the health care law. all we passed was the senate version of a bill. we -- we -- obamacare that passed, the health care law, was a senate bill. that was a senate bill that we passed on the floor without any additional debate or oversight for a year and a half later. so the -- i want to go to ms. hubbard. ok, so here is an example -- i have sons whom i love very much. so they go and they get a drink at one of the convenience stores, they have personally titled a scour-ade. now i'm not sure what's in this thing. [laughter]

mr. shimkus: i think it's sprite, coke, power ade, you know, that they mix themselves. you can't label for that, can you? ms. hubbard: no, sir, that's one of the complexities of the bill and of that self-service. it also would entail we list the calorie count for the items in cups without ice. i would also bet your sons also put ice in their cups so therefore even what we provide them based on the rules isn't going to be accurate, if i were to get the combination right. mr. shimkus: how many kinds of items would have multiple concerns about getting the right calorie count and if you didn't, if you were held accountable by i guess federal law enforcement, i guess we'll have federal law enforcement police coming in to retail stores, checking the menu labeling and ensuring adequate calories or -- are posted in multiple combinations?

ms. hubbard: virtually everything we serve would have some sort of ability to, all the drinks obviously have a wide variety of calorie count combinations. some of the that self-service by the consumers. on the prepared items even if i have a clerk that's feeling generous that day and they put, or the cheese sticks together, they slap an extra slice of cheese together, they don't cut the pizza in exact eighths, all of those things and i think obviously the viewpoint -- you point out the obvious concern, this is a felony now. how do i protect. mr. shimkus: a felony. mr. o'quinn, also a delegate, i

guess, that's what you call in virginia, part of this debate early in the health care law was the same debate we have here in energy and commerce is that there was a concern that if we don't have a -- this is not put in a national bill there would be maybe local community movements or county movements or even state would then disrupt national chains so the national chains said save us from ourselves, or save us from the different parts of the country who may do individual referendums and have multiple -- can you speak to that? from both positions that you, as a representative, not representing the state but you know, can you address that? mr. o'quinn: yes, sir. i think that certainly states and individual localities across the country adopting menu labeling laws.

i think that becomes difficult for single store operators even a medium-sized grocery chain like we are to comply with this patchwork of regulations. none of those have been in our area but they've been in plenty of our friends' areas. so now you're saying that the f.d.a. is going to come in with this more overarching rule and be able to enforce it across the entire country but then what you set up is, you've got the federal rule that would supersede the state laws but all they have to do is mimic the exact same regulation at the local level and then all of a sudden it doesn't supersede, it's more or less exactly the same system of you could have f.d.a. in your store one day say, this is not going to work. you're outside of your five calorie variance and you're in big trouble, you could also have someone from a town or a city or county coming in and saying the exact same thing if they have set up a law that does not supersede the federal law itself. and so you're going to be right back in the same boat only f.d.a. will have promulgated regulations, it's not like there's going to be a regulatory process by a local county government. you're going to be dealing with an on the fly interpretation by somebody else. to me that's a really slippery slope to start down.

chair: the chair thanks the gentleman and now recognizes the panel member mr. pallone. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. chairman. i'm listening to will mr. shimkus describe mixing the sodas at the fountain and i have to tell you, i hate that. i'm a purist. if they -- some of those machines now you press coke and it gives you five different cokes i'm always afraid i'll get the cherry coke and mix it with

the regular because i don't like to do that. mr. pallone: anyway, i guess i'm going to be asking questions about pizza here. i want to start with dr. wootan. i'm interested in how h.r. 2017 treats serving sizes and how it differs from f.d.a.'s final menu labeling rule. the f.d.a. final rule allows pizza slices to provide calorie counts per pizza or per standard slice with a listing of the number of slices per pizza. h.r. 2017 seems to allow something similar. it would allow establishments to list the number of serves and number of calories per serving or to list the number of calories -- calories per the standard menu item such as for a multiserving item that's typically divided before presenting it to the consumer. do you think the f.d.a. final rule on h.r. 2017 are offering two different approaches or are there substantive differences between them and if there are differences, could you explain their implications? dr. wootan: so actually, h.r. 2017 has one other option, to list the nutrition information by the serving size or common unit of subdivision unit without having to list the number of servings, which would be different than what f.d.a. has system of for example, you could reduce the number of calories in a pizza overnight by slicing it into 10 slices instead of eight slices. you could take a plate of chicken wings and you could just put half the chicken wings on

one side of the platter and the other half of the chicken wings on the other and say it's two servings and then change the calories from 1,000 calories per appetizer to 500. so the law as written would not require that the number of servings be listed and without that information it's very difficult for consumers to be able to compare options. even with the servings listed it's difficult. so say an appetizer of nachos is listed as four servings and the chicken wings is listed as two servings, you can't really compare how those would stack up for you personally. it's much easier to list the calories for the whole appetizer, the whole pastry, the whole dessert and people can compare options and decide which one they want for themselves. this is not about, he left already, telling people what to eat. this is about giving people information so that they can

make their own choices about how many calories they want to eat. given what a terrible health burden there is from obesity and other diet-related health problems. mr. pallone: we've heard from pizza places and convenience stores about the difficulties they face with coming up with calorie counts for the myriad choices they offer whether it's the 34 million different combinations of pizzas or the different calorie counts possible with self-serve soda machines. i imagine restaurants face similar issues. could you tell us whether it's simpler for the restaurant industry or whether you're finding ways to address similarly complicated issues? ms. raskopf: i worked for 7-eleven for years, i think we have a good understanding of the challenges we all face. we at dunkin' brands have thousands of combinations.

we have tests, we have limited time offers. i empathize with everybody everyone here. but we have figured out how to label our products to make nutritional information available to consumers. i'm sorry that the honorable congressman from illinois left but to say that people are not interested is a mistake. every month, 400,000 individuals visit blockbuster.com and baskin.com every month to get nutrition information. millenials in particular care about this information. mr. pallone: i think you're right. i mean, i think that -- i'm a little bit like mr. shimkus in that i don't pay much attention to it but i think maybe that's because we're older.

i think younger people pay a lot of attention and maybe we should pay more attention, frankly . thanks a lot. chair: the chair thanks the gentleman and recognizes the gentleman for questions. >> on dunkin' doughnuts, i know you're located in new york city. when new york city started this in 2007 you've been working on menu labeling for seven of eight years? ms. raskopf: we have been working on it hard and fast for the last year, but we have perhaps had more insights than others who don't locate in localities. mr. guthrie: was it difficult to

comply with the laws? ms. raskopf: i remember sitting around a table like this saying we can't do it but we did. mr. guthrie: how long? mr. raskopf: we had a deadline we had to meet and we met it. mr. guthrie: were the new york standards similar to the federal standards or are they more difficult? ms. raskopf: we feel it's similar. mr. guthrie: ok. so, when you look back, and all so, when you look back, and all of us want to eat more nutritional. so i guess -- soda can be listed from zero to a thousand calories so i choose the smaller. so what's reasonable to make people more healthy. i went to our schools, we have a lady in davis county, kentucky, making sure kids only get three pickles if they get a cheeseburger.

if they get four pickles, they violate federal law. that sounds silly to say that but that's absolutely true system of what we're trying to say, that's fair, i'll take -- that's actually there, i'll take people and show it to you. so how do we get information in people's hands that i think the vast number of american people want, i think they want the information, but in a way they can sit back and say washington is doing things that are reasonable. so we talk about having to display 34 million different pieces of information, if you take how many ingredients you have but if you factorial it out, it gets almost -- i think dr. wootan you said that labeling software is very inexpensive but if you take menu labeling software that's inexpensive to come up with your calories and you have to print 34 million different combinations or print it all to your source, i think what's simple, we talk about young people wanting information, my kids live on their phones.

