of funding for the clean water funds.e drinking water that is a big concern. we are facing $200 billion of infrastructure needs. we have been working for adequate budgets to help our nation deal with this to help them deal with the infrastructure and oversee 580 million dollars in reduction of that budget when other parts of the epa budget could have been looked to for the savings is disturbing. we need assistance to ensure the systems meet regulations. it is going to be badly harmed by this budget decision. the proposed reduction in funding is discouraging. i cochaired aer subcommittee hearing in which we heard about the positive impact this program has had in idaho and across the nation. many of my colleagues and i

continue to have serious concerns with the president's action plan and use of executive authority to circumvent congress. advocatedget proposal the continuation of this alarming process. there are many other things i could say. in terms of trying to pay attention to the request to keep it brief, i will and with this. i incurred you -- end with this. to help us move trendd in correcting that and help us to get increased resources into this critical part of our nation's water infrastructure. inc. you. >--thank you. >> thank you so much. >> thank you so much for this opportunity. i want to thank you for holding this hearing.

mission to protect. supervision than any other state. in the past we have not stepped up to hold people accountable for the messes we are making. we are spending billions of dollars of taxpayer money unnecessarily. now it isright appropriate and important that the budget needs to make climate change one of the top objectives. we must address the threats caused by climate change before it is too late and that we are cleaning up the more expensive damage. i am pleased to see proposed request to allocate resources of climate change and air quality work and to see funding specifically dedicated for

preparing for the impasse of climate change. that includes technical assistance for adaptation, risks associated with storm surges. new jersey is particular vulnerable to the impact of climate change. the new jersey shore will likely experience a sea level rise of 1.5 feet by 2050. than globally. the projected sea level rise for 2050 would mean faces like atlantic city, if there was a yeare storm surge -- 10 storm surge, flood levels from the storm would be worse than any letting that has ever been experienced in atlantic city. it would be far more routine. it also demonstrates the continued commitment to

addressing the issues of environmental justice, an area i would like to work closely with you on as we move or word. lima change does not impact everyone equally. they will be just poor shortly impacted. in today's economy many people live in vulnerable and many fees and are one paycheck away from the devastating impact of poverty. one major storm can do story fragile networks. forust be prepared increasing climate change. low income and minority communities are systematically more likely to lack parks and trees and have a higher concentration of pavement and we welcome your communities and when i was mayor, is approximately 70% of the service

impervious. it has only 15% canopy coverage. degrees be 50 or 90 above the temperature of a green service. bikesesults in increased in admiration and more cases of heatstroke. epa has taken important first steps to work carbon emissions by setting standards that will cut this nearly in half by 2025. we know the power plants make up at least a third. i commend the work to limit greenhouse gas emissions from both new and existing power plants. the epa has the authority and responsibility to reduce pollution from these plants. i look forward to working with you on these issues. i admire your covered. we'd chair one, and destiny --

thehare one common destiny, threats to our climate are real and obvious. we can do things to address it that increase economic opportunity for our nation to make this a country with liberty and justice for all. for that i thank you for stepping forward. i look forward to working with you. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. a goodough we have personal relationship, i am growing increasingly concerned about the epa's systematic distortion of costs and benefits. the hearing a lot about the benefits but not the cost. -- we hear a lot about the benefits but not the cost. agency exerts just as much effort to cut corners and ignore the realities that they can downplay the true economic cost of these regulation. this enables the agency to enact outlandish rules that cause harm

to the economy. to the any respect cost-benefit balance enshrined in the foundation of our environmental laws. this topic has been focused to the committee by the recent report we are to talked about. moneymore damage than the he stole from the taxpayers. how wrote the playbook on to get away from this distortion of cost and benefit. it is time to aggressively rein .n this crisis let me the clean air act requires the roles to be updated periodically but only as technology allows him to the extent that the benefits outweigh the rules to the economy. they stated the rule would

create 46,000 temporary construction jobs and 8000 net new permanent jobs. set in, this role has we are starting to see the real impact. the world has not only have had a devastating impact on coal production but it resulted in dozens of power plants being causedwn which has significant increases in electricity prices around the country. the new york times reported on to underline the growing concern among consumers and regulators. it is a second phenomenon that can lead to even bigger price increases. it could lead to a squeeze and supplies, making it even harder

and much more than sent to supply power. from thell in a quote new york times. this is arty happening. they received permission to raise prices 12% over the previous year. pennsylvania, utility bills have tripled in some places. shocking to me is the new york times is connecting these back to the regulations. is it even remotely possible iat they created a thousand was in business. when business cost goes up it lowers profits. it was trained on the margins of the business. when an input cost begins to or wobble in

reliability, the impact is negative and felt across the entire economy. it destroys jobs. that the obama epa can get away with this distortion cruise the agency is out of control. it is too important for us not to. may be cold now but we know it will be -- cold now but we know next it will be natural gas. are content to carry out with the sierra club. with thehe epa did campaign. we in the senate are charged with stewarding this nation. they are most at risk for reason -- losing their own. happen exactly what will

. it is our job to watch out for them. these are the most vulnerable people. say that i'm going to have to squeeze myself for a while foreign armed services obligation but i will be coming right back. hopefully we'll have a chance to respond to some of these comments concerning climate change. >> i am excited about what you said about the elderly. must there is objection, we're going to hear from the two senators who have not been heard from and then i'm going to shut down the comments so that we can to jenny mccarthy and colleagues can do their opening statements. that is excellent. p read i think that is a very good solution. i would like to ask unanimous

consent to place in the record and op-ed from the wall street journal entitled how carbon dioxide became a pollutant. >> without objection. i do it for this purpose. we have had a lots of discussion in the form of opening provennts about the dreaded result of particulate ourons put into erro environment. about respiratory illnesses, endorsements by the american lung association, smog in china.

then without making any distinction at all between these poisons my friends on the other side switched almost in the same sentence to climate change. the target there is greenhouse gases. distinction between and greenhouseo2 gases have nothing to do with respiratory illnesses or lung disease or asthma. something we're are all very much interested in. i would point out to my colleagues that toward the end acknowledged, epa some positive impacts from higher co2 concentration. one is faster growing trees that

helps offset deforestation. epa has acknowledged that. marshes can grow more quickly above rising sea particularnst ravages of rising sea levels. i would just point out that there are differences on this committee about the effect of co2 on climate change. no one is suggesting that co2 causes lung disease, asthma, or the kind of smog that the chairman talked about. i will tell you what we do agree on. we agree that there are some i.t. fine programs that the administration is posing cuts for. administrationhe proposes cutting hundred $30 million from the loan fund.

