good. we got ronald reagan as a result. it is a strange thing. the effects of reagan overshadow us today, unfortunately. host: why do you say "unfortunately?" you believe it was the hostage situation that led to jimmy carter not being reelected? the rescuee at attempt with the helicopters where sand or dust got into the engines. they crashed, i forget how many were killed -- a dozen or two dozen. host: 8. caller: it paved the way for reagan. that way we got trickle down economics, which is the horrible mess we are in today. host: do remember in 1981 when the hostages were released? it was a surprise, and i thought

it was a complete sham that at reagan's inauguration he announced a hostages had been released when carter had been working on it for a long time. he set the stage. the story i heard was that the iranians were upset with carter and the administration because they tried to rescue. they were going to rub his nose in the sand. and let reagan take the credit. at 10:00s saturday p.m. and sunday at 4:00 p.m., reel america will show events from the hostage crisis. we have video from events during that time. i want to show you and the rest of our viewers the programming from jimmy carter on january 2019 80 one in the oval office working the phones as he is 20, 1981- on january

in the oval office working the phones as he is getting the information as the airplane is about to take off. [video clip] >> we are getting word from a , sayingt country, iran at 8:13 this morning that he would inform them when the plane leaves. that is the first message we have from iran the plane will be leaving. [indiscernible] >> all right.

sure. it.t at the end of the runway. jimmy carter on january 20, 1981. some of the video you will see on american history tv's reel america. jimmy carter in the oval office the day -- later on that day. ronald reagan things sworn into office. farmington new mexico. good morning. caller: i agree with the first

caller. everything he said was direct. host: what do you remember? i was young, but i remember it because there were so many americans. breaking into the embassy, a bunch of young iranians. took them hostage. kept them for over a year. 440 four days. what was your impression of jimmy carter at the time. thought he did everything he could. he is the one that got them released in actuality. reagan just took credit. go. would not let them the deal had already been made. they would not let them go until jimmy carter got on the plane. daniel in riverdale,

georgia. good morning. what are your thoughts on this part of our american history. caller: good morning, c-span. about what happened in iran and -- i think chronologically, when president into thet the shaw country for medical reasons, this is when they took over the embassy. host: yes. daniel, i apologize. you are breaking up. we will move on to bob and alexandria, louisiana. a republican. caller: good morning, to you. i have never heard of this before. host: what you mean, bob? i'm kind of ahat

history buff. i'd never heard of the iranian hostage crisis. host: a little facetiousness there, i detect. some of you know because the prisoners were released recently, the terms the obama administration negotiated, some of the republicans have been critical of the president and what he negotiated. they have pointed to what ronald during the iran hostage crisis. this is from three days ago, marco rubio and others are wrongly crediting ronald reagan of hostages release from iran. as news of the release of the prisoners spread, republicans were quick to deny president obama credit for the deal. marco rubio said our enemies know that if you capture an american you can get something

meaningful in exchange. he said when i become president, our adversaries will know america is no longer under the command of someone weak like president obama, and it will be like ronald reagan when the hostages were released. the gop talking point that we have debunked before. in 2012, mitt romney believed that it was what ronald reagan called peace through strength. related his claims then. in 1979, islamic revolutionaries thathrew the shaw of iran had been installed through american administrations and held 52 american hostages until january 20, 1981. the day that carter passed the reins to reagan with widespread republican approval of carter's --roval of the christ carter's negotiation of the crisis. the iranians contacted with a proposal.

led to thent that release involved in 11 billion dollars in iranian assets that carter had frozen 10 days after the seizure of the u.s. embassy. the iranians feared having to start negotiations over with the new administration, and believe they had extracted most of the benefits from holding the hostages. we turn to you with your impressions. in spokane, washington, an independent. caller: i remember this. we followed this in school every day. host: every day? caller: i'm sorry, ma'am? host: every day, you follow this in school? caller: yes, we did. host: were you a teacher? caller: i was in the fourth grade. at first jimmy carter was up on the polls. to get theng hostages back. as the election went on and the election date came closer and

closer, he lost support. i remember a lot of people believed that when the republicans went to the iranians behind the democrats back and told them if you hold on to the hostages, we will give you a better deal. then came oliver north and the arms for hostages scandal that came out in the 1980's. before this, iran was our closest ally in the middle east. so much so that president nixon put some of our printing press is there to make money. one thing the iranians did to upset us was pre-parenting -- pretty printing money and flooding it into the world market. host: did your teachers update you on what was happening during the iran hostage? a classwe would have discussion. we watch the news, take notes, and we would go ahead and get news clippings out of the

newspapers. we would discuss it amongst ourselves. this was right after via tom -- after vietnam. the morale of the country was weak. world politics, i was an army brat. my old man died in vietnam. he was a company commander for the second ranger battalion. he died in vietnam. me and my group of friends watched world events. i am an iraqi veteran. when it was my time, i went. host: how old were you during the hostage crisis, 1979, 1980, 1981. caller: i was about 12. ken, goodgood -- morning. caller: i was calling to say that i remember very well that they waited until ronald reagan was sworn in.

