are raising. so, that is being done now. with regard to the testing of

response workers, the type of monitoring, air monitoring of their breathing zone samples are being done quite rapidly. you are right though in terms of longer-term health effects. those sometimes take quite a bit of time to figure out. sometimes months or years. but the acute exposures, those results are coming back to us very quickly and again i would go on the osha website to see their air monitoring levels for workers. host: dr. howard, do you have any idea if the spill were capped today, how long the toxic effect of the oil would remain in the water? guest: well, that is a very difficult question and i don't think i have an answer to it. what we have been thinking is if the well was capped today we would not be putting more hydrocarbons into the gulf environment because the oil would be capped. then it is a matter of pure

clean-up. how long does it take for that o oil, those weathered oil elements, et cetera, to come to shore? what happens to the oil, the oil that drops to the bottom of the gulf? how long is this process of clean-up going to take place and i don't think any of us knows at any time at the present time. host: next is baltimore, nat, independent line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i'm a former director of science and technology development for the navy. one gas i didn't hear about is the one i'm concerned more about and that is sulfur dioxide because when it merges with the water will be sulfuric acid. that is liable to drop the rate

below 6.8 and have a deleterious effect on anybody swimming and certainly the life of -- the sea life. i was wondering if that is being monitored also. guest: you are certainly a far more astute observer of these things than i am. the only comment i would have is that -- and we are testing the toxicity of this particular type of crude. my understand something that this particular type of crude is the lighter or sweeter crude and has much less sulfur in it than other types of crude. so that hydrogen sulfide and some of the successful tur oxides are -- sulfur oxides are not as prominent. host: sandy hook, connecticut. caller: this is such a fabulous show that you are having. my big concern is the

relationship that government has with b.p. that b.p. really has control so that when you have investigations and people wanting to take pictures or give information it is like b.p. has their own police department i don't understand why the united states government hasn't taken complete control. guest: that may be an issue beyond my public health expertise. and probably is better addressed by somebody in the -- host: from your perspective have you said no cameras allowed to see the public health workers? guest: oh, no. we are very transparent. our work is always transparent. that is why i encourage, when i have visited the gulf and spoken to workers, is to make them aware that their concerns can be brought forward even anonymously through osha's telephone lines,

et cetera. so, i'm hoping that folks will heed that if they have concerns and issues and make them known. host: our last call for dr. howard is from denver, norman, republican, please go ahead. caller: hi. i grew up in southern california in the 1950's and 1960's and every time i ever went to the beach when we got back from the beach we had a gallon of kerosene we used to get all the tar off our bodies and out of our hair. there's been a natural oil se seepage off california for millions of years as far as i know. i don't know of any negative effects it caused on any one in my family over those many years we went to the beach on a daily basis. so i'm wondering how bad tar balls are. we used to pile them up and burn fires with them. guest: again, that is certainly, you know, tar,

asphalt, is something we all come in contact with. i hope we don't have as direct a contact as you had. but clearly the long-term issue you are raising iss what is it n host: we have been talking with dr. john howard about the gulf oil spill. >> coming up in about 10 minutes, we will go to boston for more from the national governors' association. the weekend session, this weekend they're closing the annual meeting. shortly, they will hold a meeting on childhood nutrition and obesity. we will have live coverage at 3:00 p.m.

the u.s. recently opened itself to the most host: on thursday, there were offered a bitter pill when the agency criticized some well- defended aspects of american culture. deciding housing and a government retirement check. >> we want to get your reaction to the imf calling for the u.s. to make lifestyle changes.

call the numbers on the screen. you can also tweet us at twitter.com/cspanwj or send an email to journal@c-span.org here are the numbers again to call in. this is back to the "washington post" article on the imf report calling for the u.s. lifestyle chges. th risks are tilted to the downside david robinson of the western hemisphere said as he presented the annual assessment of the u.s. economy in i first-ever review of the financial sector.

in the financial sector study. the u.s. reports outlined a number of problems facing the american economy as it emerges from the worst economic downturn since the great depression. host: now we got the imf report that just came out yesterday, d here' what it said -- in part of this report, and this

is at imf.org if you want to read it for yourself. the obama administration's intention to freeze non-security discretionary spending is welcome. however, measures to increase rev knews will also be needed. host: we want to get your reaction. lifestyle changes needed, says the imf. los angeles, you're on the air, republican line. caller: i belie the imf's announcement is a little bit late. thereave been many

politicians that have described the samessues in the past. i mean, alan greenspan, he went to countless meetings in the senate banking committee, and he described these same issues. so i think the imf is a little bit late. host: what would you see as needed when it comes to lifestyle changes? what would you support? caller: that's the million-dollar question. we have to be fistically conservative. but the question is when? i mean, doing something right now, it might encourage economic growth or increase standards of living. but then again, if it doesn't work, it can, you know, cause, you know, a misuse of funds. host: you use the term fiscal responsility or fiscal restraint. what would you cut then?

would you cut taxes? would you cut the deficit? how would you work all that? caller: see, that's the hard thing. if we cut taxes and we continue to spend, ourcomy will overheat. if we cut spending and cut taxes, you know, that's one way of looking at economic growth. but you know,e've done that for the last few years. so we don't know if that will be as successful as increasing spending in the -- approach. host: do you think that we have lived beyond our means? caller: you know, i think the imf -- i think that -- no. not right now. we're all having a hard time. i mean, our unemployment is as much as the population of canada. things will improve. but i think these people, they fail to announce the current economic situation we went through in 2008. they failed to do that.

and they are late. there were people, politicians, you know, alan greenspan and ben bernanke mentioned these things. they talked about baby boomers and our spending and our promises that we have. now we just have to decide what decisions will be the best and effective? host: what do you do in los angeles? caller: i teach economics. host: at a high school? college? caller: college. host: all right. thank you for calling in. ronald, minneapolis, democrat. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i don't believe cutting social security is necessary, because we live in a place in the century where social security should be privatized and i'm calling on a democratic line but we don't need socialism in the 21st century. host: so you would say no to cutting social security? caller: no. the only thing we need to do is

cut down spending. host: whereould you cut it, then? caller: beeen all the departments. defense. host: all right. thank you for calling in. michael, republican line here from washington, d caller: the imf has gotten out recommendations for big bankers. they have a lot of big corporations and financial institutions. i think they have a lot of tightening the belts of portfolios as well. lifestyle for the common people, i do not know the study was for the population in general or if they're talking about people from the high, middle, and low

classes. host: some recommendations include gasoline tax, cutting social security benefits, and getting rid of mortgage interest deductions on your taxes. those are some of the specific lifestyle changes that the imf is advocating for the u.s. caller: as are very detrimental changes, especially the suggestion of cutting social security. a lot of people are on social security and get checks. an elderly people, those in bad health, those with disabilities, what are they going to do? what is the extent of this? they are cutting benefits saying that things like ptsd and things of this nature will make it easier that they get the ptsd

benefits. host: pete, new york, a democrat. good morning. caller: i am a person who lives below my means. always have, always will. always managed to put away a few dollars every week and month. i think we can do it on the national scale. i think our elected officials could do it. as we all know, politics is quickening the decision making in washington. everything is politicized, either left or right. the sense i get from the decisions that seem to come out of european countries especially is that they go forward. they are not worried about the right or left. i will give you a short list of things. taxing imports, not to start a trade war.

but if you look at the taxes countries have to pay to get goods into china and japan for 30 or 40 years, they have taxes on imports. we should have taxes on imports. only in this country can you get poor and middle-class people to argue for tax cuts for the rich. . . week that cost $20,000. and you're wried. you got middle class people arguing. middle class congressional leaders arguing to save the rich and keep the taxes low on rich people. it's just so ironic that that's what's comes out. host: we'll be talking about that later, but specific suggest for pete to tax imports thus raiseing the cost on imports. rick, tacoma washington.

the imf think it is u.s. needs lifestyle changes. what do you think? caller: i believe that we keep adng to the retirement roles for government workfors. in allhe different sectors. from the counties all the way through the top level of government. and i think that where we could save a lot of money is to -- is to cut those pensions by 2%-5%. host: pensions? caller: yes. cut the pensions. host: now are you a governmt worker? caller: no. i'm not. host: well, what if somebody said we should raise taxes on your pension? call: raise taxes on my pension? host: right.

caller: um, well, taxes i think are a separate issue. i think we're paying way too much to reted government employees. we keep adding to the government year after year after year. more and more people retire. anyway,y,y,y,y,y,y,y,y,y,y,y,t thought. host: rick, what do you do in tacoma? caller: i'm a designer. host: what do you mean? caller: i design homes. host: ho how's business? caller: terrible. it's getting better, but. host: well, thanks for calling in. a democrat in athens, georgia. the u.s. needs lifestyle changes. what do you think? caller: good morning. personly, the things that i've seen being proposed on the television, all of them are agg they want to tax the poor. and the middle class.

the least of whom can afford these taxes. we spend 100% of our money each month to live off of where as the ri, the $250,000 and above may use as little as 5% of their income to live. so who benefits? the rich. the imf is for the rich. host: and back to the imf report on the u.s. this is available at imf.org in case you're interested. it's -- it doesn't read quite as easily as the newspaper article in "the washington post." but you can follow along here. since 2007, the debt held by the public in the u.s. has almost doubled to 64% of gross

domestic product.

host: another suggested lifestyle change by the imf. oklahoma city, michael, republican. hi. caller: good morning peter. want to insect squect a little bit of conversation. the first lestyle change we need to do as a people. is give up socialist government. the decisions that have been made by this government are atroshese. guess i'm considered -- host: name one. caller: well, not respecting the will of the people. the health care debacle. the stimulus that hasn't worked. bowing to foreign leaders, not enforcing border control. the foreign disaster he is not controlling. host: but given what we're talking about lifestyle changes, i.e. economic. caller: i guess i'm one of the wealthy. i make over $500,000 a year but wealthy people want to create jobs and pay most of the taxes.

i don't know one poor person that's ever created a job. host: may i ask what kind of work you do to make that kind of money? caller: i'm in private aircraft. host: oh. ok. all right. caller: real quickly, no other country in the world is sitting on the oil reserves we have. two moratoriums and the government or economy would have recovered on its own without the stimulus or health care and the commissioner is going to report in december conveniently after the november elections. the bush tax cuts are going to be put out of existence. they have no clue. they have no clue what they are doing. host: and we're going to talk about that a little later. michael, do you think we have lived beyond our means? especially if you look at the spending during the bush administration, during the bush years. do you think the u.s. has lived beyond its means? caller: i, myself, my friends,

we piled on bush for a lot of things. amnesty, the supreme court nominee. the terp which was a disaster. yes. there's bad decisions that were made butt's not going to be helped by making more bad decisions and going against the will of the people time after time. he's g all three houses, bututut this is going to come back to haunt him. they are committing political suicide in 2010. in 2012 i should say. if we re-elect this guy we deserve exactly what we get. host: marie, good morning. caller: oh, yes. good morning. i'll tell you what should happen. the pentagon budget should be cut by at least one half. they'd never notice. it is a bloated budget. corporate well fare should be ended. 2/3 of corporations pay absolutely no taxes whatsoever. host: now, marie, do you think that may lead to higher prices

on goods? caller: no. i don't. i don't believe that it should. and if we have government watch dogs doing what they should, it would not be allowed except for all the lobbyists. ok. social security should not be cut. it's already cuto the bone. they say that there is no need to increase social security, that there is no inflation. i wonder what planet they shop in. ok. and universal, if this was done, we could afford universal health care. we could join theest of the civilized world. host: back to the "washington post" article urging lifestyle changes in the u.s. by the imf. allowing home owners to deduct their mortgage interest is a staple of u.s. hsing policy, considered a way to make

homeownership more affordable. the imf said it was part of a homeownership system that was costly, inefficient and complex and did not demonstratively -- host: that's in "the washington post," the front page of "the new york times" this mning. biggest defaulters of mortgages are the rich. more than one in seven homeowners with loans in excess of $1 million are seriously delinquent according to data compiled by the "new york times" analytics firm corelogic.

