that we had over $1.4 billion in funding holes that had to be filled. the holes existed primarily because of some critical problems living off money appropriated a number of years ago and that money is now all gone. unlike all of the other appropriations bills, we were prevented from using all options at our disposal to ensure reasonable funding levels for our important priorities. as a resultmark critical programs here are still seeing deep sequester cuts. national institutes of health, the key driver of biomedical research in america, spurring innovation, economic growth and hope for millions of merps. yet only 58% of the cuts are restored in this budget, it's $700 million short. job training services part of the core essential role of government, help responsible people succeed because of their hard work. businesses secure the employees they need to grow. job training programs only restored by 81%. title 1 which is at risk

children. idea for children with disabilities, two fundamental building blocks of our k through 12 education, only restored by 85%. this bill does include welcome and funding for other priorities, to that i am grate to feel ranking member lowey and the devoted staff david and lisa. those priorities include mental pelt -- mental health, head start, child care. we need to do more. given the decades-long trends downward, labor funding is not enough. we endanger our families and future by shortchanging these programs and while i support this budget as we move forward, we can and we must do better by america's families. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. ms. rogers: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: may i ask the time

remaining on both sides? the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york has 17 1/2 minutes remaining. the gentleman from kentucky has 12 minutes remaining. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from virginia, mr. moran, ranking member of the interior subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia is recognized for two minutes. mr. moran: i thank my good friend and committee ranking member for her leadership. so this is a bill that should have been supported from the beginning. in fact, no offense to the budget committee, but at the appropriations -- if the appropriations committee had been given these numbers from the beginning there wouldn't have been sequester or shutdown or furloughs. we could have gotten this done because this is a package of chosen priorities and funding compromises. that's what we do in the appropriations committee. so that's why we ought to

support it. and in fact we ought to have such a strong vote that we send a signal to all those ankle biters and naysayers who say we can't get anything done. we're going to get this done. we're going to fund the agencies on the superior committee, we met all our obligations, we paid for the fire costs from last year that had been incurred. we provided sequester ref leaf for every agency funded in this bill. there won't be any agency furloughs. every agency is going to be able to carry out important if you thinks without the sort of sequestration hanging over them. it provides $5.8 billion, more than the initial house allocation which chairman rogers himself pointed out was inadequate. these numbers, while they're not as much as i wish they were, they're reasonable. it's a compromise. and we're table provide adegreesal resources to a host of important programs, they range from clean air and water,

natural resources, native americans and the arts. a whole host as well of some of the worst environmental legislative riders that shouldn't be in an appropriations committee that are more appropriate for the authorizizers if they have that kind of debate. but those aren't in this bill and didn't belong in this bill in the first place. i want to commend our new subcommittee chair, ken calvert, carry the very high standard set by mike simpson. we like to work together when we're given a reasonable allocation. that's the way this congress as a whole ought to work. i want to thank chairman rogers and ranking memberlow wie and all of my colleague -- ranking member lowey and all my colleagues and i want to thank the appropriations staff. they worked every day through the hollidays. one member of the staff had a gallbladder operation and she didn't ms. any work. they were in every weekend. they deserve a round of

applause and let's give it to them. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i yield one and a half minutes to the gentleman from idaho, the chairman of the energy and water subcommittee on appropriations. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one and a half minutes. mr. simpson: i rise in support of this incredibly important piece of legislation. it's an important move back to regular order. the energy and water total is an increase of $77 million. the bill provides critical increases for our nuclear weapons stockpile and our nation's water infrastructure will supporting a balanced fsment -- investment in our energy resources. i want to thank the ranking member, marcy kaptur and former chair of the subcommittee, rodney frelinghuysen, for bringing this to the house floor in regular order. i would like to recognize senators feinstein and alexander for their work in put

together a bipartisan bill. these members are passionate advocates for their positions and their prior triities are not always the same as mine but the long hours we have put in in the last month have paid. they energy and water portion is a true compromise. the largest increase in the energy and water bill is the support for our nuclear weapons stockpile. there is no room for mistakes in this work. the reliability of the most destructive weapons ever developed depends it as does our national security. the bill also increases funding for the army corps of engineer lissbrs -- by $749 million over the 2014 spending level. these will go to support our neigh's waterways, work which literally touches every one of our districts. finally let me say, madam speaker, that i want to second what mr. moran just said. while most americans, in fact, most of us, were enjoying the holiday wours families the staff of the appropriations committee on both sides of the

aisle and both sides of the rotunda were here at work trying to get this done and we owe them our gratitude for the incredible time that they spent doing this. the speaker pro tempore: the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves and the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: madam speaker, i yield two minutes to the distinguished gentleman from north carolina, mr. price, the ranking member of the homeland security subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina is recognized for two minutes. mr. price: thank you, madam speaker. i rise in support of the bill. i want to commend chairman rogers, ranking member lowey for reminding the house that members can work together on a bipartisan basis to get the people's business done. we didn't merely set aside our differences. we laid them on the table and we worked through them. the result is far from ideal. it bears the marks of the majority's misguided budget strategy, which has cut appropriations time and time

again while leaving the main drivers of the deficit, namely tax expenditures and mandatory spending, largely untouched. the dire results are most evident in the labor-health-education title of this bill with devastating cuts to community health centers, medical research and other vital investments. but it could have been worse. the december budget agreement allows us to avoid another mindless round of sequestration and to stitch together 12 bills that have gone through at least some of the appropriations process. along with chairman john carter, i've had particular responsibility for the homeland security title, and i want to thank him for the open and cla are a tiff process he's led -- collaborative process he's led on our subcommittee. we worked cooperatively to make the most effective possible use of constrained resources. the agreement provides substantial increases for new customs officers at ports of entry, to improve security and

expedite travel and commerce. it provides significant increases above the request for coast guard operations, for new aircraft and vessels, to help the coast guard fulfill its critical homeland security and maritime safety missions. it provides increases for i.c.e., to pursue domestic investigations, including those related to human trafficking, child exploilt ace, money laundering. the bill provides -- exploitation, money laundering. the bill provides anti-terrorism grants, for cyber, infrastructure programs and for research and development of new technologies to improve capabilities across a full range of the homeland security enter prices. i urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan agreement. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york reserves, and the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: madam speaker, i yield two minutes to the subcommittee chairman that drafted the financial services part of the omnibus bill, the gentleman from florida, mr. crenshaw. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman from florida is recognized for two minutes. mr. crenshaw: i thank the chairman for yielding and, madam speaker, i rise in strong support of this omnibus appropriations bill. i think it demonstrates that even though we have a divided government, when we get together we can sit down, we can set priorities, we can reduce spending and we can meet our constitutional responsibility of funding the federal government. as chairman of the financial services subcommittee, i'm proud of the work, along with my ranking member, mr. serrano, and other members of the subcommittee, the work we've accomplished. we produced a bill that in the end is a lean funding. we provide critical moneys for those high-performance agencies, and we rein in spending on some of the programs that aren't quite as efficient or downright wasteful. i think we all remember the i.r.s. scandal when the i.r.s. was singling out individuals, groups of individuals based on their political philosophy and

harassing and bullying them. they were wasting money on lavish conferences and videos. well, we said we're going to reduce your funding, i.r.s., until you demonstrate to us that you can spend money in a wise and efficient way. we say no more can you spend money to harass individuals, groups of individuals based on their political philosophy, but we do carve out money to provide taxpayer services, to have moneys to pursue people that cheat on their taxes. we adequately fund the federal judiciary. we adequately fund -- fully fund the small business administration loan program. we help small businesses, we help entrepreneurs because we recognize about 75% of all the new jobs in our country are created by these small businesses. and finally, the regulators, like the s.e.c. and the f.c.c., we fund them at lean, mean

level. we ask them to do more with less. we ask them to provide smart regulation, not job-killing, excessive regulation. at the end of the day, there's been a lot of hard work, a lot of negotiation but mostly a great deal of cooperation. i urge my colleagues to support this bill. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: madam speaker, i'm delighted to yield two minutes to the distinguished gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. fattah, the ranking member of the commerce, justice and science subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for two minutes. mr. fattah: i want to thank the committee, the staff and my fellow members of the appropriations subcommittee. this helps move our nation forward, and i rise in support of the bill. i want to also thank my great friend, the chairman of the subcommittee, which i have the