he was governor at the time. iranians, thathe he was not going to negotiate. that they were going to start negotiations over. he put it bluntly that he was not going to negotiate like president carter did. host: so you believe it was -- the idea of the reagan administration coming in, is the reason that iranians -- caller: they saw that he wasn't going to be a jimmy carter. which, you know, they kind of we need to do something here. i don't know why they held them for so long. i don't know what they were trying to get. .heir money was frozen the government's money was frozen up. carter, he kind of

through the shaw under the bus when they were having the uprisings in i believe it was 1978 or 1977. i remember that. i was i believe, 15 at the time that that happened. he did not help the shaw out. you could have sent in cia -- host: according to the cnn timeline, the shaw's authoritarian rule in 1978 sparked demonstrations and riots. in 1979 he fled iran and went to egypt. in october of 1979, the shot receivethe u.s. to medical treatment for cancer sparking an angry reaction from young iranians that stormed the u.s. embassy to getting the

hostage situation. the militants are supported why the ayatollah at the time. he takes over the hostage situation at the embassy. 20,days later, january 1981, the hostages are released -- 34th31st anniversary anniversary. what was your impression of the president during the situation at the time? keep calling in. i want to share headlines. as many of you probably know, candidateor and vp sarah palin endorsed donald trump. trump makes a push in iowa. he told iowans yesterday, his supporters, the last picked a candidate that would win in 2000. he said if they pick someone

other than me they will pick another loser, he warned iowa voters. ted cruz and donald trump are that state.k in [video clip] sarah palin: only one candidate proves he is master of the deal. he is beholden to no one but we the people. he is positioned to let you make america great again. are you ready for that, iowa? [applause] no more pussyfooting around. our troops deserve the best, you deserve the best. sector,om the private not a politician. can i get a hallelujah? >> hallelujah. the private in theor you have to balance

budget and prioritize to keep the main thing the main thing. the president has to keep us safe economically and militarily. he knows how to lead the charge. troops, hang in there. better than anyone, isn't he known for being able to command fire? host: sarah palin with donald trump in iowa. if you want to watch the whole thing, it is part of our road to the white house coverage on c-span.org. courtesy of the museum in washington, i am with stupid, is their headline. of a feather flock together. sarah palin endorses donald trump in a rambling speech on tuesday, is what the daily news had to say. the washington times notes that ted cruz will get the endorsement of another tea party favorite, glenn beck.

he will be doing that today, that is in the washington times. share usant to today's editorial board. they are weighing in on the back and forth between hillary clinton and bernie sanders over medicare and some of bernie sanders' other proposals. they say that a progressive pipe dream marring sanders' agenda. lesson for all democrats is clear. if the radical changes could not get through in 2009 and 2010 would democrats had a majority and the financial crisis was fresh, they aren't going anywhere now. in november, they say a group would be likely to be twice the size of the electorate in primaries and caucuses is less interested in revolutions and pipe dreams then they are in a

candidate with practical solutions for improving their everyday lives. the washington post's editorial board says "level with us, mr. the cost is leveled on sketchy price estimates." more on campaign 2016 coming up arehe journal, but we spending the first part of the morning talking to you about american history when the hostages were released after being in prison after being held hostage for more than a year at the embassy in tehran on this day, january 20. what do you remember? released remember they the hostages right after the swearing in. carter wasresident no longer in office. i think that was, you know, an insult to him.

he did do the negotiations. president-elect reagan had told him that they were going to restart negotiations. it kind of scared them. he is not playing. which he wasn't. host: what was your impression of president carter at the time? caller: he was a weak president. host: why? man, inhe was a good his heart, i believe. he was actually a smart man. know, an engineer. host: he just came across as weak to you? caller: yes, he was, a weak president. if you remember, interest rates

skyrocketed during his administration. ford.ely beat president it was down to the last few days. guess president ford, people were tired of watergate. they wanted a change. the change, i know carter, i don't know him, but he is a good man, but not a good leader. the debateber between him and ronald reagan at the time? the campaign? caller: yes. yes, i am not old. host: what was your impression of how ronald reagan used that situation? caller: t plate -- he played it up a lot. the country was really upset about it. tried to rescue

mission, which was a disaster. claw is it, eagle believe they called it? all of those soldiers were killed in the desert. they had to leave the bodies to get out of there. the iranians returned them, which was fortunate for the families. the whole deal with his presidency -- that is why it was one term. he was not a good presidential leader, which, you know, at the time, he had a lot going on. as i was saying, he threw the shaw under the bus and abandoned him after he supported us.

there.bases listening to advice from russia, this was during the cold war where i was worried about it, ,ou know, as he young man teenager. i was like, oh, man, is this going to happen? host: i will leave it there to hear other voices. michigan, you are next, charles. good morning. caller: good morning. i was on a carrier at that time in 1980. i remember when we went over paint racing to stripes on our aircraft to make sure that our aircraft was identified. they had the same kind of aircraft that we could have gotten confused with. we did not know at the time that when our people left, they took

away from the iranians that made the aircraft fly correctly. we never had problems. i remember the night that we did the rescue attempt. i got off at midnight off of bridge watch. i watch the helicopters leave that night. the helicopters leave that night. i was on the carrier. we did not have the communications we had today. we did not know until after the fact what happened. until we got back to the states, we were -- we did not know what was going on. we were just there. they kept us in the dark. host: what carrier were you on? you were in the navy, i assume? nimets.carrier host: for you a navy officer? caller: i was enlisted.

at that time i believe i was an e-3. at the time.man as they sent up the helicopters were taking off, like i said, i just got off watch just before midnight. military people could watch some flight ops. i snuck up there and watch the helicopters leave. host: you did not know what the mission was? caller: we knew that there was going to be a rescue mission. what happened after that, we did not know until later on. reidsville, wisconsin. -- what wast was your impression of the administration of your time -- administration at that time. what was your impression? caller: we did not hear nothing going on. back,mber when i got

we stayed there for over 140 something days without seeing land. most everything was all over with when we were relieved. i barely remember the little bit of the elections. a carrier is meant to be out to sea. we were out almost constantly. very weakr was on leadership but such an honest man everybody took advantage of him as far as i was concerned. an independent serving at the time. we will get more of these calls and. i want to leave in some news -- i want to we vince some news this morning. the supreme court decided it will rule on president

obama's executive action on immigration. one last shot to protect more than 4 million undocumented immigrants from deportation in the middle of an election year. willourt's agreement add fuel to the debate paul ryan sweeting -- paul ryan tweeting. thetor john bozeman saying supreme court will take up this case. it says it is one of -- arkansas is one of 26 states to challenge this overreach by potus.

