april 15 this year to help in the philippines recovery and reconstruction from typhoon-, and deduct those donations from their 2013 tax bill. both scheduled for after 6:30 p.m. eastern. we also have the senate gaveling begina vote on whether to debate on ukraine aid legislation. it would define $150 million in assistance. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's room, washington, d.c., march 24, 2014. i hereby appoint the honorable fred upton to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, john a. boehner, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the

house of january 7, 2014, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour ebate. the chair will alternate recognition between the parties with each party limited to one hour and each member other than the majority and minority leaders and the minority whip but in to five minutes, no event shall debate continue beyond 1:50 p.m. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from the good state of north carolina, ms. foxx, for five minutes. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, last week it was my pleasure to attend a job fair at mitchell community college in statesville, north carolina. the job fair was co-hosted by the chamber of commerce and both mitchell community college president dr. brewer and chamber president david bradley, ought to be commended for making this important event happen and making these job

opportunities available to job seekers in the local community. as a former community college president, i'm aware of the important role these institutions play in providing workers with the opportunity to improve their skills in order to meet the demands of employers. mitchell community college in the -- and the statesville chamber of commerce makes sure that statesville remains successful in the fourth district of north carolina. about 500 jobs were available. spanning a broad range of skills, abilities and compensation levels. the organizers offered a resume workshop to help applicants help make a good first impression. i'd like to recognize a few of those who helped make this event a success and who spent every day making the economy and community of statesville run. gina shume acre is part of the

back-to-work program and now she is giving back to her work with work force carolina. she matches job seekers with opportunities. she was at the job fair looking to fill 197 positions, and i commend her efforts to help individuals in the community get back on their feet. goodyear, i also had the opportunity to talk with joe wegmiller who is a plant manager for the goodyear factory in statesville. they have been manufacturing tire molds in statesville since 1995. i had the opportunity to tour the facility and it's a key employer in the fifth district. duesand specializes make generators, air compressioners and other light construction equipment. this company is headquartered in statesville and brings more than 100 years of manufacturing experience to bear on the task of providing quality equipment for construction and other industrial uses. we're proud that they call

statesville home and grateful for the opportunities they provide to members of our community. asmo north carolina employees more than 350 people in statesville. they manufacture electric power steering motors and other assemble lease for auto manufacturers. a common refrain among employers is that they have had a hard time finding individuals with the skills needed to fill available positions. they reminded me of h.r. 803, the skills act. this bill would reform and reorganize our broken federal work force development system. there's bipartisan agreement that the current federal work force development programs are not meeting the needs of america's job seekers. many of whom were in attendance at the statesville job fair last week. in his 2012 state of the union address, the president asked that these programs be reformed and republicans in the house went to work and passed the

skills act which would streamline 35 ineffective and duplicative programs, including 26 identified as being ineffective in a 2011 g.a.o. report. the skills act empowers job creators such as goodyear, dusand, asmo and many others that were looking to hire in statesville last week. the skills act would allow local businesses to help steer work force development resources toward fields that are in demand right now. this bill passed the house over a year ago, and i call on our colleagues in the senate to act on this vital piece of legislation. mr. speaker, this house will maintain its focus on creating an environment conducive to economic growth and job creation. we've passed more than 30 pieces of legislation designed to decrease the bureaucracy, increase opportunity and restore vitality to our economy. unfortunately, the majority of this legislation is languishing in the senate. the employers, job seekers and

community members i spoke with last week in statesville want to move forward with their businesses and lives. their house -- there are house-passed bills that will help solve some of the problems they're facing. the senate and the president need to act to turn these bills into law. i yield back, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess

>> right now a look at how states compare in the insurance prices offered under the affordable care act, from today's "washington journal." host: joining me, thank you for joining us, brianna ehley. doesn't matter where you live in terms of the price you pay for the affordable care act? guest: it does. more than one reason. the cost of premiums and as well as how well your state exchanges working, is it easier and harder to -- to enroll? it definitely matters where you are. it is a simple econ 101 thing. where your market is depends on your health providers and hospitals in the area. that drives competition down. if you only have one hospital or provider in the area, you will

pay a lot more than other states. >> when it comes to expensive, the most expensive places to get health care, kaiser health news put together a thing provided by your publication. if you live in colorado springs, colorado, you will pay a monthly -- $483. southwest georgia, 461 dollars. talk a little bit about those prices and what factors into them? especially in those areas of the country. class a couple of factors play into it. the biggest one is the market. you have talent like aspen. in that region, there are just four providers in the area. you are paying more. there is less competition. when you go to denver, they have double the amount of providers and double the amount of plants. they pay $200 less for premiums

on average. the kaiser study, they are looking at silver plans for a 40-year-old male. that is how they broke it down. silver is the standard plan under obamacare, so metal and silver is kind of the medium one most people are going with right now. that is how they did the study. in georgia, it is interesting. the southern region of georgia. not only do they have one provider, one house system dominating the area, like 83% of the market is run by the house center, but also, the population, whether they tend to be smart and unhealthy population, that drives prices as well. in that region, one out of three people are obese. the health of the population really drives the cost as well. it is mostly the market. >> it does not pay specter as to what parts of the country.

the south, the east, the west, those factor in but not as much. >> yes, it really depends. you have the minneapolis area, which has four major providers and a lot of health care systems, a lot of providers and hospitals, and that drives the prices down. the population tends to be a healthier population. not one of the healthiest populations in the country. so they are paying significantly less. >> the difference, $154, $104 and if you live in montana, $166. >> right. going back to minneapolis, it is interesting. it does not really matter the proximity across the border in wisconsin. they are paying almost twice as much. it really depends on what they have to offer as far as the

health care system. class i could -- i should've said minnesota instead of montana. >> the prices on the exchanges tend to be lower. the premium prices tend to be lower than pay are based plants. when you look at deductibles, they are a lot higher. you're out of pocket costs tend to be higher. there was an out-of-pocket study that shows deductibles on some plants tend to be 40% higher. >> does it matter if it is federally run or state run or a combination? does it matter as far as who runs it and what cost you will pay? is there a connection? >> no, it is across the board. class have people experienced this as far as what they are paying, what is important to know as we approach the deadline?

>> if you do not have coverage after march 31, you will be subject to a penalty of $95 or one percent of your income, whatever is greater. that is what folks are wrestling with right now. is it worth it and can i squeeze in my budget. the majority of people want health coverage and it comes down to whether they can afford it or not hear people are looking at their budgets and thinking, should i go for the penalty right now, whatever is best for the bottom line. >> we should have talked about the prices you saw. guest: it depends on what your household income is. the kaczor foundation has a good calculator so you can go in if you are 100 to 400% of the poverty line, then you will qualify for subsidies. 83% of total enrollees right now have qualified for subsidies.

you can go in either on the website or on kaiser's calculator and checked out what if anything you would qualify for. >> she covers health policy and talking about cost when it comes to who pays what and living in the -- in the united states, if you have questions for her, -- if you have questions for her via twitter, -- first call for you is from oklahoma. it will be our republican line, good morning. you're on. please go ahead. >> i was trying to get in on the last segment. >> do you have any questions about the affordable care act? >> no.