host: mary in orange county, california. you're on the air. caller: hello. yes. i am calling, because it would be a simple matter forhis country to solve its financial problems. if we would decide to legalize all illegal drugs. and i want to comment that i've never used an illegal drug in my life. i'm 81 years old, and i never intend to. but when prohibition was passed in 1920, which i lived through. 30% of the federal income came from alcol taxes. and one of e reasons we have an income tax today is the government had to start an income tax before they could try prohibition. host: that said, mary. u.s. lifestyle changes. do you think more taxes should be added to products such as

alcohol? caller: no. i'm focusing on the illegal drugs although yes, i'd be happy to tax -- host: so illegal drugs you think they should be legalized and taxed? and instead of cutting social security and raising gas taxes? caller: yes. all of them. host: all right. thank you for calling in. from virginia, lloyd on the democrat line. caller: they always seem to try to solve america's problems on the backs of poor and middle class. they need target the rich people. make them pay a fair share of taxes. corporations can get their lawyers and afford to not pay any taxes at all. yet, whenever there's a big probm, the middle class and poor people want to be taxed. as far as raising taxes on products coming into the

country, people will only pay so much for products. so if they try to raise the prices for the products coming into the country to an unreasonable rate, people will stop buying them. host: and three quick emails. my initial reaction was to the headline was to think about all the economies the imf has ruined. argentina, turkey, etc. the specifics that have been read on air sound reasonable but with with such a bad track record, referring to the imf, karl in west virginia the best thing we should do is stop the money contributed to the imf and eliminate the exemption of increased social security taxes for those earning mor than $90,000 and means test social security benefits, fairly tax the people with the moy! this is his solution. next call, bristol, virginia. howard, independent line, what do you think about the imf's call for u.s. lifestyle

changes? caller: well. i've got quite a few ideas. my grievance was mary from georgia about the drugs, i don't think you should legalize the highly-addictive drugs like hair win or cocaine, but the small step would be to legalize marijuana. host: do you think that would be a way to finance our current lifestyle? caller: yes. a lot of people look to the government for help on things when they could make their own decisions to help the economy. also agree with the theory that the rich, you know, they -- i mean i think it's not fair to take the money they make, you know, if somebody comes from nothing and they become a millionaire, you know, you shouldn't cap tear salary, however, nobody needs more than $75,000, $100,000 a year. and it's not fair for the working class when, you know, the owner.

i work for papa john's, and our ner owned probably 15 papa john's and they paid us less than minimum wage when we were on the road, and we generated a million a year for anymore one store. and it would not have affected his lifestyle at all if he was willing to pay $12 an hour or $13 an hour. i worked for them for four years, and now i don't have a car. and i generated at least a half a million dollars personally on the pizzas i made and delivered. 40eu7 so you would sport higher taxes on the wealthy to support our current lifestyle? caller: well, i think we need to support higher taxes. that g gets the government involved, i don't know it's their job. that just creates more problems. i think the owners of businesses, if they wld pay their employees more voluntaryly then the employees would have more money to, you know, go buy stuff, because,

like, my girlfriend and i just can't buy anything. host: greg, st. st. missouri, republican. caller: how are you doing this morning? host: good. caller: i don't think the imf should have anything to say about what we do in the united states. and i don't think taxes should be increased. they should e decreased. social security should be means-tested and gradually eliminated. i don't think that anybody should be taxed, and the government is spending too much money on wasteful items. host: so you would agree to the imf when it comes to cutting social security? caller: well, it should be means-tested. i don't think benefits for the people that -- if i started collecting today. i'm 61 this year. i would not collect everything that my employer and i have contributed to the poncey scheme over my lifetime until i'm 80 years old.

and i wouldn't -- -- so my benefits are puny. and i don't have any big pensions, and we suld cut the pensions for congressmen, senators, for all government employees. host: do you think we live caller: the country does. i don't think the people do as a total. there's been too much easy credit. there's people buyg houses that aren't qualified and 100% loans. i had to put -- when i got my first house loan, i had to put 10% down. it was minimum, and i put 20% down. people are getting loans, 110% of the property value and falsely inflateed theommunity investment act. those are the things that should b cut out and stopped. to that degree. but i think that if you start tax- when the bh tax cuts come in, it's going to crash the economy.

host: when they end? caller: yes. host: again, we'll talk about that a little later in the program. we'll talk about that specific issue raising taxes on wealthy americans with curtis dubay of the heritage foundation. memo from "the new york times," obama on the tightrope. president obama on thursday confronted a challenge. how to reconcile the challenge of unemployment.

host: lodi, new jersey. gloria. democrats line, the u.s. needs lifestyle changes. do you agree with that? caller: i don't agree with half th things these politicians do. i don't know much about politics, but i will tell you what's happening to the senior citizens is a crying shame. they don't care about us. they don't talk about us when they are doing their speeches on tv. they just don't care. and as far as the wealthy is concerned. the don't want to be taxed because they want to keep all the money for themselves. they don't care about people either. host: good morning. caller: good morning. what a topic. i had just come back from myrtle beach, and i was at a marina down there, and i saw all these multi-million dollar yachts or pleasure crafts, and

i thought they were fishing boats until the manager of the marina told me they were just pleasure crafts. now i'm looking forward to a lifestyle change, and that's calledetirement. i played by the rules. my wife and i have worked all our lives with the exception of the time when i was in the army. i paid my taxes. i paid my mortgage, and i expect to relationship my reward, and that is to live a fairly reasonable retirement. now, it amazes me that the imf, these very wealthy, upper class bankers who caused this housing bubble with their greed, and we had to bail them out. they would say i need to change my life and get rid of my social security. get rid of the interest i paid on my mortgage. all these things are targeted towards the middle class. and if you want to get rid of the middle class, go ahead. do that.

but to me, if people can afford these very large multi-million dollar pleasure crafts, and homes, second and third homes that they buas an investment and with the loophole of having a gally and so on, then obviously they ca afford to pay a little more taxes too. and i think that the middle class in this country is being pummeled. and i'm not against paying my fair share, but you know something? the wealthy. and i'm not against the wealthy. more power to them. they'll find a loophole any which way they can, because they can afford to. and i don't think i should be penalized, because i played by the rules. thank you. host: fro"the new york times," election to replace bird gets officials apatrol. west virginia's attorney general has determined goverpbl joe mansion iiian call a special election to fill the

vacancy created by senator bird clearing a way to fill the remaining two years of mr. byrd's term. he said he would speak with the state's legislative leadership immediately to determine how we will further proceed in order to reach a conusion to this matter. host: govern mansion will be a guest on this show on sunday. next call comes from fairfax, virginia, republican, ben, hi. caller: yes. hello. rich topic for pension. the country we live in. most people try to live within their means and do a much better job than the government

does. but the -- a lot -- today have emanated from the -- government, the clinton era, the defense cuts he did are egregious. anytime in world history when a >> believed "washington journal" at this time -- we will leave "washington journal" at this time to go live to the national governors' association and a seminar on a childhood obesity. >> first, a little bit of housekeeping. the proceedings of this committee are open to the press and all meeting attendees. as a consideration, please take a moment to ensure that your cellular telephones are silent.

meeting books were sent to the governors in advance that include our agenda, background, and policy positions. if you need any assistance, please see the gentleman to my right. we decided to combine forces to address cost cutting issues before both of our committees. efforts to end child hunger, improved child nutrition, and address the childhood obesity at epidemic. my wife and i volunteered on a mission for three years in zambia, africa, to help do what we cut to combat child hunger and malnutrition. in that community, 1/3 of all children experience childhood hunger. childhood hunger should not exist in developing countries.

even today, in the breadbasket of america, children go to school hungry in colorado. in my state, one in five children have experienced too hard chip in the last year. this is not only immoral outrage, it threatens our future as americans. hungry children cannot learn. they cannot get a great start to life. they cannot live up to their god-given potential. given the importance of this issue to our future in colorado, i launched a campaign to end childhood hunger. in colorado, regardless of political affiliation, if you are rural or urban, there is an agreement that childhood hunger is one campaign that no one can afford to lose. research has demonstrated the importance and strong correlation between good nutrition, overall wellness, and the ability to learn.

that is why i am pleased that we are having this important conversation today. with that, i would like to ask the next governor to share a few opening words. >> thank you. across the country there is a renewed interest in healthy eating, cooking and locally grown produce and gardens. at the same time, children continue to face a host of food challenges, including obesity, that can undermine overall wellness, health, and the ability to learn. while public policy has a role to play in addressing these challenges, the home kitchen drives personal taste, preferences, and life styles the impact childhood obesity and nutrition. whether it is access to enough food or too much food, as some people have suggested in my case, aor access to the right kind of food, we will work to

find the right recipe is to promote overall childhood nutrition. this is not a new topic for governors. former arkansas governor mike focused his attention on creating a healthy america. he also lost 100 pounds and rand several marathons. -- ran several marathons. i do not know what people make such a big deal out of that. i lose 10 pounds at the time, a disdain it back again. -- i just gained it back again. [laughter] >> i would add that this recession occurs at an opportune time. congress is in the process of reauthorize in the childhood nutrition program, which provides federal funding for nutrition programs in schools

and in the homes of pregnant women and young children. these programs, that of a hunger and obesity, and bring in necessary dollars into state economies. the united states house education committee will mark up the bill next week. our first item of business today, and we're taking this a little bit out of order, we had planned on having someone else speak first. we're going to do something else before that. we're going to vote on separate policy motions. following those items, the governors will be joined by the agriculture, whof will discuss exciting new federal opportunities and no cost or low-cost ways to improve access for children to healthy,

nutritious meals. we will then discuss the best practices to reduce the child had hundred, to other obesity, and to improve -- childhood hunger, to reduce obesity, and to improve nutrition for all children. following that, a chef will prepare a healthy meal within the nutritional and cost requirements of the school lunch program. we look forward to today's discussion. without further ado, let us get started. first, we will be considering the policies for our bylaws. we will consider an amendment to three policies, one in the form of a substitute and reaffirmation of one policy. as a reminder, the policy process began early this past fall with a staff advisory

committee. the staff made proposals for amendments, discussed and negotiated those amendments with other state, and then reached a consensus on the changes prepared for your consideration today. i suggest that we act in a box. is there any objection to moving policy in the blocks? hearing no objections, is there a motion to move the adoption of the ecw-6, ecw-11, ecw-15, and the reaffirmation of ecw-14 as presented in the tab up one at? -- tab 1? someone has moved. is there a second? it has been seconded.

all those in favor? the motion passes. >> the health and human services committee will consider amendments to one policy. these were fully invested at the staff level months ago. is there a motion to move the adoption of hhs-14? so moved. is there a second? the motion is seconded. all those in favor? those opposed? of the motion has passed. >> governor, you have the honor today of introducing our distinguished alumni. >> thank you. i have the honor of introducing my good friend and fellow iowan, u.s. secretary of agriculture thomas vilsack. thank you very much for being here today.

we also welcome your wife, the former first lady of iowa. the secretary was appointed by president obama as the 30th secretary of agriculture, and sworn in in january of 2009. under his leadership, usda is working to improve the health of america's children, targeting childhood obesity, encouraging balanced meals, healthy eating, and increased physical activity. in addition, he has ordered a top to bottom review of the usda food safety standards to ensure the safety of the american food supply. prior to his appointment, thomas vilsack served two terms as the governor of the great state of iowa. in that role, and as a state senator and mayor of mount pleasant iowa, secretary vilsack has an outstanding record of making positive changes in the

lives of those who has served, especially our children. in 2003, iowa created the child and adolescent obesity task force in an effort to combat child the obesity. he has been practicing what he is preaching for many years. fellow governors, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our good friend and former colleague, the honorable secretary thomas vilsack. [applause] >> thank you very much. governor, thank you very much. it is certainly an honor and privilege to be back among some of the nation's great leader s. thank you for your continued leadership on behalf of iowa's children.

uni share a deep concern -- you and i share a deep concern for their positive early childhood opportunities. i appreciate your leadership in that area. i welcome the opportunity to talk to you as the secretary of agriculture. let me simply say that i wish i had known about the department of agriculture what i know now when i was governor. i did not realize that if the usda were a bank, it would be the sixth largest bank in the country. i did not reali that they do home loans. they literally have hundreds of millions of dollars in economic development grants for community is building everything from hospitals to schools to libraries to community centers. i certainly did not appreciate the tremendous investment at the department was making in conservation, expanding hunting

and fishing and outdoor recreational opportunities. i would certainly encourage all of you, as you struggle during tough economic times, to take a look at the programs of the usda has in economic development. they are many and varied, and we are anxious to work with the nation's governors. i am here to speak of something other than economic development, and that is the health and welfare of the children of this country. it is important for this group to focus on judd obesity and nutrition. first of all, -- on childhood obesity and nutrition. first of all, this is part of our responsibility at the usda. we know that as a result of the first lady's advocacy, there has been a gater emphasis in this country on the issue of obesity and the impact it is having on people in school in terms of their education, the expanded health care costs, particularly as young people take diabetes

and other chronic diseases into adulthood. what you may not realize is the national security component of this spirit we have many retired admirals and generals who are very concerned about the state of health of our armed services. it is important that we have a pool of people qualified to serve in our armed forces. today, only 25% of people ages 19-24 are qualified to serve. that is a small pool. when harry truman established the school lunch program, he realized that a strong nation is only as strong as it children. that is why he established the program. i am told that i am to speak to you today about ways in which governors can assist our efforts at the national level and how we can assist you at your state level to deal with childhood obesity and nutrition, and to do

so without asking you to pay any additional resources because of the scarcity of revenue that states are experiencing. so, i will quickly offers six ideas and thoughts that i think maybe of benefits, and then i will be happy to answer questions. first of all, this year is the year that we hope that congress will reauthorize the childhood nutrition act, which gave rise to the school lunch program, the wic program and the summer feeding program. we want to expand access and improve quality. we hope that our nation's governors will be strong proponent and encourage your congressional delegations to significantly increase the investment in this program, recognizing that we will work with congress to find the appropriate offsets' so that this does not add to the deficits. we believe this is a priority. the president believes this is a priority.