so why not have it displayed in an electronic way that people have access to and they can always have it? that seems to make sense because the information -- to get the information to the people and take care of all the different problems. i don't know why that doesn't make sense. would that be easier, ms. hubbard if you were able to do it electronic? ms. hubbard: yes, sir. we have already looked into having that on our website and we have a mobile app, as you point out, i think the millenials and younger generation do, they live by those. and that would be a way to easily, they could even do combinations and it come -- it could compute those. i agree that most of that generation needs that but i disagree with ms. raskopf that our locations are similar. if you walk in dunkin' donuts there's one point of purchase and one menu board. ours is split throughout the store. based on the rules as they're written, an advertisement, we would have to post the menu combinations on every single one of those pieces.

mr. guthrie: we agree we want everybody to have information, how can we do it in a way that people don't look back, i could take you to davis county, kentucky, and show you the lunch lady making sure they get three pickles. they can't get in and reach on the glove and put it on the plate, that might violate federal regulations.

i know you want to offer this information in a way that works and doesn't look absurd when you go to, when reporters come to a school and say, are you kidding me? is there somebody in washington worried about whether a kid get there's or four pickles? i said that's true. that's why you're here. i didn't stage these workers to tell you that, they're here doing it. >> i think you can information overload. our tags have a score, you have front of package labeling, you have the larger back of package label, you're talking about a lot of labels on one single food. and frankly, you could put a label across the front just like a tobacco product that says this product will make you obese and i promise you people are still going to buy that product if they wanted. i think you're arguing apples and oranges here. everyone wants people to be healthier, but in the end, they are going to eat what they want to eat. it doesn't matter what you put on there. they're going to get what their taster is set for. mr. guthrie: i'm one, i almost never pick up something that has that label on it and not read the calories. i come from wanting the calories but let's do it in a reasonable way. chair: the chair recognizes the gentleman, mr. schrader. mr. schrader: thank you. i guess for dr. wootan and ms. raskopf, and to everyone, obviously this rule is not ready for prime time. we have considerable discussion

about what it's going to do, how it will be implemented, i understand that. although the rules have come out -- it's my understanding that there's not been a lot of guidance going on. some of you already addressed this. some of us sent a letter asking for a delay to iron out, get some more guidance before we went prime. i'm grateful for this hearing and actually for this bill so we can look at what options we may have to make this actually reasonable and work because i think like everyone testified, we want to actually have good information out there for our consumers. i think that's good. that's -- but i am curious. you know, do you think a little more time is needed? or should we just get to it and do up and down votes on this type of legislation? ms. raskopf: there's a lot of

common ground with all of us. first, i think we agree an additional year is fine. we at dunkin' brands are ready to go now few but if others need more time that's fine. we all want that final guidance from the f.d.a., we want to make it clear that promotional and advertising materials are not covered by this. we want to know that when we reformulate a product how long do we have to get that information to the public. so i think we can all agree there's a good deal of common ground here and we need to get that guidance from the f.d.a. i don't think it's additional legislation that's needed. it's the final guidance from the f.d.a. ms. wootan: i think many of us

expected that food establishments would be able to implement menu labeling directly from the final rule but it turns out they have lots of questions that need answering that go beyond mere interpretation so guidance is necessary and that guidance is going to take a little bit longer because there'll be an opportunity for public comment. hearing people testify today, many of them don't have a full understanding of what's required. certainly 34 million possible combinations of pizza is not required by law. if they don't recognize that, i think their lawyers need to read the regulations more carefully. some of the other things about having 10 different signs in the convenience store is not required by law system of there's clearly some misunderstanding about what the law requires and the guidance will help to clarify that. i think also as some of them become more familiar with the regulations they'll realize that this is not as burdensome as they think it is. just like the restaurants did 10 years ago when i first started working on menu labeling in oregon and other places around the country. i heard the same complaints from the restaurant industry.

once we started to do it they realized this is not as complicated as it seem. they worked through it, they did it, it did not cost them a lot of money, their customers like it, use it, and it's helping them to make lower calorie choices when they want to. mr. schrader: i ask that the letter that a lot of representatives and senators be put in the record. chair: thank you and i have another u.c. request from the ranking member for a letter from wegman's to put in the record, without objection, so ordered. mr. schrader: just a last question, i guess for maybe miss liddle. states have gone their own way on this and implemented labeling requirements if convenience stores, grocery stores, everything. so how are you -- how have you dealt with that so far and isn't there an opportunity maybe with some sort of federal, better federal guidelines to make it easier for you guys to compete in different venues across the country?

ms. liddle: sure, we have always agree a federal preemptive law is a good idea because we have been dealing with a patchwork of different municipalities and changes. but my argument isn't about how difficult it is to get the 34 million ways up. i actually do that online. any pizza that you can concoct in your head i can give you the actual calories for that slice. so i want to do that for my consumers. what i don't want to do is retrofit onto a menu board, just to fit in the box of the law, say, well, put ranges. you don't have to put all 34 million, the law doesn't make you do that, that's true. but i want to do that. i want to do that because it's the right thing to do. what i don't want to do is put ranges that consumers will not understand and make my small business franchise yeses pay for that.

mr. schrader: thank you. chair: the chair thanks the gentleman. dr. murphy is recognized for five minutes. mr. murphy: i think this panel is important in trying to deal with obesity in america. i want to look at this picture globally. none of us want to have the epidemic of obesity and the problems it brings along with it. there's a lot more that goes with this. there's a couple of schools i've been monitoring over the years, not in my district. one is a famous study done with naperville schools outside of chicago. they actually required physical activity, intensive, not just battle ball, throw the ball, get hit, sit down so you're not doing anything, but real cardiovascular activity where they wear monitors and they found their obesity rate plummeted and they found the kids involved in these activities, their reading scores went up they math scores went up dramatically. similar studies have been done in cambridge, massachusetts and other places.

it does raise other issues system of calories itself, i'm concerned by this passive, small number. if you look at studies out there, cause of obesity include genetics, family history, age of the person, pregnancy, sleep levels, emotional wellness, medications they're on, other health conditions such as thyroid or adrenal gland functioning, smoking, anybody propose we put all those things on message boards too? those are going to be much more predictive. in other words, if what you do is sit in front of your tv and eat our food and that's all you do, you will get fat. i don't care what restaurant it is. and i get concerned that we're taking a, pardon the pun, such a small slice of information here and we're not getting americans the information, get off your butt and move. that's what it ought to be. i'd like it when some restaurants say that some boxes of cereal say that. good for them. powerful message for kids. but i look at how the messages go through. we are going to have some things i'm not sure we can get the whole thing out, if we're going to be comprehensive, let's be comprehensive. i understand daily chef's

specials will be exempt from this? is that true? >> yes, it is true. dr. murphy: and why is it more difficult to provide nutrition information in grocery or convenience store than a restaurant? can someone tell me that? >> our concerns are, and ms. wootan said we wouldn't have to be menu boards. i may need new lawyers, i said any place adjacent. any place i offered food or advertising combinations, including the fountain drinks, because i'm offering it as bundle here, adjacent to that product. so it is the number of menu boards and postings that i would have to have and the enormous combinations and i truly believe it would be information overload

for consumers. dr. murphy: and you compete for customers against traditional restaurants? >> we offer limited food offerings. but we operate in rural -- dr. murphy: prepared food? >> they have fewer items in a convenience store than most sit-down restaurants. so they have fewer to analyze. and they don't have to put them through the lab, you can run the recipe through a computer. dr. murphy: those with online ordering, are we going to have the technology to provide that information on the kiosk when you say i want the special number one? it's going to flash -- is that what we're doing? is that what year proposing? ms. wootan: the calorie information disclosure is tied

to the method through which they provide information. if you're a restaurant that has a printed menu, calories would be there. if you're a restaurant that has a menu board if you have foods on display like your doughnuts on display at dunkin' donuts, the calories would be next to each doughnut. the way the information is provided will depend on the way they decide to give information to the their customers. dr. murphy: but there is individual reaction from that, too, like if you say you smoke, you have a high percentage risk you'll get an illness. not everybody who smokes gets cancer but it's a high percentage. i wonder about this, do we reach the point we give people a false sense of security if you only know your calories you'll be ok. all those other factors i mentioned, i'm more concerned about kids that are not moving. it's that formula. you have to, if you're taking the same amount of calories you burn, you don't gain weight. take in more than you burn, you gain weight. i think we have a long way to go

on this. in terms of other health promotion. but i see my time is up. chair: chair thanks the gentleman. we are now voting on the floor so we'll keep going for, watching the vote total, i'll get us over there in time. ranking member submitted another letter for u.c. request to be submitted to the record signed by congressman loebsack, welch, kilmer, ruppersberger and schrader to secretary burwell. without objection, it will be entered in the record. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from illinois, ms. schakowsky, five minutes for questions. ms. schakowsky: there's a little deja vu for me. my career started in the grocery store 45 years ago when a small group of housewives wanted to know how old our food was because everything was code dated and we did -- we -- like detectives we cracked some of the codes and found things in the grocery store that were days, weeks, months, and years beyond the date. we questioned the date. now everybody looks at the dates.