my insurance went up. my deductible went up. my medication went up. everything went up. i was going to say, last time, newt gingrich got to democrats and republicans all of their subsidies. questions that was the last segment, we will move on. this is john, new jersey, independent line. class good morning. i wonder if she can comment on the extent of federal subsidies to people paying these various premiums? i am seeing young people reporting that they are paying $75 a month for the policy. to what extent the federal

subsidies reducing these costs? >> it depends on what their income is. subsidies could be as little as $20, to hire. it depends on how much they are earning. they could go to the kaiser family subsidy health calculator and figure out what they would actually receive. >> if you look at some information, when it comes to not only exchanges, but when it comes to the next caller from missouri, 74,000 individuals are dissipated in the marketplace plan out of the potential 657,000 people who could apply for the plan. it is 11% participation rate. what does that tell you as far as participation rates go? >> it could just be it is not where it should be.

some say in more democratic states, you are seeing stronger outreach for political reasons. it could just be outraged. >> here is beverly from columbia, missouri, on the democrats line. >> if your state don't extend medicaid, that makes premiums for the people in the state of missouri higher? guest: no, it should not have an effect on it. if you're talking about premiums, the individual plans, that does not really affect medicaid. it should not have any effect. host: virginia, democrats line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i have been a proponent of the affordable health care act, but i also cannot afford to sign up on it. to qualify with subsidies for my

family. i have an individual fantasy -- family policy with a local provider in virginia. because of ongoing health care costs over the last 10 years, the plans offered to me through it in virginia would ultimately cost me more money out of pocket with higher deductibles and higher co-pays. while i want to promote everyone to sign on, especially young people without health crisis, and we need to do a better part and a better job educating the population who are not already involved in the medical community as i am currently, i cannot afford to take the risk and go from a tpo plan to an age that -- hmo plan while facing all these medical issues. there is a gap here for people who already are in the process of being heavy users of the medical facilities and communities but who cannot

really afford to roll the dice and take advantage of the potential savings. host: what kind of money are we talking? caller: i am currently playing -- paying close to $4000 for a family individual policy. a ppo with about a $1500 deductible. i would be able to receive about $400 subsidy to lower my premiums, but i would be at minimum doubling my deductible and then my co-pay. more importantly, because my wife is diagnosed with cancer on top of 10 years of other medical crises, i need access to the doctors able to see me -- or see her. the hmo plan, quite simply, particularly in rural areas like

parts of virginia, not that world but rural enough, limit my ability to be able to access the doctors we need to see. essentially, i could take advantage of $400 off the top, which is essential, but realistically, for me, since i am using the services already and am already in the process, i will be increasing my out-of-pocket expenses tremendously. they call me an e-mail me every day to sign up, almost completed my application, but i am afraid to sign the dotted line. i know currently as it stands, at least in virginia and in my case, they will end up costing me more money. guest: that is definitely probably a common theme people are seeing. when you first look, premiums tend to be cheaper on the exchange-based plans, but

deductibles are higher. folks are discovering this. another good point you brought up is the narrowing of provider networks. people are finding out on the exchanges that their doctor might not be in their network. that is a big deal, especially for people like your wife, who is probably used to seeing the same specialists and would prefer it to see the same specialists over and over. that is where people are running into issues with the new plans. the rural nature is again driving up costs depending on what providers and health care systems are out there. if one dominates the market, they will drive prices up. >> where in the u.s. can one receive the best care? guest: you're looking at premiums as low as 150 compared to the high of 45 in colorado,

the national average for a 40-year-old individual, non-smoker, about his stay dollars. -- about $260. host: republican line, high. . caller: you do not have to buy obamacare. all you have to do is get one of their hardship deals from obama and you do not have to buy it. guest: you are referring to exemption. that is an option. you have to prove you have some sort of financial hardship that would prevent you from getting coverage. you're not required to buy insurance through the federal state exchange. you are required to have health insurance by march 31. >> a story in the washed in times this morning, if you would seek the exemption, do you agree

with that? guest: i would have to see if that plays out. it is hard to know. experts are saying it is not as big a deal as critics and conservatives have pointed out. right away, they were saying this is another way the administration was kind of will -- walking around the individual mandate. again, most people in do want coverage. i do not think as many people will take advantage of a hardship exemption as something. >> about 300,000 signing up for plans onto the marketplace out of a potential 3.1 million. >> texas, another example about rich, but texas is important, very important to enrollment numbers because they have a large population of uninsured. california is doing quite well and rolling. they just enrolled one million last week.

same with florida, very important, pennsylvania and new york. these states are really what counts, driving the enrollment numbers. host: tennessee, you are up next. caller: good morning. across states, and my passes. , blue cross and lou shield and other companies compete across states. how will the obama care help the nation as far as lower premiums? if you can move from state to state and get a lower premium, i mean, it does not make sense to me. risk is what they base it on. if you get all the people who have earned income in the country, paid into the system, then we may be able to control it. i had a hundred thousand dollar operation. without insurance, i would be on the street at 58 years old.

guest: blue cross lou shield is represented in every state. it really does not change anything from before the aca. what we are talking about with competition is in oral areas like -- rural areas like georgia dominating 80% of the market. that is really the big issue with driving premiums. host: you are being asked on twitter about the chances the administration will extend the march 31 deadline for sign-up. guest: i would not count on it. i have been -- they have said over and over they would not. one thing we are expecting is they might make an exception for people who have already gone through the enrollment process and maybe they had problems with the website and were not able to actually complete the application process. that is not for sure yet.

some states like maryland and nevada have said they would give a 60 day leeway for people who started the process. we are expecting an announcement this week from the administration saying, if you are already starting the application process, you can finish it up, but if not, you need to have insurance or you will pay a penalty. host: what is the likelihood they will reach 6 million at the deadline? guest: we could be on course. we are not sure how many people are actually gaining coverage through the new exchanges yet because we do not know how many people have paid yet. that will be a big driver. the goal of 7 million last year, they are talking about 7 million people getting coverage through the exchanges, not just signing up.

about 20% of total and roman, about 5 million have not paid. they would not count in the final enrollment numbers. that will also depend and contribute to what premium prices are next year. they're hoping to make this goal. cbo has revised it down to 6 million by march 31. host: any indication of the administration to release figures? guest: they said they are not tracking that yet. we could see that next year but it is not likely we will see anything like that in the coming months. host: it was preached about the percentiles people have signed up and the age bracket. in the 18-25 bracket, 10%. -- what do those numbers tell you? guest: the ministration stressed

it is not just about the numbers but what is behind the numbers. the goal is to be young people, 18-34. these people help offset the costs of premiums for older and sicker individuals. we are at 25% now. not there yet. that will contribute to premium prices next year. it will go up if they do not increase. host: joining us from fiscal times. brianna ehley. edward, pennsylvania, independent line. caller: i work road construction and get laid off in the winter. now that this obamacare took effect, i don't have no insurance.