privilege of being the ranking member of. chairman wolf has done an extraordinary of and will continue to. i want to extend to him my public thanks for his cooperation through this entire process. receipt me say a couple things -- let me say a couple things very quickly. i introduced the american discoveries, american jobs act, suggested where we finance investment with taxpayers' money we should require new product that imnates from, the manufacture in america. the impulse of that is embodied in the c.j.s. bill, and i want to thank chairman wolf for that. i want to join with him on the prison reform effort, because it's so critically important that our nation think anew about our criminal justice system. i think that this is an action forcing event that will pay great dividends for our nation through the task force that's

embodied in the bill. i want to indicate again that one of our highest priorities on the committee has been youth mentoring. again, we have a significant investment in that regard. the boys and girls clubs of america, the big brothers, big sisters, all of our national youth mentoring programs and i know we as a nation want to see many more of your young people be successful. that. thankful for working with ranking member bishop on the suicide prevention efforts. this bill represents a lot of progress on these issues. legal service. and then in terms of my day job, nasa, both in terms of space technology and commercial crew and the james webb telescope. i look forward to voting, supporting this and hopefully having the senate support this so the president can sign it. i thank chairman rogers and ranking member lowey for their great leadership on this effort. thank you and i yield back the remainder of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: madam speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentleman, the distinguished gentleman from georgia, mr. bishop, the ranking member of the military, construction and veterans administration. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for two minutes. mr. bishop: i thank the gentlewoman pour yielding. the milcon-v.a. portion will provide $1.3 billion above 2013. the milcon portion provides funding for military facilities, including family housing, which is adequately funding to meet their needs. the v.a. portion is funded at $63.2 billion. it meets the discretionary budget request in all areas of administrative expenses, research, information technology and facilities.

in addition, it contains $55.6 billion in advance of appropriations for medical services, medical support and compliance and medical facilities which is $1.1 billion above the amount provided in f.y. 2013. the bill also takes concrete steps to pinpoint and address the serious issues of the v.a.'s claims backlog and interoperability of d.o.d.'s and d.a.'s electronic health record system. for example, addressing the claims backlog, the agreement includes a 10-point action plan which we believe will give the v.a. additional tools to reinforce resources, training, quality oversight as well strengthen equipment and broadening access through electronic medical records. this plan not only focuses on increasing productivity, it also have claims process accuracy. it will make sure that veterans receive fair compensation at the outset without delays from having to appeal decisions. regarding the merging of the

d.o.d.'s electronic health record systems, the agreement makes it very clear that both departmentes that an interoperable record system that actually works is the chief end goal for congress. no health record system -- new health record system is an important project for both departments to undertake, but the effort will be a futile exercise if the result is not the development of two interoperable systems defined as computer information electronically. before i close, madam speaker, i'd like to recognize our staff, donna and her team on the majority side, matt, on the minority side and michael on my personal staff, for all of the amazing work and time they have put into this bill and supporting our subcommittee's efforts. i want to thank mrs. lowey, mr. rogers, the distinguish ranking member and chairman of the committee, and a special thanks to the chairman of the subcommittee for a bipartisan work product. it's a good bill and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized.

mr. rogers: i yield two minutes to the author of the homeland security portion of the omnibus bill, the chairman of the homeland security subcommittee, mr. carter from texas. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for two minutes. mr. carter: thank you, madam speaker. thank you, chairman rogers. thank you for the time and thank more importantly for the leadership that you and ranking member lowey have shown and completing this process and giving us a physical 2014 appropriations bill. i rise in support of that bill. mr. speaker, the homeland security division of this bill is built on three -- madam speaker, is built on three things. funding the essential security and enforcement, increasing legitimate travel and trade and demanding fiscal discipline and accountability. homeland security division includes nearly 10% increase in office work force, 5% increase in i.c.e. investigations, funding to support i.c.e.'s

statutory mandated 34,000 detention beds, more than 13% increase in privatization of airport screening, nearly 14% increase in cybersecurity, a total of $404 million for the national bioagro defense facility in kansas. significant increases to the border patrol assets, coast guard operations and acquisitions, secret service operations and investigations, fema, first responder grants and bombing prevention efforts. in addition, this bill does more to address the wait times, trade and resource shortfalls in our ports, ports of entry and including a landmark provision for a public-private partnership authority to mandate for them to work with industry on performance of metrics, maintain operational plans for our nation's busiest ports. however, this bill cuts overall

d.h.s. budget by nearly $400 million below fiscal year 2013 level and it holds administrative overhead at 2% below the current sequester level. in addition, the homeland security division requires 31 departments to provide expenditure plans, terminates i.c.e. public advocacy programs, zeros out three headquarters offices, new headquarter offices and mandates the most comprehensive accounting in d.h.s. history. madam speaker, this is a bill that's worthy of support. i rise in support of this great work and thank both the majority and the minority staff for their work. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlewoman from new york s recognized. mrs. lowey: i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from florida, ms. wasserman schultz, ranking member of the legislative branch subcommittee.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for two minutes. ms. wasserman schultz: thank you, madam speaker. i rise in support of this legislation which funds our government and its many important programs for the remainder of fiscal year 2014. i want to congratulate ranking member nita lowey and chairman hal rogers for working so hard to achieve balance and compromise this legislation begins to reverse some of the devastating cuts caused by sequestration. it ensures we avoid the nightmare scenario of another government shutdown and invests in strengthening the middle class by investing in areas like education, scientific research and infrastructure. these will help create jobs and boost our economy which remains the number one priority of most persons -- americans. i'm thrilled that this bill sets the stage for regular order, which i know my federal appropriators so look forward to, and makes sure we can begin to work again together in the appropriations process. it's been a privilege to work with my good friend tom cole,

the chair of the legislative branch committee. i'm pleased that the bill includes two critically important initiatives which work to combat the threat and danger of one of the deadliest diseases, cancer. it includes $5 million in that the breast cancer awareness for young women program. as a young survivor, diagnosed at 41, i know how important it is for women to know the risks early on and get the health care they need. the bill also includes report language call on the defense department calling on a research force to study metastasized cancer of all types. with better understanding of the causes and treatments of metastatic cancer, we can save lives. i thank chairman lowey who created the original program today. s in the defense i hope that my colleagues can

support this bill and i commend it to them. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i yield a minute and a half to the supervisor of the interior portion of the bill, the gentleman from california, mr. calvert. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for one minns. mr. calvert: thank you, mr. chairman, thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in strong support of the fiscal year 2014 omnibus appropriations bill. as new chairman of the interior environment committee, i could not be more close pleased we are on the verge of passing the first interior spending bill since fins call year 2012. the interior decision of the omnibus is well balanced, reflects what could be achieved when all sides work together to ind common ground. mr. speaker, i especially want to thank mr. moran for his support. i hope passage of this bill is a sign of good things to come and look forward to working

with mr. moran as we move forward on 2015 interior bill. i'm sorry to learn that he will be leaving congress at the end of this year but i'm happy to have the opportunity to work with him in the coming months. i also want to thank chairman rogers for his incredible support and leadership for his role in bringing this omnibus bill forward and restoring order to the appropriations process. i want to thank you especially, mr. chairman, and i want to thank our wonderful staff who worked so hard in the holidays, virtually every day, including christmas day, to bring this bill forward. it's a good bill, i urge members on both sides of the aisle to support it. with that i thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: i am pleased to yield one and a half minutes to the gentlelady from california, ms. barbara lee, a member of the appropriations committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized for one and a half

minutes. ms. lee: thank you very much. thank you, madam speaker. let me thank ranking member nita lowey for yielding. i want to thank her for her tremendous leadership on this committee and also i want to thank chairman rogers. both of these brave individuals really have worked together, day and night, to bring this bill forward on a bipartisan basis. i just have to to the salute and thank you both for that. i know it was very, very difficult but we did it and so thank you so much. also to the staff, i, too, want to salute and thank the staff, including my staff for their tremendous work and trying to balance all the priorities so we can have a bill all of us can support. while i voted against the budget resolution i'm encouraged that this bill will restore the majority, not all, but a majority of the harmful sequester and bring relief to struggling communities and family whors living on the edge. as a member of the budget and appropriations committee, i'm encurmed that passing this bill will get us out of the cycle of

governing by crisis this bill makes important investments in early childhood education, h.i.v. and aids, law enforcement, and increase ours support for the united nations and humanitarian relief efforts in syria. even with these increases, funding for these critical programs still are main much too low. yet this bill provides $5 billion more than what the pentagon asked for while failing to extend emergency unemployment insurance for the 1.3 million individuals who lost on december 28 their unemployment. this is just wrong. finally, madam speaker, let me just say as a member of the labor-hhs subcommittee, i think it's shameful that our subcommittee failed to receive a proportionate increase in our total allocations. mind you, labor-hhs is the largest subcommittee after defense and supports programs that impact nearly every household, every community and every congressional district. but this bill is a step forward in our appropriations process.

