beyond montana. one.st question, a quick who funds project odyssey now? >> we get donations, typically small donations around the country. all private sector. .e don't take federal money >> thank you guys for very much. i want to thank you for your testimony this afternoon. this hearing has underscored some of the important progress i think we have made, also highlighting some additional efforts we need to make. i look forward to working with ranking member portman and our witnesses today on these issues to make sure that we can address the healthcare needs of our citizens and they are met, regardless of where they live. to thankegard, i want you fellas for being here this morning. this hearing record will remain open 15 days for any additional comments or questions that maybe

some men did to the record. with that, the hearing is adjourned. [ gavel pounds] >> next, president obama towards the tornado damaged area of moore, oklahoma. after that, "q&a." your calls and., comments on "washington journal ."

>> i do not underestimate the difficulty of doing this auction. it has never been done before. he has never done a reverse informant auction. it is very complicated. and know they are working diligently to get it right. our job the communications and technology center is to make sure they are inherent to the laws created we are in constant communication so our intent is clear. made available for sale and the auction is possible. we can build out more wireless infrastructure. >> oregon congressman rick walton on the fcc spectrum auction and other communications .ssues tonight on the communicators at 8:00 eastern on c-span two. now, president obama in moore, oklahoma to survey the damage from last week's tornado. he met with affected families to offer condolences and thank first responders for their work. he also spoke to reporters near what is left of the elementary

school where seven children were killed. president obama spoke for about 10 minute. >> good afternoon, everybody. obviously, a picture is worth a thousand words. what we are seeing here gives you some sense of what the people of moore and oklahoma have been dealing with over these last days. there are a couple of acknowledgment that i want to

make. let me begin by just saying that whenever i come to an area that has been devastated by some natural disaster like this i want to make sure everyone understands i'm speaking on behalf of the entire country. everywhere. fellow americans are praying with you. they are thinking about you. they want to help. i am just a messenger here, letting everybody here knows that you are not alone. obviously, the damage is hard to comprehend. our hearts go out to the families who have been impacted including those who have loved ones who were lost. that was true for the parents of some of the children here at plaza towers elementary school. there are a number of people i want to especially thank. they have engaged in some heroic efforts in dealing with this disaster.

first of all, governor mary fallin, thank you for your outstanding work. mayor glenn lewis who has been the mayor here before when there is a disaster. because of his strong spirit and community he has been able to lead us through this. representative tom cole. not only is this his congressional district but this is his hometown. it is very special of a sadness but also a resolve in terms of trying to make sure that the city of moore, oklahoma bounces back. we appreciate him being here. craig fugate is here.

we are proud of the work that he and his fema team have done. susie pierce, thank you for your leadership. amy simpson, i want to especially command the plaza towers elementary school principal teacher. they were on the ground when this happened. because of their quick response, their keeping a level head, it saved a lot of people. they are still going through some tough times. i can only imagine their husbands who were here and the panic they were feeling when the tornado first struck. i know that they could not be prouder of their wives for the outstanding work they did in this amazing situation. i want to thank the chief of police and all of the first responders in this area who were

some of the first folk on the team that put themselves at risk to save other people's lives. that is what first responders to but sometimes we take it for granted. it is important that we do not. it is important that we continually support them. at my direction, craig fugate a writer on tuesday. fema was on the ground before monday's tornado hit. their teams have completed searches and more than 1200 buildings. we have helped register 4200 people for disaster assistance. we have a approved 3.4 million dollars in direct aid. there is a lot more to come. it is not just the government response. we have seen incredible outpouring of support from community groups who are helping folks begin to recover. to this area has known more than its share of heart rate. people here pride themselves on the oklahoma standard, being

able to work through disasters like this to come out stronger on the other side. that is what we have been seeing this week. from the forecasters to issue the warnings to the first responders, to the teachers who shielded with their own bodies their students, they have inspired us with their love and courage and fellowship. neighbors have been offering up spare bedrooms and couches. universities have opened up their bedrooms. this is a strong community with strong character. there is no doubt they are going to bounce back. they need help. just like any of us would need help if we solve the kind of devastation that we are here. we have about 1200 homes that have been completely destroyed. we have 12,000 that have been damaged in one way or another.