since obama took your unemployment from you, i cannot afford insurance. what should i do? go out and get on welfare and let obama take care of it? guest: depending on your income, you could see if you qualify through medicaid depending on where you live. there are deftly options for you. i would also suggest going on healthcare.gov and looking at if you have options for subsidies to make health insurance more affordable. host: big states, about 159,000 people signed up out of 1.2 million plus. the ratio of sign-up, 12.5%. guest: right. that is one of the state the administration want to target if they want their numbers up to 6 million by next week. last week, it was pretty clear who the administration is targeting. you have president obama doing an interview with zach

galifianakis, a lot of outrage with march madness. they are looking for young people to sign up here you can expect that to be the case again this week. get ready for a final push. host: from texas, republican line. caller: you will have to excuse me a little bit. i was trying to keep up with obamacare antifur but health care act, but the main goal is specifically to help everyone get coverage. is that correct? guest: yes, it is. it is interesting. that is clearly their main goal. the administration has not been tracking how many of the 5 million enrolled already who were previously uninsured. that is the main goal, to expand access to health coverage. to assess the success of the law so far, we need to know how many people are actually getting

coverage for the first time or for the first time in years. this will be something we will look for if they start measuring this in the coming year. host: steve, good morning from carolina, democrats line. caller: i have a couple of comments i would like to share on health care. first off, every year, i taught school in north carolina for 30 years. every year, we got a raise. blue cross and blue shield raised their premiums. the idea obama care is causing the premiums to go up is simply not true. people also talk about the fact >> see the rest of this discussion at the c-span video library. live for a discussion on an upcoming supreme court argument in sebelius versus hobby lobby, the contraceptives mandate. kenneth starr and former formeror general --

solicitor general kenneth starr and others will debate the potential outcome. >> we will begin shortly with a special on topic conversation between the president and chancellor of baylor university kenneth starr and harvard law professor alan dershowitz. the subject will be the hhs mandate of the affordable care act and its implications for american law and society. two panels will then follow. the first will focus on the legal aspects of the hobby lobby case that will occur tomorrow before the supreme court. let me acknowledge that present -- presence of the family whose business is hobby lobby, the green family, including mr. steve green, president of popularity. family.to the [applause] i would also like to acknowledge the presence of bill and

christina, resident and executive director respectively of the becket fund for religious liberty, and their staff. becket is the nonprofit and educational institute representing hobby lobby before the supreme court. welcome to you all. [applause] the second panel today will build on the first. it will look at the fascinating question of whether religious freedom is good for business and for the poor. i will introduce judge starr in just a minute, but before i do that, let me say a few words about this event. this conference celebrates a new partnership between two great state universities, georgetown, the oldest catholic university in the united states, and baylor, which is the largest protestant research university in the world. the cosponsors of this event are georgetown's... freedom project,

and baylor's institute for the use of religion. directed by professor byron johnson. the religious reagan project is the only university-based center for the body of religious freedom in the world. our goal is to research and disseminate knowledge about religious freedom, what it is, why it is important, for every person, religious or not, for every society, every state, and indeed, we believe religious freedom is important for international justice, stability, and peace. we define religious freedom in a broad and capacious way. it is the right of every person to believe and worship or not, and if one is a religious believer, to act on the basis of belief in the public life of one's nation, as an individual and member of a community. religious freedom, as we understand it, is not really a right to private worship.

it entails the right to engage in civil society, business, and politics, on the basis of one's religious beliefs. religious liberty is not a mere claim of privilege by religious people. rather, it is a pillar of stable democracy, economic development, and societal flourishing in general. unfortunately, notwithstanding its importance, religious freedom is in crisis throughout the globe. according to reports by the pew research center, 76% of the world population where there are severe actions of religious freedom, that is three out of four people on the planet. thosee the west, restrictions are often characterized by violent persecution of religious minorities. violenthe west, while persecution is not the norm, the pew report shows government restrictions of and social hostilities toward religion are

on the rise, and that includes the united states of america. one of the questions looming behind this conference today is whether the hhs contraceptives mandate and cases like that of hobby lobby reflect good a signent policy, or are of a declining respect for religious freedom in the united states. our goal at the religious freedom project is to raise the profile of this issue, both here and abroad. we want to increase the attention to religious freedom among key groups that are not paying enough attention, in our judgment, that is government officials, the media, the academy, and the business world. we do our work to a team of international scholars, many of whom are here today, and two books and articles of the workshops and consultations with addresses,, public congressional testimony, media appearances, conferences like

this one, and a vigorous web residents, including a new blog that we will formally launch later this month -- sorry, later this spring. all of these activities, we seek to engage not only religious groups but secular society in general, and in particular, the skeptics of religion. in a very real sense, ours is an attempt to attempt a conversation about religious freedom with everyone, especially those who do not share our premises or reviews. in that respect, let me mention the new blog that we will formally in -- launch there this spring, entitled cornerstone, a conversation on religious freedom and its social implications. astoundingly, notwithstanding the importance of the subject, there is not a single block in the united states that focuses exclusively on religious freedom. its meaning and its value. our goal with cornerstone is to fill the gap. you will find a flyer on your url forat gives you the

the blocks temporary webpage, which we have put up this weekend. we invite you to go to the blog which is under construction, and give us your opinion on its content, layout. we've, to take your views into account as we formally launch cornerstone later this spring. now let's get to our on-topic discussion between judge starr and professor dershowitz. it is our practice to engage the audience in our conversation, so we provided each of your tables several notecards to pose questions to the two gentlemen, so if you have a question as you listen, write it down as a simply as you can and affiliation. 1:20, we have a cadre of georgetown students here with us today who will go around and collect the cards. we will choose questions here to present to judge starr and professor george schwartz --

dershowitz. i will introduce judge starr. then the two gentlemen will come to the stage and then the judge will introduce professor dershowitz. come a professor dershowitz, on behalf of georgetown university, what a delight it is to have you with us today. is president, chancellor of baylor university. m also holds the louise martenson chair of constitutional law at their law school. during his career, he has served the country in many ways, including as law clerk to chief justice moore berger, u.s. circuit court judge for the district of columbia circuit, and as solicitor general of the united states under george h w which he read he has argued 36 cases before the supreme court including 25 while solicitor general. he has authored more than 25

publications, many of them on religious freedom. published ink was 2002. as someone who has had the privilege of getting to know judge starr over the last year, i can tell you, i have never met a man more suited to the task today that is to conduct a civil, intelligent, and vigorous opposition about one of the most important and controversial issues of our time, and that our country faces. and that issue is what is at stake in the contraceptive mandate of the health care law known as the affordable care act? ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage, alan dershowitz and judge kenneth starr. [applause] >> good afternoon.