also on twitter, the reaction from representative mike kelly. saying confident that -- nanci pelosi saying, confident that scotus will recognize the legality and necessity o. cumbersome ancommerce and gutiez said we expected scotus to take .p executive actions cumbersome an becerra.an hobb javier some reaction on capitol hill to what the supreme court did yesterday. this from the wall street journal this morning. new scrutiny is on clinton's e-mails.

e-mails contain national security information classified at some of the highest levels of according to a new review by a government watchdog. a letter from inspector general charles mccullough finds that contains a type of highly classified intelligence information beyond top-secret. military operations or other highly sensitive government information. in a separate review, mr. mcculloch's office found top-secret information on mrs. clinton's home server. the intelligence committee now believes even more highly classified information was on that server. , iowan campaign 2016 news is in two weeks followed by new

hampshire. this from the wall street journal. an unorthodox playbook is aiding john kasich. he is second place behind esther trump in ohio and some of the polls coming out of there. we'll go to patty in wisconsin. we are talking about 1981. 35 years ago on this day when the hostages -- the iranian hostages were released. caller: good morning. i remember it well. i am 70 years old. i would have been 35 at the time. i was glued to the news and i was so thankful when the hostages were released. i dad told me during world war ii they brought german and italian prisoners here and one of his duties was to guard them. after the war they were released. we have to remember we have guantanamo bay. upscooped these individuals

and brought them to guantanamo bay and tortured them. it needs to be closed. when we point our fingers at other countries, we have to remember what were doing. thank you for c-span. host: todd and robinson, illinois. share your thoughts. caller: good morning. historyo talk about the of what the united states's role in this iranian thing is. in the 1950's there was a guy named dr. moz a deck and he was elected democratically as the president. tapsnt to shut off the oil for the western countries who had taken over his oil. he nationalized the oilfields. states,in the united they backed a coup d'etat and installed the shop of iran --

the shah of iran. the iranians had enough of this evil man the americans propped up and they took our hostages. i'm not saying they did the right thing. trying to put it in context. if someone did that here, someone came here and backed a coup d'etat, we would be pretty mad. we would be upset with these people. -- his team through back channels got with the iranians and said we know you dealt with carter all this time. wait until reagan is the president. and then give them back. everything is there for you to read. all you have to do is look it up. host: we read earlier the little fact three days ago set the claim that this appearance of strength by reagan -- the

iranians said we do not want to deal with him or start negotiations all over so they freed the hostages on the day that he was inaugurated. they say that -- to give ronald reagan credit is not accurate. something that republican candidates have done. they say they wrongly credit him and they point to a historian that says the agreement that led to the release involved 11 billion to 12 billion -- this historian says that the iranians fear having to start negotiations over with a new administration and felt they had extracted most of the benefits from the hostages. caller: i think that makes perfect sense. it does. you don't get something for nothing. not in this world. ofs is just another example the unintended consequences of

american foreign-policy. our mideast policy has been wrong since day one. we are so far from these people and we tried to tell them what .o do and how to live host: you just said you cannot get some good for nothing. you agree with the obama administration did hear to get the prisoners released? look, you have not talked with these people or had diplomatic relations with these people for 30 plus years. i don't agree with everything president obama does. i do not think he is a good president at all. at least he took the steps to open diplomatic relations again. start talking with people. we will never defeat them with guns and bombs.

you have to be able to talk to people. that's all there is to it. host: i want to share this headline in the washington times based on yesterday's daily news briefing with the white house press secretary. the white house says no ransom was paid to iran. they say the $1.7 billion payment was not part of the prisoner release. the u.s. accepted about $400 million in payments from iran in a military deal in the 1970's but the equipment was never delivered to tehran after the iranian revolution. as we are talking about, held dozens of americans. the money was held in escrow. the white house dismissed accusations that the u.s. paid iran $1.7 billion today as a rates him to gain release of american prisoners. that is how it relates to the papers. getting your thoughts and memories on what was happening

during the iran hostage crisis. it was today, 35 years ago that the hostages were released after being held for 444 days. getting your impressions of that time and of the leadership at the time as well. more of your phone calls coming up. front page of the washington post, russian airstrikes are --ping bush are all aside ashar aling bush are al assad. that in the washington post this morning. a meeting is taking place today between john kerry and the russian foreign minister. they are expected to hammer out the differences at a meeting in zurich five days before the scheduled start of talks in geneva.

that in the papers this morning as well. so many of you have mentioned how this played out in 1980 during the presidential race. ronald reagan taking over the oval office on january 20, 1981. the day the prisoners were released. this was obviously part of the debate then and the debate over who should be -- whether or not jimmy carter should get another four years in office. of course, the two debated during the presidential campaign in 1980. i want to show you a back and forth at one of those debates when the two were asked about the hostage situation. >> had iran not taken american hostages i assume we would war brokeed -- once out between iraq and iran. we are asking to lift the ban to let our people come home. 't this reward terrorism

and possibly antagonized nations now friendly to us in the middle east? >> we will maintain our position of neutrality in the iran and iraq war. we have no plans to sell additional material or goods to iran that might be of a warlike nature. when i made my decision to stop all trade with iran as a result of a taking of our hostages, i announced then and have maintained since then that if the hostages are released safely we would make delivery on those items which iran owns which they have bought and paid for. also at the frozen iranian assets would be released. that has been a consistent policy. when i intend to carry out. >> could you repeat the question for governor reagan? the eyes of the country remain on the hostages in iran. goes beyond this

crisis. there are other countries that have policies that determine how they will respond. israel considers hostages like soldiers and will not negotiate with terrorists. the country has the right to know, do you have a policy for dealing with terrorism wherever it might happen and what have we learned from this experience in iran that my cause us to do things differently if this was something similar -- if this or something similar should happen again? >> i think you have to have at least one answer to it. you asked that question twice. i have been accused of having a secret plan with regard to the hostages. this comes from an answer i have made at least 50 times during this campaign to the press. the question would be, have you any ideas of what you would do if you were there. i said, yes. i think anyone seeking this position as well as other people probably have thought to themselves, what about this, what about that.