$150 million from the drinking water fund, $5 million from the brownfield program. that are proven programs are well received by state and local communities that have encouraged to work with communities in a cooperative manner. these are more troubling considering that some estimate the amount to bring local what infrastructure and to comply is trillion dollars. we need to be helping local communities rather than putting unfunded mandates on them. having to make tough decisions to rein in the countries. i would rather we with safenities drinking water and safe air rather than putting some funding of dubious value into co2 regulation in the name of

climate change. it addresses with the civil action. we should be coming to them with technical assistance and grant. small and rural communities must funnel this away from schools and hospitals, i question the efficacy of this approach. i breeze -- i raise many of these questions. i look forward to questioning her about these in the future. i hope we can work together on the strength of the partnership between the epa and small, rural communities in developing regulations to protect our environment and our citizens. this is an issue upon which republicans and democrats can agree. >> thank you. senator sessions. wicker, thank you for

saying what you said. it was very important. is odorless, tasteless. breathe it in and grow faster when there is more co2 you. a fact that which cannot be denied. we need to differentiate that between the kinds of actual pollutants that may people sick. we can do that. we have made a lot of progress in america to clean up the air. we need to keep at it but be smart about it. it is a bit disingenuous when i carbon, carbon, carbon when they really mean co2. it makes people think of soot and things of that nature. it is as representing the issue somewhat. -

misrepresenting the issue somewhat. we will see interest on our debt grow from $211 billion last year according to the congressional budget office to $880 billion in one year 10 years from now. every agency has got to watch it spending. togress has a clear duty monitor spending. standard that you saw to advance early is an example i believe of wasted money. process that a took eight years, epa tightened significantly the ozone standard. under the clean air act the standard was to be reviewed again in five years. almost immediately upon coming in the office, the obama epa

began a costly and premature ross says of reconsidering the .zone standard t was recognized as one of the most expensive environmental regulations ever proposed with some estimates reaching $90 billion in annual costs. i objected to that. dirty senators wrote to object that. 30 senators wrote to object that. how much did this cost? how much was it undertaken before it was abandoned? how much money was spent on that? i have been on several different occasions. i would offer for the record a the letter i wrote that you wrote to me, a letter that was written by members of

ans committee asking about analysis of what you spent. in effect, eu responded this way. or at least your system administrator did. it is difficult for them to estimate with any precision the expenses and equivalent employees used for the reconsideration of the 2008 specifically. pacific cor it is not difficult for you to answer that question. it is a direct refusal to answer. hereaid at the hearing that you would do that. i asked you to provide a response.

can you not provide us the information we ask? it is the responsible action for us to ask about. we will continue to press it. i will wrap up. thank you for the opportunity to ask these questions. i will share senator wicker's concerned that we are moving money from state programs for clean water and water treatment onto the bureaucracy of epa. i think that is the wrong path to take. >> thank you so much for keeping it under the time limit. administrator mccarthy, it is your turn. welcome. thank you for the

opportunity to discuss the proposed 2015 budget. i am joined by the agency's acting chief financial officer. is 7.9 80 request billion dollars for the 2015 fiscal year. this meets the challenges of domestic spending constraints while still fulfilling our mission to protect public health. the budget reflects the planned to take advantage of new and regulatory and nonregulatory approaches. it recognizes that epa is part of a larger network of environmental programs. we are asking for seven point $5

million and 64 staff in fiscal year 2015 to help provide green infrastructure technical assistance for up to 100 communities to promote cost-effective approaches. the budget request continues. we will do more to partner with state and local government and other federal agencies. this is the largest percentage of epa budget. addressing the threat from a changing climate is one of the greatest challenges of this and future generations. moneyquest designates specifically for this work or at the agency is adding $10 million in fiscal year 2015 to support the action plan. develop common sense and achievable power

plants. the single largest source of carbon pollution. the epa budget requests money to support work to improve chemical safety for all americans, especially our children. inare requesting $23 million 2015 to support activities under the president's executive order on chemical safety as well as agency outfits on chemical prioritization. the nation's water resources are the lifeblood of our communities. we are requesting $1.775 billion for the clean water and drinking water state revolving funds. there also advancing clean water infrastructure and sustainable

design. e-enterprise is a major joint enterprise to modernize our business practices to get us into the 21st century to develop a new business model that looks toward the future. the benefits of benefiting that can be seen in the budget. -enterprise alone is estimated senate finally in dollars. agencyal year 2015, the is requesting 1.3 $3 billion to continue to apply effective billion to-- $1.33 continue to apply effective approaches. 1.16 billion dollars for

remedial work and an increase of 9.2 million dollars for emergency response and removal. the fiscal year 2015 budget includes a total of $1.13 billion in categorical grants. million forr $96 tribal general assistance program grants. an $18 million increase for pollution control, $16 million for environmental grants and $50 million for state and local air quality management. is supported by the request of $537.3 million. across the administration we recognize the importance of the two-year budget agreement congress reached in december.

they are not sufficient to expand opportunities to all americans to drive the growth. the epa would be the beneficiary of approximately $15 million here at thank you for the opportunity to testify. i'm taken by some of the comments. relationships.at this idea that the republican support cracking down on the ozone in particular is not true. all you have to do is listen to these comments. i want to put in the record the endangerment finding started under the bush administration

for too much carbon pollution. we know you need a certain amount in the air but too much is dangerous. this is what it says. it started with lush and completed under obama. climate change threatens human health in many ways including impacts from extreme weather ildfire,whil diseases by insects, food and water. there are cases of kids swimming in lakes that used to be much colder. now they are warmer and there's different type of bacteria and amoebas. one child got a brain disease winning in a lake in ohio. we will put that into the wrecker. for people to say it is no danger is simply contradicted by the facts and science. i want to ask you a couple of things. thee is intent to clean all -- blame this on a rogue

employee who is now in jail. is it not true that any kind of per post rule goes through public comments, peer review, enter agency review and is subjected to judicial review? is that not so? ok. that is the case with all of these rules. i want to show you what is happening in california. i think you know this. i want to show you what happened in the clean air with the dirty air. in our state, we used to have days where there were health advisories and people cannot know out. every time i hear others complain about these rules, there were no benefits. excuse me. open your eyes. look what happened in a lay in

southern california. we had 166 advisories. people were warned not to go out. care aboutid they the elderly. we all do. this was huge for the elderly population to be able to go out and breathe air. health2010, we had zero advisories. i would say were you aware of this in southern california? are there other places you could find similar results in the country? >> yes. >> i wanted to share something the with you which is poll numbers on all of this. this is about climate change. we had an all nighter organized and we did hear from senator in half.

he railed against what we were doing. he said it is a hope. we respect him. knowing came down here. this is where people are. say so sorry to have to this and partisan terms. i served with the great john chafee and john warner. couldbipartisan support move. i see none of it now. it is sad. sad. the reasons i do not even want to go into. i think i know why. the bottom line is 81% of americans think climate change will be a serious problem if nothing is done to reduce it. thank you for doing what you do. despite all the pressure, insults, sende five percent think the america

should take action. we do not wait for china to decide how to treat our people. we are america. the american people get it. have a lots of questions for you. you will get plenty. keep going. doingoing what you are based on science. >> thank you. to use my very limited time to ask some questions about the jon biel case. i believe it reflects a deeply broken bureaucracy long-term. it is not an isolated incident. they are developing key epa regulations.