i stand in the dairy section and watch people check the milk dates which they do. we want to encourage people to look at the calories. whether or not my colleague from illinois does, maybe he should. maybe we all should. and i just -- i want to suggest in terms of pizza. if there were a board that said on a slice of pizza this is how much sausage adds to that slice, this is how much pepperoni adds to that slice, i can figure out at least relatively whether i get a sausage pizza or pepperoni pizza or if there's a difference at all or if i get mushrooms or whatever, i could see that. this is not hard. i'm sorry, it is not hard. to list the additions that you have on a pizza so i can check and see which is the better choice if i'm watching calories.

there may be a gender difference there too. i don't know a woman who doesn't look at the calories on foods that we're buying. we all should. in terms of the grocery stores, many serve as catering operations also. why on a catering menu would it be harder to list what the calories are on those things? i would make decisions, i do get catering things from my grocery store. by would make decisions, i do get catering things from my grocery store. i would like to know that. what is the difference between, there is one a ham sandwich or a turkey sandwich and that kind of thing when i'm having a party. health -- the cost of obesity, just for the health care costs is projected to be $344 billion by 2018. so even if you don't care about diabetes and all the other related things to obesity, we

ought to be caring about the cost of, you know what it costs us, what it costs our health care system, to treat obesity. and that i think would be one of the most important pieces of information. so i don't quite understand the problems here. i did want to ask, why is this not a simple idea? and the f.d.a. suggested it. ms. liddle: to do as you suggest, to put the information you described on a menu board would be hard to read and would be a little bit like a tree falling in the forest and no one hearing it. ms. schakowsky: if you've got calories, these arguments are just silly to me. ms. liddle: there's almost no

one in the store to look at the suggestions you're making. but i do want to do what you suggest. i want to give you that precise information online. to put it on -- ms. schakowsky: now, if we go to the grocery store, you see the date on the products.

and believe me, people want it. and we have it. ms. liddle: we've been disclosing it voluntarily for 14 years. ms. schakowsky: i care about young people too but i'm telling you juvenile diabetes and juvenile obesity is a problem but it certainly more than just young people. i wondered if you wanted to comment, dr. wootan. ms. wootan: there are a lot of people going into pizza restaurants, it may only be 10% but those people who do go in have the right to nutrition information like those people who are ordering online. if they don't think it matters then they don't need to have a menu board and list the options that are there. but if they have a menu board and think people need to know what's on the menu and list prices for it, then they need to post the calories. as you said, obesity really is one of the most pressing public health -- ms. schakowsky: when i order pizza, there's a menu attached to it so i can do it by phone or online again. why not on that menu? just list that? ms. liddle: that's what we're proposing. that we bring the calorie information right on the electronic or online menu.

ms. schakowsky: when i get the pizza, there's usually a paper menu attached to it. why couldn't it be on that? a carryout menu? ms. liddle: we consider those promotional materials. they're ads with flyers that say order this special. which is one of the other problems with the legislation for us and many other restaurants. mr. pitts: we have eight minutes left in the vote. chair recognizes cathy mcmorris rodgers five minutes for questions. mrs. mcmorris rodgers: i too do look at the calorie count. my democrat colleague and i, loretta sanchez, share that in common and why we're working with everyone to accomplish the goal of providing information in a commonsense way. that's the purpose of the legislation is to accomplish the goal of the calorie counts in a commonsense way. i appreciate everyone being here today. wanted to start with ms. hubbard. i understand you own almost 300 stores is that correct? ms. hubbard: yes, ma'am. mrs. mcmorris rodgers: did you purchase them all at once? ms. hubbard: no, we built some

in 1970 that have evolved and morphed, we have acquired many stores and our construction model as changed. mrs. mcmorris rodgers: are they the same on the inside? ms. hubbard: no. mrs. mcmorris rodgers: do they sell the same things? ms. hubbard: no. mrs. mcmorris rodgers: is it possible you might need to design, buy and install a different menu board at every location? ms. hubbard: every single location. mrs. mcmorris rodgers: how much do you think it will cost you? ms. hubbard: we think it will easily hit a million dollars for all our locations. mrs. mcmorris rodgers: next to ms. liddle of domino's, a bipartisan group sent a letter to the f.d.a. requesting a one-year delay on the enforcement of the regulations.

do you support a delay on the enforcement of the regulation? ms. liddle: we support and appreciate that. however, we do not think it's the solution. we really believe we need a legislative fix. mrs. mcmorris rodgers: do you think even with a delay you and your franchisees could be able to comply with the regulations? ms. liddle: we could put ranges of calories on menu boards that would not make sense to consumers and that would cost our small franchisees a lot of money. we could do that, yes. mrs. mcmorris rodgers: do you think others in the pizza community, papa john's, godfather's and other feel the same? ms. liddle: i think the smaller the company, the harder it is because of cost of compliance. mrs. mcmorris rodgers: as the rule is written, could you or one of your store managers be criminally charged for failure to comply? ms. liddle: the way the law is written, there are criminal penalties, you have to certify

the information is correct both at the corporate level and at every store. there are 75,000 pizza stores in the united states. that's a lot of paperwork, one, and there are lots of teenagers who make hand-made products and even though we have very precise recipes for each thing, they can be off a little bit if they're just a little heavy handed with the cheese or if they don't put as many pepperonis on, it's not going to be the same calories exactly. i don't think that warrants sending a kid to jail. mrs. mcmorris rodgers: thank you. ms. raskopf. i want to ask, who is responsible for having the correct calorie count at each location? the individual manager or someone in the corporate office? ms. raskopf: if it's something from our central menu that most restaurants will carry, that's something we at the corporate office do. there are things like manager's specials and those would be

exempt is our understanding. mrs. mcmorris rodgers: if the f.d.a. or local law enforcement officer were to come in and find that, for example, a doughnut had been oversprinkled and therefore did not comply with the posted calorie count and was outside the allowable standard, who would be at fault? ms. raskopf: the reasonable standard under the f.d.a. protects all of us in the food service industry. they understand that when you're making hand prepared food there will be error. my understanding with the f.d.a. is really this is all about, any penalties are there to try to go after anybody who would deliberately mislead the public. it's not very -- mrs. mcmorris rodgers: is it possible that one of your employees could be charged with a criminal charge? ms. raskopf: that's not our understanding. mrs. mcmorris rodgers: who would receive the citation? ms. raskopf: what we understand is that that information would be given to us and give us time