when he was the president elect, he said to me, improve the nutrition that our young people are receiving in schools. i take that order very seriously. we need your help enacting this bill and this year -- this bill this year with additional resources. we also need your help advocating wellness programs in public schools, and to be recognized for doing so. we have a program called the healthier you as a school challenge which is the first lady has adopted as part of -- healthier us school challenge, which is something the first lady has adopted as part of her initiative. this makes sure that physical activity and physical education, recess, are part of the daily routine in the school. get kids and physically active. i will note that mississippi

has embraced this challenge any significant way. other states can do so as well. we have roughly 750 schools that are currently qualified for this program. the first lady has challenged us to get another 500 before the end of june 2011, and to add additional schools thereafter. this allows us to examine schools and nutrition as well as their physical activity requirements. we would also encourage you to consider submitting applications for the summer feeding pilot programs currently being considered by the usda. there is a great deal of money available to states today in a competitive application process to try to bigger and how we can do a better job of expanding feeding programs during the summer. 31 million children partaken

school lunch during the year, but only 2.2 million participate in the in the summer feeding program. there is a tremendous opportunity for us to learn from governors how we can reach these young people during the summer months. arkansas and mississippi are currently engaged in this activity, and we would encourage other states to take a look and how you might use resources within your state to expand the summer feeding program. we encourage you to take a look at how you might be able to expand the number of schools in your state that participate in the school breakfast program. all 102,000 schools participate in school lunch, only 88,000 participate in school breakfast, which means we have a ways to go. we need your help removing the stigma attached to these programs. everyone knows you go to the lunch room during the lunch hour, but the school breakfast

program is often done as a way of identifying young people who are poor or in need of assistance. we encourage classrooms to participate in providing school breakfast in the classroom so that there is no distinction between the young people when they come to school. a solid breakfast is essential to learning. speak to any teacher and they will tell you that hungry young people do not participate well. they have a tendency to overcompensate with a vending machines if they are not provided a good, solid start in the morning. the fourth thing is that we would like to see you spoke as an advocate -- focused and advocate on how we can address but the obesity and the hunger

issue. we have 17 million children in this country who lived in homes that are feared insecure, which means that they will either skip meals or substantially reduced their caloric intake. we want to make sure that we find that the best practices for that as well. two other areas, improving the use of direct certification. we see this as a way of reducing the administrative burden on schools. if young people qualify or their parents qualify for various programs, there is really no reason why we should require those same families to have a detailed application process in order for their children to participate in the free and reduced portion of the school lunch program. we think this will save schools significant administrative expense. we are putting $25 million out to states who are currently under the national average in terms of participation. about 72% of schools

participate, as a national average. we would like to increase that, and we will provide resources to make that happen. those are the areas that i think provide you some degree of direction in terms of how you as governors can advocate to reduce the obesity issue by getting kids more nutritious meals and getting them balanced meals. make sure that they are physically active andk make sure that the programs we happen -- make sure they are physically active, and make sure that the programs we have during the school year are active during the summer months. we would also like to provide resources to improve the quality of meals. the first lady has provided leadership -- we have within the usda something called the people's garden. the first lady has that at the white house as well.

encouraging people to grow their own gardens gets them physically active and gets them to understand the power of eating right. with that, i will stop and be glad to answer questions. >> and thank you. we will now go to governors questioned. -- questions. >> thank you for participating with us today. mention the direct certification for students participating in free or reduced lunch. there is currently a requirement that states directly certify that 95% of the individuals eligible be identified on a state-by-state basis. for a lot of our states, coming up with 95% identification is going to be difficult, particularly within the time line laid out.

i am just wondering if there is a better way to do it in terms of providing incentives for increasing the percentages of certification of the individuals that are eligible, verses a strict mandate at the federal level. i am wondering if there has been any discussion of the program other than a strict mandate? >> the reality is that 95% is a mandate that has been carried over from previous reauthorization. we recognize that states are struggling to get up to that level. let me say, the reason why this is important, is not only to make sure that young people get the free and reduced blunt opportunities that should be available, but also -- reduced opportunities that should be available, but also to

increase the level of nutrition provided to them. first and foremost, we are making available $25 million for states that want to help increase their participation. we are looking at ways in which, through the reauthorization act, we can provide other incentives. to my way of thinking, 95% is the goal. we are providing the financial resources to help you get to that goal. if there are ways that you think would be easier, things you would like to try, technology would like to use, we would like to partner with you. the reality is, this is a carryover mandate, and i see it as a laudable goal. we do want to work with you, so that is why we are providing the $25 million. >> i will take the chance to ask the second question. it is a concern that i have and that a number of other the governors here have as well. there is a provision in the

reauthorization bill from the senate to establish a federally mandated minimum price for paid school meals. these are the meals that are purchased by families that do not qualify for free or reduced prices. the house did not include this in their bill, but to the senate would federal mandates that schools falling below the federal minimum must increase the price charged to children and their families. to put this in some perspective, schools will charge $2.30 force will plunges in denver. this is -- for school lunches in denver. this is below the federal mandate. the potential consequences and disincentives that the mandate will create for its schools are

numerous. we would like to know your view on in this, the administration's view on this. >> this gives me an opportunity to educate people about the current status. there are three classifications of students. some qualify for free lunches. and those are young people to fall below the poverty line. there are reduced lunch kids and paid a blunt kids. what we are trying to -- paid at lunch -- paid lunch kids.

60% of that paid at lunch kids come from families whose incomes are 300% above the poverty level. the question is, where the get the resources that could increase the nutritional value of meals? we are currently subsidizing those in a better position to pay. that is what the senate is trying to get accurate we would be happy to work with the governors and so that you understand the problem we are trying to solve. what we do not need, in my view, is to take money and resources away from the program in order to subsidize those who are in the best position to pay. given the institute of medicine's study about the quality of meals that we are serving -- they are high in

sugar, inigh in c fact. we need to do a better job of improving the quality of those meals. we need to make sure those resources are being directed in the best possible way. >> i would just add that i have been working with governors and school chiefs on this discussion. school chiefs have different interests based on their own and demographic high-income levels. know that they have an ability to talk about their particular interests. you do not want to de incentivize those who live at the margins, who are not eligible for free or reduced lunch, to not be able to participate. >> i think i heard you say, and i was pleased if you did, that you want to try to increase the

appropriation for the wic program, women and infants and children. that is a very important program in states like mine. there is an effort by some in congress and to cut that program by $500 million. i hope that you and the administration will stop or oppose any cutting of the wic program. i think you should increase what is getting spent on the wic program. >> we are very supportive of the wic program. we have seen a significant increase in the program as a result of the recovery and the reinvestment act. the overall childhood reauthorization act has requested a $10 billion increase over 10 years. the senate has added eight $4.5

-- added a $4.5 billion increase. we think that is a good start the challenges, where it is the money going to come from? we want to continue to assist with, continue to look at ways and witchweed -- we want to continue to assist wic, continue to look at ways in which we can improve the quality ood.he fifth fo unfortunately, there are other issues on at the plate. this may not get the time and attention it needs. i know that this body can move mountains, can move congress

into doing things by making a strong statement. i would urge you to tell your congressional delegations about the importance of this. >> in our back up a material, there is an article that talks about hunger in the united states being at a 14-year high. i know we're talking about children, but overall, what is the health of america's agricultural business? are we importing food? are we exporting food? why do think we have a rise in hunger in a country that seems to be able to produce so much to do it that we still have people among us a better evidently -- so much food, that we still have people among us that are evidently hungry?

>> every american farmer or rancher is responsible for feeding 155 people. when i was born, that ratio was one in a 12. there have been incredible productivity increases and that is going to continue with the advances and precision in agriculture that have taken place. in some cases, it is an availability issue. the first lady has put the emphasis on food deficit. -- food desert. every state here has a food desert. they are rural and urban. in some cases you are several miles away from a full-scale grocery store. there will be fast food available, but there is not a full-scale a grocery store, so people do not have the capacity to use and there food dollars in a creative and expansive away

that a full-scale grocery store would provide. it is part of the obesity issue. it is part of the hunger issue. what we have proposed in the 2011 budget is a program called the healthy financing initiatives. it is a partnership between the u.s. treasury, but the department of health and human services, and the department of agriculture. it provides the resources to try to address the issue of food deficits. that is one issue. because of the difficult economy, we have seen an increase in the participation in supplemental nutritional assistance program. some states do a phenomenal job of making sure that snap beneficiaries are aware of the program and participate fully. in other states, roughly 50% of

the people who would qualify participate. obviously, that leaves people having to go without a maleal. young people in those families are not getting in the nourishment they need. this is a health care issue and a national security issue. i really appreciate you putting the spotlight on these issues, because it helps elevate it been the minds of people across the country, -- elevate it into the minds of people across the country, and hopefully, it will get congress to take action. the usda has a challenge of trying to collect 1 million

pounds of food to give to local food banks. these banks are staffed by angels, in my view. they cared deeply about the homeless and the hungry, and they provide some of lifeline when the money and food has run out. so, we need additional participation in our programs and to make sure that food banks in our country are adequately stocked. it is clearly not an issue of american agriculture. we are exporting. that is a good thing for the country. we have a trade surplus in agriculture. we anticipate that this will be the second-best year in exports since we have been keeping records. it is a job creator as well. >> addressing the challenge of the food desert, and in colorado there is a community

with an 16 graduating seniors. a small community. their grocery store has moved out. so they built their own co-ops. they have a functioning grocery store that is a product of the farmers working in a cooperative and setting. that was the community's response to the challenge you addressed. any other comments or questions? >> thank you for coming to our state recently i just want to take a point of personal privilege. i should preface it first by saying that we in the south, part of the reason our food is better than everybody else's is because it is not very healthy. [laughter] it is really healthy, you have

to work at making it more flavorful. we all have to work on that. the cells, as a region, has a disproportionate -- the south, as a region, has a disproportionate problem with childhood obesity, with obesity overall. but i do want to take a moment to brag on arkansas, for two reasons. our first lady, along with the nation's first lady, have collaborated on some of this. the garden program in at the schools is something that you pointed out that can be a successful tool for all of our fellow governments to be able to implement. the other reason i want to brag on our first lady is in case she is sitting behind me in the room. i think it is important to note that there are foundations and

private sector people out there willing to commit resources, willing to commit expertise to be a partner with state government and federal government to try to attack this problem. we were recently recognized by the robert wood johnson foundation. a multimillion-dollar commitment was made to reverse childhood obesity. we talk about trying to find money in the right places for the right reasons in congress. we should all be aware that there are a number of private sector foundations and individuals, and corporations, who recognize this issue as a significant and important for all of the reasons that you stated, and who are key assets and potential partners call upon to try to help attack this problem. i joke only half-facetiously

about this. the problem exists in all 50 states. when you and i were young, we played ball every afternoon. we rode our bikes wherever we wanted to. we got a significant amount of exercise without it having to be planned in a school setting. now, now they are sitting in front of a television set with a video game and the exercise they're getting is with the fingers and thumbs, and that further exacerbates the problem. then you mentioned the lack of the grocery stores. i am not sure that there is a grocery store on every corner, because of the way we have in grains are eating habits and our

fast life style to be more conducive to the fast food outlets. it is something that all of us can devote some more time to to try to play in sure we leave a legacy that we should be leading. >> i appreciate that remark, and we will continue to extend our thoughts and prayers to the families who tragically were killed during the flash flood that occurred at the national forest. a couple things, there are also foundations that provide technical advice and experience, especially on the sued desert issue. there is a grocer in philadelphia and he has established a foundation to provide assistance to communities to fight what is about their community that makes it the call for a full-scale

retreat store to succeed. he believes every locale is different and needs to be evaluated, and he has a program. he is very passionate about this. we have tremendous natural resources in every state represented today. we issued a report that suggested 173.5 million people spend time in a national forest , and 300 million people try to them on an annual basis. they spend between 13 billion and $14 billion as they go to the forests, as they can, and outdoor recreation, and that generates $14 billion for the local economies. you ought to be thinking about your outdoor recreation opportunities and how you could link those opportunities to getting kids or physically active. at the same time providing assistance and help for your

rural economies in generating tourism dollars that circulate around. the governor is fortunate in that he has every -- in his state, at least that is what he says, and that is a tremendous opportunity. when announced $50 million available for public access grants to encourage land owners to make their land available for hunting and fishing and hiking so we have a private land conversation -- conservation and working lance connection with our public lands efforts. lots of different ways in which gwen address that issue. i did nothing sam can add disagree that you can produce nutritious food that is not tasty. >> i think about our reservation, and we have a number of them in south dakota, you have native americans making