[inaudible] thank you very much. friendjoin our wonderful tom farr, and say welcome to this wonderful audience, those who are joining us by c-span. i have such joy in introducing my friend alan. do we agree on every issue? no. [laughter] do we agree on any issue? yes. [laughter] the discussion has already started. needs no introduction, but i will do it anyway. he taught for 55 years at the harvard law school, where he was a legendary teacher. he is a great professor who

cares deeply about the students, and that is so important in academic life. in addition to his over 1000 books, count them, which is extraordinary. i have written one, and that was very hard. and not nearly as well read as alan's remarkable work. in addition to being this renowned chair professor at the harvard law school -- and by the way, does anyone remember cal ripken junior? alan loves baseball, as do i. during those years, 50 years, he missed one class. alan, what was your excuse? >> i was stuck on a train here at eight hours out of new haven. [laughter] and there it is.

a wonderful, caring, gracious human being. let me also add, a great friend of freedom, including those charged with crime. he tries to stay out of the limelight, as you know. [laughter] somehow behind the scenes he represented o.j. simpson, mike tyson, you get the idea. .e is a defender of liberty he is a great friend of the bastion of liberty in the middle east, israel, and feels passionately about it, and while power always needs to be , or the calling us state of israel, calling on the state. think we me to where i should begin, not with the affordable care act -- we will

get to that -- but we should begin with a preamble to america's cost to ship in. -- constitution. subject to the amendment process and purification of our constitutional order through the shedding of blood and civil war, post-civil war amendments, 13, 14, 15 amendments. preamble lays out is a moral vision, not just a statement of we the people, in order to form a more perfect union. i like that. a more perfect union. and then to achieve certain foundational goals. what is the first goal after the forming of the perfect union, to establish justice. if you do not have a just society, there will not be anything worth defending. so then to provide for the common defense, to ensure

domestic tranquility, and to promote the general welfare, it builds to a crescendo, and in that one, beautiful paragraph, which schoolchildren should all commit to memory, and to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and to our posterity. dershowitz, to a conversation about the specific subject, the affordable care act, hobby lobby. we are honored to have a green family here. thoughts tollen's start, but i guess i should set the stage to make sure we have common ground and alan will correct me. i frequently need correction. , the case that will be argued tomorrow involving the affordable care act implementation of regulations with respect to contraceptives involves a family.

a for-profit corporation, so you will read and hear a lot about does the first amendment really apply to corporations? maybe they apply to nonprofit corporation because churches and synagogues may incorporate as a nonprofit, but what about for-profit corporations? hobby lobby, it is a great american story. david and barbara green, in the 1970's, have an idea of arts and crafts, a store. work, they say by god's blessing, providence, hard work and energy, now over 500 stores, 600 stores. maybe more. and about 13,000 employees. closely held,n is so there are no wall street types running around reviewing financial statements. they may try to, but the family owns it.

david and barbara, the parents, mom and pop, now grandfather and grandmother thomas and then the .hree adult children that is a closely held corporation. one of the issues that will be in the case is the affordable care act's requirement of companies providing employment benefit plans to provide certain forms, mainly 20, forms of contraceptives to including four that the green family, as a matter of conscience, objects to. and they object to it based on pro-life grounds. those four methods, as they see it, involve the taking of innocent human life. for the courtn tomorrow is whether a statute -- and i hope we have a chance to talk about the statute as the conversation unfolds. the religious freedom restoration act. what a great name. congress comes up with great

names, don't they? not a great acronym. rfra. welcome to washington, d.c., we have an acronym for everything. the religious freedom restoration act provides, in effect, that if government is going to place substantial burden on the exercise of then the federal government must come forward with a compelling justification. alan is the experience professor of constitutional law, so he could describe that, but in short, it must be really important, not just legitimate. one of the cases talks about the governmental interest of the highest order. so suddenly, liberty is truly the baseline, the blessings of liberty, government and ask something through implementing regulations, drawn from the institute of medicine.

they did not just make it up. so here are these 20 methods. but now we have that requirement of the aca coming into what i am , a conflict of visions. i do not mean that pejoratively. it is big government up against a family that has been very successful, that has built this business enterprise that is dedicated as the greens have said beautifully, essentially a christian mission work. they do not live lavish lives. i have even seen that personally. very good lives, caring about people, including their 13,000 employees. it is a conflict of visions. exemptionprovide an by congress's enactment, not edges alone, but does rfra provide an exemption by its

family,at the green doing business at the hobby lobby -- a corporation -- really at issue here? >> first, that is a fair statement of the case. >> that is the first time he has said i impair. [laughter] -- am fair. >> thank you for including me in this conversation. i am a great fan of ken and his university. a wonderful partnership between two great institutions and religious traditions. i cannot imagine anything that is more suited to the american way of dealing with things, an american academic way of dealing with things. i am thrilled to be part of it. i have been thinking about this subject for 65 years. let me explain why. when i was 10 years old, my father had a tiny, little door on the lower east side in new york where he sold men's underwear and workloads.

he was the middleman, never made much of a living, but was, and all of his life was, a very orthodox jew. therefore, he could not keep his little store open on saturday, which is the shabbat. in order to make a living, he had to open it on sunday. occasionally, i would help him on sunday. one day, when i was helping him, the police came home and arrested him for violating the sunday closing law. they did not take him away, they just gave him a summons and said he had to be in court. my father asked me to come out of school to watch how the american legal system operates. [laughter] he was very lucky that day because the judge she drew -- he manw was a judge named hy barchet. some i judge -- my father came

before the judge and he said, why are you open on sunday? he said because i have to be closed on saturday because i'm an orthodox jew. the judge said ok, what was the portion of the week that they read from the bible in the synagogue on the saturday before you were not able to close your store on sunday? in a jewish tradition you read from the bible every week and every portion -- we do not do it by chapter -- but it has a name. one of the characters or the first word. my father in me renew the answer, the judge tore up the ticket and said, if you had not know the answer, i would have doubled your fine. >> [laughter] >> so much for separation of church and state, freedom of religion. i have been thinking about the subject literally since that period of time. i am your perfect audience year, why? i am a skeptic.

i am a skeptic about everything. i am a skeptic about religion. [inaudible] i am a skeptic about skepticism. i am not even sure that is such a good thing. [inaudible] >> clearly we are having technical issues with our signal from the program. we are recording it. -- recorded version much will be much better. that will be later in the schedule. question facebook related to hobby lobby and the contraceptives mandate case that the supreme court will hear tomorrow. /cspann go to facebook.com to offer your thoughts. the house will be in for legislative business this afternoon starting at 2:00 eastern, just over one hour from now. live coverage here on c-span. until then, a discussion on polls that indicates americans are less interested in

intervening in international skirmishes. from today's "washington journal." bill galstois n, a senior host: a recent piece you wrote address two polls. one was from the pew research center. it takes a look specifically at what going on -- at what's going on in the ukraine. saying not to get too involved in the situation in ukraine. you take that poll, made it into another pole when it comes to recession in the united states. igor asked by the wall street journal about it. did he seven percent saying yes, the u.s. is still in a recession. poll, made it into another, why did you do that he echo -- that? it is really difficult to

be strong abroad if people are fixated on domestic problems. when the issue involves overseas engagement that may be very costly, than people who are in trouble see that as diverting resources and political attention from their problem to somebody else's problem. they're much like lice -- much less likely to say yes to that proposition when they are in trouble. most americans feel they are in trouble. host: even though the situation takes place as intense as it is, people will receive -- guest: supersede is a little strong. if the entire political leadership unites around a proposition that is essential to the national security interests of the united states and allies, then they may be able to make that case. it will be a lot of resistance. if the political class is

divided as it is right now, then the american people are going to hear an uncertain trumpet and they are unlikely to follow it. , "thethe piece is called american roots of the american retreat." go a little bit into looking at the economic snapshot. you look into why it affects peoples views to the ukraine. can you paint a picture of what you write about he echo -- about? i asked myself a question after reading the wall street journal survey, why is that? the standard economist measures of the recession ended almost five years ago. theaven't yet regained number of jobs we had when the great recession started in december 2007.