to correct that. ms. mcmorris rodgers: i want to ask ms. liddle and mr. o'quinn. i would say the two of you are quite different and also different from others on the panel such as dunkin' donuts. do you think this regulation tries to treat entities which are quite different in a cookie cutter fashion which doesn't make sense? >> yes. >> yes. mr. griffith: thank you, mr. chairman. great to see you, delegate o'quinn. appreciate you coming to capitol hill to bring some wisdom from southwest virginia. up here. is there anything that you wanted to talk about that you haven't had an opportunity to talk about? mr. o'quinn: thank you, congressman griffith. i would just say that this has been a very frustrating process. we meet with -- our industry

meets with f.d.a. on a regular basis. mr. griffith: you're not talking about the hearing. mr. o'quinn: no, the hearing has been as smooth as silk. but the process throughout the fleshing out of this has been difficult because we meet with f.d.a. on a regular basis on a wide variety of topics. this has been one particular topic in which they have been absolutely unwilling to meet or communicate. so here we are discussing a delay versus some clarity and reasonable flexibility but it has been a frustrating process but we appreciate the opportunity to be here today to air our side of the story. mr. griffith: thank you very much for being here. i'll ask both you and ms. liddle, the concerns about -- we've heard both today the concerns about somebody being charged with a felony, i guess ms. hubbard as well. one of the things you said, ms. liddle, was that as currently written, now, intent is a good thing. but as a lawmaker for a number

of years, only a few years here, but a long time in the virginia legislature, if you don't make it clear somebody will misinterpret the intent and while the intent may be not to charge your worker with a felony because they get a little excited with the cheese on the pizza or something where they don't follow the exact recipe, you've said the way it's currently written, they could be charged. is it a problem of the difference between the actual wording of the statute and the intent or do you all just disagree completely on -- ms. liddle: it's my understanding that this falls under the food and drug cosmetic act and under this there's sort of a presumption of guilt ahead of time. there are criminal penalties that could be put on folks and i -- mr. griffith: so you might like to see words like intentionally and repetitively or a pattern of intentional behavior. ms. liddle: correct. i agree with mr. o'quinn. it has been a frustrating

experience waiting for rules from f.d.a. i frankly don't trust that the ultimate outcome of their rules will be correct and so i really believe that we need this fix. mr. griffith: i appreciate that and i would probably have some more questions for you but the votes are on the floor and i know the chairman's been very patient to let me have this time. thank each and every one of you for testifying. i hope we can straighten this out. i yield back. mr. pitts: the chair thanks the gentleman. the time has expired on the floor. we have additional questions. i'm sure members will submit those to you in writing, if you'd please respond. this has been very, very interesting and informative hearing. i remind members that they have 10 business days to submit questions for the record. i ask witnesses to respond promptly. members should submit their questions by the close of business on thursday, june 18. so thank you for your patience, your testimony and it's time for lunch, i think.

with that, without objection, the subcommittee is adjourned. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] >> taking a look back at this , talking about menu labeling, calorie labeling. taking a look at some of your phone calls. how has this affected you?

orld you change how you eat why food in a store? say yes this has been a help to you as a consumer, and if not different lines. let us know what you think you can also tweet us c-span. we also have the question on our facebook page we show those comments and a minute or let's couldn't chat, going from indiana. caller: hello? host: you're on the air. go ahead. i think mcdonald's food has way too much fat in it. the labels helped, knowing how many calories are in that food? caller: yeah. host: has it changed what you

have bought? a small french fry, and it usually order a sweet tea. has it changed what you buy? caller: yeah. i try to buy things that are healthier. host: does its three away from a restaurant like mcdonald's which has higher calorie food? caller: yeah. host: you are glad to see those calories printed out for you? caller: yes. very much so. we are going to get another caller, cindy in lawnmowers, iowa. caller: hello. host: how has this affected the way you like food?

have you even been seeing the calorie counts on menus? caller: i have not seen them on any restaurants or maybe marx. i think that it is not going to help india because when i did see i tend to look at the calories online and find out what i can and cannot have. if i was at a restaurant and i want pizza, i'm going to buy it no matter how many calories are in it. i think we have all this iteling all over the store, will just be overkill and people will not be lifted chin. and the price for food is going to go up, which it already has so much over the past years. it is more expensive to meet out as it is, or to grab something. it is just going to make cost go out. it is not wait to matter that much to those who are watching their weight is went to look it up and know what we can and

cannot have. host: getting your information right online. caller: yeah. .ost: robin is on the line caller: from michigan. host: let us know what you think about the food labeling. having the calorie counter front of your eyes. caller: i am a mom. i have had six kids. before i got, is my life together, i still was very careful about how much i said to them -- and then junk was. the legally in grocery stores is great, because that is where we get our mess quantities from. it is nice to know if you're making a choice between something, the same thing kobe

can get less offer less. that is great. you think this is reported on past who. -- fast food. go to burger king, or mcdonald's, you are out to eat happy food. it is an intention. you buys in color city of them everybody agree with one feedsentative said if you fast food, and cannot do anything, and just sit, you are going to get fat. i agree with that. i really do. small people who cannot do this labeling, it will hurt him. there is so much overregulation already, it is insane. are a mom of six kids?

you're probably not someone who sits around a lot. you're probably very active. caller: i was always five foot two inches, 145 pounds, and i ended up having drink liquids and it messed up my thyroid. there are medical issues, some people will just our. quick break fretwell, no matter what is, i have a nine-year-old to give nuggetsd a loss a lot. but he is string bean skinny. theally have to give him green beans and the carrots. there are things that people can do. but don't you think that fast food and junk food and common

sense? i do not think that anybody, unless they have never had any education all needs to be told that enigma is pretty good for -- that a big mac is not very good for you. host: sharing is on the line from wisconsin. hello. host: did you take a look at the hearing? caller: i have been watching my diet for years. ie the right if things, i feel better. i know better than to eat eats, i will feel that the next day. i think this is a waste of money. it is penalizing those poor people in the food industry. it is unnecessary spending will

be penalized. just a bunch of who we. food labeling and where she wonderful. i really appreciate that since i have to watch assault and -- watch salt. pizza and fast food is great, whenever you have a craving, but you cannot live on this. you have to learn to cook. host: take a look at the fda's website. they have a little more information about what you can expect to see in this new labeling. some establishment already voluntarily posting this information. they have two years after the

menu leveling final rule forishes december 1, 2014 this deadline to be in effect. ohio. from cincinnati, am interested in genetically modified foods. no way that you can tell by looking at something that i do not want to eat it. i was certainly like to have it posted on any fast food or restaurant if they are going to add that. also, my fructose corn syrup, i do not want that in my food. to anonymousy except by having it on the label. cannot taste it, you do not know when i buy foods in the grocery

i look for those things. i also look for sodium which most producers put too much of. if they have a high sodium count and put it back. host: so i tower cam does not do much for you? caller: i can guess of the calorie count. i am worried about the high syrup and the genetically modified foods of the sodium. i certainly would like to see those posted. itcourse, somebody can have heavy with the cheese, or may get that and was waiting for the actual count. is the green that they want to avoid totally -- the i want to cutat that i worried

about. host: a country of origin question for you. we're taking your phone calls, we will le like to hear what you think if food labeling has been a help to you. a call from pennsylvania. caller: hello. host: go ahead. labeling, far as food it has helped me a lot individually and as a person, to stay healthy and not only that, as a father of a teenage fast foodthere is no that you will not pay for on

the backend. education, the fact that in our school systems and we do not teach our children the proper way to eat. for any industry who feeds us, or responsible for helping eat to disagree with american public like mothers and fathers, not only is it wrong for them to put a price tag on it, you cannot put a price on .ealth received the -- health and safety. host: americans want to know

what they're eating through clear food labeling. transparency is essential to our health. national survey proves americans overwhelmingly want to gma life -- once gmo labeling. our last call, st. petersburg, florida. caller: i do not quite understand this. i think i know what they are trying to do. i am 68 years old, and nothing comes down in price. the more the government gets involved, the board is going to cost us.