up 8% of our population. they are challenged in they have tribal trust land where it is difficult to set up a business because there is no ownership except through a trust. because of that there are a number of places in rural areas where you do not have a store, you do not have a business, and i am wondering if there may not be an opportunity somewhere in the middle of the financing programs you have that some of the rural areas might be served, even if on tribal trust lands. native americans have challenges. they have a huge poverty rate. they have an unemployment rate that goes up 85%. they also have an obesity problem and an issue with diabetes. a lot of that comes down to poor dietary opportunities in that they do not have the availability of a full-service, if you will, or a store that has

a lot a different -- as fresh fruits and vegetables. i wonder if there may be an opportunity to look at something in the rural areas for the reservations. >> the healthy finance initiative is not limited to -- it would include tribal lands. we're working to the tribal relations office to make sure that tribes are integrated into these programs. our world development programs that range from real enterprise grants, micro enterprise grants, loans, depending on the size of the operation, we would be able to help to those programs, and how the financing issue if passed would be a vehicle. there are three areas that i would suggest. we are also -- on the way over here i was reading on the plane, where putting together a plan to address how we would integrate

native diets needs into the school lunch and school breakfast programs on reservations lands. there is a disconnect between what could be produced and what are historically foods that indians are interested in and what is provided to the commodity purchasing efforts of these programs. we want to make sure there is a better alignment so we can put together and of -- put together a group that kingcraft specific needs for the tribe. >> thank you. i will speak for myself personally first and say in the time you have been the secretary we have had a number of challenges that intersect with the department of agriculture, and you have been a fantastic parker -- partner, and i appreciate the attention you have eight issues to our state and to the federal government, and as governors we appreciate that you took the mindset of the

governor into that apartment and you very much have operated that way. thank you. let's give him a round of applause. [applause] >> governor, i think we are moving to the homework persian. -- portion. >> we moved on to the home work portion of committee section. the governor instituted to things in nga meetings. we like to brag about successes in our states, and some of oz wills shamelessly steal the great ideas from other ideas. -- from other governors. governors will share successes have come and listen to get better idea is to try in the future, and with that i understand that governor ritter

has been asked to share something about their great ideas, and i will have the opportunity to copy it and take it back come and claim it as our own idea. with that, governor, your turn to tell a story. >> we shamelessly stolen. we actively partnered with the statewide nonprofit organization with about call hungerford colorado, but also with a national nonprofit share our strength, to ensure that -- and the president of share our strength is with us today. we please stand up and be recognized. it has been a great partner for us in bringing resources and practices the colorado. he is eager to work with other states as well. we got this idea from governor o'malley from maryland. with our partners will lot would

-- we launched a campaign to end on corporate we form a coalition with kohl's. increase -- with goals, increase the number of children in the school lunch program, the school breakfast program, and also develop and execute a specific and measurable plan to end childhood hunger by 2015 in colorado. the campaign launched an aggressive outreach campaign to expand the summer meals program. just like a political campaign, e use posters, fliers, psa's and even calls to parents. these efforts resulted in a 50% increase in the number of summer meals sites and an increase in the number of meals served. governors, we have not invested in the state funds to make it

happen. we are using federal dollars more creatively and effectively. in fact, where one of four state is using funds to support expansion of summer meal programs. our goal is to serve 10,000 more kids this summer than last summer, and for the first time in colorado, serve more than 1 million meals. based on the number of calls, our new state toll-free hot line, is to our website, reports from the field, we are well on our way to reaching that goal. we are going to launch a breakfast challenge that is modeled after a successful effort in michigan. i will challenge school principals from across the state to increase the number of students eating a healthy breakfast at school. the campaign will provide the technical assistance to help us succeed, along the lines with trying to figure out ways to reduce the stigma that sometimes can be attached to school breakfasts. we're making sure families and

children know how to make healthy food choices, so we are working with a share our strength in colorado. operation from one is a groundbreaking program that teaches families how to prepare healthy meals on a tight budget, and we believe that so much of this lies with what the secretary talked about, what the first lady talked about, in terms of addressing increase participation, school breakfasts, lunches, nutrition programs, and if you increase participation, it is one way of attacking obesity, because kids who eat nutritionally eat less of those kinds of foods that have contributed significantly to the other is the problem that i think we face in this country. with that, i will ask the governor to open the discussion. >> questions or comments from governors in attendance? governor o'malley? >> i wanted to shine in and

share our experience with share our strength with maryland. it's been a terrific campaign, especially when most of us have to look in the eyes and tell this is been cut, other things have been cut, and it has been a rallying point to be able to challenge our people to eradicate job hunter by 2015. i want to compliment governor ritter. i want to steal ideas to bring home. the initiative at the first lady has launched to eradicate childhood -- childhood obesity and shop of hunger, the other coin.f that the great thing about this is you can back it. you know where the populations

are, whose children are not getting adequate nutrition, and you set the goals and that it, and you will be surprised as we look over our shoulders, when you force and the people, when the government already has a programs and the funds access ford you, how much progress you make in terms of school breakfasts, the supper programs, the feeding sites, that were not existent in some of the areas where children were most in need, and our ability to partner with fate committees and leaders, it is a great thing, and share our strength has the template. they provide the technical assistance to do this. to my colleagues who are governors across the country, i encourage you to sit down with people from share our strength, and it is -- it is said poverty is complicated, but feeding

children is simple. i cannot say enough good things about this campaign. >> thank you. other comments? >> let me comment in a general sense. i have learned this from the chief medical officer of my state, who tells me all the time when we are talking about obesity, childhood or adults, it is not eating properly and exercising regularly. none of us do it perfectly, but the more you do the better off you are. she has told me for the last three or four years, make sure you eat an apple a day, and so i do that so i'd make sure i did not get into trouble. i would share for my wife's experience, giving an -- of being an elementary school principal, two of the best meals children get are the breakfast and lunch programs. the other thing we need prince

of -- we need to focus on is exercise. part of our wellness program is keeping track of the number of steps you take everyday. i believe if you are going to be a governor, you lead by example, so we started this year and half ago. at first i was doing 6000 celtic. now it is over 10,000. and makes a difference. the more we can encourage our young people in particular that we have got to keep fiscal -- physical education in our schools, all the way up through high school, the better off we will be. i want to emphasize, for young kids in particular, the breakfast and lunch programs are absolutely critical. >> if i may add, we have a campaign on the proper eating habits and exercising. i want to share with you

something we have done, and i never expected this to be as this -- as successful as it has. we have very strong sports leagues all throughout our territory. we never thought that there were all these obese children and youngsters that were always sitting on the bench. we started the league only four obies youngsters. it has been a total success. you should see the parents and youngsters, they have never played before, there were members of the team, but they played very little. now there is a leak just for them, and we have hundreds of them every night, all over the island, participating. i just wanted to share with you all. >> let me echo what has been said. i like what the governor said about physical activity part -- the physical activity park. it is more than just nutrition.

that is the foundation. it is also exercise, and sometimes we forget that, and our lifestyles are children -- are changing. my children and grandchildren are more sedentary than i was, and as we become more urbanized, would become more sedentary. the iphones and the pipettes, you do not have to walk to the telephone. physical activity is not part of our lifestyle. in utah, what we try to do is to bring that back. we have put an emphasis with our healthy lifestyle and a service to talk about eating properly, had a good nutrition, providing those opportunities, but also avoid things that maybe are not as healthy. in utah, we have a lower per capita use of alcohol and tobacco, and those things would be more detrimental to your help. we work with our league of cities and towns to provide help the communities where we provide hiking trails, become

skinny parks, and last year in 58 cities awards for that kind of planning and preparing opportunities for outdoor recreation. as we work with cities and schools. in 2001, part of the host of the olympics, we had the gold medal schools, and we included a gold medal mile. so we have a recognition for students who walk or run, on school grounds, around school grounds, a mile away. it does not seem like much, but you would be surprised how many have a hard time doing that. the schools, workplace environment. i pass an initiative this past may for our own state workers to take opportunities during their

lunch hours to do physical exercise. we have a facility at capital which is available to all the state workers. workplaces should be conducive to exercise and restoration. our schools and communities should be that way. if we increase physical activity, obesity will go down not only for children who will develop a better exercise mentality, but for all of us. >> you. i have to share with you the first time i had a discussion with anybody about the school lunch program when we talk about breakfast. i was a state senator at the time. we had a -- i would go to the school board meetings, the city commission meetings, and get a sense of what the challenges were. i rembered the one time i was waiting to get on the agenda with local school board, there's a discussion where they listen

to a late was responsible for a hot lunch program in our local school district. she was sharing with them her interests in seeing the school lunch program expanded and continued and -- in the breakfast mode, and what was doing for kids. if anybody has any question as to whether or not this is one of the best ways to help kids, topped one of these kids who sees these kids coming through -- talk to one of these ladies who seized one of these kids coming through, and get from them -- this might be the second or the only meal that these kids get in the day. in terms of being directly able to help kids that need it, this is one of the most powerful programs that we have available to impact kids of all the programs that we have got. from my own personal

perspective, that is one program i have become a believer in. i hope to see it continued to be strengthened and promoted. >> thank you, governor. i would like to recognize our host governor, duval patrick, to enter this -- to introduce today's celebrity chef. >> it is my pleasure to introduce the chef at the white house. he earned a degree at u.s. history at the university of chicago. he began cooking at a restaurant in chicago, and his experience there set him on his current pact. he continued his education in austria, new zealand, italy, and mexico before returning home in

2006 to work and one of chicago's most acclaimed restaurants. today the shaft is the assistant chef at the white house, where he can be found both in the kitchen and in the first lady's policy office. in the policy office, the chef works to advance the first lady's let's move initiative to curb childhood obesity. most recently, the ship was the featured guest judge on the broad roche television series " chef."ef in that episode, he challenged others just to prepare salomon meals foriddle school students. the cost could not exceed $2.68, the same reimbursement rate given to schools for free lunches to the national school

lunch program. on behalf of all bus fare, welcome to boston, welcome to this meeting. we're delighted you're here and look forward to sibley your vision of a healthy, nutritious school lunch. >> thank you. >>we ready to get started? you guys are looking pretty good. i used to be able to draw what all around anti in front, now i cannot get there. >> we are going to do a similar and never of the school lunch within the budget that schools have, so the reimbursement rate is $2.60. schools spend up to $1.20 on

discuthe costs. we are working hard to increase that rate. the single greatest thing we can do to move these issues along is our greatest hunger program in nutrition program. it is passing a really strong bill this year is the greatest thing to do. your support is critical, and we thank you for it. we should get started. corn.l start with a cornethe you will do green beans. i need to give you each a knife, but the bickering has been pretty tough. i think we should -- what the think? is this more like it? >> what the what to do -- what

you want us to do? >> cut off the ends and cut in half. you can cut the corn off. >> talk to us about the first lady's ending childhood obesity agenda. the introduction said he worked a little bit in the policy office on this as the white house chef. if you talk about that, we would appreciate it. >> the initiative is going well. the country is moving forward on this set of issues that are critical. for the economic future of this country, for our national security is true -- interests, and for how the markets, this is important. the e starting to support national governors association, and pediatricians and family

doctors, and the food industry, they are starting to come together to forge a coalition to take this problem on. there's not one magic bullet. we know that for sure. we will need a comprehensive approach to solve this problem. we're off to a great start. we have a long way to go. >> this thing is sharp. , we cannors acros the voiced our persian to michelle obama for this initiative. -- we can voice our appreciation to michelle obama for this initiative. >> going to get going on that corn. have you ever cut corn off the cob? maybe i should show you.