a lot of people are underemployed. a can't find full-time lurk -- full-time work. the rate of unemployment is at levels we haven't seen since the 1930's. important,t households are looking at their incomes. todays are not only lower than they were at the beginning of the great recession in 2007, they are substantially lower today than they were at the end of that recession. that is household incomes have continued to fall since the end of the recession 2009. of thelook at the income average american household, it is barely higher than it was in 1989. people talk about a lost decade, that is a lost quarter-century. that is the reality they are experiencing.

war, fromears of their standpoint it hasn't paid rich dividends. they are more reluctant to go abroad once again searching for monsters to destroy. host: do you think the cost will always affect our future policy decisions? caller: everyone knows the wars are crosley. --guest: everyone knows wars are costly. at some point in our history we decided that war is costly but there is no alternative. at other points we have said to ourselves, as we did in the , that we poured out our blood and treasure and what has it gotten us? now --e we are in right

i am plenty old enough to remember the 1970's, what they felt like. this feels like the early 1970's to me with the following , between 1973 and 1979 we were weak in the world but there wasn't a triggering event that galvanized our interest and give us a choice. wasn't until the russian invasion of afghanistan in 1979 that the country really woke up. we have been given about six months. ofthe russian invasion ukraine is historically parallel to their invasion of afghanistan, then we have a choice about engagement versus disengagement, a week engagement, coming up a lot sooner on our radars keen -- radar screen. n is ourll galsto

guest for this first segment. the numbers will be on the screen -- send us an e-mail at journal@c-span.org. a couple of viewers run up this discussion of the ukraine. it comes at the same time the senate is considering unemployment benefits. they both relate to what you are trying to address in your piece. is almost a classic example of what i was talking about. i was driving to your studio this morning and listening to a lot of these comments. those two issues arose in the same breath almost for a number of people calling in. and that is entirely understandable. that is the way people are seeing situations right now. borrowing a lot of

money for a very long time. that has worried people. i heard more than one person say what are we supposed to do, borrow money from china and send it to ukraine? am't misunderstand me, i deeply troubled by what is happening overseas. like a wake-up call to democrats and republicans here in washington that if we really care about what is going on we are quite ad hectic at our house in order issues that held up senate consideration of the ukrainian aid bill before the recent

unfortunate, poorly timed senate vacation. a country that knows no longer what is important. host: do you think that can be revisited as the house and senate consider bills on ukraine? guest: i heard a series of senator say confidently it would be taken up and dealt with as soon as they got back, which i think is today. the events of recent years have not given me a love of confidence that the world's greatest deliberative body, as it says so itself, is up to its name. here is melinda from woodstock, new york. the morning. good morning. i want to ask why reporters such as yourself don't write about another reason why the why the mac people won't follow the government into another war when our credit was

-- the third tower in 9/11 was brought down by controlled demolition. guest: i am unaware of the evidence you talked about. i am very skeptical that anything of the sort happened. i should also say for the record that i am not a reporter, i am a political scientist and a scholar. if there is a story there than a reporter should follow it. at this point i doubt there is a story. host: paul from tennessee, democrat line. some of you got to take a look at these left-wing idiots that don't have a clue of what is going on in this world. i don't think how -- i don't know how people can call in and say the 9/11 towers were brought down by some demolition. host: go ahead with your comment or question. , weer: here's my question

go all around this world policing everybody, policing everything. we have kids here at home who are going hungry at night. they don't get the opportunity to talk about a raise for the god -- for the doggone military. this president would spend a million dollars in just a minute to help a muslim country around the world. you take $1 million and split amongst these 345 million people, you want to see a country come alive, that is how we do it. take care of these poor people. your comment is a perfect illustration, i have to say, of the point i was trying to make in my article. americans such as yourselves are

deeply concerned about problems at home. the government has been very slow to adjust and its response is inadequate. you are in the majority right now. that is why it is a tough sell for the aid to ukraine or anyone else. i will be honest with you, i allk the interests of americans have been served since the day i was born in 1946 by a united states, it united between the political parties that was able and willing to defend a peaceful and international order within which we could export our goods and import goods with other people and enjoyed all the

fruits of peace and liberty, which we have tried to expand around the world. we would be poorer and a greater danger if we did not do that, but it is a heavy burden and the american people are weary of carrying that burden. allies? that is a good question. it is the case, i believe historically, that when we are feeling prosperous at home, we are more likely to be generous and forward-looking with regard to our own people and the needs of the people around the world. the problem with economic weakness and political division at home is that it undercuts

everything we care about at home and abroad. reap theginning to consequences of our failure to put our economic house in order. we missed our opportunity. it is not too late. but it is going to be a very difficult time. >> the causes of the economic disaster we have, which i do not see any hope for, started with nasa under bill clinton, where you gutted jobs and went overseas. another bipartisan fiasco around 2000 and 2001, then the illegal aliens in the country, big corporations want them to work u.s.ess money than citizens, and finally, supreme court rulings. citizens united will guarantee the fiasco continues as the rich

er and the middle-class is gutted as a result. >> many americans agree what you just said but let me put some facts on the table. i know something about the 1990's. i was part of the clinton administration for the first 2.5 .ears the economy during the clinton years was at a strength and vigor that people now look back to with nostalgia. it was a time during which 22 million jobs were created, when bill clinton left office, unemployment was below four percent. it was one of the few times in recent american history where the wages of all americans from the bottom of the income scale to the top rose at about the

same rate. people gained not only income, but wealth. it was a time in which we delivered four balanced budgets in a row. it is a little hard for me to except the proposition that nafta undermines the economy when its passage appears to me to have coincided with economic acceleration and prosperity that we would be happy to regain. host: democrats line, naples, florida. class everything he said, i was so impressed and so happy to hear people state the way american people actually feel. a longbeen around for time and voted for many presidents. i used the seat the congress put together but the latest fellow

just called up to talk about nasa, i am worrying now about the trade situation that we have. i have a refrigerator made in the other country" put together and sold. they say we like the prices. they are terrible. everything we produce now is made overseas. it is also hurting our economy. even though clinton, who i think so much of, and hillary, i in this was wonderful what he said about what had happened. i agree totally with all of it, but this is really hurting us, plus the unemployment, and not doing anything about it. marriage is marriage. if they want a civil union, call it a civil union. to us, it is something precious. with immigration, they should make us wonder why we have this

important thing about immigration. there is a lot to that. there are reasons they are trying to protect out of the country. they have the talent for some of these technical things we are doing. before, i totally agree with, but listening to the last thing about nafta, we are being affected by this and a lot of our products are made and we never used to have warrantees out of refrigerators and all of these things. we had them and they worked. >> well, the caller raised a number of issues. it is hard to know where to begin. let me just make a point. the caller is right that the itted states is not where was 25 years ago, let alone 40 years ago.