hopefully we can come together and fully refeel the sequester, restore order in our budget and propings work in fiscal year 2015. may i have an additional 10 seconds. ms. low wook: i yield the gentlelady 10 seconds. ms. lee: i really hope that we don't set until accepting this new norm, quite frankly, that this spending bill sets because it is really far too low for too many people to really achieve the american dream. but i thank you both for coming together and doing the best you can do given the fiscal circumstances, again thank you for yielding. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york reserves and the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i yield one and a half minutes to the chairman of the house science committee, the gentleman from texas, mr. smith. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one and a half minutes. mr. smith: i thank the chairman of the committee for yielding

me time. for more than 20 years the american commercial space industry has benefited from the ashureps of the u.s. government through federal aviation administration launch indemnification authority. under this arrangement, commercial launch providers are required to purchase up to the maximum probable loss. beyond that the government will cover up to $1.a 5 billion and any amount above that is the responsibility of the original commercial launch provider. the three-year extension of the sharing shm will help the commercial space industry and our economy. the next three years, space launch providers will have the stability and assurance they need to compete in the international market. madam speaker, i urge my colleagues to support this bill and yield back the balance of my time to the chairman of the committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from kentucky.

mr. rogers: i yield one minute to the gentleman from pennsylvania, a member of our committee, mr. dent. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. dent: thank you, madam speaker. i rise in strong support of this omnibus legislation today for a number of reasons. first, for the fourth year in a row, we are cutting overall discretionary spending, that is significant. spending levels will be lower than they were for the first time since fiscal year 2009. again, very, very significant. it's also important that we're not passing another continuing resolution which wastes a lot of money. in this legislation we're putting money where it should be and cutting money where we must. so that's important. finally i want to say this. this legislation will help bring about greater predictability, stability and certainty not only to the budget process but the appropriations process and most important of all to the american people, many people are watching our actions, it will create a better environment for business investment, job creation,

extraordinarily important. finally we roll back onerous regulations, those on incandescent light bulbs, very important for many of us. finally we fixed the issue with the military pentagons where we make sure those who are disabled and survivors will not be impacted in any way by the recently enacted budget agreement. for all these reasons i urge support of the underlying legislation, commend the chairman and ranking member and all those involved with the process for a job well done. thank you, i support the bill, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlelady from new york reserves. and the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i yield one minute to the gentlelady from washington state, a member of our committee, ms. herrera beutler. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. herrera beutler: thank you for your work on this bill. there's two reasons i rise in

support of this bill. first it will protect and promote the things that residents of southwest washington hold dear. second, it helps us do something that no congress has done since the korean war. which is it reduces appropriated spending for the fourth year in a row. dollar over dollar. many people have been understandably discouraged with the partisan bickering in washington, d.c. and i believe if we focus on finding common ground and fixing problems we can find solutions we can be proud of. with this bill, i believe we do just that. you north korea i've seen the ports of chinook and others will have critical dredging funds made available. we're improving veterans programs and support for our nation's bravest heroes. we're protecting access by not decommissioning roads and keeping our commitment to cleaning up nuclear waste at hanniford. there's much for folks in southwest washington to like in this bill. while we still have more to do

in terms of reducing spending and getting results, i believe if we work together there's no limit to what we can accomplish. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from kentucky reserves. the gentlelady from new york. reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i yield one minute to the gentleman from ohio, mr. latta, for purposes of a colloquy. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. latta: thank you, i'd like to engage the chairman of the appropriations committee in a brief colloquy regarding the corps of engineers. i was pleased to see the explanatory statement for the water portion of the omnibus which states there are additional funds available to support flood control studies, particularly those that lead to significant economic benefits by avoiding daniels caused by flooding. local communities are often left with economic development plans that may not move forward when these flood control projects face significant delays due to lack of funding. it appears the committee

intends that the corps support flood control project studies nearing completion and have local funding available for match. is that correct and will the corps consider economic impacts in its decision making? i yield to the chairman. mr. rogers: i thank the gentleman for yielding. yes, the gentleman from ohio is correct. the bill includes additional funding for flood control studies and the report direction encourages the corps to consider economic development and job growth when allocating these funds and individual studies. i yield back to the gentleman from ohio. >> i yield back. thank you very much. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. she has five and three quarter minutes remain, the gentleman from kentucky has four minutes remaining. mrs. lowey: in closing this

debate, i want to take the opportunity again to thank chairman ronellers, to thank senator mikulski and senator shelby on the other side of the aisle. it really has been a pleasure to me to work with chairman rogers and all the ranking members on both sides of the aisle to produce this bill that i think we can be very, very proud of. i also want to thank again the appropriations staff on both sides of the aisle who are looking forward to a good night's sleep tonight. they have worked incredibly hard through the holidays but because of them, and because of the partnership, we are very proud to present this bill. 2015 and forward to we will have more time to consider the suggestions from all of our colleagues in working on this bill, i know that we will continue to invest

in programs and projects that strengthen our economy and create jobs. although we could not include it in this bill, i do hope that we will have the opportunity very, very soon to pass an extension of unemployment insurance. oh. and in closing, the great ranking member, mr. farr, has just returned and i would like to yield you the remaining of my -- remainder of my time, mr. sam farr. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. farr: thank you very much. i have no idea how much my time is, but it's the remainer. thank you, mr. chairman, for getting us back into regular order. i praise the work of this committee, i'm proud to be on it, i'm proud of the ranking member. while we celebrate success and

this is one, we have to remember that we're still underfunding americale while we're praising america's need to grow, we're cutting, trimming and squeezing government's ability to meet that growth. population growth, particularly in my state of california. we've got to get back to regular order and allow increases in revenue. we've got to mind the store and cut, squeeze, and trim but what we're doing is leaving the poorest populations in this country at risk. i came out of the war on poverty. there's still a lot of poverty in america. secretary vilsack, chair of the committee that i'm the ranking member on, there's 4 -- pointed out there's 400 counties in the united states that are by census the poorest counties in the united states, that are really, really poor, they're in the third world and they're in the united states. our committee, agriculture outreach and food program sdz and economic development, water and rural electricity and all those things are the solutions

and in the communication systems, broadband and so on, we've got to address this an we don't have enough must be to do that. i praise the chair's ability to get back on order but while i'm going to support this bill, let's hope next year we get back in order and bring the fiscal affairs of the united states in good, sound position, not just cut, squeeze, and trim. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. lowey: how much time do i have remaining. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman has two and a half inutes remaining. mrs. lowey: i'd like to thank again the distinguished chairman rogers and all of the appropriations committee and i'd like to say another word in following up with our ranking member, mr. farr. i, too, re-entered government after i raisedd my children and i ran the anti-poverty program in new york state. and i felt so passionately that what most people want is a hand

up, not a handout and that's why the temporary extension of unemployment insurance is so important. just this week i met with a man years old, a licensed electrician. he said for the last 10 years he wanted to work every day as e always d -- did before but he never worked a complete year because in my district, in rochester and rockland, there's 40% unemployment in the construction trade. so i would ask my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, let's pass this extension of unemployment insurance and make sure as we consider these bills next year, we focus on investments, strengthen the economy, create jobs and make

sure that we give every person that opportunity to fulfill their dreams. thank you again, chairman rogers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york yields back the balance of her time, and the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: madam speaker, if i were allowed to make reference to people in the gallery, which i'm not allowed to, i would say we have over my right shoulder up there most of the staff of this committee who's responsible for this bill. and if i were allowed to say so, i would want to congratulate and thank them for giving us their christmas and new year's and all of the heart and desire they have to bring us to where we are. madam speaker, when you think about this room, this hallowed chamber, where we came together during times of crisis and in times of noncrisis, a place you

can almost hear the words echo of mcarthur addressing this body or churchill or president wilson and you remember that this is the chamber where we all came together to survive the depression, world wars beginning with i and the dire days of world war ii and all the other wars, this was the place where the nation found itself coming together. and i can't think of a more saving time than i've had in this chamber in these years than now in helping bring together across the aisle and across the capitol members of the senate and the house doing what we're supposed to do and that's governing and deciding how we want to spend the taxpayers' dollars for the country and i want to thank all who took part in that. it's been a great chore.