these are just ideas of what i would think of if i were in that position and had access to the information in which i would know all the options open to me. i have never answered the ,uestion, the one that says what are some of those ideas. i would be fearful that i might say something that was presently underway or in negotiations and thus expose it and endanger the hostages. and sometimes i think some of my ideas might involve quiet diplomacy where you don't say in advance or say to anyone what it is you are thinking of doing. your question is difficult to answer because in the situation right now no one wants to say anything that would inadvertently delay in any way the return of those hostages if there is a chance they are coming home soon or that might cause them harm. what i do think should be done, once there safely here with their families and that tragedies over and we have

, then ithis humiliation think it is time for us to have a complete investigation as to the diplomatic efforts that were made in the beginning, why have they been there so long, and when they come home, what did we have to do in order to bring that about. i would suggest congress should hold such investigation. in the meantime i will continue praying that will come home. host: the height of the presidential debate. october of 1980. incumbent jimmy carter who did not win reelection and the governor of california, ronald reagan. talking about the iran hostage situation. released,ages were the same day ronald reagan was inaugurated. we are getting your impressions and thoughts on that this morning. a few minutes left for this

conversation. time magazine with the headline, 36 years after the iran hostage crisis, americans will receive compensation. the american citizens held captive for more than a year during this crisis are set to receive compensation decades later. u.s. lawmakers passed legislation recently enabling payments to be completed. the 53 former hostages will do given up to $4.4 million each or $10,000 for each of the 444 days they were held. the crisis began when the iranian students, militants besieged the u.s. embassy in tehran. 60 were captured. press -- they held onto 52

of the hostages for former 44 days. we will go to ron in california. welcome to the conversation. caller: thanks. we'd better get some historical perspective on this. i remember vividly. let's start off with the bumbling ford administration. how jimmy carter got to being president was because of ford's bumbling. if you watched chevy chase on saturday night live, that was part of it. people were upset. carter, carter is the worst president we had lbj. the guy has no good people around him, surrounding him. as a result of that, he made constant mistakes. we did not go to the lipids in 1976 because russians went into

afghanistan. in 1976 the olympics because russians went into afghanistan. whole place was coming apart. i remember being in a coffee shop in late 1979 when the people are going, are the russians landing their aircraft carrier off of california coast. it was crazy. when reagan came in, he came in with a strong team. alexander haig was one of the strongest secretaries of state ever. he called that resident and said , you take care of this hostage situation or else. he says we have all your codes. that was all these rumors that were about what happened with reagan are actually true. he is the one that said if you do not release those hostages you will not get a dime in anything we do. he did it as he said in that

.omment when barbara walters was interviewing. he did it behind the scenes. he did not take a bunch of credit for it. he said as long as we get the hostages back, that is fine. .hat is what happened i was there and i heard it and everybody else did. host: you mentioned this is why jimmy carter did not win reelection. jimmy carter was diagnosed with cancer and he was -- back in august he held a news conference. he is now cancer free after getting treatment. during this news conference where he is talking about his diagnosis, he was asked by a reporter about any regrets. take a listen. [video clip] >> anything you wish you had done differently? >> i wish i had sent more helicopters to get the hostages. i would've been reelected. [laughter] >> that may have interfered with

the foundation of the carter center. if i had to choose between four more years or the carter center i think it would choose the carter center. back inmmy carter august. he said, maybe i should have sent one more helicopter. talking about the iran hostage crisis. they were released in 1981 on this day on january 20. kevin in florida, what do you remember about that? caller: top of the morning to you. host: good morning. caller: i was a young man who served in the united states navy on board the uss constellation. 110 days at sea. i thought we had the record. gonzo station. we set out there for 110 days at the farthest reach of supplies. i served under each commander in chief, ronald reagan and jimmy

carter. in my opinion, reagan got the hostages back due to the fact that when he got elected iran knew we were coming. , wee we were there 110 days were refueling with the uss sacramento, 11 million gallons of diesel fuel marine. and can only other side with hoses reaching across to each ship. we were run into by a liberian freighter. an iranian flag. but a gash down our freighter. we were relieved by the man that called earlier. bizarre.think it is all over again with the iranian hostages and the weakness of obama. trump 2016. we have to make america great again. host: you see donald trump as being strong in the way that you

think ronald reagan was? caller: exactly. host: kevin in lakeland, florida. at the time you were in the navy? were you an officer? caller: i was a petty officer second class. boiler technician. 30 feet below the water level on the aircraft carrier. i was on the constellation for four years under jimmy carter and reagan came on. the contrast between democrat jimmy carter and republican ronald reagan. in my opinion, jimmy carter's weakness caused the crisis. just like obama's weaknesses -- even though he has the world peace award, what a legacy he is leaving. i hope trump can clean it up. new york area share your impressions with us.

caller: thanks. i could not disagree more with the last caller. i was in my late 30's. i was a working mother. the hostage crisis was on tv all the time. it was the birth of nightline and ted koppel. they had how many days of people held hostage. a lot of emotion. it was inflation. people -- because of the economy -- theypeople wanted to saw jimmy carter as weak. he was working on this every single day of his presidency. he got those people back and the hostages were not killed. the thing that was so unfortunate is, he says he wished he had another helicopter he would have sent and he should have probably.

or else he would have been a hero because they would have come back. a lot of emotion just like there is now. i see nightline as the beginning of the cable news culture where everything has got to be magical and simplistic and reagan got this credit. he did nothing for this. he did not do anything and jimmy carter worked on this like crazy. it was a very difficult situation. he got those people back. the same thing with obama right now. the -- has done with talking with iran. it is wonderful. he has got strength. host: are you a lifelong democrat? caller: a lifelong democrat. yes. i hated jimmy carter at the time