war, wee second world were really the only surviving and functioning economy in the world. europe and asia had been devastated by the world or. states was a colossus. we could reap all of the benefits of what amounted to an economic monopoly. we enjoy the economic monopoly for decades. then, countries we had defeated off theirar ii got knees and stood up and began to produce and compete. other countries entered the global markets, a process that accelerated after the fall of the berlin wall and the collapse of the soviet union. for better or worse, we are

living in a world where billions aspire to the standard of living we enjoy it and are willing to work very hard for it and are in a position to compete with americans as never before. i agree with the caller that we have to take this very seriously. to beclearly unacceptable in a situation in which we produce nothing and import everything. americans need jobs. we need to figure out a way of creating those jobs in a new global economy, making things tougher than it used to be. >> i might part company with some of the remarks of a couple of callers, the idea that we can somehow detach ourselves from the new reality and go about our

business as though the rest of the world did not exist and as though the changes in the rest of the world do not affect us. we cannot do that. the changes will affect us. the problem is, we have been very slow to adapt. >> part of what you write, 1967, the for top five of the u.s. population received seven percent of the national income. two decades later, the top five percent of americans received 17% of income and the middle 16% -- bring up in modern-day what is happening. i think almost everybody knows, the people at the top have done very well over the past 30 years. people in the middle have experienced much slower progress. so slow, they could barely feel throughout our history, the middle class has never grudge the very successful.

their success, as long as the middle class could participate in the success, and as long as people some -- the people striving to get into the middle class, fought they had a fair chance. we have now is a lot of people feel stuck. they are working harder than ever but not getting anywhere. that is not their conception of the way america is supposed to work. more log on the 60% of people, who lost jobs during the great recession and then found new employment subsequently and had to accept jobs at lower wages from the jobs they lost, they are not experiencing the class third -- classic american dream of upward mobility. it is the reverse for them. it is affecting their outlook and why should it not? about taking a look at foreign interest in the

ukraine. class yes. it is entirely understandable americans of both political parties respond so affirmatively right now to the proposition that it is time for nationbuilding here at home. i really sympathize with that proposition. need nationbuilding here at home and we need to do it at the same time that we defend our vital interests abroad. pray that the two political parties will figure out a way of uniting around that opposition before we suffer very serious reverses. i think we need to recapture some of the spirit of the weeks and months immediately after 9/11. we have to get together as a country and understand there are forces around the world not the status quo we

have done so much to create and sustain. these forces will push against it. it down orknock weaken it very seriously if we take our eye off the ball and draw -- with draw our attention from what is going on abroad, especially if we focus on our prop -- problems here at home but make no effort to adjust them. >> here is warren, new hampshire. republican line. >> yes. policy, andoreign the government, especially administration, are they going to listen to the or are theyple

going to listen to israeli loft to force us to go into further low dutch wars in the middle east? the caller has raised a familiar issue. i do not think it was any lobby or israeli or otherwise that led us to respond as strongly as we did to an act of terrorism that emanated from afghanistan. we should not have taken our eye off the ball in afghanistan and we should not be there 12.5 years later and there is a long story as to why we are, and it certainly was not any external lobby that led us to war in iraq . that was, in my opinion, a folly committed

by people who should've known better. i think we have only ourselves to blame for the situation in which we now find ourselves. i wish i could point to an led us toorce that make mistake after mistake, but i think we ought to look inward for that. >> west virginia, sam, independent line. are you there? one more time before we move on. north carolina, democrats line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i wanted to point out, i was listening to your guests and i did not get a good impression of what he was trying to say, other than it sounds like he is saying that what has happened now is the democrats fault.

i think republicans are the ones who crashed the economy in 2008. it was their policies that caused the economy to default. in spite of that, the u.s. has done better than any other country in recovering from the economy, other than germany. britain, especially britain, has been back in two recessions since 2008. portman --ery important point for people to understand. i do not think even if we had that a lotloyment, of people, or the majority of people, would be interested in going to war again. mostly by talk with are not interested in going to war to matter what. i think the guest is trying to relate that to income. guest: first of all, it was

certainly not my intention to suggest that what is going on right now is the democrats fault. discussion aslong to why we are where we are, but not a piece of it would lead to the conclusion that it is the democrats fault. say itink it is fair to is not completely the republicans fault either. found a way as a country to get together. i have my own views as to why that is another people have toir own, but as for going war, that is not what i'm talking about. i'm talking about deterring war and not entering it. is, whenof the matter we were seen as strong and

united in europe, there were no european wars. we kept the peace in europe. it was not easy or cheap. but we did it. regrettably, vladimir putin theseen fit to disrupt post-cold war world based on respect for the territorial integrity and national independence of all of the nations, including the ones that time emerged during the after 1991. the question before us now is how we are going to deter any future acts. i know of no one talking about sending troops to ukraine or entering a war with russia. that is not the point. the point is to create or re-create a situation in which russians and others will be borders,from crossing

violating the national sovereignty of other countries, and calling into question the entire international order, which is where we are now, regrettably. >> what is america's role and response to that? i am glad the president is in europe right now as we speak. clear thatakes it this is a moment for nato to stand together and to take the nato principles of seriously, which involves a mutual security guarantee, among others. charter, to the basic an attack on one member nation is to be construed as an attack on all. nato now includes the baltic states. substantialcontain

russian minorities. if you take president putin's speech to the russian parliament last week, justifying the takeover of crimea seriously, and i do take that seat -- that speech seriously, in effect claiming the right to defend the entire, what he calls russian nation, and his view of the collapse of the soviet union, divided the russian nation. he is claiming at least in principle the right to defend the russian nation, on which other side of the russian border, it may happen to live. he has exercised that principle in crimea and there is no reason in principle why he could not , tond it to the baltics eastern ukraine, and to many other areas as well. it is a risky time.

on twitter, cnn tweeted out earlier that the ukraine was sending out troops and the naval base was being seized by russian forces there. is happening in crimea now is a foregone conclusion. the russian president has created new facts on the ground and i know of nothing in the near term that will reverse that . we will not recognize the legality of the seizure of crimea and neither will anyone else, with the exception of a few autocracies around the world that may see something in it for themselves. is not how to get crimea back for ukraine. we now have at the heart of europe -- it will be running for i suspect decades. the question is how to deter further steps of this sort.

the russians in eastern and southeastern ukraine in particular, and the russian form a very formidable block inside the ukraine. if you look at president putin's speech to the russian parliament, he refers not only to the sequence of events during the soviet union that led to the movement, the awarding of crimea to the ukraine in 1954, he also he regards asat the error of the communists in transferring a lot of historic russia to southeast ukraine. it is clear he has a history on his mind. the more seriously he takes that history, the more trouble we are in. the sanctions them united

states, is that the strongest course of action we could provide? most people recognize president obama is gradually ratcheting up the pressure. he announced a first round of sanctions widely regarded as weak and limited. there are many more far-reaching sanctions he has in their pockets. thatu want to see what looks like, take a look at the .anctions regime a very comprehensive and effective regime. i am not saying the president will go that far with russia anytime soon, but it is a can movethat sanctions up a notch by notch and heard a little bit more.