had 30 days to put together $1 trillion-plus spending bill, get it approved in the senate, controlled by another body, and , be signed by the president another party from ours on this side. and it's been a great pleasure working with all of you. this bill's not perfect, i hate to tell you, but it is a good one and it represents the best traditions of the country in coming together, recognizing our common problems, then finding a way out of it. i want to thank mrs. lowey, our colleagues in the senate for all the work they put >> here is some of what we are covering thursday on the c-span networks. at 8:30 eastern, jack lew

discusses the economy. you can watch it live on c-span 2. and on c-span 3, beginning at 9:15 eastern, the senate environment committee holds a summit on the government -- on the president's, change -- residents climate change -- president's climate change initiative. >> i think i just had little antennas that went up and told me when somebody had their own agenda and not ronnie's. .nd then i would tell him he didn't always agree with me, but i would tell him. it usually worked out. >> watch our program on first lady nancy reagan on our website or see a saturday on c-span.

and our series continues live monday as we look at first lady barbara bush. fallin ofrs mary oklahoma and wickenburg gave this year state of the state address. they are the chairman and vice- chairman chairman of the national governors association. facingscuss challenges state governments and relations between the states and the federal government. this is an hour. >> good morning. i want to thank you for coming to our annual state of the state address by the national governors association. it is my privilege to serve not only as governor of the state of oklahoma, but the national state of governors chair. joining me today is the governor of colorado, governor john hickenlooper. governor, welcome.

[applause] as governors, we have to make government work during we do not -- work. you do not have the lecture he of inaction. we have to lead our states while still balancing our budget. we are now midway through the 113thongress and -- the congress and governors are frustrated. doing our part as governors to create jobs and address the challenges facing our states. but we also believe that now it's time for our federal partners to do their part and to take action. but in taking action, the federal government must acknowledge and learn from and work with the states that develop solutions facing our nation. we call this partnership

flexible federalism. it is a willingness to give states flex ability to improve programs and policies and to support them in those efforts. for example, governors have outlined what possible federalism would look like in relation to the issue of deficit reduction. we believe a couple of principles. one is that federal reforms should produce savings not only on the federal side, but also for the states. deficit reduction should also not be accomplished by shifting the cost to the states. and also through unfunded mandates. increaseduld be given flex ability to create efficiencies and to achieve results. congress should not impose maintenance of effort as a condition of funding to the states to so let's go back and look at one year ago. one year ago last january, i stood before you and we reviewed

the challenges that the states faced and we highlighted our challenge is for our vision of 2013. cut ass had just had and last-minute new year's deal to resolve the budget impasse. one year ago. a march 1 sequester by implementing thoughtful solutions to reduce the deficit and to promote economic growth. nga joinsy, the several other organizations in urging congress to complete a long-overdue reauthorization of the elementary and secondary education act, fixing the flaws in the no child left behind bill. in march, governors provided congress with principles for tax reform. also offering concrete andestions consistent intertwined with the interest of the states and the federal government by working together.

in may, governors laid a path forward in -- and released the recommendation for the water resources development act. we urged congress to pass the act along with encouraging regular communications with governors and developing strategies that align available water resources with infrastructure needs. may, we called on congress to uphold an existing law and restore the 15% set aside in the cash that is set aside for governors to create jobs, to spur economic growth, to grow family incomes, and to help get people back to work. , nga also fought for senate passage of the marketplace fairness act which upholds the principles of federalism and levels the playing field between main street and e street. governors reiterated the call for the secretary defense and congress to protect our national guard. we asked them to protect the

guard from disproportionate and damaging reductions to ensure the capacities and the quality of our national guard. thate to stop and tell you , in oklahoma, we certainly benefited from a strong national guard during a very tough time for our state in may when when we had the tornadoes and several other storms that swept through oklahoma. and governor hickenlooper also saw the great value of the national guard during his devastating floods that struck the state of colorado. we believe it is important to have a strong national guard for our governors. at the nga august, summer meeting, we stressed the need for certainty and a long- term solution to fund our aging infrastructure. in september, we returned to the budget debate, warning congress of the effects on our states of a federal shutdown.

and we called on them to resolve the budget issues and the impasse and to put the budget on a sustainable long-term fiscal path. despite all this, here we stand today with essentially the same to do list sitting before our congress. states have been dealing with short-term extensions and long- term uncertainty. we are quarter of the way through the fiscal year of 2014 nowjust this week is anticipated that washington may pass an omnibus bill to fund 2014. however, major reauthorization bills governing key states and federal programs are stacking up. in my state of oklahoma and states across the country, the most liberal democrats and the most conservative republicans can't agree that moving from one crisis to another without any long-term plan or vision is a

recipe for trouble. washington's short-term thinking and continued inaction are hurting states economies that are repressing job growth and ultimately they are hurting american families in every state. states been left to the to chart our own path and to pursue their own policies where partisan gridlock has left washington unable to address many of our nations problems. for governors, in action is not an option. where the federal government will not act thomas states are actually stepping up and they are stepping in. , states areact actually stepping up and they are stepping in. we encourage our federal partners to work more closely with us and to take note and to use the policy ideas coming from their state partners. and above all, these do not yet in our weight. -- in our way.

but the states solve problems and be our partner give states are also leading the charge forward in providing solutions to improve the nation's future workforce. we know that the best way for american workers to find good paying jobs is to boost their educational attainment. similarly, in the best way to help american businesses is to improve our workforce. eights are leading the way by improving education and using our educational systems to build a highly skilled workforce for the coming decades. and it is a critical ingredient in the recipe for higher wage jobs and also to increase america's competitiveness and improve our standard and that standard of living for all our families. i chose as my initiative america works education and training for tomorrow's jobs to focus on our workforce and our nation and art

jobs and making america more competitive. it is about making significant improvements to our education systems and workforce training programs and to align them with the needs of our businesses and the labor markets to benefit our citizens and also to benefit our state economies. quohere's why the status won't work in today's desk won't work for today's workers. when you are navigating a pathway to prosperity, as an american citizen, it is much more challenging than it was when our parents are growing up. we know that a high school diploma is no longer a guarantee to a good job or a middle-class life. we know that the new minimum for economic success is either a two-year or a four-year degree or some type of relevant workforce sick to connect -- workforce certificate. and for post secondary education, our children and

adults will find it hard to achieve the american dream and just gain access to a middle- class life. if we don't respond to this new reality, our nation will lose its competitive edge when it comes to a global economic climate. we will failling, to arm the next generation of americans, both men and women and their children, with the tools they need to enter and remain in the middle class or even to achieve better. preparing america's first 21st century -- preparing america safer century workforce calls for national attention and gubernatorial leadership. and my fellow governors are responding. staying competitive as the nation starts with our schools. which is why governors are committed to providing a world- class education for all of our students. we know the responsibility of educating the next generation has always been the responsibility of state and local governments.

and for this reason, governors are focused on raising academic standards for all students, to ensure their success in college or a career with a career training program. our commitment to education is why we came together years ago, to raise academic standards and to increase classroom rigor and to ensure our students could compete on their own in our states. that not only that, but to compete with students around the world. higher standards are called common core state standards. they outline what students need to know to be college or career ready. however, it is left strip lead to individual states, to districts and schools and educators to evaluate the quality of their student education to meet these rigorous and relevant standards. so i want to be really clear. common core is not a federal government program.