watch your fingers. >> it is sharp. it is sharp. all right. we are doing a nutritious lunch here that is going to be -- here is my answer to you, sir. we're going to do a big chicken, bakedried, -- not -- a de chicked, not fried, but breaded. a little flower, a little egg, and some bread crumbs. there is ways to do it where it will be tasty. if it does not taste good, it

will and not be eaten. the easy way to make it taste good is to eat -- is at fat and sugar. >> i can identify with that. >> with a little effort we can go a long way to showing kids how to live healthy, productive lives, and it is critical. a lot of what we heard today is the correlation between hunte and nutrition. although we talk about these in separate conversations, they are essentially the same discussion. a large portion of kids who are obese are also malnourished. -- one of theust

first lady's pillars of the initiative is to -- if we can do that we will go a long way in showing me both eliminate childhood hunger, which we had a goal to do that by 2015, and ensure our kids grow up a healthy weight. this is the united states. this is one we really have to do it and we have the ability to do. how are we doing, guys? >> i just about got these been selected. i have not cut myself, either. i still have a garden and hand it when i have time. tomatoes, beans, beets, what the peppers for salsa, and the one thing i know you have talked about is that community gardens and so forth, trying to figure out a way to ensure the people

your interests in terms of schools be involved in it. i want to talk about schools and what your thoughts are in terms of their participation in a commodity-type garden. >> every committee is different. some schools will have planned or resources to build a garden. others -- we will call them back in there. it is great for others to utilize a community garden. the power of education here is enormous, and one of the things that we learned, just because we get for this and vegetables into the schools, does not mean that kids will eat them. we want to inspire them to eat healthy. watching a child and gauge putting a seat in the ground, watching it grow, the chances of getting them to eat whatever comes out of the garden is amazing. the first lady has witnessed this with her own children. she has witnessed it with the

white house garden. hearing stories about how kids can be changed in what they see and have expressed growing food. we have kids eating salads and greens. we just had a heart is with the first lady where we did all raw .egetables trick we had cauliflower and broccoli and chard. one kid had a plate of raw cauliflower this big and stuffing it in her face, just putting her mouth with it, and she ate about half of it by the time the rest of the kids got back. it was amazing. it was the first time she had eaten cauliflower. it is critical for schools to include that. i will give you guys a little oi. we will add a little bit of

these caramelized onions. we will saute this corn and at the brown rice, and we will be good to go. this is a vegetable oil. you can use all kinds of oil. do not used to much. there you go. pop it in. they you go. -- there you go. it's all in the rest. -- the wrist. get a little water in there. all right, turn you up a little bit. do not use that nice. -- that knife.

and magic, my chicken is cooked. doing okay? slow it down a little bit you can add some of the onions and some of the herbs. most of it. here we are with the beans and rice. a lot of kids around the world beans and rice. not so much green beans, but other beans have a lot approaching, so the combination of the carbohydrate and protein get to a balanced base. to the point of you hearing about can i have a burger, absolutely, we enjoy it, the point is if that is our foundation of what our kids are eating every day, can and many kids do get a majority of their calories in school, if that is

the foundation, then we are in trouble. >> we need to make sure the foundation is something that is more balanced. not only beef, but also carbohydrate and protein as well. >> smells good. >> you're cooking. i'm impressed. [unintelligible] now you guys have to do this at home. are your wives seen this? i think we are ready to plate. >> any salt and pepper on there? >> oh, yes.

>> this is sea salt. >> i don't think so. this is a school lunch. [unintelligible] >> i like it that way. [laughter] >> i don't think is going to work. >> there you go. all right. perfect.

that is no excuse, you know. >> i was going to put the onions in a. >> one of the things we are looking to do encouraging schools to do is include more fruits and vegetables in the meals. that is the challenge. finding creative ways to make sure that kids are eating the foods and vegetables that they need is critical. the program encourages just across the country to adopt a school and build a relationship with that school, and one thing that we can do is make food fun and exciting and to get kids engaged in what it is. they can make a salad bar the most exciting thing in the rock. we did a top chefs show. the one thing that came away

from that show is watching how these kids -- when i saw the menus at that time, i set these kids are not going to touch anything. when the shift came out and kids saw them preparing -- when the chef came out, these kids saw them preparing, these kids are eating green beans and lettuce, and they said i normally he does, but i never tried this before, but i really like it, and that was real success. that energy is what we are hoping that chefs can do. that is a perfectly healthy, very affordable school lunch. we are good to go. in a minute, you guys are on to be able to taste as well. >> anybody have questions for sam? >> i want to build on your point

about the power of involving kids in the preparation of the food. tomorrow the first lady is organizing a lunch here i. they will be serving food that is being grown, harvested, and cooked by local children. it is something that we are trying to raise the profile on for reasons that we have been talking about during your demonstration. we are excited about. i think we will get, in addition to a t.c. lunch -- a tasty lunch, some good lessons.

>> one thing the first lady and we have learned is the power of symbolism. that we are looking for cost- effective ways to inspire people. symbolism is important. that garden at the white house has now produced over 1,300 pounds of food. we eat out of it every night. about 1/3 of it has been given to local soup kitchens. but these gardens can inspire people to think about them. as governors of your stay, there is a lot of ways to showcase these things by showing off these issues, planting a garden at the state capitols, and those kinds of actions can go a long way. was one ofalley those moms that was so inspired.

we planted a garden at the government house. many people said, is that what the first lady did? they said we started a garden, too. the urban gardens in baltimore city and the things being done there with kids is important stuff and is a movement that takes on momentum. >> the ur issue about -- the issue about urban barnes is very important. if there is a community urban garden, there is a chance to be a gardener. there is a connection between that and what you eat and being healthy. >> with that, any other questions? let's give the chef a great hand. [applause] >> appreciate it. >> i think the governors are now

having a plate brought to you. i have one more introduction to make. i would like to introduce the executive chef. thank you to your staff for bringing our demonstration today want tot, and i'l also thank the staff. there is chef steinberg. [applause] >> i think our work today is just about done, seeing we have enough clothes for the meal. i want to thank you for participating with us a while, i want to say to our special guests, chef steinberg, thank you for everything you have done. another round of applause. thank you. appreciated.

this will be concluding the regular part of this afternoon's plenary. our joint session is complete at this time, and as you get that chance to eat, we will stand adjourned. thank you. >> thank you very much. thank you, governor. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

>> that wraps up this roundtable session on childhood obesity. the governors are meeting for meetingmummer speakin. they were joined by several colleagues discussed how other states have coped during the

recession. this is about a half an hour. >> i would like to welcome my colleagues and staff and families and our guests to boston and the commonwealth of massachusetts for the 2010 summer meeting of the national governors association. we have over 1000 re gistrants, and we are pleased to have some many people here to pump some welcome dollars into our economy. we estimate local restaurants

and entertainment venues and hotels will see an injection of about $3 million of the next few days, and we challenged our guests could be that projection and invite them to do so. i want to thank all of the members of the ngs staff, my own staff, and other staff who have volunteered to help us organize and manage a successful conference. i want to thank our leader, our outgoing chairman person governor jim douglass of vermont, for his leadership and also for his willingness to grant the honor to massachusetts to host this summer meeting. i also want to thank and welcome our incoming chairman, governor manchin, and we look forward to his leadership over the

coming session of the national governors association. we are looking forward to a very serious series of conversations having to do with health care reform, at the national level, and our responsibility to implement it over the next several years. we will be talking also about economic issues we are facing in different ways, in each of our states, and every time that i have had the opportunity to participate over the last four years over nga i have learned things, and being warmly welcome everyone here to boston. with that, let me turn the podium over to the governor of vermont, and the chairman of the national governors' association, jim douglass. >> thank you very much. let me begin by extending my

appreciation and that of all our colleagues to you, to diane, to your staff, the host committee here, to everybody in the boston area who have been so hospitable, and we appreciate the hard work going into hosting a conference of this magnitude. it looks easy when we are standing here at a podium, congratulating one another, but there is a lot of hard work going into it, and i am grateful for your willingness to be our host this year. we travel around to different locations every summer for our annual meeting and enjoy the ambiance and history of culture of a different place, but we also have a lot of work to do over the next couple days, to talk about the issues that are important to people of our states and to share ideas and experiences, good and bad, so we can do the best of possible for the people we represent. each chairman of the association has the responsibility and opportunity to focus on a

particular policy area, and a year and a half ago i decided health care reform should be the principal focus of the association this year. that was before we knew whether congress was going to do anything or not, but it seemed to me we have an obligation because it is such a growing part of our budgets to help each other, of what innovative ways to reform the delivery systems, to contain costs, to extend coverage to people we serve. some states like vermont and massachusetts have been at the forefront of reform efforts, and we look forward to assisting our colleagues to help them implement federal law that was passed earlier this year. this is the time when states are facing tremendous fiscal challenges. over the last couple years as we came out of the great recession, states have made it difficult but stresses, and in some cases they have chosen to increase taxes, they have done

what is necessary to get through. with the addition of health care reform measures, it is very challenging time for governors across the united states. we will spend time over the next few days talking about the economic realities we are confronting, the fiscal challenges we face, as well as implementing the health care reform efforts so poor. i am biased, but i think the vermont blueprint is a great example of how we can move forward to focus on preventive care, on wellness, and vermont has been deemed the healthiest state in that union for two years and a row, and we have ideas we can share with our colleagues. states are the laboratories of democracy. we are the place where innovation occurs. sharing best practices as part of what nga about. we cannot print money. we have to balance budgets, with

that background we come to boston this week, to share experiences and ideas. again, i want to thank you, governor, for being our gracious host and we look forward to sharing ideas with colleagues of the next few days. it as an honor to turn the poland -- to turn the podium to governor manchin of west virginian. -- west virginia. i look forward to his assuming this responsibility at the end of the meeting. >> thank you very much. [applause] good morning to all of you. thank you for coming. jim, i congratulate you with your leadership at the nga. jim douglass of vermont has done

an excellent job. to duval and diane, all of you should feel fortunate to have people like these. we're looking for best practices. the bottom line is for the common good, how do we have the best, practices? we reached out to each other. i am so appreciative. you will see a balance of three democrats and three republicans. these are governors who are reaching out. this is governor christie from new jersey. we have bob mcdonnell from virginia, and jack markell from delaware. i am so happy to have them with us. we look forward to a productive three days. these days are jammed packed. there are a lot of things gone

on. i will get to the point of doing business. during that meeting, we will focus on issues, to all our states. health care, economy, education, natural resources, homeland security, to name a few. our committees will meet to discuss proposals that will be considered by the full a cessation at that closing plenary session. sessions will provide a candidate forum for discussions, and i can tell you from experience, we meet twice a year, and they are great meetings. only hat, the governor's sessions are interest, where we reach out to others for best practices. our work will begin shortly. today's opening plenary session will be at sheeting and sustaining a sustainable health care system, and we will focus

on health care implementation. we'll be joined by the chairman and ceo of ibm, and sample offer insights from his experience, providing health coverage to hundreds of plays worldwide. we will also have david cutler in the kennedy school of government, and he will join the session, adding his insight on cost containment and methods for a higher achieving health-care system. this afternoon our health and education committee will be nterest will meet in chojoint session. thomas vilsack will join us to talk about child nutrition. this session will conclude with

a cooking demonstration by the white house chef, and is then we will have some new chefs when we get finished. this is something we are all committed to, making sure we are able to put good quality home grown food in front of our children. karl are warning the natural resources committee will talk about ways we can capitalize on domestic energy. there will be the assistant secretary for energy efficiency. the executive vice president for generation of power, and the president and ceo of america's natural gas alliance. a special committee on homeland security will meet to discuss ways to improve our country's communication system.

honthe chief of the federal communications commission homeland security bureau and the deputy chief of the new york city police department will take part in a panel discussion on medications. this will include discussions on .usion centers carr on sunday we will reconvene for a plenary session. all states are facing tough fiscal situations. this session will focus on ways to streamline state government for maximum efficiency. this round table discussion will murray.rated by alan ama

the economic commerce committee will talk about state and the economy and the road to recovery. the vice president and director of the federal reserve bank of boston will join that meeting. the annual meeting will conclude sunday morning with a plenary session on the challenges of the federal budget deficit. bowlesmpson and oxon bowerksine their addition. ha we're looking to focusing on state issues, sharing best

practices and find solutions to common challenges. i want to thank you for joining in boston, the city of the birth of our country and look forward to taking in as much of this city as we can, and i know that duval and diane want us to leave as much financially as possible with you. i have listened well and i want is out him that gail there doing her job this morning. if any of the other governors would like to say something, they are all here, a tremendous asset to our organization. you can direct your questions to any one of us. we will open it up at this time. >> what do the governors asked congress to extend -- [unintelligible]

>> we look to the congress for support in a variety of different ways. in february governor signed a letter to the congressional leadership requesting an extension of the appropriation. we have sent that again to them earlier this year, and it is somewhat in a stalemate at this point. a number of states have relied on those revenues for their budgets for the fiscal year that began a week ago. we will have to make some difficult tresses if they do not come forward with the money. that will become a matter of discussion. we are for it. >> if you asked all 50 governors, you will get an answer that basically, as much flexibility as we have, to have the money flowing to the state, gives us a better chance to help our people. everett governor knows where

their concerns and needs are. as long as that is done, working with the governor's and the legislatures, you will have -- governors will be more responsible. they will ask why did you do this instead of that. we asked for that flexibility. >> anything else? [unintelligible] . . . .