>> up next, mississippi, independent line. caller: good morning. i would like to say, how can we take all of this help over to ukraine and all? our government keeps cutting their own military budgets and all. our country is in so much need right now and everything. the government a hail -- ain't helping me and i am begging for help. the government can send all this money overseas. why can't we just work our way down and start a whole new government. they got us all upside down. >> once again, you're making the very point i was trying to make in my piece. millions of americans such as yourself are hurting.

as long as the problems you are experiencing and millions of others like you are experiencing you quiteere, understandably believe those problems should come first and we should take care of our business here at home before we even start thinking about expanding what we do abroad. is a sign of the fix we are in. we have important interests abroad. in the long term, they help to secure not only peace but also .rosperity do not think the logic has fundamentally changed. changed is our ability to their to seize burdens at the

same time we try to deal with domestic problems. unless we try to figure out a thatolitical agreement takes those two responsibilities seriously, we will have a seriously hard time -- a very hard time and this is a difficult time to be considering a major military budget cut, but that is what we are considering doing. democrats line, high. . caller: i have a, and a question. yesterday was the 25th anniversary of the announcement at the university of utah. studiesso many replicated largely because they all improperly designed,

around the world, ever since then, there have been anonymous amounts of research that have proven over unity and excess morey and input energy is than possible. today, nasa is working on a rocket resign based on the principle low energy nuclear reactions can produce more energy input. do you think the american public is ready for immediate steps in the ukraine, perhaps releasing a base in the black sea around the or, to deploy, the antimissile shield we once contemplated in poland?

>> an interesting question. the honest answer is i am not sure. think our military leaders beforeobably think twice putting an american asset of the american navy at risk or in jeopardy. number of leading experts, including former ambassadors to ukraine, whom i know, who believe what you suggested would be the right thing to do, all things considered. as you also know, there is renewed discussion about the possibility of replacing antimissile batteries in poland and the czech republic. andere on course to do that then president obama near the

beginning of the administration decided it would be preferable to shelve those agreements and proceed in a different direction. i do not know enough to know whether those agreements can be revived at this point, whether they would be welcomed in poland and the czech republic, which they would have to be, and whether the congress would be willing to authorize them at this point. there is a good argument to be made that they could be part of an effective deterrent to future steps by president putin, southeastern ukraine or moldova where the baltics, then we ought to give it careful consideration. more call, derek, minnesota, independent line. >> good morning. what was your position at the clinton administration?

deputy assistant for domestic policy. caller: you have been talking about a lost decade, and you are talking about a lost decade. his desk this is very important because when mistakes are made, it takes a lot of guts to admit mistakes. i am looking at the u.s. trade deficit since you are basically working for the clinton administration, in 1992-2014. we have had an average, if you just look at the graph of the u.s. trade deficit since then and since nasa and since our , since thement migration of mexicans to come into america, you're talking about policies that happened under the clinton administration have ruined the country in the and strictly on the

trade deficit and the national debt, you understand you should probably be apologizing to the american people. thank you. >> well, you may think so. let me review. i know the economic history of the clinton years in some detail. let me repeat what i said earlier. it was a time during which 22 million jobs were created. bill clinton left -- left office with unemployment under four percent. which a time during household incomes and wages rose across all of the income brackets. sincee of the few times the 1970's. and it was a time, speaking of

the debt, when we moved from a large deficit bill clinton had inherited into four straight years of surpluses, so much so that in 2001, the then federal reserve board chair gave testimony to congress in which he worried out loud about the negative consequences of paying off u.s. debt, which he thought we would do within a decade if we continued on the course then. of americansumber would be glad to have the clinton economy back, which is why bill clinton is a phenomenally popular ex-president. if the clinton ruined the economy, a lot of people would like to have the ruined economy back and therefore, with all due respect, i decline to apologize for my service in the clinton ministration. >> the peace our guest wrote, if you want to read it for yourself on the wall street, american

roots

i have not been in a state or time ity over the past have been doing this work. it has not been impacted by significant, drug-related issues. one of the things we talk about is to just scratch the surface of any major issue, child welfare, medicaid, correction costs, and he will find the drug issue beneath it. it is a particular issue we all have interest in today. you have a critical role in terms of representing the voice of your people in the state. you guide legislation and state responses that have an immediate impact on lives. you have the opportunity to help our criminal justice and drug reform policy. i have a special appreciation for the work you do, having spent most of my career at the

state level. i worked for the massachusetts public health department, and we had a government task force on substance use actively chaired by the lieutenant governor. justicey understood issues, a critical leader in the .tate my colleagues and i saw firsthand how the state budget translates into services and how often a bed in a treatment differencemake a big to a family and how providing costsent helps maintain drug control policy said the national drug control that recognizes substance abuse as a public health issue. in 2010, the nation's drug overdose death account of more deaths than either homicide or motor vehicle crashes. economic data indicates that

illegal drug use alone in our nation was an estimated 100 $93 billion in 2007 alone due to health care crime and lost productivity. we agree it is time for new approach. the good news is that we are not entering this task blindly. we have scientific research that informs our decisions at the state, federal, and local level. this research has provided us with the knowledge that addiction is the disease of the brain which can be prevented, successfully treated, and from which people can recover. on one side are those insisting on an outdated war on drugs. build more prisons. arrest more users. on the other side, advocates lobbying for legalization as the silver bullet. promising to fill state coffers with increased tax revenue. the truth is, neither of these extremes is guided by experience, compassion, and most important, scientific evidence. expanding real evidence-based drug policy reform is a huge

undertaking. i like to focus on three issues states are facing. prescription jogger bruce, overdose death, criminal justice reform, and treatment for substance abuse disorders. in all of you know too well, the abusive opiates and drugs such as heroin has reached a level of epidemic proportions. they surpassed traffic crashes is the leading cause of death in america. heroin use, there has been a troubling increasing the number of people using heroin. the obama administration took a plan to tackle prescription plan based on four pillars. educating parents. most important way, educating prescribers on appropriate and safe use and storage. monitoring prescription drugs at the state level. disposing of medications properly. and enforcing the law by eliminating [inaudible] partners have dedicated

resources to educating the public and prescribers. 49 states have adopted prescription drug monitoring programs. it can identify patients who may be at risk for substance abuse disorders. >> sorry to interrupt. >> data from these programs can

help prescribers, pharmacist, identify patients who may be at risk for substance use disorders, overdose, or other significant health consequences of miss using opioids. state regulatory and long for the agencies may also use this information to identify and prevent unsafe prescribing, dr. shopping, seeing multiple authors to attain prescriptions, and other methods of illegally diverting controlled substances. the drug enforcement agency has now hosted seven national kick packed days providing no questions ask opportunity for people to get rid of unknown prescriptions. 3.4 million pounds of medication have been removed from circulation. at the federal level, we have developed resources for

prescribers. my office work with the national institute of drug abuse to develop training tools on safe prescribing for pain and managing pain patients who abuse prescription medication. these courses eligible for continuing medical education and continuing education credits provide health care professionals with critical skills to manage high-risk patients and more safely prescribe prescription drugs. these are steps in the right direction. we are still losing are to many people. an average of 100 people a day in 2010 died from drug overdose. unfortunately, recent data indicates an uptake and use of heroin. another opioid involved in a significant number of overdoses. we must prevent overdose deaths. we can help save lives by recognizing the signs and symptoms of an overdose. education is the first step. we also are promoting use of an opioid reversal drug among people who will encounter overdose victims, such as family members and first responders. -- the american society of anesthesiologist developed an

easy to use opioid resuscitation card for identifying overdoses and assisting a person suspected in an overdose. these cards can be downloaded from their website. as we have done in identifying the warning signs of stroke or heart attack, we can save lives by recognizing the signs of an overdose. the outcomes have been nothing short of miraculous. the police department in quincy, massachusetts has partnered with the state public health department to train and equipment police officers to resuscitate overdose victims during an overdose.