true that you receive the memo on january 12th 2011 in form and you that the salary was illegal and exceeded the statutory cap and recommending that. becames true that i aware of the bonus, yes. >> isn't it true that you did not cancel that illegal bonus until over two years later? what is true is i did pursue that issue of fact to bleed. i think the agency was adjusting it effectively. it was illegal january 12 2011. it was canceled 2013. this is a criminal that had systematically intended to defraud the agency. he is in federal prison right

now. >> you knew the bonus was illegal and went on for two years. i understood it was being investigated. i sent it to the people who investigated. -- investigated it. >> wire you reluctant to finalize -- why were you reluctant to take action? >> i understood the issue would be for the office of inspector general. you need to give them the opportunity to see if it will be managed criminally. they have stated gina is reluctant to finalize cancellation of the bonus unless indication that

they are aware. >> i do know what you are reading. an e-mail from susan smith. that was a direct quote from her. >> i have never had a conversation with her. >> were you concerned to act until the white house looked into it and made sure that there will not be any political fallout? >> i have no interaction with the white house on this issue whatsoever. >> that was not the question. were you concerned the white house looked at this first? >> there was never a concern of mine. >> did you ever talk to scott munroe about that? >> many times. i spoke to him about mr. bie l. >> this same e-mail says scott munroe told her that you had those concerns. is that just not true? >> and never had concerns about the white house interference. >> he is not speaking correctly?

>> not based on any conversation he had with me. >> why did it take two years to cancel this bonus? it is just flat out illegal. why did it take two years to cancel that? >> i referred this to the appropriate at ortiz. we did get to the bottom of it. it might have taken longer than any of us would have liked. he did not go off into the sunshine . >> he did. .e did go out >> i do not know how much some sign your sink right now. -- how much you are seeing right now. >> you knew it was about the cap. the rightmployee has to retirement.

i am sure he exercised that right. told the oig that you relied on crack looks for advice they're asking to stand down on the matter. is that accurate? >> that was my recollection. aware that said he never told you to stand down? i am not aware of that. >> you stand by your previous statement. >> sure. >> thank you very much. are going to we

have more about it. his seat representatives of the employees at epa in terms of ?ork ethic or any other feature should the misconduct he engaged in find attribution by association to the rest of the employees at epa? >> i'm so glad you asked that question. he is in no way indicative of employees at epa. they are hard-working, professional, dedicated public servants. i have 16,000 people who in no way represent him or anything having to do with him. the most devastating part of all of this is any indication that is the case.

i am extraordinarily honored to be in the position i am in with them. >> i have known employees over the years. in the effort to tar all employees with the misconduct of one criminal is reprehensible. of allgo to the merits of this. where are you on methane leakage? this is over burning coals from the point of view of .olluting our environment if it is not burned, if it leaks, it is actually worse than carbon dioxide. getting after this and making sure it is not leaking is important. cannot make, they the argument that it is an improved fossil fuel.

it loses the battle and becomes just as bad or perhaps worse than coal. vital.kage becomes very can you let us know where you are on that? big issue. you know the epa has arty issued driving there recapture of methane and natural gas well. also working with the larger administration to look at all of the challenges to see potential solutions for reducing methane. leasing this shortly. >> i appreciate it. i feel that my time.

>> i want to ask three questions right quick ear and i will talk fast. on january 10, 2014 you sent a letter to the president of the national resource defense council. undertaking this related to shell gas development. is working on epa the national research study on of potential impacts drinking. as you know, we can call as many things as we want. thed you commit to me that study the epa will work with the industry to determine the probability of attentional and featurerring

those together with what is so much what united? i will make that commitment to work. they are same e say working closely and supporting the efforts for onshore oil and gas order. can you provide the data with any data or summaries? them the data. my concern is i would like to have industry and we can talk about how to set this and evaluate the data. isi am quite sure that blm doing there out -- their outreach. >> i would like to see the data. i could do that myself. >> it would be data that is

already readily available. >> fair enough. introducing the 321 legislation is because i know the epa is not looking at the cascading impacts of the roles to determine the costs it will have on the economy. you look for the benefits and not the costs. do you think the regulations have a cost on the economy beyond the regulating? you know what i am talking about here. road, do youthe agree with that? >> we do the best we can to a value of all costs and benefits. his is an issue that senator vitter raise with us. >> ok. meeting.oing to be

this will be on the ozone standard. it is my understanding that they recommend a do this as low as 60 parts per billion. and then we went down 60 parts. ifind me you will see a map these were lowered to that level. we talked about 60 parts per billion. never the every county would be out. notice, even the grand canyon area. it did result in millions of job losses. notou think this was acceptable? >> we are in the middle of the

process. i would rather not speak of any outcome. >> i will give you a happy medical. 60, i dould come to not think you can refute the efficacy of these charts, would you find it to be an acceptable? established. >> this is the problem. i've lived with this for several years. about the cost of these things. people out there are hurting. wassenator from new jersey saying where i disagreed with him. i think all of these regulations are going to cost the poor more than the more affluent people. percentage ofgher their income on heating their homes. do you think it is right that we should do that? think it is absolutely

right that the science question that asks what is healthy should be answered [inaudible] >> we are talking to the exclusion of looking at it in terms of the public. >> we have to move on. please keep it to your five minutes. >> i certainly will. aboutleagues were talking mistaking the impact of co2 in the air. understand cat in in the air causes global warming. if you have a preponderance of on our, it has effects climates. if you have effects on the climate, it affects everything from the health of our oceans, coral reefs, fishing patterns. correct?

>> that is correct. >> when you're talking about issues of regulatory health, when the air gets warmer, i have seen it, i have a lot of experience in public schools. when the temperatures warm you ofe a lot more pieces regulatory. there is a direct correlation andeen respiratory problems distractions of economies in sea levels rising. >> that is correct. when epa issues propose carbon and pollution standards for existing power plants this that to contemplate states are not participating in the greenhouse gas initiatives will be able to use that program to meet their new obligations? >> we think it could be quite preferable. we're going to make sure the standard is flexible enough for

states to consider the choices. >> i think these are phenomenal things. if new jersey fails to rejoin this, whatl work on types of actions will new jersey need to take in order to comply? >> we have not put out the new regulations. they have other opportunities for greenhouse gas reductions. having participated in the process is a pretty cost effective program to achieve significant reduction. for new an easy way jersey to meet this by being a part of our surrounding state. we have a lot more burden if we are not part of that. levels to hit in order to comply. >> it certainly would be a good choice. your epa, i know that has a tremendous amount on your plate during 30 years is too long to wait. that have your commitment

it will be a priority? when you see what happens you this.pollutants to answer they would go to the river and fish. this has been taken away. i have arty had to -- i have wo briefings. i look forward to talking to you about it. i usually give her a raise. >> ok.

is that it are you? thank you. >> i would be happy to preside over this hearing if you would like. >> think you for the offer. -- thank you for the offer. i will take it under advisement. don't you want to vote? >> i'm going to vote when the chair builds. somehow i believe the president of the senate is going to wait for senator boxer to vote. , sometimes it is 10 degrees in newark. sometimes it is 85 or 90 degrees. a wide range of temperatures in newark. testimony that temperatures have risen 1.i

over the last two because of climate change? you wear that it causes more lung disease among children? you look generally at three decades. one of the lines of evidence has increased. my question is increases in the average temperature along children.