[unintelligible] >> we will probably have some discussion about this over the next couple of days. as gov. manchin mentioned, this is a bipartisan organization, so we need to find that common ground as we did when we set --

cent of the bipartisan letter. i would say that flexibility is key. for some states, the program is important and four other states it is less so. if congress can give us flexibility in health care, that would be of benefit to most of the states. >> [unintelligible] >> we extend an invitation to the president as we did in our winter meeting. in my eight years, we have met with the president's and as senior members of his cabinet at the white house. we have a two or three hour meeting in february.

the president is generally not accustomed to coming to the summer meeting and i am not expecting him. >> [laughter] >> most governors are in their third year of cutting taxes. what will happen to break this cycle? >> we will be coming out of the longest and deepest recession in our lifetime. we know that the economy has of and downs and governors and legislators have to react to that, but this is a more profound downturn than we have experienced in the past. states are in a different such a wish to enter it vermont, i am proud to say, has a balanced budget for the end of the fiscal year that ended a week ago. we reduced the couple of taxes and our legislative session. we are not allowing on additional fmap dollar is this

year. other states are in different situations and i think that they have to look at the long term and engage in full cycle budgeting to recognize the ups and downs of the fiscal fortunes of states and say for a rainy day. this downturn is deeper than we could have anticipated and that is why you were seeing such tremendous responses in terms of budget cuts. >> i was actually listening and thinking of what we're doing in connecticut. i hope that the next governor could take the recommendations on unfunded liabilities and pensions. what should we be looking at? what are some of the recommendations? this is part of our discussion this week. this is going to be part of what

every governor will have to look at in the next legislative session. i made recommendations to our general assembly on consolidating boards and commissions. these are not high paid positions. most of the people get a per diem cost. when they come once a month or once every six months, do we really need all of these boards and commissions? can we consolidate some of them and give the duplication of work? they felt that we needed to keep them in place. in the same vein, we have a number of small commissions that have been legislatively created over the years. we have money to pay four executive directors and others, but we think that those services are a duplication of efforts. you're going to have to make the tough decisions to eliminate some of those and we are not

afraid to put them on the table. i have tried. i think that the next governor will have to do the same thing. >> the bottom line is that none of us are immune from what is going on in the national economy. i think that we recognize that we will not be able to tax our way to a prosperous future. we will not be able to cut our way to a prosperous future. what that means is that we have to grow our way. we have to improve the economic climate in each of our states. that means being faster, more responsive, more nimble and more agile. what it really means is that we have to put ourselves in the shoes of the people that create the jobs and prosperity in the first place. it is really not that complicated. people that put people to work want to be located in communities where there are good schools and reasonable taxes and

a highly qualified work force. they want strong and linkages between institutions of higher education and local companies. they want to feel like their tax money is well spent. as long as we continue to focus in on that, we are likely to make progress. certainly, what wakes me up in the middle of the night is the folks in delaware who want to be working that are not. although we do have an unemployment rate that is lower than the national average, we have too many people that are struggling. we have to wake up every day and ask how we can improve the economic climate in our states. >> we just went through this in new jersey. we have the highest deficit for fiscal 11. we had an $11 billion budget deficit. we closed the deficit on june 28

with no tax increases. we have a tax cut to start putting a down payment on good faith to our businesses to let them know that we are going to try to move this in the right direction which is smaller government and lower taxes. we cannot get through this or how long term prosperity unless we tackle the problem that we have with public-sector unions through the the fact of the matter is that the public sector unions have been shielded from this recession. we have not had any thing but salary increases for the public sector unions and continuations of most teachers' pay nothing toward their health care. these cannot continue going forward. it is not only about making some

of these short-term decisions, but making structural decisions as to how fox are treated. in my state, the people that are unemployed or working in the private sector that have had their salaries frozen or cut if they still have a job are tired of paying higher and higher property taxes in order to fund pay increases for public-sector employees, free benefits and which concerns. -- and which pensions. -- rich pensions. we will have to confront that such a wage increase if we do not confront the core issue, we will confront these problems for a long time if we do not confront those core issues. >> bob macdonald, from virginia. i think there is a growing sentiment among the citizens of this country that every level of

government is unsustainable. there is a three trillion dollars national debt and $100,000 per american family that is unsustainable. we have a balanced budget amendment in virginia. we still have a rate of growth and increase in spending that is 20% climb faster than inflation over the past decade. when the downturn started in late 2008, we could not sustain that level, so we have had three years of declining revenues. last january, we were faced with a $4.5 billion deficit and decided not to raise taxes but to cut spending to make up that deficit. we are going to announce next week a modest surplus because of some very significant budget

cutting. it is not easy, but it is what the citizens expect at this point. they are cutting their family budgets and they expect the government to do the same. it meant of dipping into cuts in health care, an area that governors try not to cut. we have a couple of commissions that we put together in virginia on job creation to expand free markets and get more tax revenues in, but at the same time, a commission on government reform to look at every aspect of it. we are privatizing and these are ways to make government run more efficiently. that will be a part of every

level of government. >> we are joined by our colleague from tennessee. >> thank you. i apologize for being late. i gather the discussion has been about handling the slowdown. tennessee is in reasonably decent shape. we have had significant revenue shortfalls. as you know, we are a sales staff -- a sales tax state. consumer spending has been a serious issue. sales tax is very dependent on major ticket sales, automobiles, housing, construction materials. we have been hit there. we have not had some of the issues that you have heard about in other states in that we have a fully funded pension plan and

reasonably conservative approaches to things like pensions and health benefits and the like. we have dealt with it through cutting about 20% in all the apartments except for corrections, where you cannot do that. we have kept the funding for pre k through 12 education completely intact. it has been difficult. i have to be honest, we have been able to do a number of things and make a number of cuts that are necessary that needed to be done that would be very difficult to do under other circumstances. some areas that were clearly overstaffed in our hospital systems we have used it as a --

hospital systems. we have used it to get some of the business like things in good times. we have built up substantial reserves and help pad where we are. we're in a tough place right now. next year will be a genuinely balanced budget. we are using a little bit of the reserves the sheer, but we will accept this year with still several hundred million dollars of real cash reserves in the bank and a generally balanced budget. it has been a tough few years. i think that the buildup in the way in which state government has been handling this in a long time has made it a lot easier to deal with this issue.

>> let me just say, you have heard from governors across the spectrum and we are all accountable and we have to live within our means as do our citizens. we have to make the same decisions that they make when they sat around a table at night. what adjustments do we make to do the things that we have been able to do and not cut to the point to where we cannot enjoy life. we are responsible for that. in west virginia, we have been truly blessed and fortunate. our economy is healthy. our reserves are strong. we are growing that to unprecedented levels. we are still reducing taxes. we are paying our bills. we have done this responsibly

and we have a 10% attrition rate every year in state government. we are not cannibalizing anything. we are just being very careful and very selective on how we continue to reflect. it does not disrupt anybody's life. we are not making any decisions that the average person in west virginia is not making every day. we just got an increase in our bond rating, which we are so proud of. this is something that we have to deal with. when you hear me speak about flexibility, we know that we will be held accountable every day. we are up to the challenge. we need a good partner and that is what we have in washington. we work with the partnership and not partnership brings us on as an equal partner. there are good things to happen in the future. i want to thank you in governors -- i want to thank

you, governors. >> we will have to give back to our meeting in just a moment. i want to thank all my partners for being here and gov. patrick for his hospitality. it is great to come home to this annual meeting and i look forward to sharing ideas, stealing a few, and improving the lives of our some states -- of our states. thank you. >> boat tv in prime time wraps up tonight. an author reviews custer's last stand. karl rove on his memoir, and that is tonight on c-span t2.

>> the most important mission in journalism is to question those who are in power so that we can prevent abuse of power. >> since 1986, jorge ramos has anchored the night me to news on univision -- do not mean news -- the nightly news on univision. >> this weekend, and to nepal, on the unconstitutional behavior of both the bush and obama administration in "lies the government told to." nonfiction books, all weekend on c-span2. >> bp could be capturing up to 53,000 gallons of oil every day

starting sunday if it is able to install an additional pipeline on its broken well. coast guard admiral that allen has given the company 24 hours to provide a timeline for replacing a containment calf. he spoke from new orleans for about 20 minutes. that hookup is in progress today. we hope they will finish testing for leaks and purging the lines. as you will know, that will raise the total capacity for our current containment cap system to between 50,000 and 53,000 barrels a day. after consultation with the

administration from noaa, we have elected to direct them to give us a time line as to when we can move forward and accelerate the containment camp. this will allow us 7-10 days of good weather and we would like to take the advantage of that. i issued a letter yesterday to bp, asking them to provide me a detailed timeline on how they will proceed to remove the existing cash and put another calf on that will seal well at that point. i had several discussions with mr. douglas last night and we will continue to discuss with his staff this morning i expect that we will have a response by midday tomorrow and we will be able to proceed. we could start removing the current campaign of lies

sometime tomorrow -- capping the vice sometime tomorrow. -- device time tomorrow. there would be a time where there will be some exposure to hydrocarbons going into the environment. we think that this weather window presents a significant opportunity to accelerate the process of shutting down the well from the top and being able to kill the will from below. regarding the relief wells, we continue to make progress. as of yesterday, we have moved to 17,780 feet in measured depth. we will move to 17,830 feet, getting very close to the things will be slow at this point as we go in small sections and drill,

withdraw, put a sense are down, and decide how much more we can go vertically. in the next week or so, we can assess if we are in a position to drill into an area outside the drill pipe and assess the hydrocarbons theire. if there are no hydrocarbons present, we will cement plug that our reading and let that set and control back into the pipe. if we have to do both phases, that will take until the middle of august. it is our assessment that it will be the middle of august before we can cap the well. the government as -- estimate continues to be the middle of august. i was able to go out to the

mississippi sound and the barrier islands and met with the folks on our vessel of opportunity brussels. -- of vessels. we have five strike teams of five vessels. we are tracking them in with tracking devices and communications. this is all coming together and it is a vast improvement as we have been able to put the structure over the top. there are still challenges that remain and logistical report -- logistical support. there have been discussions with the local responders on how we can secure procurement and removal of the absorbent boom.

our commanders continue to reap benefits and we continue refining process. with that, i would be happy to take your questions. >> while you wait for bp, the have a rough estimates how long we will see that increase of hydrocarbons? what impact might that have? >> you have to start out knowing that there are three ways to contain the oil. as you know, we are getting about 15,000 barrels a day through the riser pipe and another 8000 or 9000 in another

way. we will be capable of another 20,000 barrels a day, but as you noted, we are going to do these in parallel and there will be any time frame where we will have to move off station to allow the new caping device to be put on. this will have to be released while we were putting the new cap on. by sunday, we hope to start some production, so somewhere between sunday and into monday and into tuesday at the latest, we will probably be able to replace the amount that was being recovered and maybe exceed that. we can't actually may be supplant the amount that is recovered today, but it is a dynamic situation because we

have this weather window. >> [unintelligible] we expected to be hooked up later today, but they have to check for leaks and we have to bribe chemicals through the line to make sure is free of contaminants and make sure that hydrates cannot enter. alternately, we will try to get to 20,000. >> [unintelligible] >> i think that everything is doable, but we have to be clear on the sequence of events. we need to make sure we all understand the relationship and the sequence of the containment device and the simultaneous

syphoning that is going on. there is no conflict. these things will be going on in parallel. if we have to understand exactly what the sequence is going to be and we have to collectively understand where we will have the cap off and what we can expect the flow to be and what we can't expect in a discharge to the surface -- can expect in a discharge to the surface. >> [unintelligible] >> i am sorry, can you state that again? i am not sure i understood. >> [unintelligible]

>> are we talking about the boom? ok, i am sorry. i have not heard you refer to that. thank you for asking the question. i hope i get asked this question every day so i can clarify what is going on. i have put out the order that media have unfettered access. we have had believe either damaged or destroyed or actually stolen from where we have it staged. this boom is critically important. we have the authority to issue securities zones around infrastructure in the purpose of preserving its. -- preserving it. boats have gone over the top of

these bones. -- booms. in the assertion to the contrary is absolutely false. there is access to be allowed. we need to control what -- control it. can i be any clearer on not? i am not sure this is a misunderstanding, i must have said this for days in a row. i am for to say it one more time to the there is no impedance of the media, but we need to know who they are and establish them as a press or media boat and know why they are there and know that we have to protect the boom from vandalism and press.

i will state this every day until everyone understands this. there is no attempt to bar the media. we just have to make sure the co-star folks know that. >> [unintelligible] >> right. >> [unintelligible] >> in a word, yes. it is complicated. first of all, we have a cap over the well right now. we were not able to get a clean cut when we cut the riser pipe. we used a diamond wire saw and we got inside and saw the there were two sets of drill pipe.

have you ever try to solve a limb where it would move and you could not hold? we used big hydraulic shears which wasn't in perfect cut and we had this jagged cut. this is bolted to the low or wiser package by six bullets that go through flanges which are those circles that are connected to the pipes. we are going to physically unbolt that riser pipe after we remove the containment cat. there are six boats that will be removed through the use of tools on the rovs. at that point, we will completely removed that cut off stub of a riser. it will be gone. you'll have an open pipe with a flange and two pieces of pipe

sticking up. at that point, there will be a metal strap put around those pipes so it will be easy to put something over the top of them. at that point, they will put a cylindrical device over the top of the two pipes that are banded together with a larger pool. that will fit over the flange and it will be bolted back together. that peace will then become the connector on which we will put a man a full or a valve system on top of that will allow us to shut in the wild. this will take place over a series of several days. all of this equipment will be staged in the area and we will come in and put the equipment in place and the rov fors will actually do the bolting -- rovs

will actually do the building. there are ways that they can vent the oil. we want to see how much presser is in the ascap once we close it off -- pressure is in this calf once we close it off. -- cap once we close it off. if you go to the top of a shot in the vice, given the weight of all of that oil, the pressure should be less, which should be about 9000 psi. once we take pressure readings, if it is around 9000 psi, that tells us that that entire column of hydrocarbons is being supported in the well bore. if it is something less than