myouldn't be afraid to ask about all these questions, church they cause -- $200 for five minutes. order for me to have them explain some stuff to me. i do not know what i would be paying. thank you to all our callers. we will have our phone lines open again tomorrow morning on washington journal. if you want to go back and look at the menu's at labeling me to --e a look at these and.org c-span.org. tonight will be taking you on one of our c-span city tours. been onngress has recess we have been showing it every day here on his bed at exec or pm eastern time. today we will have more from

saint augustine, florida. we will hear about the franciscan monks that settled saint augustine. and the professor that road about the civil rights movement in florida. you, improvingto american infrastructure that includes a panel with the housing and urban development previously let conference in washington dc to make the city more lovable and walkable. right now we will take a look back at some of president obama's trip to alaska. he wanted as far as the arctic circle. he talked to an audience at a high school there. the first u.s. president to do so.

ladies and gentlemen, to introduce the president of the united states, please welcome holly. president obama. welcome to northwest alaska. it is a honor to welcome you to get our homeland. said, what does one say to the president of the united states? then i thought, ok, maybe we

have a couple things in common number one, we hold a title that gives us privilege to look out for the best interest of our people that we serve. responsibilities are a million times greater than mine. number two, we are in a place and time in which climate change challenges us to protect our people, our land, and natural resources. as it stands now, my current home may not just 10 years from now. by thefic research done tribal health consortium etc. meanwhile islands that we call home may be underwater. of america, we live in conditions that other people

in america considered third world. climate change, erosion in veryg our community serious ways. we thank you for visiting our see firsthand the impact of climate change on local communities. on behalf of my elders and the here, and as well as the rest of you and the northwest people of our region, i welcome you to northwest alaska, and the american arctic. introduce the to president of the united states, barack obama. [applause]

president obama: hello, alaska! [applause] hello, kotzebue! [applause] go, huskies! thank you so much! thank you for that wonderful, wonderful reception. please give millie a big round of applause. [applause] everybody, have a seat. have a seat. just relax. i'm going to be here for a while. [laughter] it is wonderful to be in alaska. and i look forward to spending some quality time here. and i've gotten such a wonderful welcome all across the state -- so i want to thank all of you. thanks to the mayor of the northwest arctic borough, reggie joule.

where's reggie? [applause] reggie, right here. your mayor, maija lukin. [applause] i want to acknowledge the presence of our lieutenant governor here -- thank you so much, byron mallott. [applause] and all of you for the warm iñupiaq reception here in kotzebue. we are so grateful. thank you. i think that's a good thing, whatever it he was talking about. [laughter] when you're president, you never know. sometimes you get some hecklers. [laughter] i did have my team look into

what other presidents have done when they visited alaska. i'm not the first president to come to alaska. warren harding spent more than two weeks here -- which i would love to do. but i can't leave congress alone that long. [laughter] something might happen. when fdr visited -- franklin delano roosevelt -- his opponents started a rumor that he left his dog, fala, on the aleutian islands -- and spent $20 million taxpayer dollars to send a destroyer to pick him up. now, i'm astonished that anybody would make something up about a president. [laughter] but fdr did not take it lying down. he said, "i don't resent attacks, and my family doesn't resent attacks -- but fala does resent attacks. he's not been the same dog since." [laughter] president carter did some fishing when he visited. and i wouldn't mind coming back to alaska to do some fly-fishing

someday. you cannot see alaska in three days. it's too big. it's too vast. it's too diverse. [applause] so i'm going to have to come back. i may not be president anymore, but hopefully i'd still get a pretty good reception. [applause] and just in case, i'll bring michelle, who i know will get a good reception. [applause] in fact, on monday, governor walker and byron personally gave me a fishing license. thank you, lieutenant governor. i think it expires, though, pretty quick, and i haven't gotten out there yet. but there's one thing no american president has done

before -- and that's travel above the arctic circle. [applause] so i couldn't be prouder to be the first, and to spend some time with all of you. before i begin my remarks, i want to thank our veterans who are in the audience, because we have so many alaska natives who serve our country and defend us. and in fact, i met some world war ii vets, and korean war vets. and we want to make sure that they know how much we appreciate everything that they've done on our behalf. [applause] we appreciate them very much. and i want to thank everybody in kotzebue for something else -- which is taking such good care of my team over the past week. [applause] i know that when i come to town

there are a lot of people who come first, and it's a big footprint. but all of them have told me incredible stories of your kindness. i heard that you stuffed them full of all kinds of meat at cariboufest. [laughter] john baker, who was the winner of the 2011 iditarod, let them play with his husky puppies. i heard about offers to go berry-picking on the tundra, last night's cultural night. and i heard that you're even teaching them some iñupiaq. i don't know how good they are. [laughter] they're probably a little better than me. but the teams that advance my trip, they spend a lot of time far away from home. they do great work. most of them are really young people. so i just want to say thank you to all of you for making them feel so at home even when they're 4,000 miles away. [applause]

so i've had a great week here in alaska. flying in on monday, i had the view of something extraordinary from air force one -- "the great one," denali. [applause] we've restored its alaska native name. i know that it's been a long time coming for alaskans. i've had the chance to sit in the cockpit of a float plane. but the secret service didn't let me fly it. [laughter] i still enjoyed it. we had a chance to hike to the exit glacier in kenai fjords national park. i went out on resurrection bay and saw dolphins and a humpback whale and otters and puffins. and in dillingham, just earlier today, i watched alaska native

fishermen bring in their salmon catch, and a tribal elder prepare it in the traditional way. i had a chance to visit a middle school where alaska native youth performed a traditional yup'ik dance. and i participated. it's on video. [applause] so the warmth and hospitality has been incredible, and i'm so grateful for it. we talk a lot about the pioneering, independent spirit of america. it's something that we're very proud of as americans. but what's clear is that, up here, it's not just a spirit, it's not just a slogan -- it's a way of life. and it is out of necessity. you've got to be self-reliant up here. you can't just drive down to the shopping mall to get what you need. help, if you need it, is a long way away. this far north, everybody has to

look out for each other. and even with all those efforts, there's still isolation and there's poverty, and it can be harsh. and that means that you depend on each other. it makes family and community and tradition all the more important. i grew up in hawaii, which obviously the weather is a little different. [laughter] but there's a similarity -- what's called the aloha spirit there. and i know you have the same spirit here -- the notion that we're all in this together. and it's all the more profound in a place above the arctic circle. we know that alaska is big -- and sometimes i have to describe for people in the lower 48, if you dropped it on the lower 48, it would stretch from florida to california, from the dakotas to texas. that's how big it is.

so the people of alaska can be just as different as all the differences that exist across america. but even though we all look different, and come from different places, and believe in different things -- we all stand united around some similar values. we all want a chance at opportunity. we all want to be able to pass down our traditions and our culture and our language to our kids. we all want the same chance at the american dream as everybody else. we believe that every community deserves access to great jobs. and that's why, to boost commerce in the arctic, and to maintain america's status as an arctic power, we've called for the accelerated replacement of the coast guard's heavy-duty icebreaker, and we're planning for the construction of more icebreakers. and i'm urging congress to make sure we've got the resources to do this. to boost tourism, i'm asking congress to speed up maintenance and modernization of our national parks in time for the centennial next year -- including right here in alaska.