>> the science tells us when the temperature gets warmer it increases the level of ozone and the ozone pollution actually has an impact on rest for tory health care and as well as cardiac health. in anyuld be interested for theic vases statement that increased average temperatures actually increase -- respiratory disease among children. >> we have it on the webpage. >> let me ask you briefly. about air grant money. this is something we ought to be able to agree on. money to go where the problem is.

there is a decade old epa allocation formula that gives the southeast region 12%. we have 20% of the nations population. it is limiting access to resources for the state to get their fair share. >> we have been proposing to and tothat warming the allocate resources differently giving the changes that have happened over the past deck eight. we certainly feel there is a need for change over time. congress has provided language that does not allow us to do that last year. we will see what happens in fiscal year 2015. to an this a rider appropriation bill or statute? >> it is a congressional report

act language prohibited epa from implementing the revised allocation methodology. they have done that since fiscal year 11 when we first proposed it. work with youe to on that problem. helping localut governments implements the upgrades required to waste water treatment facilities. haveof these towns do not the cost of to meet grading their waste water systems. result in harsh fines by the epa. as several questions regarding clean water.

you said you would work with me on that. concerned that we do not have a proposal going forward. proposal to cut this $581 million to the state revolving funds. i am sorry. we have to move on. >> as a witness get to answer the question? minutes they are spending a lot of time and resources on keeping their units

and compliance with regulations. i do not think they are able to spend the time and resources on innovations that could lessen our dependence on coal. .e have an example we have depressed the utility which is les. powered10% of the coal power plants in wyoming. department of environmental quality proposed a plan to address regional haze that would require technology costing approximately $100 million. so the shares of about 10 million. the epa reject did the wyoming q plan and substituted its own plant that requires technology at 800 million which is about 80 million for the city of lincoln.

they would have to provide that. are be very small improvements in visibility. this difference is going to deprive the utility of moving forward. we are talking of a fairly small city. it is small nationally. this is just one example. i believe this is replicated across the country. is a leader.es shown they are not willing to pay for it. this is replicated across the country. especially when they have to meet requirements from the epa. what are your feelings on that?

do you see that policy moving forward? to reachoing to try out more to help utilities be responsible? >> we are doing our best to understand how we can keep the lights on and keep it reliable. we're also working very closely with the states on the regional haze issue. we know there are important environmental benefits but they have to be looked at in the context of how much they cost and what they do in terms of moving the clean energy system. we hear about war on coal. you hear about that as well? is there a war on coal? a lot of people in nebraska think there is. do you think it is fair to say

the epa has somewhat of a war on coal? and do not think that is fair to say. they are reducing the specimen the largest pollution spirit >> i have a few seconds left. i am very concerned about the water rules that are coming up from the epa. i believe we managed this in a very responsible way. longe that you will have a time there. >> thank you. we will put your questions and get those into the record. >> thank you. i ask unanimous extent -- confront my entire statement -- thank you.

gentleman faces 75,000 dollars in daily fines for his pond. -- i want to ask about the new epa website. they have a section entitled, fact sheet, how the proposed rules benefit agriculture. the site states under the proposed rule the army corps will exempt 53 farming practices as established by the natural resources conservation services. which means any farmer or rancher who use those 53 practices in the newly expanded federally covered would be exempt. this list does not cover all existing agriculture practices. not covera number that occur everyday without penalty. under the new proposed rule, will the farmers and ranchers need to get a permit or find

they are penalized if they continue to use noncovered that the three practices and newly covered waters under the new role? >> it is not taking away any of the agriculture exemptions. it is trying to provide clarity see you do not have to go and ask -- so you do not have to go and ask. that is what the rule does, identify practices that we can highlight. it even set up a really good process to stand on that but did not take away a single agriculture exemption that currently exists. bikes what about the farmers and ranchers -- so what about the farmers and ranchers that use the practices but did not follow the federal definition of these farming practices perfectly to a t and the newly expanded federal waters. a newhey need to get is clean water act permit. >> no one needs to get one today . under the new rule, it should go

forward but did not meet it today. >> we heard a previous senator asked about would you expand to 180 days. time ran out. would you like to comment or respond on that? >> i can respond to the senator. all comments and we will respond to that. >> i would respond to it as well . >> if you have a specific like to ask.would go right ahead, please. >> only thing i would like to do, i ask unanimous consent for the administrator that is signed by every minority leader. for the cut funding clean water. thank you. >> absolutely. i want to thank both senators for your cooperation. i will put in to record the statement by the academy of pediatrics. caused by climate

destruction is especially harmful to children." i think if you could send that to senator wicker. i must put in the record in response to the attack on you, administrative maccarthy, page 22 and page 26 of the committee said youwhere the ig were the first person and only senior person to call attention to the rogue employee and i want to say thank you. i am sorry you have been vilified by certain members. out that in an organization of 15,000 people, whether it is public, private tom and military, you will have outliers and bad act there's, but the vast majority of the people in the private sector, tryic sector, let's just

not to brush everybody with the ugliness. i thank you for doing what you did to call attention. >> thank you. i am incredibly proud of the folks that work at epa. >> news from the middle east this morning, the associated press reporting secretary of state john kerry heading back to the middle east today for talks with israeli and palestinian leaders as peace talks have reached a critical make or great break point. american mediators have been holding urgent talks with

israelis and palestinians and hopes of salvaging the trouble talks and getting sides to extend them beyond current late april deadline. that story from the associated press. c-span, for 30 five years bringing public affairs events from washington directly to you, putting you in the room at congressional hearings, white house events, briefings and conferences. offering complete gavel-to-gavel order -- gavel-to-gavel earth coverage. c-span, created by the cable tv industry 35 years ago and brought to you as a public service by your local cable or satellite provider. watch is in hd, like us on facebook and follow us on twitter. >> a little after 1:00 eastern time here.