. i was swept up in the emotion. people can get swept up in emotion and not see the forest. every single night they did nightline. every night. he had so much pressure. those two articles you read about jimmy carter and what the real deal was, they are accurate . he is the one that worked on this. obama, someday, we'll get the credit. host: we have to leave it there. thanks for calling in, sharing your thoughts about the iran hostage crisis and what happened on this day 35 years ago. american history tv will be featuring this as well on >> attorney general loretta lynch was on capital hill this morning to talk about the justice department's role in

implementing the new worlds on guns. on c-span2, a debate with some of the lesser-known presidential candidates. more than 20 running in new hampshire spoke at the forum last night. that is coming up tonight at 8:00 on c-span2. is taking you16 on the road to the white house for the iowa caucuses. monday, february 1, 7:00 p.m. eastern on both c-span and c-span2, live coverage with text calls, tweets, and messages per live coverage begins at 8:00 p.m. eastern of the republican caucus and live coverage of the democratic caucus. stay with c-span and join in on the conversation on c-span radio and c-span.org. >> the mayor of flint, michigan,

is in washington today. she met with president obama. this photo was treated of her discussing the water contamination issue and flint. we will bring you the michigan governor who deliver the state of the state address in lansing, focusing largely on the water problems and flint. [applause]

[applause]

gov. snyder: thank you. thank you very much, thank you. >> of members of the convention, the governor of michigan, rick snyder. [applause] gov. snyder: thank you, thank you very much. please be seated. thank you. thank you for joining me tonight. lieutenant governor brian kelly, speaker kevin cotter, senate majority leader, senate majority leader, house minority leader, members of the supreme court, members of the court of appeals, secretary of state, attorney general, congressman fred upton, congresswoman brenda lawrence. my cabinet.

ladies and gentlemen of the legislature, public servants, citizens of michigan, and my family. i welcome you here tonight. i would like to begin by adding a special welcome to our active duty military reserve and guard members. members of law enforcement and veterans. let's give them a shout out, too. thank you. [applause] gov. snyder: thank you. i want to share one situation with you with respect to our military. deployed, we had

127th, which has two key elements in terms of their aircraft. they have close air support, which was deployed in the middle east to deal with terrorists and other issues. 35 tanker, the k-1 refueling aircraft like the wart hog and others. we should be so proud. pilots did three years worth of flying in six months. the teams and crews of pilots together did an incredible work. they have a special mission critical role. they had a special inspection take place while they were deployed. they did something that had never been achieved in the history of the air force. not just the air guard.

they had an inspection where they showed 100% of the members of that unit received 100%. they were perfect. that shows the spirit of michigandiers. we have brigadier general leonard isabel, the commander of the international guard general commandlocum, and the sergeant major daniel lincoln. ,if you can all rise we can give , them recognition for their incredible effort. [applause] gov. snyder: they returned ight before christmas, and

had the opportunity to attend the returning ceremony. when i heard about their incredible accomplishments, i had to share it with you to show what they were doing to keep us out of harms way and keep us safe. we have over 400 national guard members from michigan serving overseas as we spent. all of michigan should be glad to hear that a marine veteran was finally released from iran welcomed home here soon to michigan. [applause] before i begin, in terms of the speech itself, i would like to ask for a moment of silence for all of those who have fallen in protection of our communities.

thank you. tonight will be a different state of the state address. there is so much we can discuss about how to make our great state even better, stronger, over the next year. but tonight i will address the , crisis in flint first and in-depth. to begin i would like to address , the people of flint. your families face a crisis. a crisis you did not create and could not have vented. -- could not have prevented. i want to speak directly, honestly, and sincerely to let you know we are praying for you, we're working hard for you, and we are absolutely committed to taking the right steps to effectively solve this crisis. to you, the people of flint, i say tonight, as i have before, i am sorry, and i will fix it. no citizen of this great state should endure this kind of catastrophe. government failed you.

federal, state, and local leaders by breaking the trust , you place in us. i am sorry most of all that i let you down. you deserve better. you deserve accountability. you deserve to know the buck stops here with me. most of all, you deserve to know the truth and i have a , responsibility to tell the truth the truth about what we tomorrow, i will release my 2014 and 2015 e-mails regarding flint youou, the citizens, so will have answers to your questions about what we are for the make this right families of flint. everyone will be able to read this information for themselves online. the most important thing we can do right now is to work hard and work together for the people of

excellent -- the people of flint. [applause] thank you. i know apologies world make up for the mistakes that were made. nothing will. but i take full responsibility to fix the problem so it will never happen again. let me tell you what has been done so far and what we will be doing in the coming days, weeks, months and years to keep our commitment to you to cheap flint and even safer, stronger city than it was before. that is what you and your family deserve. we are working to do whatever we

must until this crisis is flinted for the people of have chosen a new mayor and i am personally committed to working hand-in-hand with mayor weaver. i have taken steps to bring new leadership to the department of environmental quality. these are individuals who understand the severity of the problem and who will effectively communicate to the people of the state. to those whose mistakes contributed to this disaster, we are fully cooperating with investigations and will hold those individuals accountable. clear to allfectly state government -- and situations like this, they must come to my desk immediately, no delays, no excuses. [applause]

we will provide resources to help anyone and everyone that is affected just like we have since we learned about this crisis. in addition to e-mails, i am releasing a comprehensive timeline of the tips we have taken any actions under way to solve this crisis. let me walk you through the fact. first, this crisis began in the spring of 2013 when the flint to the council voted seven to one two by water from the kate of ua. the department of detroit water and sewer provided notice of termination effective one year later and on april 25, 2014, flint again to use water from the flint river as an interim source.