9000, we have to explain why the pressure is less and where the hydrocarbons are going. that brings of the discussion of the integrity of the well bore. that is going to be how we will attempt to kill the well from the bottom, as far as how much money will be needed to fill the column. some of it may go out if there is a problem with the casings. we actually improve our chances of the bottom kill when we put that cap on and get a pressure reading at the top. was that responsive? >> [unintelligible] >> no, you still have to kill well. >> [unintelligible] >> if there is a problem and we

have to release the pressure, in other words, we do not want to leave that pressure, there will be other ways to produce it. that takes us to a system that can take us up to $80,000 a day. -- 80,000 barrels a day. we would use four different platforms for that capacity. in the process of doing that, if we concealed the cap and maintain the pressure, that will achieve our chances because there will be back pressure. >> [unintelligible] >> we do not know the status of the well bore. if for some reason we think that we have to release pressure, then we go ahead with

the bottom killed once we have been treated well. there are a lot of factors here. we get a lot of the informational and increase the chances of success of closing the well off down below if we'd get this device on and get good pressure readings. >> at this time, we will move to the phone calls. >> i would like to remind everyone to press star on your telephone keypad. the first question is from a reader's. >> i am sorry about that. can you talk about switching the cap tomorrow? >> they will likely be in a position to remove the current cap and start unbolting that piece of the riser pipe tomorrow. first the removal of the cup and then unbolting the riser pipe.

>> the next question comes from vivien coupe from cnn. >> in relation to the removal of that calf, how soon can we see operations begin to take place. you said that it takes multiple days to replace the cap, but can you give us an estimate how long it takes to just take off the current cap? what's the current containment cap can be removed quite quickly because nothing is holding it in place other than the weight of the containment cap. a week or so ago, we had an rov remotely close the valve and we thought we may have hydrocarbons or gas coming up to one of the lines. we moved off station for a couple of hours because of the

threat of a fire. getting the current containment half off and putting it back on again -- the containment cap off and putting back -- putting him back on again would take a while. >> that you for taking my call. what would be hooked up to the new cap? will the q-4000 still be taking of oil? >> here is how the transition will occur. under the current system, we are producing from three outlets of the current welfare system. one is the riser pipe, we have the show climbed that is going to the q-4000 and the kill line going to the helix producer. we will have the ability to produce through four lines that

will be built into structure of a new cadre will be producing from the helix producer, and other production platform, we will have the discoverer of enterprise and an assistant to the discover enterprise. two of those will be accomplished through verbal risers that are anchored to the bottom of the ocean. one is being used with the helix producer right now and the other will be tight strings below the discoverer enterprise all four of those will allow the ships to disconnecting the event of a hurricane and leave the scene. >> your next question comes from cnbc.

>> i am having trouble getting the precise time line. if the cat is taken off tomorrow, at which point would you anticipate that the new cap is functioning and you will be able to have the helix producer and all of them done? will that be a 24-hour, 48 hour, 70 to our process? >> unbolting that riser pipe will take some time to undo those six bolts. we will stage the new device that will fit over those two pipes that are banded together and that entire process could be three to four days. at the same time, wilwe hope to start producing on the helix producer which will supplant the amount of oil that would of been

recovered by the discover enterprise because it has a larger capacity. >> operator, this is our last question our last question is come from cnn. >> did a better idea of flow rate when the cap is taken off, are there any plans for a diet test? >> when we are taking a cab off -- the cap off, my hope is that once the cap is on, and we have completely sealed the well head, we will have empirical pressure data that will tell us what the flow is and it will be based on a closed system rather than a

ranger based on the high resolution video for the acoustic types of devices we have been using trying to measure the density and the flow going forward and the velocity. once we have the new accounting device on, we should be able to get the most accurate flow rate to date. thank you. >> ok, operator, but you very much. >> today, we are at signature air outside of the new orleans airport and we were transporting brown pelicans from the will dilatation center in louisiana to the .

[jet engines] >> that one is getting riled up.

>> "but tv in prime time" wraps up to night. we reviewed the stand of custer and courage in consequence by carl rove and diane ravitch on killing the american school system. >> the most important mission

for a journalist is to confront those who are in power in question those who are in power so that we can prevent abuse of power. >> since 1986, jorge ramos has been anchoring the evening news for univision third we will spend an hour with him on sunday night on s'ons "q&a." >> for the past six months, he has served as the president of the european union, a post that rotates during the leaders of the european countries. he focused on the steps the european union has taken to stabilize the european economy, including an aid package for greece. this is about 20 minutes.

>> ladies and gentleman, please take your seats. i would like to open with the first point. the commission statement on the review of the spanish presidency and i would like to warmly welcome mr. jose rodriguez who will now take the floor on behalf of the council. you have the floor. >> thank you, very much, mr.

president. we have to be accountable and take stock of the rotating spanish presidency over the last half year. when i came before this chamber in the beginning of that half year, i told the distinguished members that there were two overarching -- objectives. first of all, the entry into the treaty. the treaty is aimed at the unity of europe and directly linked with this goal of unity among europeans, the second goal was to foster a for

sturdier economic unions among our economy is in such a way that the european union could be in ottawa on condition to return the welfare state. those were the overarching objectives. when it comes to the implementation of the lisbon treaty, the spanish presidency has loyalty to strengthen our sector and so as to strengthen the institutions which we have bestowed upon ourselves in the treaty. the presidency of the european council, which is there to strengthen its representation

and efficiency of its political programs, and then the high rep resentative for foreign policy. this had another important aspect in the spirit and letter of the lisbon treaty, and that had to do with this european parliament. and we have constantly endeavored to be faithful to the letter and the spirit of the treaty of lisbon over these last six months, mr. president. in the spirit of dialogue with

the commission, which was always present and always an easy dialogue for the past six months, i mentioned the commission now in order to remind the parliament that the community institutions and the community method are very much in shrive -- very much enshrined in the future of the european union. the community method will always be geared to the spanish government in that we will try to be responsible with europe's institutions. if spain's presidency has said the one thing, it is that the

need to enhance the role of europe's main institutions when it comes to acting together and to being jointly responsible. distinguished members, without a doubt, the economy, that is to say the economic crisis, bringing about a common economic policy, a degree of coordination, those are goals of the presidency. i believe the sun is that we have achieved a significant results. there has been significant results. new instruments have been brought on line to face new difficulties.

i mention new forms of corporations within the union as support for the problems in greece. the financial stability instruments adopted by such an brought on line by the 27 member states. over the six month period, there was a common strategy for growth and employment by the year 2020. this is a highly ambitious strategy for creating drugs and for enhancing social inclusion. this is a strategy with a new form of governance. lisbon presented the 2020

strategy to iron this out and make it easier for us to achieve these goals of the union and individual member states. in conjunction with that, we have consulted a new perspective of the growth pact . there are new tax on the institutions. in this six month period, we have done everything possible to ensure that the financiareform package should make as much program as possible. this crisis was of financial origin and originated in the u.s..

this has made an impact on financial institutions, here. our financial supervision has been practically completed. within a few months' time, we will have a new framework which will cover all financial products and provide many more preventive mechanisms. i should applaud it the council for strengthening council in europe's financial institutions by the publication of the results of the stress test. and that carter transparency

will clearly make the contribution to restoring some of the confidence that has been sacked over this time. so, mr. president, distinguished members, there has been significant progress on the economic front. i would just say that the two main aspects that have been in discussion are the economic crisis and has been debated in public in death -- in depth. i am talking about the growth and stability pact for a correction. this is defended by my predecessor. secondly, when it comes to matters of economic supervision, so as to indicate imbalances.

when it comes to the lisbon tree, i should emphasize as i did in the beginning, emphasize the importance for balance. i can say that we have a good treaty, and improved tree, a treaty that requires all political will. as to ensure that the presidency of the council can play its full role and give more initiative to the commission to

accept the fundamental importance of the parliament. this is a close unity among europeans that will not become real unless it is recognized from the exterior. it has to have an external facet where we are ever more united. we need to have increasingly common policies on the foreign front so that we can speak with a single voice has so many of us pro-europeans would have. please allow me to list the steps we have taken.

we have fulfilled the mandate of the european council. in june, this was launched on the basis of that decision and europe's external representation service will have a part to play. in conjunction with that, we gave full support to the figure of the high representative for foreign-policy who took part in preparing the summit.

it gives rise to major commercial process. it will, without a doubt, broaden the very powerful links that the european union has. we also strengthened our good neighbor policy is. we have a summit with russia, and although we did not have a summit with the west, as was originally planned, we reached agreements of tremendous employer -- importance.

we have had a very important political agreements such as how this parliament played a key role. another agreement was signed on the 24th of june, air transport services between the u.s. and europe. this is known as the open skies agreement. this will cover 60% of the world's passenger transport. . .

the situation should be -- we should make -- wait for four more provision situations. i think we should have that summit tonight on the situation in the middle east. there was a specific debate at the european council and on issues of tremendous impact on the citizens, such as haiti and the earthquake in chilly -- chile where the president in

conjunction with my representative and others, played a significant role in progress has been made with negotiations with croatia. three chapters have been closed off, and five more open up. also, chapter 12 was -- which britain broached with turkey, the association and cooperation agreement with serbia has commenced, so all of the baltic countries are now in negotiations with the eu. and europe pose a perspective on the balkans has changed dramatically. also, negotiations with iceland commenced as adopted by the council after getting over the reservations of certain states. some very good use for iceland, and shows that europe continues to grow.

the european union, that is, is still a source of great attractiveness to neighboring countries. seen as source of greater stability and progress for the world. lastly, mr. president, i would differ briefly to some of the initiatives that have taken place that have to do with citizenship and be eu. we have taken steps toward setting up the citizens' initiative, as it is known, through the require negotiation with the chamber. this should make a major contribution to building your. and unanimously, we adopted the

convention on human rights, which was one of our major goals, and we took gender violence, and to defend equality through setting up of the european observatory and through fostering the progress on the directive for a european warrant in order to defend victims of violence against women. gender violence. we also adopted this program, and carried out our first assessment of the european pact on asylum, and we also adopted new rules on cloning, organ donation, cross-border health care -- these are all very significant areas where the interests of our european

citizens are at stake. extending their interest and participation in politics in europe. lastly, mr. president, on the subject of your house, we have made institutional changes over the last six months. these institutional transformations necessarily require some political nobility, some political elegance, and we have had to face up to the major crisis that has shaken the economy. i know we have also done our best to strengthen europe's' presence and representation in the rest of the world because we are firmly persuaded that this is a project to strengthen -- a

project stronger and more vigorous than when it came into being. we can ensure that europe will recover a leading role when it comes to stability, democracy, economic strength, competitiveness, and the maintenance of our social morals, so i have to thank the european parliament for its cooperation. and also thank the commission for having played its role and for retaining and sticking by the community approach, for it continues to be belligerently active, although sometimes it is hard for governments, but that is the main point for europe, to have our best interests at

stake. thank you. [applause] >> "book to be close court in prime time wraps up tonight with best sellers -- both tv close " in prime time accepting that would best sellers. -- "booktv" wraps up tonight. why to much testing is killing the american school system. tonight on c-span2. >> the most important mission as a journalist, the most important mission in journalism is to confront those who are in power, to question those who are in power so we can prevent abuse of power. >> since 1986, jorge ramos has

hosted the show on the largest television network for spanish speakers in united states. we spend an evening with him on sunday. >> citigroup campus progress held its conference in washington, -- a group campus progress teleconference in washington, d.c. a focused on abortion rights in the u.s. speakers include speakers from the center for reproductive rights and the american civil liberties union. this is an hour. >> [inaudible] can we just start by may be establishing [inaudible] ok, great. if you guys want to use that for

the panel, that would be awesome. we are going to go ahead and get started. as many of you know, this has been the last couple of years for reproductive justice and abortion in particular. one of the first executive order signed by barack obama reversed the mexico city policy, which had banned funding for organizations that even mention abortion and family planning around the world. we saw absolutes, only educations, funding disappearing only to see it inserted again at the last minute. and of course, there was the stupak amendment, which had -- which would have effectively banned coverage of abortions, although a slightly lesser version of the amendment was still attached to health care legislation. many activists still on not happy with the results. much of the attention has been focused on the national level, but states have been testing all kinds of legislation that limits or discourages women from taking