we believe every child deserves a shot at a great education. one of the initiatives i'm proudest of is something we call connected -- and it's a program we started to close the technology gap in our schools and connect 99% of america's students to high-speed internet by the year 2018. [applause] and if you want to see the difference this can make in a child's life, look at nanwalek, on alaska's southern coast. it is remote -- like a lot of alaskan communities, you can only get there by boat or by plane. but today, with the help of apple, all 80 of its students -- most of whom are alaska natives -- now learn in classrooms with fast internet and ipads and digital content. most of these kids don't have internet at home. but in the classroom, they've got the tools to compete with any child around the world. and i know you're taking

advantage of this program here in kotzebue, with wireless internet and 3d printing. and that's great -- because that's what we want for all these kids. we want nothing less than the best. and as president, one of the reasons i'm here is to tell you that i'm behind those efforts. i want to make sure these young people know we care about them and we're fighting for them. [applause] we believe every american deserves access to quality, affordable health care. and since i signed the affordable care act -- also known as obamacare -- [laughter] we signed it five and a half years ago. since then, 16 million americans have gotten covered. more than 18,000 alaskans have been able to purchase private plans through healthcare.gov. thanks to the leadership of governor walker and lieutenant governor mallott, another 17,000

are projected to gain access to health insurance under medicaid next year. so we appreciate that. [applause] and that means more alaskans can get things like mammograms and physicals. and it means fewer alaskans will go broke just because they get sick. it will save this state an estimated $20 million in costs of care for people who can't afford to pay for it. so it's going to make a difference. we also believe in being good stewards of our land and our planet for the next generation. and that's what i want to spend the rest of my time talking about. one of the reasons i came up here is to really focus on what is probably the biggest challenge our planet faces. if there's one thing that threatens opportunity and prosperity for everybody, wherever we live, it's the threat of a changing climate. i don't need to tell people here

in alaska what's happening. over the past few years, i've been trying to make the rest of the country more aware of a changing climate, but you're already living it. you've got longer, more dangerous fire seasons in alaska. thawing permafrost that threatens homes and infrastructure. faster glacier melt. rising seas. melting sea ice that contributes to some of the fastest coastal erosion in the world. i met alaska natives whose way of life that they've practiced for centuries is in danger of slipping away. on monday, one alaska native woman told me she doesn't want her way of life to go on the endangered species list. and i've talked with folks whose villages are literally in danger of slipping away. so on my way here, i flew over the island of kivalina, which is already receding into the ocean. that's what millie was talking

about. waves sweep across the entire island at times, from one side clear across the other. and for many of those alaskans, it's no longer a question of if they're going to relocate, but when. and think about it -- if another country threatened to wipe out an american town, we'd do everything in our power to protect it. well, climate change poses the same threat right now. and that's why i care so deeply about this. if we do nothing, temperatures in alaska are projected to rise between 6 and 12 degrees by the end of the century. that means more melting, more fires, more erosion, more thawing of the permafrost, more warming after that. and that threatens all of us with hardship, not just people up north. there aren't many other places in america that have to deal with those questions right now. but there will be.

and what's happening here is america's wake-up call. it should be the world's wake-up call. and that's why, over the past six years, we've been working to do something about it. we are the number-one producer of oil and gas. but we're transitioning away from energy that creates the carbon that's warming the planet and threatening our health and our environment, and we're going all in on clean, renewable energy sources like wind and solar. and alaska has the natural resources to be a global leader in this effort. america right now harnesses three times as much electricity from the wind and 20 times as much from the sun as we did back in 2008. that's how much progress we've already made. and alaskans now lead the world in the development of hybrid wind energy systems for remote grids, which help, obviously, villages that aren't hooked up to a big power grid. and you're expanding your solar and biomass resources.

so kodiak island, for example, recently achieved 99.7 percent of its electricity from renewable sources. its wind power alone displaces more than 2 million gallons of diesel fuel every year. so people are saving money and helping the environment. and today, kodiak island announced a $3 million public-private partnership that will make the island the first in the world to adopt new technology that lets it stabilize and store the energy it generates from the wind. and i know you guys have started putting up solar panels and wind turbines around kotzebue. and because energy costs are pretty severe up here, for remote alaskan communities, one of the biggest problems is high energy costs. so we're going to deploy more new clean-energy projects on native lands, and that's going to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, promote new jobs and new growth in your communities. [applause]

we've also invested in energy efficiency in every imaginable way -- in our buildings, in our cars, our trucks, our homes, our appliances. and all that saves billions of dollars for consumers along the way. so more than 15,000 alaska homeowners have cut their energy bills by 30 percent on average, and that saves folks here in alaska more than $50 million a year. anchorage became the first city in the world to replace more than a quarter of its roadway lighting with led lighting, and that saves the city $260,000 a year, cuts its energy consumption from lighting by nearly 60%. in the town of tok, the school district replaced its expensive diesel heating and power systems

with one fueled by biomass, saved enough money to rehire the counselor, the music teacher, and the boiler operator. that's a good story. [applause] and last month, i announced the first set of nationwide standards to end the limitless carbon emissions from our power plants. and that's the most important step we've ever taken on climate change. [applause] so the good news is we've made a lot of progress in the last six years. but i'm here to tell you we've got to do more. we've got to move faster. we're not moving fast enough. and for the sake of our kids, we've got to keep going. america has to lead the world in transitioning to a clean energy economy. now, as we make this transition, we've also got to take more seriously our obligation to help those communities that are

already at risk so that they can become more resilient in the face of climate change. because some of it we're not going to be able to avoid. the planet is already getting warmer. and so communities are already going to be affected, and that's especially pressing here in alaska. and that's why, today, i'm announcing that the denali commission will serve as a central coordinator in building what we call climate resilience -- helping people adapt. and this is going to cut through bureaucracy and red tape, frees up communities like yours to develop and implement solutions for events like coastal erosion and flooding, and permafrost degradation. [applause] and the denali commission is also committing $2 million to support voluntary relocation efforts for vulnerable rural communities. the department of housing and urban development is going to

consult with arctic coastal tribes, on a nation-to-nation basis, on your unique needs. and we're also going to help communities build more resilient infrastructure. you shouldn't wait until disaster strikes. we should see if we can invest in communities before the disaster strikes to prevent it. so today, we're announcing more than $17 million in usda rural water grants for infrastructure projects in remote alaskan communities, including one right here in kotzebue. [applause] and we're launching a new competition to support cutting-edge energy efficiency solutions. the department of energy is going to offer technical assistance and advice. if your communities come up with the best strategy for sustainable, efficient energy that's tailored for your community, you're going to get federal support to make your plans a reality.

and to help alaskans better plan for sustainable development, the national geospatial intelligence agency and the national science foundation are leading a public-private collaboration to create the first-ever publicly available, high-resolution, satellite-based elevation map of alaska by next year and the entire arctic by the year after that, so that we know exactly what's taking place all across this great state. [applause] so before we came up here, we had a conference down in anchorage, not just with americans but from -- leaders from around the world. and i told them that when it comes to climate change, there is such a thing as being too late. the effects can be irreversible if we don't act. and that moment is almost here. and you know this better than anybody. i want you to know, as your president, i'm here to make sure

that you get the support that you need. but we should be optimistic about what can be accomplished, because there's nothing that we can't do if we work together. america is full of dreamers. we push new frontiers by choice. that's what makes us americans. whether we live in the arctic circle or on the hawaiian islands, whether we're in big cities or small towns -- we're one people. and our future is only as good as the efforts that we put into it. but when people are determined and hopeful and generous, as the people here in kotzebue are, it makes me optimistic. it tells me that this country's best days are still ahead. so i want to thank all of you. [applause] i especially want to thank the young people for being here today. thank you, kotzebue. god bless you. god bless the united states of america. thank you. [applause]

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>> from alaska, do florida, the c-span cities tour goes to saint augustine tonight. we show this every other weekend on c-span2 book tv but also on american history tv on c-span3. while congress has been on recess we have been showing it here on c-span and today, saint augustine. the author of henry industrialist wagner, who turned it into a vacation spot for the wealthy. at 8:00 p.m. eastern, improving u.s. infrastructure and its impact of the environment. here is a preview.