second, soon after the switch from detroit water to flint river water, residents complained about the water -- the color, the spell -- the smell, rashes and bacteria. ultimately, water advisories were issued in august and september of 2014, each lasting several days. of third, the department environmental quality and the environmental protection agency's again to talk about concerns. sadly both were ineffective and fully addressing in solving the problems. regulationsfety were misinterpreted and epa did urgencywith sufficient about the approach and risk of lead contamination. 2015, services to residents were replaced due to failedvels but they both

to systematically identify and solve the problem. fourth, in july of 2015, my office proactively asked about the quality of flint's water and blood testing. they said flint was in compliance with the rule and there is one concern with one house that was corrected and there was nothing widespread to address. the department of health and human services told us the elevated blood levels were the -- were to be expected because they followed the usual seasonal trends. shown toclusions were be incorrect when the department of health and human services conduct did a deeper analysis of the data. may, professor mark edwards from virginia tech and another doctor sounded an alarm about the water.

what dq andbased on the department of health and human services had seen on the ground, they failed to reach the same conclusion. i want to thank the professor, the doctors and concerned pastors of flint for bringing this issue to life. we are actively investigating why these agencies got it so oneg and i believe we have of the doctors here tonight and i would like to recognize her. if you could rise. [applause] i always call you dr. mona. 2015, i was 28, first briefed on the potential scope and magnitude on a phone

call with the department of health and human services. 2015, a dhhs epidemiologist validated the findings, confirming a problem with flint's water supply. this point, i immediately ordered them to develop and implement a plan that included the immediate distribution of water filters and testing water in schools. were 12,000 filters distributed, 7000 water tests in 2000 blood tests were conducted in the first three months. on october 8, i announced the flint water system would be reconnected to the detroit water system to minimize any further damage and later that month, i announced the independent flint water task force to review actions that occurred so far and made recommendations to address the crisis. number eight, the -- the task

force issued its recommendations and identified critical problems in mid-december, specifically pointing to a primary failure of leadership at the deq and failure of leadership that led to this crisis. i immediately appointed new leadership at the department. number nine, i declared an emergency so we could access additional resources and mobilize additional support. resources are needed to help families get clean water and and any risk or exposure for every resident of flint. i requested a federal declaration of emergency which was granted. as members of our delegation here tonight, this is a challenge we must work together

to solve it i look forward to working with you to bring additional support to the people of flint. more than 37,300 cases of water, more than 53,700 water filters and more than 7300 water testing kits have been distributed. more than 21,300 homes have visited. this is not enough. support fromg the the michigan national guard starting tomorrow to ensure every home we need to visit in flint gets visited as soon as possible. i'm appealing the president's decision not to grant a major disaster declaration and will continue to deliver water and filters. we will not stop working for the people of flint until every single person has clean water every single day no matter what. [applause]

that is why today i made an official request of the legislature to fund a series of immediate actions to provide everyone in flint clean water and care for flint's children. in addition to the supplemental for flint, the request is for $28 million with $22 million from the general fund. it includes additional bottled water, replacement filters or anyone who needs these resources , assistance to the city of flint to help with utility related issues. ,esting and replacing schools facilities and other high risk

locations. treatment of children with high levels including nurse visits, counseling and environmental assessments. services will be available for the treatment of potential behavioral health issues such as adhd, for those who had or could have had elevated blood lead levels. with primarywork care providers to educate the committee about toxic stress and how to identify developmental delays. for children and adolescent health centers and .upport for health care access and infrastructure integrity study using our site independent experts. be the last budget request for flint. additionally items will be needed for economic needs come a developmental needs and more. flint,would like to aid

go to the website to help to donate. if you are flint resident, go to help flint.com. these are the facts of what we have done and what we are doing. needust as important, we to make sure this never happens again in any michigan city. [applause] we begin this process by creating the independent flint water task force and asking them to report on exactly what happened, what account ability measures must be in place, and

what investments need to be implemented. issued an executive order to make sure state and local leaders have everything they need to clean up the mess and ensure anyone with lingering health care concerns as quickly, compassionately, and effectively treated. i know that there will be long-term consequences. but i want you to know we will be there with long-term solutions for as long as it takes to make it right. there can be no excuse. when michiganders turn on the tap, they expect and deserve clean, safe water. ands that simple straightforward. that is what we will deliver. to the families in flint, it is my responsibility, my commitment to deliver -- i give you my commitment at michigan will not let you down. [applause]

in addition to the issues in flint, we have a statewide infrastructure challenge. unique. is not we have a national problem with our infrastructure. infrastructure -- michigan's infrastructure was ranked d, worse than the national ranking, which was d+. we need to invest more and smarter in infrastructure so we can avoid crises like this in the future. one great illustration of year,s was just this last we made the largest investment in transportation funding over the last half-century that will allow us to fill potholes, rebuild roads and make it safer.

i want to thank the speaker and senate majority leader for that leadership in making this happen. thank you. [applause] more than roads, we have a hidden problem. andee the resting bridges drive on the roads and fill the potholes, but underground, some pipes are over 100 years old. some are made of wood, some are made of lead and many first in the winter until we have water problems or our power goes out or our freeways fled because the pumps do not work. natural gas infrastructure, wastewater overflows, energy reliability, ports meeting emergency dredging , line five under the great lakes and even the sioux lapse, we need to have better solutions

and we can come up with better solution. one illustration i want to progress onve made the iron pipes transmission. this is not a theoretical risk, there is a real risk there. i want to complement the michigan public service commission for identifying the problem and starting to take action. they made a commitment that required raising rates, but we started to replace a lot of those types to make it safer for people and for the environment. we were smart and began the process when costs were low so we could afford to replace those pipes. of problem kind solving the need in the future. here are some actions we can take on our infrastructure. order issue an executive to the michigan department of transportation, that we can refer with officials every time

we do a new road project because tois asked opportunity replace the aging infrastructure under those roads when the road is torn up. the legislature to consider looking at the same issues when local government .oes road projects if those roads are torn up, let's do more while we have those opportunities. led investigations are made in the state, we should be checking water sources in critical areas in addition to checking for paint dots and other areas. we should be ensuring all schools in michigan test for lead. on areasriorities where they have aging infrastructure and we should be increasing nutritional and led education efforts in school as well. overall, we need a smart, .trategic land for all of us