it is driven and implemented by states that choose to participate. it is also not a federal curriculum. in fact, it is not a curriculum at all. local educators and school districts will design the best lesson plans or choose appropriate text sorts -- appropriate text oaks and drive -- textbooks and drive essential learning. they will provide them with critical thinking skills and tools that they need to succeed in higher education or to enter into the four kforce -- into the workforce. governors along with other states and local elected officials are also calling on overdues to fix the long- elementary and secondary education act, better known as no child left behind. while the laws in the original intent was good, changes must be

made to make it work. today, there are 41 states that are operating with waivers. that is frankly no way to run a program. while waivers will work for some states, it won't work for all states. moreover, waivers remain a short-term fix to a long-term problem. congress should pursue changes that emphasize both flexibility and local control for the states wishing to pursue innovative policies that meet their own unique needs. only after making these fixes should congress be authorized [indiscernible] however, governors realize that education,s not -- excuse me, does not stop at the schoolhouse door. mobile andly technologically-driven society, workers of all ages must continue to learn and hone in their skills. governors, why, as

we are working greatly with business leaders and educators to ensure those citizens have the skills they need and the knowledge required for the 21st century are kforce. states are also working on supporting, cultivating -- 21st century workforce. states are also working on supporting and cultivating economic growth and creating high wage jobs. where high wage jobs are concerned, governors understand that manufacturing plays an important role. jobs are generated not only in the factories, but also in research and development. new products and new services that support manufacturing. the nga has worked with a demonstration project with california, colorado, connecticut, illinois, and pennsylvania that have recently developed strategies emphasizing advancement fracturing. they are creating public-private

partnerships with industry's and advisory councils to guide state policy regarding manufacturing for working to reconnect manufacturers with research and development, workforce talent and supply chains. large and small businesses must be competitive in this global economy. small or medium-sized businesses in the united states total nearly 30 million and employ about half of the private sector workforce and also the payrolls. thosehen you look at businesses come only 10% of them export their goods. promoting growth in part by leading efforts in the exports of goods and services and attracting international investment. in today's world, our economies are global in our efforts to support growth and identify opportunities for businesses must be global. the federaln to

side, congress needs to reauthorize the workforce investment act and provide safe flexibility that we need to be able to offer the most relevant workforce training programs to our citizens. there are differences between the house and the senate and their approaches. in governors do agree that, streamlining the funding and restoring the governors 15% set- aside to our state workforce will help us create innovative programs. governors access to flexible federal funds to innovate and produce results is exactly the type of flushable federalism we've been talking about and that is needed for helping states-federal partnerships. but the workforce investment act is not the only way that congress can help put people back to work. reauthorization of state trade and export promotion program beyond 2014 will ensure in teen you'd growth in the nation's

global competitiveness. it will also help us maintain the program's operations and outlays. and most importantly among create jobs. -- and most importantly, create jobs. from moving our country scarcity to abundance, from ,ependency to self-sufficiency and energy policy is another area where governors have been leading the charge despite the absence of a company has of national energy land. -- energy plan -- energy plan. many governors have created their own innovative energy plans that are helping state support homegrown energy production and meet the energy efficiency needs. this is helping to advance

economic development, lower cost, improve reliability and resiliency. in the process, generating state revenue. can go a long way. federal policies must complement the efforts to improve our nations energy security and support the diverse range of domestic energy resources. we have called for a 20% decrease in energy use and you will find a similar bipartisan ingrams through the nation states like new york, alabama, iowa, colorado. examples oft leading the way in innovative public policy is the multistate

inorandum of understanding which my vice chairman and i have initiated to set the stage for states to affordably convert cng.leet to they're now using combined purchasing power to save taxpayer money and also encourage a clean source of energy to encourage the development that technology and infrastructure enhancements and frankly to take advantage of abundant low-cost natural gas resource being developed by dozens of states. shell gas development is an area leading practices that address the potential environmental concerns and other impacts but also supporting jobs and energy independence for our nation. hickenloopervernor

and i led reform on michelle energy in colorado and we brought together other officials from 20 different states and we shared best practices and we learn from each other new approaches to responsible development. want to thank you for hosting the shell gas youropment forum and for work on behalf of the national governors association. it's been a great pleasure to work with you. now i would like to invite up to the podium our vice chair of the ,ational governors association governor john hickenlooper of colorado. governor. [applause] >> i can use her glasses if i need them. thank you for your leadership. thank you for your friendship.

it's great to be your neighbor, work together, try to solve the side by of our states side. republicans and democrats worked together as governors as i don't think they do in almost any other part of our national life. we saw this firsthand when he -- when we had our floods. you are one of the first three states to offer and send national guard support -- oklahoma, wyoming, utah, all republican governors. governors don't really worry about party when we are trying to get things done. thank you for helping organize the recent shale energy for a man joining us there. noted, we arellin at the center of the shale energy boom or actively pursuing ways to manage responsible development. our productioned of natural gas by 30% since 2000

five and seriously considering the opportunity and the risk associated with these new drilling technologies. place totrong rules in add transparency about the mix of agreements to be used in hydraulic fracking and way required groundwater testing free and post drilling. recently, we have proposed rules in concert with the environmental community to reduce the release of volatile organic compounds and methane during production and transport of natural gas using advanced technologies to detect and address leaks. concernsl help address about local air quality and help stem greenhouse gas emissions and foster a better sense of trust between industry and the public. across the nation, governors are leading the effort to make full use of every energy resource,

solarl gas, oil, wind, and to reduce the amount of energy that we use. our efforts to develop shale gas along with promoting the full array of energy resources and energy efficiency strengthen this nation's energy independence. the fact that recent predictions including those by the international energy administrations have predicted the united states will have the potential to become net energy- by 2030 size. we already to use more energy than we import, the first time in many years. bodes well for energy prices and overall economic growth. governors are at the forefront of maintaining and protecting and national guard. never before have they been so well trained as they are today.

as commanders in chief of army an air national guard, it is honor and a privilege to stand .ith our men and women alongside our other first responders, the national guard .elp rescue trapped families it works 12 hour days to make sure we had everyone of our broken roads open before december 1. the guard is ready, capable, and an experienced fighting force that they are also essential here at home. for this reason, we continue to ourvely and loudly champion national guard as they come home maintain thee

value of having an active and ready guard. intoansition from war peace but they should not adversely affect states or, at the expense of last capabilities. instead, we should be leveraging the experience and cost effect in this of the army and air national guard. federalto work with our partners to make sure that the guard remains ready for state and federal missions. the next outcome is not a field or a town but a computer network that supports our own critical infrastructure. cyber attacks, the guard should be mobilized to and be able tos respond to incidents. the government seeks to clarify how it will work with the to better secure

cyberspace. states are already moving forward to develop and implement new cyber policies to protect economies and ensure public safety. they launched the resource center for state cyber security by governor martin o'malley and governor rick snyder. state teams met to share best practices and devise ways governors can guide their efforts and make sure that we measure progress. call to action released for cyber security which gives recommendations to consider, develop, and implement a strategy to allocate appropriate resources. it also advances cyber security efforts in the energy structure. approachesing robust

to government examining how to leverage the support and in keeping with the theme of governor fallin's initiative, advancing education and workforce to help meet the growing need for well-trained cyber security experts. finally, for our veterans, governors, welcome all of them home. at the state level, leading efforts to improve outreach to veterans and their families in a variety of ways. it calls for the federal thertments to break down access to benefits, services that they have rightly earned defending our country. the federal government must work with states to fill the gaps left by federal programs and to better target services to at- risk veterans like our wounded warriors. often one of the biggest is finding meaningful employment. recognizing how critical this is

to a transition from military service to civilian life, governors are particularly focused on getting our veterans back to work. in partnership with the u.s. department of labor, working with a number of states to develop breast -- best practices and facilitate the transfer of .ilitary skills this will help veterans leverage their military training to gain the necessary civilian credentials to perform jobs in industries such as transportation or healthcare. our goal in colorado is to have every returning veteran employed taking care of men and women who served their country remains .aramount for governors no list of priorities would be complete without the mention of health care, like education and jobs, it remains one of the core issues facing state. the politics of health care have become divisive but improving

systems and helping states become healthier is not. the national governors notciation, health care is just about the affordable care act. we should focus on the issue or the issues that unite us, not those that divide us. high-value healthcare that is efficient and cost-effective should be the common goal. in 2013 come in g a hosted more than 52 separate health care meetings with various state officials and included leadership training, policy academies, and learning networks technical assistance and webinars. in october, we joined with the national institute of medicine to hold the first of several in- state retreats designed to help think through different ways to transform their health systems. the first was held in wisconsin with governor scott walker,