that is a big these of business. along with the schools, we have a hospital that has been destroyed. it'll take a long time for this community to rebuild. i want to urge every american to step up. i have one message for folks here today. go online. donate to the american red cross. if you are from the area and need to register for disaster assistance, you can call 1-800- 621-fema or disasterassistance.gov. go ahead and reach out. they are going to be professionals who will be willing to provide you the assistance you need. we know moore will come back

stronger from this tragedy. your mayor says are already printing new street signs. we are going to be with you every step of the way. on sunday tornadoes touched down 40 miles from here. there was a story that struck me. in the rubble was found a bible open to the words that read "a man will be as a hiding place from the wind and the cover from the tempest." it is a reminder that god has a plan and it is important to remember that we are an instrument of his will and we need to know that as fellow americans we are going to be there at shelter from the storm for the people who have been

impacted. when we say we have your back, i promise you, we keep our word. i have talked to folks in joplin who have sent volunteers down here. we will be here until you completely rebuild. we mean it. i want everybody to have that confidence. all the people here behind me, i want to say how proud i am of them, how grateful i am of their service. i want to make one final comment. a lot of the first responders talked about the training they have done. in part through some federal grants to prepare for disasters like this. as a consequence, they know what to do. they are not losing time. they are able to go through all

the drills. training, education, in both citizenry and first responders is critical. we need to make sure that remains. i'm confident resources will remain. there is also the ongoing training and equipment that we are making sure that those things are not shortchanged. we cannot just wait until the disaster happens. in part that is how we are able to save a lot of lives. i want everybody to keep that in mind. let me say thank you to everybody here. madam governor, thank you for your leadership. may god bless the people of oklahoma. may god bless the united states of america.

>> president obama toured the damage and walked by the remains of the plaza towers elementary school were seven children were killed. he stopped to talk with residents who lost homes and with first responders. joining

him or other federal, state, and local officials, including oklahoma governor and fema administrator craig who gate. -- fugate.

>> president obama also visited with first responders at a firehouse near the school being used as a command center.

>> today president obama and first lady michelle obama tape art in memorial day ceremonies at arlington national cemetery. this begins at 11:00 a.m. on c- span. now, dr. dustin buckley of mercy hospital in oklahoma city role operatingir

in urgent care field facility in the heart of the disaster zone in moore, oklahoma. mercy hospital in oklahoma city. we knew there would be families who are out of medicine are needed madness and -- needed medicine. we gathered supplies from our clinic and brought them out here. we also found that people are in need of first aid. this is set up as a temporary clinic. for people that need a more private examination, we have three separate exam rooms with cots. a more complete exam. a lot of the clean up crews come through, so much debris. people are stepping on nails and glass. we came out here tuesday afternoon. couldn't walk six inches without stepping on debris.

unbelievable, it was everywhere. no one was up-to-date on tetanus. we give over 250 tetanus shots yesterday. we have 500 more to give today. we are doing all of this free of charge to anybody who needs help. >> now, kristin peck explains cox cable's role in the aftermath of the more, oklahoma tornado. she outlines the response to the disaster and how their treating customers and employees. these little pieces of everyday communications that we soe for granted are gone for many people. we wanted to make sure they have the ability to communicate with one another during this time. when something like this happens, there is just so much to be done. out there. much need

fortunately, we live in a community where everybody is coming together. all sorts of support from all sorts of residents, people, is businesses. to try been very engaged and be part of this recovery effort and help the victims of the tornado. , it the storm first hit knocked out services and power to more than just the impacted area. we were immediately all hands on deck, all sorts of help from all over the country. we brought in contractors, other acrosses from regions the country to make sure we could get back on track as soon as possible. we really did for the area outside of the actual tornado hit service area. is,t now what we are doing people from all over, contractors, employees, vendors, here on site helping us to rebuild our plans and get it in the reit -- impacted area as

soon as possible. we have families who have lost everything. what do you do? what can we do as a company to help these families have t? we make sure we put a freeze in these accounts so they will not lose their number, their e-mail, in fact, they can have access to their e-mail, to their phone number, voicemail, video services outside of their home at no charge. we are trying to ease the pain that so many people are feeling right now. was to makeiority sure that our employees were safe and accounted for. to reporty pleased that they all are safe and accounted for. some of the stories of the things that happened to our employees, you wonder how it could possibly be. was sitting in a closet in his bedroom and the roof was blown off.