it requires an honest assessment of the challenges, opportunities, and costs. that's why i will be creating the commission for building 21st century infrastructure. we need experts steeped in credibility and clout. they will study what michigan , makingevelop a plan the right investments in water, sewer, transportation, broadband, and other areas. and discuss how we will pay for these investments and i will ask for the report in september of this year. in addition to infrastructure in flint, i want to talk about detroit and education. great challenges cannot be addressed without hard work, long hours and true partnership with committed -- with communities in need of new hope and a fresh start. but solving them is not impossible and not without precedent. .et's look at detroit

one year after leaving bankruptcy. as detroit continues to rebuild, you hopevery cities and believe we can deliver new opportunities for everyone. who would have dreamed possible that just after a year of bankruptcy, our states largest city has become a hub for innovation and excitement. there's dynamic growth in the downtown and mid town and it is keeping and drawing and people to our state. it is important to note there's much more work that needs to be done, especially in the neighborhoods, but progress is evident everywhere. over 59,000 lights that have been turned on and more than 7600 structures demolished and 2014. 18% 2012.ime is down we are showing what detroit can do. i asked her recognition from the

mayor who is with us tonight. stand up. [applause] thank you for your partnership in helping rebuild a great city. work inur recent detroit gives us a measure of pride, detroit schools are in a crisis. detroit schools are in need of a transformational change. too many schools are failing at their central task of caring young michiganders for successful, rewarding life. not all detroit students are getting the education they deserve. this is a large problem. nearly 100 schools and detroit public schools, 50 charter schools in and around the city, 15 educational achievement schools, several adjacent

charter and school districts, yet parents cannot find the quality education they seek. one of the issues is detroit public schools are deeply in debt. by the summer, it will be $515 million in debt. needed outcomes, financial stability in detroit public schools must be achieved. over $1100 per student is going to debt service and not the classroom. let's solve this problem and help the kids. prompt legislative action is needed to minimize the fiscal impact on both detroit and the rest of michigan. the time to act is now and avoid court intervention that could he much more dense -- much more that are mental. i want to thank senator hanson

and the input of many legislators they have provided and i ask you to move with great haste. senator hanson, please rise. [applause] you should be proud of the michigan legislature taking the lead solving detroit public school issues. coalitiont education also recommended a coalition to help students receive better results in all detroit schools. this is a good idea but it has not drawn much support and stop we should keep looking at this key element to help detroit baskets. the school reform office will actively address these issues in lieu of a commission. all of us from state and local officials, education and civic leaders, parents too concerned citizens need to work together quickly.

well-knownges are and the alternatives are well-defined. now is the opportunity to get something done. criticallyls are important to detroit and the state of michigan. let's address this decade-long crisis now. [applause] every michigan child deserves an education that launches them into a successful career path in life. that requires access to programs that gives them the skills and experience necessary to prepare them for college, career, and life. .e have made progress we have made good reforms. we have added tougher academic standards without federal mandates. leader inational funding preschool. we created early literacy

programs in terms of free three reading and programs like first and square one. we have done some wonderful things with early and middle college programs and have made a commitment, i made a commitment to make sure we are the leader in career technical education. these are all great opportunities and we can see the potential of our children when we see these things. tonight that hopefully you got that program because i want to recognize the wonderful young student who designed that program and if you have a seventh grader from anchor bay middle school. [applause] you are the future of our state

and i appreciate your parents bringing you here tonight. i like that comes up. but, whether we are a policy leader, educator, community parent or aa student, we all have to have some accountability for achieving these outcomes and, to be blunt, we have a 19th century education system in the 21st century. it is time to ask ourselves why. we have two comprehensive funding one on school and another on career technical education. we have done some wonderful task force with actual items. with free am fond of three reading was fought -- was funded. more needs to be done. the staterecognize

board. brian has done a great job and went through a complicated process with multiple stakeholders and develop an excellent set of goals to make michigan a top 10 state in 10 years. please stand up so we can recognize you. [applause] want to show partnership with the state superintendent and the board of education by creating a commission for a 21st century education. bipartisan, multi-stakeholder effort to look at all of these studies to investigate what is in the obstacles holding us back from greater success and let's deliver recommendations for michigan's future. what is the appropriate

structure? what is the appropriate governance and how do we fund it? i ask this commission to deliver the results by the end of november. me transition to talking about our economic future in this state. our economy might seem good today but we need to make -- we need to take action to make sure it is good in the future. we should not take it for granted. that is how we had the mess in the last decade. accomplishment, we should be proud from a job creation point of view. since december 2010, we have created thousands of private-sector job and rank number six in the nation. [applause] we are number one in the nation in manufacturing job growth.

our unemployment rate has been cut by more than half december 2010. we are third in the nation for the largest reduction of an unemployment in that time. importantly, it's not just about market working. personal income is increasing again. we saw a huge drop in the last decade, the lost decade. i am proud to say in 2014, increased 3.9%, more than doubling the prior year's growth rate. member's important to not everyone has participated in this come back and we need to take special efforts to make sure the people and places that have not participated join us. we have created programs that do this, but we need to continue to ramp them up with respect to our urban areas and in particular, places like detroit, flint,

cognac and the saginaw. one program i am particularly fond of his community ventures. a program we built with solely state resources because we wanted the flexibility to find out what needed to be done and get it done. it has been successful and has now employed or thousand people by partnering with 110 companies. its retention rate is nearly 70% and its wages on average are $11 and $.80 an hour. if you think about it, what a great start, but that is not a final point. that's a point to get people successfully working the habit. we can provide additional points for more opportunity and a bright future. in flint alone, this program has accounted for 608 jobs already.