private sector leaders, and national leaders. we hope to do several more of these across the country. we are holding a national convening of state leaders interested in transforming health systems and the focus is to share state level innovation as we were collectively to reduce costs and at the same time improve quality for health care and all of our states. to stem the a way growing epidemic of prescription drug abuse. i have the pleasure of cochairing an initiative to help states fight this growing problem. states are implementing strategies that will hopefully lower the number of deaths in emergency room visits for prescription drug overdoses while still giving access to necessary medication. finally, governors came together to identify and share best practices as part of a healthcare sustainability task

force led by governor john fromaber and the governor tennessee to strengthen the state-federal partnership and improve the quality of healthcare while at the same time again reducing costs. that task force and its finding will be discussed at the february meeting in washington. governors are taking a variety of different leads on this issue. his entire state of the state address to the issue of drug abuse including the abuse of prescription drugs and how it leads to more serious concerns about heroin addiction. if you have not read his state of the state, i would advise you to do so. it's remarkable. this nation's infrastructure provides the skeletal structure that connects us to one another. we talk about infrastructure but you only think about highways, transit systems that connect

people and places. infrastructure is more than surface transportation. it includes utility systems that connects us to power and water, schools, public buildings that connect us to opportunity and participation. a states emerge from the economic downturn, it's critical we work with our partners to rebuild and invest in roads, rail, bridges, airports, waterways, and energy infrastructure. we face a steep funding gap believe to be as high as $1.6 trillion factoring in the $2.6 trillion projected to keep the infrastructure system safe and reliable minus current revenue. for surface transportation alone, the federal highway trust fund faces another perilous fiscal cliff later this year. projected receipts including general fund transfers will be

less. infrastructure is about the future. economic prosperity, innovation rely on a robust and sustainable infrastructure as the foundation. at the state level, governors are leading the way by creating new approaches to fixing, funding, financing infrastructure to help meet the needs of the 21st century. carefullyrts include managing costs, identifying opportunities for new revenue sources using advanced technologies to improve performance, lower lifecycle expenditures, and using public- private partnerships to speed up project delivery and lower overall cost. several governors including those from illinois, north carolina, colorado were participating in a new effort to help states examine how they can

deploy a financing strategies to deliver infrastructure. we have seen success already with that approach in colorado. we have a new commuter rail line expansion in are suing another public-private partnership to improve the roads between denver and boulder. they have long called for legislation that says long-term stability can allow states to invest in a long-term surface transportation with consistent and reliable federal partner. fallinay, governor testified about the need for long-term reauthorization of these critical programs.

the message was uncertainty forces states to act to fill in the void. governors agree state action is about devolution. requires an intragovernmental partnership. it's about more than just roads. congress is working hard to reauthorize a water resource and development fact, key legislation to help accelerate investing in the water infrastructure systems. we call on the house and senate for passing bipartisan bills to reauthorize and call on congress to complete and send a bill are for signature to the president. a strong partnership is even more crucial within the state budget. governors were both hearts and am dismayed when the government deal was reached. washingtonope that

and the state could work together to address the fiscal problem facing the country and today was supposed to be another critical deadline that the federal government would again close its doors this the president and congress could not agree. of state of the state and the federal government are inextricably linked. the politics of fiscal responsibility can no longer be centered around crises and deadlines. we have the budget agreement reached by congress but now we have to have success. the budget deal raises important questions for the country. governmentrces should provide and at what level, how we should pay for them, and which reforms are necessary for a modern economy. in the area tax reform, recognizing the need to simplify and improve the federal tax code. a taxear, we created reform task force to make recommendations on those areas

where it intersects state policy. two strong recommendations emerged from that group. one, maintain the exclusion of income for interest earned on municipal bonds. for more than a century, municipal bonds have been used to build this country. they have all been built thanks to the unique status of municipal bonds. federal laws and regulations should not increase issuance costs to states directly or indirectly nor diminished market demand for the bonds issued by state and local government. if infrastructure is a priority for the nation, the tax exempt status of municipal bonds must be preserved. ofewise, the deductibility state and local taxes for federal income taxes part of the federal tax code since its inception more than 100 years ago. eliminating federal

deductibility would reverse the historic separation of federal, state, and local taxing authority. it would be forcing double taxation among taxpayers. one thing congress can and must do is partner with states to pass the marketplace fairness act. this past holiday season, new records were set with consumers paying for more than $500 billion worth of online goods. storeshe main street decorate our street and select local sales tax, the internet competitors do not. marketplace fairness is just common sense is legislation that upholds the principles of federalism and is fair, simple, good for business. stillot like the internet need a lift. it encourages competition and preserves mainstreet jobs

closing this unfair loophole, an issue on which congress can and should come together. he senate overwhelmingly passed legislation this year and now we hope it is the houses turn. as can tell, we have a lot to do. governors are innovating and we want to continue to push our federal partners to craft solutions to support innovation at the federal level as well. we all want to return one year from now moving our nation forward by putting people back to work, by supporting growth, by educating our children, by improving our security. innk you all for being here this lovely, wonderful place. governor fallin, thank you so much for being such a remarkable leader, not just for oklahoma but for all of us governors. thank you. [applause]

>> i appreciate your comments. we would be glad to take a few statements from the press. >> from the bergen record in new jersey. can you tell me if you would want chris christie campaigning for you and if you think this would be a problem for you looking forward to november? [laughter] >> it's unfortunate what has happened in new jersey and i think the facts are so undetermined as far as all of the details, no governor ever wishes that upon another to have to go through that type of circumstance and we will have to wait and see what the details are. in the meantime, any time public policy hurts the public itself, which it appears that it did do that, that's not right. we still don't know the details as it relates to governor

christie. he's been a strong leader. we saw his leadership during hurricane standing when he helped them get back on their feet. he's a man that speaks his mind and sometimes but also ruffles feathers. we will have to wait and see. >> fox news channel. can you tell us a little bit about the state exchanges and how it's working in both of your states, some of the problems across the country for the different states in the exchanges? >> as governor hickenlooper stated, all want to improve healthcare and we are all concerned about medicaid costs, rising health care costs. we all want to make sure that not only individuals that businesses have access to quality care and we have seen as the rollout of the affordable care act that it's not been

smooth and that is both for republican and democratic governors alike. each governor has chosen their own path whether it relates to their own state exchange or moving into a federal exchange. we appreciate the fact that all governors have different economies, different budgets, different political situations and different preferences on how the healthcare system is administered. in my state of oklahoma, speaking for me, i did choose not to expand the federal medicaid system because i'm concerned about the cost and concerned about congress meeting its promises on funding. i also did not choose to form my own state exchange. we went with the federal exchange. our citizens voted overwhelmingly not to support the affordable health care act in our state. we passed a constitutional amendment and oklahoma.

what happens in oklahoma is different from colorado. in general, the nga respects other governors and their different budget situations but we do have an agreement on needing to lower medicare costs, improve health care costs and also improving the health of our citizens. beenthat's obviously difficult. our local exchange was smoother than the national rollout. i think we are close to 150,000 through expanded medicaid or those who did not have insurance for other reasons. one thing that gets lost in the discussion frequently, five years ago before obama care was even fully expressed, 90% of the

doctors in the united states used paper for not just the medicaltions but records. we forget that. a big part of this was the mexican federal expenditures to incentivize and push modernization of how we do medicine. obviously we are coming out of recession but we have come out of others before. if you go back over the last 50 for health care is rising but over the last three years, rising at a slower rate than they have over the last 50. clearly a destructive, difficult time. change is hard. each governor, republican and democrat, we share that whole of theoving quality -- share goal of improving quality. at the same time, we try to figure out how to lower costs. when you are expanding the number of people who have the

opportunity to get health care, this is the perfect time to begin using scale and technology to lower the costs and figure out better ways and systems of doing this. the states are the right place where that laboratory of innovation and democracy really is at stake here and i don't know a single governor right now not spending a significant amount of time trying to figure out how to do this better. [no audio] obviously, we want more. near 800,000ewhere uninsured so we have a ways to go. are we content with.? we are not. we need more. don't have as, we many young, healthy people signing up. saw todayusetts, we few years. there's a process by which young people become aware and how we communicate we're certainly not satisfied.