since october 2010, officers in quincy, a city just south of boston, only 60,000 residents, have administered it more than 220 times and reverse those events. all of them successful in reducing overdoses. ohio recently started a similar program establishing a one-year pilot program in lorain county allows first responders to administer it and establishes a distribution paradigm. i encourage you to look at ohio senate bill 57 to see if this is something that can serve your community. lorain officers equipped and trained the use have overdosed -- have reduced overdoses in their community.

we encourage you to examine 911 good samaritan and amnesty laws. these laws encourage bystanders to call 911 by providing limited immunity criminal charges for drug possession. they take several forms. the immunity most often applies to the person who seeks medical aid during an overdose. currently, these laws are in effect in 14 states. in 2013, good samaritan laws were being actively considered by half a dozen state legislatures. at every stage of the criminal justice system we should enough i ways to reduce costs and improve efficiency while keeping our committed to say. now there is a state-level movement towards justice reinvestment, a data-driven approach to reduce criminal justice spending and reinvest savings in strategies that can reduce crime and strengthen our neighborhoods. in north carolina, the justice reinvestment act was signed in 2011.

he legislation includes several policy options to address the challenges of jail and prison overcrowding in increasing collection cost. among other things, the policy diverge nonviolent first-time felony drug offenders from prison to community-based programs, saving both prison beds and tax dollars. another way to reduce resin populations of prey the cycle of drug use, rest, and incarceration, is to connect nonviolent drug offenders to sentences and sanctions that do not require a jail sentence. through drug courts and projects such as project hope. the most effective approaches to develop a continuum of interventions that include appropriate supervision and services at every stage of the criminal justice system. our office is funding an initiative to develop such a model.

they are leading the project and is working with national committal justice experts and other organizations on model development, training, and technical assistance. our hope is that this model will help enable jurisdictions to allocate resources for programs and strategies and reduce recidivism. unfortunately, even after someone has completed a sentence, he is still subject to legal obstacles that make it difficult to successfully reenter the community and maintain recovery from a substance abuse disorder. the presence of a criminal record can make it hard to find a job or find housing. employers may ask questions about criminal records on job applications and a limit applicants based on criminal history. this is led to a number of ban the box initiatives which relieves questions and checkboxes from job applications. these initiatives allow applicants to reach the interview stage and discuss

their histories without automatic disqualification. banning the box can allow offenders to get to work faster. target, the country's second-largest retailer, announced it would remove criminal record questions from its job applications. and the box action has been taken in more than if the jurisdiction, in 22 states, and the district of columbia. in 2013, 5 states adopted new or revised ban the box policies. in addition to banning the box,

it would be worthwhile to ensure that your state statute and processes the collection of rental records do not hinder successful transition back to the community. allowing a job applicant to see what nonlaw enforcement entities have requested or mental prior to interview or after a rejection, and reducing the waiting to see those records. these are a few approaches that would provide someone who has done his or her time the opportunity to start anew. any successful criminal justice program must address the root cause and cycle of drug abuse and incarceration.

substance abuse disorders. the criminal justice system can be a critical intervention point for individuals with substance abuse disorders. prisons and jails provide opportunities for evidence-based treatment services, including medication assisted treatment. for those incarcerated, and have -- the ministration supports the fda. as well as several for a whole use disorders. in an effort to reduce recidivism in the united states, the ministration encourages primary and specialty care providers treating jail and prison populations to provide medications as part of a comprehensive approach to treating prescription and illicit drug use disorders.

beyond the criminal justice system, of the 23.1 million americans who needed treatment for a substance abuse disorder in 2012, only 2.5 million actually received treatment they needed at a specialty facility. this is unacceptable. affordable care act it best to we have to ensure that people get the substance abuse treatment they need requiring insurance companies to cover treatment for addiction just as they would cover it for any other chronic disease. the aca significantly extends the reach of the parity requirements by making mental health and substance use one of the 10 essential benefits health insurers are required to cover. leadership opportunities at the state level include not only ensuring that insurance benefits are comprehensive, and that address the. rectum of substance abuse treatment for prevention, early intervention, and recovery support, will working to make sure people are enrolled in health insurance by the march 31 deadline. of the 41.3 million currently uninsured americans, the majority will be able to find a plan for $100 a month or less in 2014 under medicaid expansion. a state leaders, you have an important role to increasing affordable health care in your state.

to conclude, rethinking drug policy is a collocated task area and much of the work must be done at the state level. i am so glad to have the opportunity to share our federal bureau perspective, and hear about your challenges and concerns. look for to continuing the hummer station and work with you to make our country safer, healthier, and more adjusted. thank you. [applause] >> i think we have a few minutes for questions and comments. >> we have a lot of rural areas. i didn't hear meth. meth is not the highest, or one of the top three unique addiction levels that come out of methamphetamine. could you speak at a national level to any of the efforts that you see happening there? >> clearly, while prescription drug abuse has been pervasive, we still see pockets of the country, rural areas, where methamphetamine remains a concern. part of what we have been trying to do is focus on ensuring those funding sources for states that allow flexibility for states in

woman program is on their state problems. our job is to look across that budget at all funding sources, make sure states and locals have a opportunity to have focus on the issues that are important to those communities. one of the programs are offers administers, the goal is to say that when communities drug issues are not the same as every other community. what it does is provide funding at the local level for community coalitions to look at what is a specific issue in that locality. to provide resources and implement prevention programs you need to does amenities. i think the while we are trying to call attention to the widespread issue surrounding the script and drug abuse issues, we

understand that every community, and the impact is different. make sure you have the resources to address local programs. >> anybody else? >> we have an marijuana initiative on our ballot in august. can you tell me what federal policy is in the states i go this route? >> the federal administration remains opposed to legalization. the department of justice issued guidance to washington and colorado come up basically saying that if limited law enforcement resources, we are not going to deploy file resources to focus cases that involve people who are using it for personal use. we come at this from a health perspective. looking at what are the

significant health consequences as relates to marijuana, particularly as it affects our youth. if you, you have the obligation to create an environment particularly with our youth to promote opportunities for them to succeed. what we see is there is a dramatic decrease in the perception of risk of marijuana use by our youth. that has resulted in a significant increase of use. it exceeds tobacco use for people 12-17 years old. marijuana has been associated with those who start during adolescence, lower iq, lower educational attainment, 1/9 people who start using marijuana as youth become addicted to marijuana. we are trying to come at this not from an ideological perspective, that a public health perspective. when we see what has been happening as relates to their want i use, as well as the significant health consequences, and public safety consequences, that is how we combat our issues. one of the things that we're doing is working with both

colorado and washington as well as our federal partners to look at what is the impact of the legislation particularly in colorado and washington. so things like drunk driving, diversion marijuana, looking at treatment. so we are monitoring what is the public safety and health impact. >> i have to ask, [inaudible] it doesn't matter what it is going to be. it is always going to be for personal use level. how do you distinguish between any narcotics? [inaudible]

>> from understanding you correctly, i think what we are trying to say is that with limited federal law enforcement priorities, going after people who are using marijuana for personal use, it is not a law enforcement priority. >> we believe the last few minutes to go live now to the u.s. house. you can watch this at any time at our website. to start legislative business -- the week

the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. gracious god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. in this chamber where the people's house gathers, we pause to offer you gratitude for the gift of this