>> our guest this morning is emily etheridge, the health-care reporter from cq roll call. midnight is the deadline for the sign-ups under the aca. on thursday the white house announced 6 million people had enrolled. why is the number so important? guest: it is sort of the revised goal. originally we thought it would be 7 million. the congressional budget office said now we estimate 6 million people. is why 6 million is such a big deal to them. earlier there was

said that there was only 4.2 million x acted -- that were signed up. is there a big surge expected? guest: we have been hearing from the administration for a long time that march is when things will really happen. people wait to the last minute to get things done. health care is not fun and takes a lot of time and wait until you really have to do it. -- they said this is what happened in massachusetts, part b. they said wait until the last minute and there will be a big leap in numbers, and that is what we have seen. folks: this morning that said i am planning on going in and signing up today. thehere were reasons from -- is there were reasons that people may not be able to make it by the tonight deadline? guest: that is why the administration said last week if you can show you were in line, trying to start the process to

sign up for health care by march 31 but for whatever reason did not go through, it extended the deadline for those people. they did say we know this has been trouble some, we know there might be issues and we're giving you a little bit of extra time to get signed up. today is the deadline, but not really the last of i and you will ever have. our guest is emily etheridge, a health-care reporter for cq roll call. if you would like to join the conversation for democrats the number is (202) 737-0001 four republicans (202) 737-0002 and for independence (202) 628-0205. if you enrolled for health care, you can also call whein. i want to give you a trick -- quick question from twitter -- , what ispeople paid

the net number and how many people are uninsured? those are great questions and questions we honestly do not know the answer to. 6 million was the big goal but a lot of details we do not know about. we do not know how many people have paid premium so far. we do not know what the breakdowns are. how many are healthy, young people, young or old. it varies a lot by state. some states have higher enrollments than other states. each has their own individual marketplace. some states might have a great balance of people. states may have high enrollment, some might have low. we still did not really know what 6 million means in a detailed way. i want to take a look at -- through march 1. it is four point 2 million. 80 three percent did so with financial assistance. what does that say to you cap go

guest: a very high number for the people getting a subsidy. maybe you haves people signing up, getting subsidies that have not had insurance in the past. maybe do know -- maybe they do not work at jobs or do not have affordable insurance. a little higher than a lot of us were expecting. it does mean the push to get people enrolled and get them health care coverage now seems to be working. is from jeffall and siler city, north carolina, on the line for democrats. caller: good morning. you made it reference to 6 million. i think this truly is a travesty. the negative commercials

get the republicans made reference to this particular law. if they were to only work with the democrats and president and tried to make this work for the people of this country, then i think we can truly have a successful rollout in reference to this particular idea. guest: especially in a state like north carolina, they have a lot of ads about the health care law, health care ads and has been a battle from both sides try to reach the administration in the same time, people who are really opposed to the law. there has been messaging on both sides. do thetrying to enrollment, one of the biggest challenges they face because there is a lot of misinformation or perception when they are

trying to work. still a certain percentage of people who think the law was repealed. a certain percentage who think the supreme court did not uphold the law and does not apply to them. there is a constant battle for information for getting out there to reach people and have a lot of things on the airwaves. next up in michigan, iris on the line for independence. if you could turn down your tv a little bit, we will be able to hear you better. hi there. i just wondered, maybe i am uneducated. but i do not think it has a brain. i think it is a storage tank for information. i/o is thought it was a place you went to gain information

that someone else put in their is this supposed to replace our seriously? the say put all your information in and will spit back the answers. this is not a genie in the lamp. not 12 years of education. it is a calculated way of getting people to put information in, and then you have it. who was there inside that little thing that spits out information on everything that you put in there? concerns,re are people who have concerns about the federal website for enrolling in health care because they think their information will be able to access it.

you do have to put in your social security number in order to enroll. you have to put in information about your family and independents and things that. there have been a lot of concerns about the security of the website. we have seen several big hacks of target and neiman marcus and people are concerned about the security of their data right now on the internet and people are concerned about with health care law, too. that is something the administration has said that they have the best security in place and have not had any website breaches so far. especially earlier in the fall when the website was not working as well as it could be. something that republicans, especially house of representatives have to be focused on, making sure the website is as safe as your bank, if not safer. earlier you said this is not really the end if you have not signed up for health care. the article notes the obama

administration has given extra time for those who have not been able to enroll by the march 30 first deadline. they said under the rules evil will be able to qualify for an extension by checking on a blue box at healthcare.gov, indicating they tried to unroll for health care. the government will not try to determine whether the person is telling the truth. right. it is an honor system. it is meant for people who are trying to enroll but for whatever reason i'm not been able to make it. all you have to say is i was definitely trying, totally in line but was not able to do it. it is a little like when you are in school and get an extension on a paper you have not written yet. all you do is check the box. there have been previous extensions to deadlines in the past regarding the health care law. who does the deadline today actually applied to? guest: there are people that have tried

and have not been able to sign up for health care. even in silver spring, people have waited in lines outside the health centers. a lot of states still have problems with their own state website. has not's exchange been working very well. a lot of people needing to sign up that have not done this. also people who have may have waited until today to get it done, anyone who did not realize this applied to them. did not realize march 31 with the deadline date. a lot of people did not know. people who have been trying or people who maybe have not realized and will realize a little bit later. about the number of delays. does this him republicans more ammunition who want to see it thrown out or use it in the race

in 2014 and later in 2016? guest: absolutely. it provides for them a lot of things to say to say it is not working the way the administration planted to and putting it together with glue and tape to hold it together. they keep changing the deadline and making different extensions. one thing republicans want to see if the employer mandate and offering insurance to the employees. the administration said there are different reasons. this is why we have to do it this way. they say equal treatment. everyone should on the same delay, get the same extension. it has not happened that way so far. next call in louisiana. malcolm on the line for republicans. caller: good morning. my comment is this, when senator cruz stood up and had a mini delay the it was to

entire obamacare thing for one year. what did you hear from nancy pelosi, harry reid come at the president and all the other supposedly there's of the lawcrat, that the law was a is the way it was passed. it has to go into effect the way it was passed. thee that happened, occupant of the white house has delayed everything and exempt half the country that are his political and financial friends. i have not heard nancy pelosi or harry reid or anyone stand up and badmouth them for that, saying the law is the law the way it was passed. now you have a bunch of democrat senator standing up and saying we need to make changes. again, and of course the ones doing that are like ms. landrieu -- anyway, who needs to get out of office because she does not represent most of the people havei believe, anyway, i

not heard anyone speaking about they want to make changes to the law and the law is the way it was passed. of course we cannot do that anymore because the occupants of the white house has totally anything that resembles the law and no one can figure out where the law is anymore because of the garbage , and asmped off on us far as hominy people are getting handout from the government when they sign up, does anyone know that the handouts are coming from taxpayers that are already broke from taxes and the government that is totally bankrupt? raises a lotller of interesting points in what we were talking about with delays in one of the side effects is people are confused and do not know necessarily. i thought that was delayed and maybe does not apply to me. that is why they need this other people trying to