>> i am with the bond buyer. you met with president obama yesterday and i wanted to know if you talk at all about his upcoming budget requests and she was planning on continuing to propose a 28% cap on muni bond interest. >> i don't remember him mentioning anything about on the interest and caps. talk about infrastructure. as governor hickenlooper mentioned, i had the opportunity to go in front of the transportation and infrastructure committee to testify on behalf of the governors. am a former go -- member of that committee to talk about the importance of reauthorization and how the states need certainty when it comes to funding our nation's infrastructure, whatever form of

infrastructure that might be. we did talk to the president about infrastructure. we talked to the president about job creation, education, workforce needs. those were some of the key issues we visited with him about and we expressed that thomas has governors, as we have outlined in talking about various issues that there are solutions coming from the states that we believe can be models for the rest of the nation. we believe there needs to be more collaboration, more cooperation between the states and the federal government and that is where you see the national governors association both last year and this year doing something different that we've never done and that is having a state of the state's address to the national media and some of the key groups in washington to talk about some of the challenges that the state space, challenges that we need washington to address, frankly

our frustration at times that washington does not address those things. -- we need aep seat at the table. we do not have the luxury of an action like congress on many key legislation. we have to act. we have to balance our budgets. we have to find those solutions. we believe it's important for governors to sit down with the president, vice president but the house and senate to talk about what we're doing in our states. governor hickenlooper and i gave several examples. one is the states came together to hold 52 different meetings related to healthcare costs, healthcare systems, lowering medicaid costs, better quality of care. we have also talked about thatance abuse in issues

the governors have taken. governor hickenlooper and i have worked with other states talking about energy policy entirely do believe that america has great resources that we can have energy independence and more economic security for our nation. we have led an effort and encourage them to look at cng vehicles to save taxpayer money and utilize financial resources are abundant. >> it safe to support every priority in the nga -- i'm kidding. [laughter] i do think it's fair to say that the president and vice president -- we were there for over an hour, but they listen hard. they asked a lot of questions about our points. the governor shall mark@utah talked about some of the waivers on health care policy and why

they had to be so hard and long. , or many cases, when the talk about waivers for tolth care, they're trying streamline the process for infrastructure process. the president was literally saying, let me give you my cell phone number. if the bureaucracy is blocking the governors from getting stuff done, let us know and we will get on it. i think we all heard that with .ratitude both vice president biden and were clear.ama let's get past the divisive stuff and let's try to get .hings done they recognize governors are in a unique relationship with each other. governor fallin and i'll went to detroit 18 months ago to talk to senior executives at general ford., chrysler,

said,and again they aren't you a republican? aren't you a republican? argument democrat? what you're doing here? trying to move forward and have you make vehicles that burns compressed natural gas that makes cleaner air and is cheaper. now gm is putting an impolitic off the assembly line able to burn compressed national -- natural gas. >> i've got to get my oklahoma guy here. oklahoman. you mentioned the state of the straight address by the verge -- vermont governor thomas and people make the same argument about marijuana being a gateway drug. i was wondering how you make a distinction. governor fallin, would you ever

see any advantage in the state legalizing marijuana. [laughter] first, i thought his kurds to really direct almost entirely his speech to this epidemic, a crisis of drug addiction, a lot of people are very concerned when we started using vicodin and prescribing opiates as pain relief that there could be significant unintended consequences. he points out that we are seeing dramatic increases in people going from these prescription drugs and going right into heroine. people, thef young lies, the accidental death, the jumping it is dramatically and is not just in vermont. as we worked on the prescription drug abuse task force, we see

this all over the united states. relevant and i think something every governor is looking at. of marijuana, i opposed it. i think almost every elected official opposed it. not that we don't recognize the war on drugs was an abject failure. it did not do what it was intended to do and had many negative consequences. it is now in our state constitution. we take it that this is the will of the people. as a be one of the great social and weent of the century take being first a serious sense of responsibility and obligation living will regulate the daylights out of it. we spent 15 -- i spent 15 years restaurant business.

when you are making alcohol, the government is relentless and how they inspect your premise, how they tax you. restaurant sells liquor to a minor, they will suspend on a second ord third offense, you will lose your license completely. we would be no less relentless with marijuana and we passed the standard. if you're driving while high, we will lock you up. our focus is to keep corruption out. a number of top neuroscientists are concerned the highest thc content, with people whose minds are growing, kids under the age within one week, several exposures to the high thc in marijuana has the potential to diminish long-term memory permanently.

kids don't understand it. they think because his sling allies there is no inherent danger and that's not true. it will be passed that 25% plus local sales tax and we were use that money to create in ring a framework to protect minors in and we do not have people driving high or other places where he put the public at risk. we did not choose to support it but now it's here we will take it very seriously. >> as long as i'm governor and oklahoma, i will do everything i can to prevent the legalization of marijuana.

>> him from politico. it comes increasingly clear that tax reform will not be coming, what can states due to shore up promised youms? think tax competition will play >> it does not look like we will see tax reform in congress this year, but you do see tax reform being done among the various states. state, partyate-by- by party. states are very competitive and governors are very competitive. i've been working on lowering the tax rate in the state of , prioritizing spending needs on different services, like education, healthcare, ,orrections, transportation

also creating efficiencies in state government. we combined 75 different agency boards to put that money back towards tax cuts and prioritizing different government services. each date is doing their own thing. when mcgurk talked to other companies about why they should we sella certain state the different features. we have lower taxes, reformed , increasing academic rigor and a classroom, great infrastructure, whatever the issue might be, states are very competitive. i personally believe tax rates do matter in keeping businesses small and the governor of oklahoma is important to me. >> it's a healthy competition

and states always brag. if you look at all the taxes put , texas, andlahoma colorado are the three lowest in woodcock about it all the time. to attractust companies. states talk about that a lot, but the real attraction is trying to create an environment that will attract entrepreneurs in the next generation of job creators because that is what drives your economy. one of our top competitors, the governor of utah, we compete day in and day out. they have a higher income taxed at the other taxes that are lower. we're often competing for the same type of company, the same demographic. we compete with oklahoma as well.

we try to keep it above board, friendly. there are a few exceptions to this. [laughter] >> not in the room. >> not in the room but not among most of the states we directly compete with. that focus -- when you get an advantage, you want to talk about it. we want to have the best public school system because that is what young entrepreneurs and people care about that will create the next generation of the workforce. sure youro make health care system works better we have anher guys intervention because people want to move and climate mountains. we have more 25-34-year-olds moving. we are not the healthiest state. we have prescription drug abuse, low birth rate, low percentage

of vaccinations. by most objective measures, we are not the healthiest we are working to get there and that is what a better country. oklahoma is competing with colorado to beat healthiest. if we compete to have the best education system using the common core, objective measures. we will hold ourselves accountable and the whole standard of performance of the country rises. >> thank you very much. thank you for your time today. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> thursday evening on c-span, we will bring you michigan governor rick snyder ran his annual state of the state address. live coverage at 7:00 p.m. eastern on c-span.

>> next on c-span, a hearing on telecommunication regulations. the house debates the fiscal 2014 spending bill. in the governors of oklahoma and colorado give the annual state of the states address. upcongress is considering an date to the federal communications act which was last revised in 1996. in a house hearing, former heads of the fcc discuss regulation of broadcasting and telecommunications. a major topic was yesterday's federal court ruling that struck down the fcc rules on net neutrality. representative greg walden shares this two and a half hour hearing. -- chairs the hearing.