when he opened the door, his bedroom is gone. he does not have a scratch on him. likeve several stories that. several have taken a direct hit to their home. many lost everything. at cox, we have a couple of employee relief funds. one is locally funded by our employees. another one is our national foundation. .unded by our founder both of these have been given and made available to these employees for emergencies. when something like this happens, you need everything. you don't have a toothbrush, shoes, and you need everything. we were able to give the emergency funds to help them in an immediate time frame. >> now, dr. rob hall shows us a pet triage center. treatmentbout the that pets can receive, as well

as the process by which by which survivors can report their pets who are lost in the storm. this is -- we get this set .p private practitioners were already here and have this going before we got down here. , oklahomat down department of agnes the agency charged with pet sheltering and an emergency like this. while we depend on these people here, they are private veterinarians and technicians. we are in charge of pulling everything together and organizing the thing. people who lost their pets can check in. we have the database, we can try to help them find them. this is our triage area, if an animal comes in and is injured, we provide first aid.

we are not set up to do major veterinary care. ,e can get them going on an iv some lacerations, we can clean them. if they have a flat shared like ,- fractured leg or concussion we have to provide first aid. then we have about four private veterinarians in the area that we are transporting most patients two. weough this triage center, have probably brought in -- have you all heard anyone say a number? probably 150 or so here. some of them straight to the other shelters. we have probably gotten close to 400 abs altogether. -- pets altogether. after the animals have been checked in and triaged, we bring

them out here and you can see they are kept in here until we are able to take them to a private veterinary clinic or to one of the shelters. ahave seen lacerations, few broken pelvises. several fractured legs. severe lacerations. contusions, concussions. those are the major things. puncture once because of flying debris and everything. it has -- the first night, we got here about 5:00 monday night. there were already some private veterinarians and some of the people who set up the shelter. tryinghere and started to organize the paperwork and all of that. pretty much works all my debt first night. that firstll night

night. on thursday it started slowing down a little bit. wem thursday through today, have probably taken in an average of 25-30 animals per day. kind of anxious to see what was going to happen today. this is saturday, of course. we know that a lot of people working during the week were coming in today to spend time with friends, neighbors, relatives, looking through debris in trying to help them sort things out from the damaged houses. we were curious to see whether we were going to find a lot more pets that were injured today. we really haven't had. .hat is encouraging it makes us think that we have pretty much had most of them recovered. a lot of the ones that have been brought in today have not necessarily been rescued, but

ones that have been in the owner's care and they brought them into have have them checked and make sure they are ok. we did have one cat that was very dead hydrated -- dehydrated. the veterinarian thought it may be in kidney failure. the stress of this put it over the edge. kind believe that we are of, to the point where we are going to see less and less of the rescue pet. we really don't have an idea. we know how many have been brought into the shelters and through here. we don't know how many others were rescued by people and not brought to a shelter. even make a guess as to how many pets were impacted through this. " with tomq&a goldstein. then live at 7:00 a.m., your calls and comments on "

washington journal." >> after president grover cleveland loses his bid for reelection in 1888, his wife tells the staff, i want you to take good care of all the furniture and ornaments in the house and not let any of them get lost or broken. i want to find everything just as it is now when we come back again for years from today. >> they did return to the white house, winning the election of 1892. grover cleveland, frances cleveland. this week on "q&a," cofounder and publisher of the website

recognized with the 2013 peabody award for outstanding achievement in electronic media. >> tom goldstein can you remember when you named scotus blog and why? >> i think it was the very first day when we imagined hey what if we created a website my wife amy and i who is the editor it supreme court of the united states, there was this thing called blogging, we called scotus blog. >> why is what you're doing necessary? >> it's amazing the supreme court is really important institution. everybody got to agree with that to the healthcare decision to affirmative action and same sex marriage. yet with all the coverage of congress and the president, there was no place that was paying complete attention to what the justice was doing. >> why do you think there's so little interest on the part of the general media and