sign-up up for health care. we have heard concerns from democrat to say we did not want the laws to be delayed and do not want them to be delayed and really believe in them. as the caller mentioned, we have seen democrats in the senate and house to introduce bills to change parts of law and introduced parts of the loss of this is definitely becoming an election issue and we are expecting to possibly see build in the next few months. once that they would vote on to change part of the law. hop in new york. bruce on the line for republicans. caller: i just wanted to say a little bit about the medicaid expansion program. i do not know whether people realize, but there is nothing like the medicaid program. medicaid extension, it is more like a loan program. if you go in the hospital and incur medical bills, and when

willass away, your heirs end up losing out. they will come in and take what assets you have. he spent 30 years paying off. -- perhaps a house you spent 30 years paying off. the government will say you owe x amount of dollars and we will whatever proceeds from the sale of the house you have and not get anyll inheritance from you because the government is going to take any put themu have and towards your medical bills. guest: there are different rules with medicaid and medicare, if you owe debt for what the government can do to retrieve dead. that is another concern we heard from house republicans recently especially as it is expanded

over the law and several states have agreed to do the expansion. it has also increased under the law. we talk about people enrolling in the marketplaces and stayed exchanges of the medicaid population is growing by a lot. even more people covered under the program. we see lawmakers try to focus on this to figure out the different roles. host: another question from twitter -- guest: there are some exemptions for health care law. people with exemptions, certain religions you do not believe in that. illegal immigrants cannot participate. people with certain poverty levels are exempt from having to buy the insurance also. it is a very low number. there are subsidies for people to help buy the insurance. the supreme court looked at all the issues and upheld it is constitutional and does apply to

almost all people that everyone needs to pay insurance or pay the tax penalty. you have the option of paying the penalty if you do not want health care coverage that qualifies under the law. so that is how we are moving forward. host: i want to talk about demographics and talking about the data. we will put up a chart that shows the age from october 1 through march 1. the largest -- the youngest group of people, 18-25 is 10% of the population. making up 16%. you see a spike when you look at older groups. 45-50 4, 23%. 55-60 four is 30%. what is the age breakdown tell you? guest: not as much on the younger side as some were hoping to see. it really is focused on having a cohort of young people, not so

much being young is important than being healthy. in as a way to stay healthy. they want this breakdown of people who are healthier and do not need as much medical care and people who are older to balance that in the population pools. the things that the younger population will grow in the last month. these numbers only go through march 1. the administration has had for a long time that we expect young people will wait until the last minute to get coverage and buy it. it is also true under the law that a lot of people under the age of 26 can stay on their parents plan. maybe those people are not signing up and selecting plants in the marketplace, choosing to stay on their parents plan if they have insurance. host: nbc news reporting this morning that there were a couple of witches with the website this morning.

report people try to enroll for obamacare before monday's midnight deadline discover the website is currently unavailable. went down forov several hours monday morning, a statement on the department of health and human services -- human services said the tech team is working to bring the services online as soon as possible. we want to note for our viewers that the website does appear to be working now. taking another one of your calls. we are going to go to sturgis, kentucky. mike on the line for democrats. caller: this is mike winters. note you have completed the dr. seuss book that was referred to. i believe if you find when you complete the book that he likes green eggs and ham, a.k.a. the

affordable home care after it is all said and done. is referringller to senator cruz reading from green eggs and ham. theaid he does not like affordable care act, does not like that on a train, on the plane. it was getting late into the night and we were all a little punchy by then. perhapshe point that maybe he will come around to the health care act. host: going now to ron on the line for independents. caller: good morning. just. my question is, the affordable health care law -- host: go ahead and turned on your tv or radio and we will be able to communicate with you a little bit better. caller: the affordable health care act seems to require all

--host: we will try to come back to you. we are going now to grady in fayetteville, north carolina, on the line for democrats. caller: good morning. can you hear me? my question is i heard you mention about the 18-year-old can stay on their parents insurance. what happened to an 18-year-old that do not have parents? 18-year-old working on a part-time fast food job? makes $9,500 and cannot make $11,000 limit to qualified. what happens to those people? we have people like that here. there are people whose income are to high to qualify

for medicaid coverage but not high enough to qualify them for subsidies through the marketplaces because originally people who broke the law assumed everyone would have a medicaid expansion. so there is a gap for those that are not getting help from medicaid and exchanges. one thing they're working on is in -- encouraging them is to qualify them. there is a cap. there are people not making that much money every year who do not get health insurance through employers and need to find affordable options to have health insurance and that is a population not currently getting assisted by the law right now and might be a think the administration looks to change in the next few years. you mentioned earlier democrats are proposing legislation targeted at this law. tell us what you are seeing and whether or not there is likely to be action on them soon. guest: one thing we saw is the idea of introducing a cover

plan. right now platinum, gold, silver and bronze plans. they are thinking about introducing a cheaper option that has less coverage for people who do not use alliance healthcare services and do not need insurance that covers everything because they feel like they will not use them and do not want to buy the coverage they do not use. copper plan would be bare-bones plan you would not play -- would not pay much for. that is something we have seen insurers also called for. they say it may not be bad idea. i do not know if that would come through. asmight be a thing we see insurer said to offer more options depending on how many people sign up. chattanooga, tennessee. mitchell on the line for democrats. good morning.aller:

republicans keep talking about how the democrats forced this, like we have not been trying to get standalone health care for years and decades. i do not understand that. the majority of things that is in the aca came from a republican think tank group they put together. i do not see the problem. we need to take care of health care, don't we? we did that. we need to take care of the country altogether. dinner, and they can read the thing. help,you ain't going to get out the way. you undermine jimmy carter. went arounde and

the person from tennessee, the vice president. you cannot eat doing it. i remember the commercial where you all got together. they said they are going to keep doing the same thing that they was doing. the caller raises a lot of good points about health care overhaul something that people worked on for decades. almost no one says the system before it was we should not have touched it at all and everything worked perfectly back then. everyone wanted to change the health care system. >> hello, everyone. welcome to the white house. thank you for being here. before i take your questions, let me note, that as some of you may know, today is the last day to sign up for health insurance this year in the marketplace. as you can see, by the lines

around the country, this weekend we are seeing a surge in enrollment. more than 6 million people have signed up. a remarkable statement, given where we started back in october. remind you facts to of, if you do not have insurance, today is the deadline . if you do not sign-up, you may not be able to get coverage until next year. war and more americans are finding quality, affordable coverage. six out of 10 can get coverage for 10 dollars a day or less. we are encouraging everyone to spread the word to them -- friends and family. call center ate one 800 -- 318 -- 2596. that is for help in 150 languages. with that, i will take your questions.