>> burlington had rested their municipal utility, which was at the time at the hands of a private company in the did it because of money. the rates were too high. not surprising. still a reason that many thoughts are trying to get this community power that it can be a source of revenue for the town. powerublic consumers paying considerably less than others. some towns wanted to develop green power. not renewolorado did their contract with their private power producers because they were tired of the company dragging their feet on producing power and they said we would do it ourselves. and also to give responsiveness from the power company.

they needed a series of electrical of grades and their private provider would not do it. >> they invested some money and and now they are actually paying less. >> more of the discussion on infrastructure and sustainability tonight at 8:00 on c-span. this labor day weekend, three days of politics and american history. on a full day of special programs, here are a few of the features from monday. beginning at 10:00, townhall in seattle discusses the pros and cons of big data. later that evening, a debate on how to reduce poverty. this will be with president barack obama. and at 8:00, mark cuban and bill

clinton and george w. bush on leadership skills. beginning on saturday on book tv, we will be live all day for the national book festival. programs will feature joseph ellis and your opportunity to talk to a poll to prize-winning historian as well as buzz aldrin. and a live conversation on cheney whoth lynne will take phone calls. edenat 9:00, catherine talks about how families from chicago to appalachia are surviving on no income. and labor day monday, authors like erik loomis and and coulter share their -- ann coulter share their thoughts on issues.

and on lectures in history, boise state university professor explains how chemical agents used during the korean war greater long-term damage to both people and the environment. sunday afternoon at 4:00 on railamerica, crowded out, the film addressing overcrowding of schools in post-world war ii. and on monday, our interview with david rubenstein. get our complete schedule at c-span.org. >> on the road to the white house, governor john kasich spoke at a house party in new hampshire. [applause]

gov. kasich: we will make this like a jump rope. can we give a big round of applause for the host and hostess? [applause] i understand that everyone here will get a canned ham when you leave. they have a beautiful -- how about this? when i'm president everybody will have a backyard like this. [laughter] and he toldears ago a story about this led dog -- racingg, i did go sled and i thought i was going to drown. but a story about that, i was in this house and i was talking to this lady and we were talking and standing at the sink and it was going great. i thought, i have myself a town captain here. after about 20 minutes she looked at her watch and said,

when you think the candidate will get your -- here? that's when i know it was time to go back to ohio. so i want to thank everyone here for coming. i will do a short bio. i do come from pittsburgh. my father and his father was a coal miner. my mother was a very smart lady, but very undereducated. she was highly opinionated. her mother lived with us off and on and she could barely speak english. the town where i grew up, i don't remember except for one guy who lived catty corner to us. everyone in this town had a blue-collar, i never remember seeing a white shirt. hometown was a democrat. we do not have republicans living there. it was a conservative,

god-fearing common sense town. if the wind blew the wrong way, people found themselves out of work. i was talking to agent him and hear whose father was the postmaster in downtown pittsburgh, apparently had a lot of say in the area. -- reason i bring that up is i was never aware of us getting special things. we never got a ticket to go see the world series. we never got a ticket to go see the playoff games. i can't hardly remember whether or not we even got a ticket to go see the steelers play. because we just didn't have those connections. i have not talked much about tos, but i learned as a kid fight for the underdog. i learned as a kid to stick up for people who a lot of times people don't stick up for.

and that is burned in my soul. that does not mean that people who are successful need to be torn down. i can remember my father saying to me, johnny, we do not hate the rich, we want to be the rich. shaped invalues were that little town. and i really carry that through my whole lifetime. my mother was very opinionated. her, learned a lot from because she was someone who really -- she would shake it up. she was a change agent and it is a change -- shame she didn't have an education, because of what she could have done. i will tell you an interesting story. the one thing i wanted to be, i wanted to play on the little league team. i was a pretty good ballplayer, but i was a little skinny guy

who would be easy to ignore. the you try out for baseball team, you put a number on your back. it is not like baseball teams today where everybody gets a trophy. you have a number on your back and run out into the field. might think that -- that, -- back, my glove was bigger than me. you go out there for batting practice, go out to the field. then the coaches would write your number down and they would call you and tell you that you are on the team. i never got a call. i never got a call. dad, aaid to my father, lot of kids at the school yard, they are on baseball teams, but they do not play as well as i do. s are coaches or

know somebody, so could you talk to somebody and get me on the team? you know what my dad said, johnny you will earn it. we are not going to go anybody anything. think about that for a second. what a powerful statement that an 11-year-old boy. that is how i have conducted myself. if you support me, give me something, it does not get you anything special or it i will know you and i will respect you and listen to you. on, nobody calls the tune john kasich. maybe the lord, but nobody. no doubt my wife -- [laughter] other than that. but when you combine the sense of sticking up for people who have not always be heard and you combine that with a sense of people should have the right to grow and become something big.

johnny we do not hate the rich, we want to be the rich. and when you about my mother being independent, having an independent voice. it has made me in some ways a different kind of public official. and i went too ohio state. governments my words -- words, i was in michigan today and i didn't tell them that i went to ohio state -- well, i did. [laughter] i feel like i have been struck by lightning and i feel as though i have had some blessings to be able to take the skills i have and use them to try to do some good. because my mother and father always said, make sure that wherever you are the place is

better because you are there. so i am -- i have all these -- always subscribed to that. i was elected to office at a very young man. years iout maybe 24.5 knew no one in my senate district. the legislature in ohio is, we have 11.5 million people, i represented 350,000, which is almost the same number of american congressmen. i didn't know anybody when i ran. i didn't know anybody in the party. i had been working in the legislature. i recruited, like the women standing here with these shirts on, i would go to their homes and talk to them and ask if they would help me. we created a volunteer army. i run for office, this is not a campaign, this is a movement. i won. it was a shocking win.

nobody would have expected me to win, because iran against -- i ran against a guy who was a household word. i became the youngest in the office in ohio history. i served for four years. there were a couple things going on. one was i was in the minority for two years. my third year i was in the majority. but the house was democrats, so i had to figure out, am i a ohio in.n or a first and foremost, a conservative. i didn't want to raise taxes, i wanted to make the government as small as i could. that comes from my blue-collar background. where things are big -- if things are big, they do not work well. i needed to work with people in the other party to get things done. and after those four years iran for congress. an aid, i was working as

in the legislature before i was elected. i was a fan of ronald reagan. reagan, i went due to -- i went door-to-door in columbus ohio, like we were running out of time. i said look, you can be mad at me, but assignments position to get ronald reagan on the ballot. one senator i was working for was in the reagan trust and he called me one day and said i'm really busy out here, can you fly out to kansas city, i need help. i got there and i went into the trailer with these people who are trying to get delegates to vote for reagan. when i walked in, they said that somebody didn't show up and we have -- we wonder if you can manage five delegations in the country to help reagan become president. , have no idea what that meant but i said absolutely. i had an opportunity at

that convention to travel with ronald reagan, too good to was able to and i introduce him. i was 24 years old. i was steeped in that from the beginning. iran for congress after that effort. ran for congress after that effort. i get into the majority and republicans want to raise taxes. i had made a promise that it would not support a tax increase. so my colleagues are to call me names. you have been told the story before. and they were calling me irresponsible. i said he was a calming irresponsible, i will write my own budget. was 28 my own budget, i years old. i wrote a budget for ohio to close the deficit so we would not have to raise taxes. --kets defeated, but i had

the budget, it gets defeated, but i had learned something there. if you know the budget and you know how government works and you have more knowledge than anybody else. i run for congress and i run with reagan in 1982, i am the only republican to defeat an incumbent democrat that year. and iran on the reagan tax cuts and smaller government and to be able to defeat the soviet union as the reagan used to say, his philosophy on the soviet union, we win, they lose. it is simple. i go down there and i start my service on armed services committee, learning about the fence. i became a defense reformer because i found the wrenches and hammers. some of you remember that. it was a little uncomfortable to be a defense reformer and a republican, but it was the right thing to do. i gotars in, i became --

to the budget committee. i went to my first meeting and i didn't like what was going on. i am a conservative. i want a balanced budget. that year, my first year, i offer my own budget and the vote yes.at was 405 know and 30 i thought i was doing great. i offered a budget year after year. i will explain a little bit to you about how this works. friend, john, i love john and kitty. days i became the senior republican in the budget committee and then the chairman. we broke up into groups. i would take 4-5 members of the committee and i would assign them to area to research and fix. and then i would take another

group and ask them. here is where the ground rules. you need to look at all of these programs and if they do not work we will get rid of them. , we can fixork them. if they can be privatized, we will privatize them and i want you to think outside the box. don't think like you work in the government, think like you work in business and come up with a better mousetrap. nobody, but nobody, has influence over you. you can talk to people, consult with people, but at the end of the day, it is an intellectually honest exercise. let the chips fall where they may. we did that. in 1997, we landed on the first balanced budget since man had walked on the moon, we pay down the largest amount of the modern debt that was held by the public and we cut taxes on capital gains and the academy was -- and the economy was doing great.