>> if our friends in the audience could find a steep -- seat, we will get started here. i will call to order the subcommittee on communications and technology and thank our witnesses for being here for this first of what will be many hearings as we look to update the communications act. few sectors of our economy are equal to communications and technology sector when it comes to innovation, investment in the american economy, and job creation. in these tough economic times,

we should be committed to fostering this critical sector of the economy. the laws that regulate the industry are outdated, at best. this is why chairman up and and i and members of the subcommittee have decided to undertake the difficult task of updating the communications act of 1934. decades, congresses have come and gone. some have made substantial, though targeted, changes to the law, but none have taken to rethink the act for the environment of convergence and innovation in which we live today. it's time to reflect our moderate technological landscape grounded in the networks and services of our past, and driven by i.p. and mobile future. our ip and mobile future. just yesterday the d.c. circuit issued its decision in the net neutrality case. striking down the rules, ordered by the federal communications commission.

i, for one, was pleased to see the court remove the government from the business of making management judgments and give providers the freedom to make decisions that are pro-competitive and pro-consumer. while this decision benefits consumers and providers alike by keepings internet free from government interference, the rationale highlights the ongoing confusion regarding regulation of different services. this is yet another example of why it's vital that we take a hard look at the laws in this space and reconcile them with the realities of technology. the answer is not to subject new technology to outdated regulations, but rather to craft laws appropriate to innovative services and platforms. as we embark on this effort it should come as no surprise that i'm focused on ensuring that we engage in a transparent and collaborative process, our colleagues here in the congress but also with the many stake holders outside in these halls. what we want is a dialogue. last week the committee released the first of what will be a

series of white papers seeking input from the public. and i hope that interested parties will take the opportunity to make their voices heard to us. today's witnesses provide a unique and valuable perspective on the communications act. as chairman of the agency tasked with carrying out congress' will, and implementing the act, the four witnesses today have had a front row seat to witness the act in the real world, to see where it works, and where it doesn't. these chairmen of varied experiences and viewpoints, that in many ways represent the evolution of modern communications. when chairman wiley led the agency, telephone service was a government regulated monopoly. consumers got their news from broadcast television and print newspapers, and the internet was still years away. 16 years later, when reed hundt took the reins the internet was coming into full force and mobility was beginning to take off. chairman powell's tenure saw the convergence of services towards the bundled offerings we see today, as well as the deployment

of broadband to americans. and in the four years since michael copps served as academic chairman there have been dramatic changes to the way we communicate and the technology that powers our lives. for example the title of today's hearing contains a hash tag. twit per, then with no vowels in its name, had yet to be discovered by south by southwest. neither we nor the august panel before us can predict the future and what technological changes it will bring. but by learning the lessons of the past, we can do our best to create a legal and regulatory environment that will foster innovation, and competition, encourage consumer choice, and optimum services. so again i want to thank you for -- to our witnesses for this impressive panel. we look forward to hearing your testimony. and we appreciate your public service. with that i would yield to the vice chair of the subcommittee mr. latta for any opening comments. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. and thank you very much to our

panel of distinguished witnesses for testifying for us today. i appreciate you all being here. since 1966, we have witnessed an unprecedented technological evolution in the communications industry. the rapid emergence of new and innovative technologies has fostered to increase investment throughout the industry in the development of a vibrant, competitive communications marketplace. as we move into the future it is important to examine the communications act to ensure that our public policy continues to encourage this kind of growth and innovation that is essential to fuelling our economy. reforms to current law should reflect the technology we enjoy today and be able to adopt to the technology of tomorrow, without further government intervention. our efforts should be dedicated to ensure that the laws governing the communications marketplace do not stifle current and future investment, innovation, economic growth, and consumer choice in this dynamic and converging digital age of communications. i look forward to the testimony from our witnesses today, and

again mr. chairman i thank you very much for holding this hearing. >> thank the gentleman for his comments. now turn to the gentle lady from california, the ranking member of the subcommittee for her opening comments. >> thank you mr. chairman and good morning to you. to all of the members, and the warmest welcome to each of the witnesses that are at the table. your combined public service is really stands as a hallmark of devoted service to our country. but also, to move the country forward in one of its most important economic sectors. so welcome to you, it's wonderful to see all of you at the same time, at the table. with news of the court's net neutrality decision today's hearing i think is a timely opportunity to hear from each one of you who have led the expert agency, the fcc, and combined it represents over four

decades of service. that is nothing short of extraordinary. and each of you have had a hand in really, i think, changing our nation's communications and technology landscape. so not only kudos to you, thank you to you, but a recognition of what each one of you accomplished. when congress passed the telecommunications act of 1996 it was my second term in congress. my first term on the committee, and there were just 11 references to the internet. the word internet, and only one mention of broadband across 128-page bill. many proponents of updating the act have cited this as evidence that the act is outdated. and unable to keep up with changes in technology. but as chairman wheeler affirmed last week, the communications

act continues to provide the fcc with ample authority to exercise its role in this new environment. the court's decision yesterday, i believe, furthers this argument by upholding the fcc's existing authority to yoefsh see broadband services. and i think that's very important for consumers across the country. i make these points not to discourage the subcommittee's review of the act. i join with the chairman to review this. i think that's it's a worthy exercise. but rather we need to ensure that we know what problems we're trying to fix before undertaking a multi-year examination that include hearings, stakeholder meetings, white papers, and the such. since the '96 act was enacted hundreds of new entrants have emerged, and more than 1.2 trillion dollars has been

invested by u.s. telecommunications companies. i want this success story to be an unending one. and i think that is the goal of everyone on this wonderful subcommittee. so to that end, my goal throughout the subcommittee's review will be to see more competition, greater consumer choice, and more innovation. i am so proud, as the chairman was making his opening remarks, that so much of this has been born in my congressional district. and so innovation, innovation, innovation. and these goals were embedded in the '96 act, and they remain just as important today. at the same time, our process of examining the communications act should not derail, in my view, a more immediate update of our video laws, a view shared by a majority of the witnesses at a september subcommittee hearing.

recurring tv blackouts, coupled with the rising cost of broadcast television programming, with limited choice, has left consumers frustrated, and looking to congress, and the fcc, for answers. i believe that working together at a bipartisan basis we can make this happen in 2014. so, chairman walden, thank you for holding today's hearing on the communications act. i welcome the review, and i look forward to hearing the unique insights from the top experts from our country who have given so much in terms of their leadership in leading the expert agency. and with that 34 seconds to yield to congresswoman matsui. >> thank you ranking member. i want to welcome all the former chairmen. we welcome you here for your ideas and your experience to provide basis for discussions moving forward. as technology evolves i believe it's important that we consider appropriate updates to the

communications act that with goals to promote competition and innovation in the marketplace. to that point, i am pleased that yesterday, the d.c. circuit affirmed the fcc's authority to oversee broadband services. in my opinion that was a crux of the debate. and the fcc's argument prevailed on the question of authority over broadband. the fcc will need to exert its authority to ensure now that all americans have access to a free and open internet. a competitive marketplace with checks and balances will fare well for all americans. i look forward to the hearing today, and i yield back the balance of my time. >> gentle lady yields back the balance of her time. chair now recognizes the distinguished member from michigan, mr. upton, for opening comments. >> thank you, mr. chairman. last month you and i announced our plans for a comprehensive update to the communications act of 1934. the changes in technology since the last update in '96 have been dramatic and existing laws have failed to keep pace with the vibrant and dynamic telecommunication industry.

communications and technology sectors have consistently been areas of american leadership, innovation, and job creation certainly, but the communications act is showing its age in our continued international leadership is indeed at stake. yesterday's net neutrality decision, while a victory for consumers in the economy, illustrates the uncertainty flowing from the current statutory scheme and the need for this action. it's time to revamp these laws, to reflect the new competitive landscape and changing consumer expectations. and as we begin the open process leading to acom act update we are looking for input, yes we are, from all of the stake holders in the communications and technology world. where better to start than with our distinguished panel of former leaders of the fcc? these leaders served during diverse times in the evolution on the communications sector, and they've seen the market operate under the strong hand of the u.s. government, and the challenges with them divorcing

the government from its heavy regulation of the communication section of times of oer. they've seen satellite services succeed in bringing competition to the video market. and failed to find success as a competitor to mobile phone service. and they've seen the internet grow from a d.o.d. project to a tool for research universities, and now, as the commercial economic force that we know today. throughout the many nuanced it rations of the communications act, today's witnesses have firsthand seen the act at its finest, and also in its inability to keep pace with technological innovation as impacted those vital economic issues. so i want to thank the witnesses for taking their time to share their experiences with us, we value, indeed, their expertise and welcome their thoughts on how we can ensure the communications act fosters our communications and technology sectors well into this century. and i yield the balance of my

time to vice ch >> thank you, mr. chairman. and if i had my iphone in my hand, i would hit retweet. for everything that he has just said. we do appreciate that you all are here. we do want to take advantage of the perspective that you have had, think about what has happened in the past 17 years, since '96. and the changes that we have seen, not only in how we communicate, but the rapidity of those communications, and entertainment, and how we access that, how we take it with us, how we consume it, so we know that the pace of change means that we have to be very judicious and careful, as we look at a rewrite. we know that there are issues that are going to come on the plate that we're going to have to discuss, also. as we look at not only the telecom rewrite but at the use of the