is if the surge in enrollment that is causing healtt hcare.gov to be down now? >> there is 100,000 people in the system right now and no problem for them to enroll. the causes of different glitches being addressed, i would refer you to cms come up but as has been the case all along, when there is a problem like this, it gets addressed and addressed quickly. we were told it was a software glitch. trying to figure out if it is a volume issue. >> what i would tell you is i was referred to the experts because this is obviously very fast. they are working on it. think what is important is there has been a remarkable story since the dark days of october and november, which has

resulted in a situation where here on the last day of enrollment we are looking at a number substantially larger than 6 million. i daresay there are few people in this room, including some of the folks who work in the white house who would have been predicting that we would get to that number and it is because of the remarkable persistence and hard work of the teams that fix is becauses and it of the determination of the american people that so clearly demonstrated the desire for quality health insurance that they would not be deterred, despite the problems that were initially presented, and which had to be fixed. you are seeing some pretty incredible things, including 6 million people having signed up. we saw people lining up around the block this weekend, 2.9 million visits to the website, and last week alone we sell more

calls to the call center than in all of february. no one expected us to come back from the brink or two surpassed the revised projection that 6 million would sign up in year one, but we have. noting inat merits your reports. shouldou know when we expect to get the final enrollment figure, and does the president have any plans to mark the end of the six months in any of the finalrms figures, these are things that include not just the figures from the federally run marketplaces for state marketplaces, so there is figures that come in and are tabulated and aggregated and presented. so i would not predict at this point when we would have the final numbers. as you know, there will be an opportunity for those that have

initiated the process but are not able to finish it at theyght tonight to ensure get signed up for health insurance, and we will not know what that looks like until we get past the deadline tonight. what i can tell you is we expect the numbers to be significant, as we have seen towards the end of open and from and. be a substantial number of people that at the very end when faced with the deadline and roll, and that is what we are seeing. i do not have any scheduling announcements for the president. he is briefed regularly on the operations and numbers as they come in. and as they become available. and it's gratified by what he is seen in terms of the interests of the american people him at the lines over the weekend proving again that there is a

huge appetite by the country for access to quality affordable as promised,and there will be millions of people who have signed up through the yet to see we have from the critics that are not grasping for other things to criticize about the affordable care act and enrollment process, an alternative that does not include taking insurance away for millions of people. people with a pre-existing condition are once again at the insurance -- mercy of the insurance companies and telling companies they may be charged double. thingsre the kinds of that the affordable care act eliminates. positive benefits the american people can now enjoy. we have been going about the business with this fight the trouble in october of

implementing the law that was designed to provide the american people security they laughed when he came to access and affordability to health insurance. kerry's was in russia. and i am wondering how serious the president thinks president clinton is about the democratic crisis and the ukraine cap go >> it is the case that secretary kerry and the foreign ministers did meet to discuss how to resolve the crisis through diplomacy. we're interested in that. in a way that respects the interests of ukraine and ukrainian people. it will be a difficult process, a diplomatic one. to proceed in the current tense atmosphere. that is why we have called on russia to pulled back to pre-russia crisis levels. it is also necessary for russia

to establish direct dialogue with ukraine. with international mediation as necessary, and to expand monetary mechanisms on the ground to address legitimate concerns in the ukraine, for the international community to provide monitors to help that come about. above all, we have been clear that the united states will not discuss the future of ukraine, without the ukrainian people. there is no discussion of constitutional change or change in the nature of the relationship of various regions of the ukraine to the center without the full participation of the ukrainian people and government. closee been in consultation with the government of the ukraine for that reason. toretary kerry has agreed meet again but no date has been sent. the state department may have

more information on that. withdrawing troops from the eastern ukrainian border. i am wondering what your comment about that is and whether it would be sufficient to de-escalate tensions in the region. call for thearly return of russian troop levels positions andsis levels, and that would include moving them away from the border where they have been conducting, supposedly, military exercises, but where they have, by presence and constitution it -- constitution have raised serious concerns. that is a piece of what we and the european partners believe russia needs to do in order to de-escalate the situation.

also have to engage in a direct dialogue with the ukrainian government with international weiation as necessary, but will not participate in, and our partners will not participate in a discussion about the future without ukraine and ukrainian people because it is for them to if anywhat constitutional reforms they adopt and what changes they may make about the nature and relationship of different regions. that is our position. we have reports of possible drawdowns of russian military forces from the border. we have not seen that yet, but if they turn out to be accurate, that would be a good end. has raised-- putin concerns about areas of moldova.

concerns about ambitions on his part? motivations are something you should ask russian leaders about. we have made clear that we support the government and the country and as we have shown in the situation in ukraine, it's -- we demand a nation's territorial integrity and sovereignty be observed and not violated, not just of ukraine but other regions. in the 21st-century first century the way to address aboutns, if they are real the rights of ethnic minorities of other countries, neighboring countries, is to do so to establish international bodies and the assistance of monitors

as we have offered in ukraine, and that should certainly be the russia when it has a concern it once addressed. that we haveroach forced upon russia when it comes to theea when it comes concerns they have when it comes to the number of ethnic russians in the areas and have said repeatedly that there are legitimate interest that russia has in ukraine and other nations because of the historical and cultural ties. reflects not in any way but a need to uphold international law and pursue concerns in international

secretaryons. >> kerry is back in jerusalem to restart talks. offer to persuade israel to release palestinian citizens and with the release something that the united states ?ould consider offering >> secretary kerry and negotiating team have been working with both parties as they narrow the gap and determine the path forward. today secretary kerry is returning to the region. over the course of the past eight months the israelis and palestinians have made tough choices. as we work with them to determine the next steps it is important to realize it will bring them economic peace and prosperity they deserve. on the question on the release of prisoners, this is a complicated issue that is being worked through with the parties.

i will not get into details about that. heh regards to mr. pollard, was convicted of espionage and serving his sentence, and i do not have an update on his situation. quickly, the last time we heard from hhs regarding the breakdown, i know you cannot give us the new breakdown numbers, but early march was 25% of those that enrolled in the category. experts say inmates be close to 40%. and again.his again 40% is the percentage of young at the poolou look of uninsured americans, 40% are young adults. not the case that 40% -- 30% young adults in order for the markets to work. insurance companies issue is quite the opposite. we spoke to today

said 38%. the question is, are you confident that the in rome it will get better than 30%? >> what i can tell you is when we have demographic information come a we will certainly provided to you. we are very comfortable that we and will see in the pool of individuals that have signed up through the marketplaces the kind of write down that we need demographically for the marketplaces to function effectively. let me quote on the record some folks. wellpoint, we are seeing the average age come down every week so it is clear younger people are starting to come into the pool said the chief financial officer. what is not clear is did it come down enough? wellpoint has said the demographics, very optimistic to where we are.