full advantage of their reproductive rights. i have invited four amazing and expert panelists here to discuss this today. so let me just go ahead and start by introducing our panelists. so the knox, sitting to my right, is nationally known as the subject of financial award winning film, a 2005 documentary chronicling her teenage activism in comprehensive sex education and gay rights in a southern baptist community. she has appeared on several tv shows to discuss sex education and activism. elizabeth nash is a public policy ssc it at a nonprofit -- public policy associate. she cordons the efforts of the state team which monitors and analyzes legislative, regulatory and judicial actions on

reproductive health issues. to her right, the state advocacy counsel for the u.s. legal program and the center for reproductive rights, approaches legal advocacy group. her work includes legal analysis of state legislative proposals affecting women's reproductive rights. technical assistance to local advocates on legislative issues and development and promotion of proactive legislation and strategies. sitting all the way down on the end is the staff attorney and currently the legal fellow of the reproductive rights project of the aclu of illinois, who has been involved in the project's recent litigation, including the federal and state challenges to the abortion act in the campaign for reproductive health and access and advocacy efforts. affirmative legislation that would assure all people in illinois information and choices throughout their reproductive

lives, including responsible sexual health education, access to the full range of birth control options and parental care, and the right to choose an abortion. welcome to all of you. >> thank you. >> let's start with elizabeth nash. you have been working on what has been going on in states from a national perspective. can i get you to start by talking of other trends? >> yes, absolutely. in 1973, roe came down from the supreme court, and pretty much come states started adopting all sorts of legislation trying to limit that decision. we have been fighting this battle for a very long time, the at the same time, we are always trying code-choice policies, so i'm going to focus my remarks on a little bit of what is been happening over the past decade and what has been happening this past year. over the past decade or so, we have seen a shift from adopting both pro-choice and abortion

restriction policies on a fairly even basis to now, we are seeing only abortion restrictions becoming enacted. it has been a real shift over the past decade. we have had 27 abortion restrictions adopted at the state level. compare that to only four pro- choice bills adopted. we are really seeing a big shift. the 27 abortion restrictions are on a variety of topics, but i wanted to highlight three trends today. there are -- he was talking about federal health care reform that was adopted earlier this year. there has been response to state level abortion restrictions and insurance there. there has been an ongoing trend around ultrasound requirements, and then, there's also an effort to grant personhood to embryos that is happening at the state level. the first issue of on health reform has been in the news quite a bit, and you are probably somewhat familiar with

it, but so we are all on the same page, the federal health reform law requires each state to set a market place so people can find insurance and compare plans, and that is called an exchange. they must be in place by 2014, and the federal government has mandated certain requirements for each of the plans that are in this exchange. there are also restrictions on abortion coverage and insurance that will be in these plans that are in the exchange. the anti-choice legislators on the state level have seen this opportunity, and are pushing bills to further ban or limit abortion coverage in insurance. so far this year -- and the federal bill was adopted in march -- we have had 15 states introduced legislation around abortion coverage in these plans that are going to be part of the exchanges, and we have had it adopted in four states already -- arizona, louisiana, tennessee, and mississippi. it was vetoed in florida and oklahoma, but the oklahoma veto really did not amount to much

since they already have a law limiting abortion coverage in health plans. so we have these four new laws, and they are pretty typical of what i think we are going to see coming in the next couple of years, and through 2014. the arizona law will limit abortion coverage to situations when a woman's life is in danger or her physical health is severely compromised. the mississippi law only allows coverage when a woman's life is in danger or if she is a survivor of rape or . louisiana and tennessee completely banned abortion coverage in insurance. these four new states to join the five new states that already ban abortion coverage in health plans, and those are idaho, kentucky, missouri, north dakota, and oklahoma. i'm telling you all of the states because i figure you guys are from some of the states, and it might help to know that these things are happening in your own community. most of the state legislative

work is over for this year, but because these exchanges are going to be set up in 2014, we will expect a lot more attention around the issue at the state level for the next several years. next abortion issue i wanted to talk about that has gotten a lot of attention as ultrasounds. these bills range from dealing with abortion counseling all the way to mandating women seeking an abortion get an ultrasound. there is a lot of variation on the issue. this year, we have 18 states introduced bills, and measures have been enacted in four. louisiana again, oklahoma, utah, west virginia. some of these laws deal with -- the west virginia lost deal with the provider is going to be an ultrasound anyway, you have to offer the women the option to see the image or get a picture of it. the oklahoma law, however, is much more extreme. jordan is going to talk some about strategies, the political

nature, the litigation around a lot, but i wanted to let you guys know exactly what it would do -- it would require an ultrasound be provided to every woman seeking an abortion. then, the provider must turn the monitor so that she can see the image and then give her a very detailed verbal description that includes limbs and internal organs and dimensions of the fetus. all of this is pretty interested and very disconcerting. the woman, for her part, she is allowed to look away. she can close her eyes, but she still has to listen to the description. so this is all pretty outrageous stuff. even though the law is not i effect because jordan's organization is doing a great job fighting it, we have been seeing the issue pop up here and there over the past five years, and i would expect we are going to see it for many years to come. already, 17 states have something on the books.

not quite as bad as oklahoma but similar. the final issue of one to talk about is an issue popping up on ballots around the country this november. the idea here is that state's efforts to amend state constitutions to grant personhood at conception. 13 states this year tried to get something on the ballot. two succeeded -- colorado and mississippi. if you are from colorado or mississippi, be aware that in november, you could be asked to vote on an initiative that would grant doesn't -- person head at conception. potentially, it could really do damage to abortion rights and access to most forms of contraceptives as well. that is pretty much the trends we are seeing this year. there are some other issues that have popped up here and there, and happy to take questions, but before attorney for completely over, i hope all of you go home and make this issue one that you want to focus on. thank you. >> thank you so much.

i would like to go ahead and get jordan, as elizabeth reference in her speech, just talking a little bit about your experiences working on anti- choice legislation in oklahoma. >> absolutely. i want to start by explaining a little bit about what it is that i do. the center for reproductive rights is a national and international human rights organization, and we fight to make reproductive rights human- rights so that all people have the right to access and that governments are obligated to respect, protect. although that human rights language is somewhat unusual in the u.s., is something we really take seriously and we really try to input into our advocacy in the u.s.. we're known for a couple of things. one is we bring a lot of lawsuits. probably most of the abortion cases that you have heard of in the last 15 to 20 years we have

been involved in in some way, including the last one that was decided in 2007. what my job at the state advocacy council is i am sort of our first line of defense. unfortunately, state legislatures are a lot better at it than i am, but i try to figure what they will be doing each year, and i work with people in the state to try to fight back against these district proposals. i want to add to what elizabeth said a little bit about, roe and the restrictions that happen on the state level. i was struck by the subtitle of the panel, the new battleground for justice. i think essentially been the battleground for reproductive justice for a long time, but i think as progressive activists and advocates, we have not necessarily recognized that as much as we should. there is a lot going on in the state that he used the activism and attention that in d.c. is a lot easier to bring together.

a lot of the things that k was talking about that got enacted in federal law over the last year had a fact, but on a day- to-day basis, when a woman tries to get an abortion in louisiana or mississippi or montana, she is really impacted by the laws that state has enacted, more than anything now. i want to add my voice. everybody, get involved in your own states and see what is going on there. so what did i do in oklahoma? sorry, i had to give my little spiel there first. oklahoma has been at the forefront of restricting abortions for the last two years. the oklahoma legislature has made it their business to try to make it as difficult as possible to access abortion care in oklahoma. in 2008, the oklahoma legislature first passed this ultrasound model that elizabeth just talked about in a day what we call omnibus bill that had six abortion restrictions in it. the center for reproductive rights immediately filed a lawsuit, claiming kind of a

unique claim that the oklahoma constitution says you can only have one subject in every law, and it had six, so we got it struck down by the oklahoma supreme court, which was great. the oklahoma legislature takes a while to get the message, in 2009, they did the same thing. they passed an omnibus bill with a bunch of stuff in it, and we went to court and got it struck down. so this year rolls around, and we knew they would introduce all the same stuff and maybe they'll get the message and introduce them separately, so that is what they did. they introduced seven pieces of anti-abortion legislation this year, and they passed one after another, our perspective, as advocates both nationally and at the local organization was -- what are we going to do to try to stop at least some of these bills, the ones that will have the biggest impact? so we were to come up with the reasons that we thought these bills were restricted, try to come up with a strategy. we know that the oklahoma legislature is very conservative, but the oklahoma

governor is moderate, might be willing to listen to reason, so let's think about how we might get him to veto these bills based on sound policy and legal arguments, and we worked very hard over the course of the session to encourage the governor to pay attention and encourage pro-choice legislators to make the right arguments on the floor so that the press can cover the right positions on those bills and what is really going to happen to women if they have to do this ultrasound process, or one of the other bills is the so-called reporting bill that requires doctors to sort of in choir into every significant intimate personal detail of the women coming to them for abortions before they are allowed to give an abortion. the law itself has something like 37 questions on the questionnaire that every abortion patient will have to be asked about. then, there was a third bill that essentially allows doctors

to mislead or like to patients about the health of their pregnancy. it says that if you carry a pregnancy to term and it turns out there was something really wrong and your doctor knew about it and chose not to tell you, you cannot sue him or her for that. these are the three bills that were targeted. i know i'm taking a long time to tell a very long story, but we were ultimately successful in getting the governor to veto these bills because he recognized both the policy and constitutional legal complications in them. unfortunately, the oklahoma legislature is very conservative, and they overrode those vetoes, in every case by one or two votes, but successfully. as elizabeth pointed out, there was an aid bill that came along towards the end of the session. even though the bill itself may or may not have had an impact, this is the highlight of the story and something i think we can learn from. by the end of the session, there

had been seven individual bills that had been passed through, and every single time, the press covered it. our side had responded. we wrote a letter to the governor. the governor had taken a position, and there had been mounting energy in the state because the media started saying, "was going on?" editorials started saying they did not want oklahoma to be the place where women could not access reproductive health care. by the time the aid bill came along, i knew oklahoma reproductive organizations sprang into being. they marched on to the capital, and they sat there and watched as the boats were being taken, and on the last day of the session, the legislature failed to override the governor's veto of the last bill. whether or not that bill would have had an impact, i think that organization is now galvanized, and people are paying attention. there's something good to be taken from this otherwise very disappointing story. >> but i would say that how great will it have been if those

people had stood up to talk about -- been there for the ultrasound, for the withholding information, for all of that stuff? it would have been so great if we could have gotten them earlier because the legislators would have known that they were not just hearing from one side, they were hearing from both sides and now there would have to really think about how they would act. yes, absolutely. sorry. >> i would like to on that note tried to go into something more positive. there has been a lot of work on a pro-choice legislation. >> great. no pressure positivity there. all of those reasons is the reason why in illinois, we came up with this proactive legislation. we were tired of fighting. we were tired of calling our representatives to tell them no, "please do not vote on this" and we were tired of being in his

defensive position. by we, i mean providers of reproductive health care, that you organizing work, that the policy work. so we wanted to promote a positive legislation that created a minimum standard of what the people in illinois would be entitled to, and we also wanted to codify changes that were the result of legal victories. the illinois abortion law statute, a lot of provisions that are in there are enjoying based on the work of aclu and a number of other organizations. i also wanted to address the specific needs of people in illinois and provide state protection for reproductive rights. so we got together, did this dream list that if we have anything we wanted, what would those things be. you can imagine that list would be pretty long. of those, we decided what things would have the broadest impact on folks in illinois, and that is how we came up with the

reproductive health and access act. essentially, the act would provide comprehensive, medically accurate, age appropriate, sexual health education for all young people in public schools. kindergarten through 12th grade. that is where age appropriate is necessary because it is not like some of our opposition's. it is not giving condoms to kids in kindergarten. it is about figuring out what information they need at that right part in their lives. one of the things we heard from a coalition partner is that he was talking to one of his young people, and the young person said that they have sex more than they do their algebra homework. the reality is that that is happening, but he does not have access to comprehensive sex ed and does not know where to go to get condoms, and it is not provided by the school. the other thing we found -- in illinois, we have gotten a lot of access only funding, and even with all that money, we still have a pretty high rate of pregnancy. one of the things we heard is

that if you are in an upper- middle-class high school, you are more likely to get comprehensive sex ed and if you were in a poor community. with this legislation, we have kind of righted that in terms of economic discrimination because you have limited access based on where you live. related to that, we also wanted to focus on non-discrimination and funding for reproductive health services. if you are a woman in illinois and you are on medicaid, you are able to get funding for your pregnancy, for post-pregnancy care, for contraceptives, for sterilization, but you are not able to have funding for abortion unless it is a situation of rape or. -- rate for incest. we do think that is a form of economic discrimination, but that was added on to the bill, also. the next thing we wanted to do was balance patient care with