i was also on the defense committee, so i had to make decisions about war, resources that america has, and i worked with some of the greatest minds in the modern history of the u.s. , to barrytower goldwater, these were giants, this was the time when republicans and democrats work together because we were all americans first and it was a great experience. , i thoughtashington i am done with this, getting out of town, i wanted to go to the private sector. i worked at lehman brothers as an investment banker, i traveled all over. i learned how businesses work and i really learned about how decisions get made. what a then you remember big television star i was at fox news. i was huge. and i did a bunch of other things and then i felt called back into government. i told my wife i was thinking

about going back and she said, that is ok with me. she said, you will be sleeping on the porch for the next four years. then she finally understood, i tell you what, the lord has a purpose for all of us. maybe you do not think that way, maybe you are a humanist, and if you are you have a purpose for living, improving the lives of people around you. i could not look the other way, so iran for governor and i was the first person to beat an incumbent in over 30 years. for somebody who i never run statewide and had been out of politics, nobody like that had been elected like that against an incumbent for 96 years. it was a good compliment. i went to work with the same philosophy i had in washington. we were a billion dollars in the hole, the credit was going on the train, people were feeling hopeless. ,e put this program together after my first year i had a 28%

approval rating, was the most governor in america. he have to work hard to be that unpopular. then we started to feel the sun come up. 4.5 years later, we are no longer in debt, we have a surplus, we cut taxes by almost $5 billion, the largest amount by any sitting governor in america. jobs and over 330,000 our credit is strong. another thing i want to tell you, when we do better, everybody should do better. shadows, ifin the you are mentally ill, we are going to help you. we do not want you to be put in jail or in prison where we have 10,000 mentally ill people in our state and in every shade across the country. we need to help them get on their feet and become

productive. if you are drug addicted, the revolving door of prison and drug dealer is it no more. we are going to treat you and get you on your feet. if you are the working poor, we do not want you spending your wheren the emergency room it is more expensive, we want you to get decent health care and make sure that if you are the working poor, you continue to get the races without losing childcare. if your default -- develop , we willdisabled mainstream you. if you are in the minority community, we will help you create entrepreneurship. i think being a conservative means opportunity for everybody. puthow, somebody has .onservatives in a box being a conservative is about government as a last resort and not a first resort and it is

about letting people keep more in their pockets rather than sending it to a faraway place. it is about school choice, it is about many things, about running america from the bottom up. conservativesat is also about having a big heart . about giving people an opportunity to live out their god-given purpose. that is what opportunity is about in america. --an play that is what it is i can tell you that that is what is about. one other thing i can tell you, it is time that americans stop complaining about things. we live in an unbelievable country. why don't we get of tomorrow morning and count our blessings for having been born in the u.s. we have problems, but they can be solved and they can be solved because when we hang together, we have real strength, real purpose. , there are president

three things i would like to focus on. one is the issue of economic growth. any public official that is worth their salt have to create an environment for job creation. that means we have to deregulate society, we have to give companies incentives to move profits back from europe so they invest in america. we need to give incentives to invest in plants and equipment so workers can have tools and get higher wages. we need to work on workforce training so we train people for jobs that exist and we need to be in a position where we look .t the tax code and simplify it so many things we need to do to create economic growth and a lot of it is attitude. and we need to rebuild our defense. but we have to reform our pentagon. it used to be, it would take 5-6 years to research development

and employ a weapons system, now takes over 20 years. how about if i told you you will build a house, but then you will move in in 20 years. we need to reform that building and rebuild our military strength. we are leaders of the world, whether we know it the weather sometimes we like it, we are the leader. finally, i think we need to reignite citizenship. what do i mean by that? americans and as members of western civilization need to realize that we need to lead a life bigger than ourselves. that is what the one campaign is about. you lead a life bigger than you. and secondly we all need to be centers of justice, centers of healing, so we can take care of our communities. so we can have a healthier society. know, it does not sound like

a campaign speech does it? i hope it sounds bigger, this is like rekindling the flame in our country. we can do it. it is not that hard. sometimes the politicians will not be able to get it, but the people do. i remember when ronald reagan tip you write letters to o'neill, and he ended up having more letters on his desk then in miracle on 34th street. let's read build the defense, let's reignite citizenship and let's be a leader of the world. that is my story and i am sticking to it. [applause] yes, in the back. >> thank you governor, excellent words.

they really do resonate. no question. me tell you i met with nine of the candidates, honestly, those words of a set also resonated. they all have their own story. all powerful messages. we appreciate that. how does governor kasich separate himself from the pack, differentiate himself to really rise above that pack and be memorable for this audience and audiences all over the u.s. -- what is there that is special or unique about john that you really want us to take home? first of all, i am just who i am. i am not going to put two-cones in my mouth or take my shirt off, i will not do that. i will do the best i can and you

have to listen and if you like it, great. if you do not like it, i will cry for 10 minutes and then my life will be ok. we will see. one thing i have that i think is unique -- i have done all the things i have talked about. this is not about what i might do -- do you ever noticed that when people run for president they never keep promises. make promises that are unrealistic or that cannot be kept. we talk about balancing a budget, i have balanced many of them. we talk about experience in defense, have that. we talk about understanding what it means to be an executive in a very big state where their challenges every day, i have lived it. i think today people want us to acknowledge the anxieties that exist in this country, and i grew up with them, but at the end of the day people want the airplane to be landed.

i think the most powerful thing i can offer is to look at my past, because that will tell you what will happen in the future. it is experience, it is results, it is record. about as well as i can do. thank you. you told about your upbringing is amazing, but it is one that is so and accessible -- in accessible to folks today, were born into a place like you had, they may not have those opportunities today. how would you close the opportunity gap? i think the american dream is alive today. i do not think that my story is particularly unique, everyone has a story about who they were. what is it we need?

we need a growing economy. that means you have opportunity. that haveck on doors no jobs, it is hard to get a job. we need a growing economy and i do not think that people in washington have understood how you grow and economy. this is the weakest recovery since world war ii. it has not been good. secondly, i also think that i am a big believer in mentoring. i think when you tell somebody when you are -- when they are isng, what their potential and encourage them for their dreams, it is amazing how you create a determination and will to do it. there are some things i consider to be very important to teach

our kids. one, personal responsibly. the dog ate my homework went out in this great. resilience, you get knocked down, pick yourself up. i love the line by michael vick, the quarterback, you only have one chance to make a good second depression. and empathy, it moves us to care about people who we want to see move up the ladder. and family, family is so important. if we do not have family, we do not have america. and faith. i haven't to believe that everybody on this earth was created for purpose. we have to figure out what that purpose is and what your skills are and apply them. i do not think that people who come from where i come from or here don't have an opportunity to move up, but you cannot take

no for an answer. you know how many times i have been knocked down in my lifetime, my family said, pick yourself up and move on. the key is, when you knock on the door and a, they get so , they get -- enough so aggravated that they will let you in. we need to remind young people of that. local control of education. we need to make sure that schools are performing. we need to know how they are doing and how they compare with the rest of the country. we need to give young people skills and we are -- and we also have to break the -- model. everyone learns differently. say i like math, if i can go work for this guy for three hours a week and understand what his system does, i will get energized.