blue cross blue shield of rhode island. hi mark inc. thomas florida blue, medical mutual of ohio. the health small marketplace has gotten younger each week. the average age is now a decade below where it was when enrollment kicked off in october. so again, we are confident we will be where we need to be. think worthor i noting is the off marketplace enrollment. in addition to enrollment in the marketplace, people are enrolling in a ca compliant plans outside the marketplace. what we have seen is off marketplace enrollment is something that is an important fact to keep in mind when .hinking about the risk pool issuers are required to consider the enrollment across all of their a ca compliant policies.

we have seen anecdotally is from washington state, two point two times as many people in a ca compliant off marketplace and as foreign market place plans as of the end of january 2014. if you have reported between 25 and 40% of enrollees choosing off market plans. we see young people disproportionally at higher percentages getting insurance and sign up through the off market plans. >> obviously success matters on a state-by-state basis. are you confident premiums next year will not go up the potentially? >> this is a great question. search for reasons to repeal the affordable care act, and my favorite is the accusation are the books are cooked, which is we know we're doing well when we get back to being wrong, as we saw

in late 2012 that the numbers could not possibly be real but i will tell you they are real and people are signing up. many people shut out of the insurance market a be kidding coverage for the first time. the overall pool could be bigger than the overall population. that is why the law put in place to prevent large price swings. the reinsurance program, the risk core door program and the risk adjustment program am a which collectively are not significant jump in premiums caused by the nature of the pool. even if it were the case that the population of those who have signed up on the marketplace are to theal when it comes , thereof the population

are provisions in place that prevent that from over notably -- overly negatively impacting. >> $95 or one percent. two years from now i believe it is six hundred 95 dollars per adult who does not sign up or have coverage. so there certainly is other elements outside of what you just stated. in terms of the penalty. >> we do not have the data. what i can tell you is people need to sign up for health insurance. the responsibility to do that. there is an opportunity to get quality affordable health insurance. today is the deadline for doing that in the opener in rome in time for most people. not be an opportunity until november. what we're seeing is a significant surge in sign-ups,

and i think it reflects that the fight for affordable health insurance and all the effort expended over the next several months to ask -- to ensure the systems working to meet demand have been working. >> there is a startling new report when it comes to climate change. i know the scientific evidence is there. the political will appears not to be there. what more could the administration do to make sure americans are protected from the impacts of climate change? >> a great question. a fact-basedis reminder of how serious the problem is and challenges for the united states in every country in the world. what i can tell you is the president is addressed simply -- aggressively addressing the challenges and using every tool

available to him, and that includes the fuel efficiency standards he is put into place and the new fuel efficiency standards announced and other elements of the climate action plan that he spoke about not that long ago. >> what are the obstacles that exist right now? >> i do not know that -- talking about legislative action, there have been as we saw in the first term, obstacles to legislative action. what the president demonstrated was an ability when it comes to controlling co2 emissions and emissions, reducing there are means by which we as a nation can move forward and make congress. the significant increase in production of natural gas in the country has contributed in large co2ure to a reduction in emissions.

that is part of creating a where we have a bridge fuel. it allows us to develop more , and store significantly to reduce co2 emissions. the president is very aggressive in his approach on this. and has made clear repeatedly that he will not wait for congress, that he will use the authority that he has through executive action and convening power to make progress. you said 6 million. do you think you will close in on 7 million? make a not want to guess, except to say we will be significantly above 6 million. while i think some of the reporting has made it sound like

6 million have fallen short, i room if anyone in this told me we would be about 6 million on march 31 you would have left me out of the room and .robably had to do so it speaks to the determination of the president and his team to get it right that we are where we are, where we are seeing lines of people signing up for quality affordable health insurance. remarkable volume of the call centers and online and will have a very strong number when this ends. million,ny of the 6 how many of those love kind of have actually paid? >> we do not have those figures. when we do, we will give them to you. we're talking about private insurance, not a government program. the contract that you sign if

you get health insurance through a state marketplace is a contract between you and insurance company. what you have seen from what insurance has said has been positive about the percentage of people that have signed up and paid premiums. obviously for a lot of folks, they just signed up. even the vast majority of people who will pay and pay on time have not paid yet because they just signed up. we do not have concrete numbers yet. the numbers will of course come from the issuers themselves. we believe we will have significant numbers, both who have signed up and people who have signed up and paid. >> how many people of those of signed up for previously uninsured versus old plans cap -- versus old plans canceled? >> we expect there to be a good mix of people who were previously uninsured who now

have insurance. a significant number who now qualify for medicaid in the states that expanded medicaid who will have an insurance who did not have a before. in some cases it is hard to measure this because you are trying to -- it is counterfactual because every people losto aca insurance and if there had been no affordable care act, the cycle and process would have happened just like it had every previous year that they would not have the options available to them now. a tough number to measure. we will provide the data we get. we know there will be more people in the country who have insurance that would have had it before, and they will have before. have not had protections that did not exist before and it will be very hard to make the argument that a better world would be a world in which millions of americans do

not have health insurance. they did not have the ability to , adult children on the entrance policies to age 26. did not have the discounts that seniors get through the affordable care act and preventive care measures through the affordable care act. a tough argument to make, except when you are preaching to a choir that is opposed to aca, regardless of what you say about the benefits. questions you mentioned people who did not believe holes. i was talking to a republican senator who was confronted with the number who i am sure said he would never come to pass. if they were cooking the books, do you think we would have cut them in october and november? we could have saved ourselves a lot of pain.

>> a poll that came on friday that showed support for the affordable care act at an all-time low. only 26% say they support the affordable care act. if everything is as wonderful as your poor -- as you portray did, why is it public support for obama care still so low? >> that poll changed dramatically. what i want you to is it is an outlier. no other poll shows support and opposition dropping to one third of respondents saying they do not know enough to register an opinion for years after the law was passed. showing in the ap poll the usda will be repealed. the kaiser poll, the gold standard on this issue, they came out last week as well, support for the aca has recovered to pre-rollout levels. that is positive progress. in the poll, a record 59% want

to keep the aca in place. after months of rooting for failure and millions of dollars being spent in false negative all including as we have seen through the good work of reporters, including standing up people who are supposedly victims and turn out to have stories that do not can out, only 29% support the position of repeal. aside, we areng achieving something today that i gnashing theirs teeth. i know it leaves them with -- they need to go back to the drawing board when it comes to other means of trying to attack. a law providing opportunity and security to millions of americans. them toer would be for acknowledge the law is here to

stay and millions of americans will get insurance because of it and the security that comes because of it and to focus on working together in washington onards making progress creating even more economic opportunity for the american to ensure that if you work in this country full-time, if you take sponsored ability for yourself and your family, you are not in poverty. that you make a living wage. should be having a hearing every other day, some senators hay cut -- some senators say, on -- some senators say. it has become futility and an exercise to deny the benefits from americans that they basically want.