we need to help other places. i mentioned urban areas, but too often, we forget we have rural communities and smaller communities that also suffer great poverty. we cannot leave them behind either. i'm proud to say last year we launched a program called rising tide. the program is based on the premise to go to each of our regions in the state and identify a community and we have said we want to present a team of resources. it's not just about money but people that can help. we have a collaborative effort between economic development resources, community development resources, and talent of element resources all teaming together to help those communities join the rest of us. thosen as we get communities succeed in, we will pick new communities to pick their place and we will keep going down that list until we

have covered every corner of michigan. that is what we should be doing. economicof michigan's future, we have automotive, agriculture and tourism -- i like to say our big three. they are all doing well in the state, extraordinarily well in some cases. but i want to talk about the automotive industry. he so proud. we set u.s. records for car sales over the last 12 months and next year is expected to be even better. michigan has been the beneficiary of that. we are still the heart and soul of the automotive industry. over 70% of research and development for the auto industry happened right here in michigan in addition to building more cars than any other state. [applause]

but i want to share something with you. it has been a tremendous opportunity and privilege to support that industry and the hard-working people on the lines building those cars and the supply base doing the hard work to make the world best cars, but we have a threat. i can tell you if we did what we did in the past, we could lose the auto industry out of our state in terms of leadership. why is that? the auto industry is transforming into something new. world is changing. years, the automotive industry will be called the mobility industry. it will be about how people travel, not just the vehicle they travel in. weis time now to understand need to be working toward the future, not just admiring the past.

in particular, we need to make investments and we have made some good investments. the primary area being intelligent vehicles come a connected vehicles and smart infrastructure and how it communicates with vehicles. several years ago, we created something excited -- exciting call the michigan mobility transfer center. project taking place in southeastern michigan. they have a testbed of thousands of connected vehicles talking to infrastructure even today. when i say connected vehicles, many of you confuse that with autonomous vehicles but these still have drivers in them so you can feel safe on the road. but this is part of our future and we need to do more. just this last year, we launched a partnership called and city, a 32 acre campus at the university

of michigan for testing autonomous and connected vehicles, a closed loop system with many different environments. it is swamped. hasauto industry overwhelmed this place because they are looking for a place to do this kind of work. so and city is not good enough. what i propose to you and have already been working with our congressional delegation and i thank them for their efforts is to look to create the american center for ability at willow run. we have an opportunity to create an over 300 acre campus that would be the worlds best place to test intelligent vehicles whether autonomous or connected. this place is critically important. the industry needs it but we need to bring in the federal government and say this is the place where the standards for safe operation should take place, right here in michigan at

willow run and it can be the base for international standards. that is how we can help keep leadership of the auto industry in michigan, by making that future looking investment and doing the right thing to make sure the really exciting car you saw at the detroit auto show in 10 years, just think, it will still have wheels, but it is a computer on wheels. we need a place like this to maintain our leadership for the long-term future. [applause] thank you. aboutst time i talked about automotive going to

mobility is an opportunity that can become a threat. now i want to talk about something that has been a great effort for many years but we face a major threat -- it is the sioux locks. we always talk about and are proud of but often don't talk about how important it is. more than 4000 commercial ships a year use the locks annually. crucial tosolutely supply the iron ore that makes this deal for all the vehicles i just talked about and many of our appliances. if you look at it, most of the tonnage goes through one specific lock because it is the 1000th :00. the other locks cannot accommodate the carriers we see, so the poll lock is article to our future. the issue is there is one of them and an analysis was done, what would happen if that one lock when down? it would have a state michigan's

economy. to be blunt, it could devastate the national economy. think about it -- we would run out of steel. this is the kind of steel that does not come from other places. it is based on the or that comes through the sioux locks. if you look atng the history, a second thousand foot locker was authorized leader not in 90 teen 86 by the federal government. congress approved the second block. they simply did not allocate any money to build it. this is something we need to work with congress on and the important part is i am proud to say, we have partners in the federal government that we have been working well explaining this issue to the public, to leaders in washington and a commitment to get it done and i would like to recognize two great partners up in our gallery. theave captain steve from coast guard and lieutenant

michael sellers junior of the united states army corps of engineers. if you could please rise. [applause] just as i mentioned the commission on infrastructure, commission on education. when those commissions get their work done, we need to aggregate this to talk about the economy of the future. so i'm going to appoint a commission on building a 21st century economy. our economy is more productive than it has ever been in years. we are doing better, but better isn't good enough. we need to be committed to continuous improvement, to deliver the healthy economy michigan deserves. one that provides opportunities for every person that wants to work hard, get ahead and stay ahead.

thosebuild on the work of first two commissions and long-term economic tools and creating a culture of continuous innovation. we have a group that represents that here tonight. i made a trip to the upper peninsula and visited northern michigan university and they took me to a place that was an old bank branch. i walked in and it was about events helping inventors. inventors were walking in with ideas and duden's were talking about the ones that could be made into real products. it's happening in marquette today. this is a program that should be all throughout michigan. think about this -- engaging our students with our inventors, creating new economic opportunities. recognition -- in

the same section of the gallery, we have been sent other leaders from an event that and then you. please rise. [laughter] -- an event at nmu. we need to create an environment that supports economic development and encourages business to grow. opportunity needs to be part of our dna in the state and i'm going to ask them for their report by the end of december. in summary tonight, the challenges we face in flint and detroit and beyond are serious but solvable. can we come is together today in a spirit of cooperation to find the

solutions people deserve or will we succumb to crisis and allow politics and finger-pointing to overcome the real needs of real people? we have solve this challenge because every single citizen depends on us and we need to give them a better brighter future. they deserve it. to raise a family, to work hard, to get ahead. i am personally committing the next three years of my administration to tirelessly worked to ensure the families of flint can heal from this wound and that every michigander enjoys the quality of life they deserve. return thati ask in your prayers include the people of flint. i ask for the continuing strong partnership, counsel and commitment of all of our

legislators gathered here. i ask for the commitment of all of our citizens to work together as michiganders with relentless, positive action. and to hold me accountable for results. i thought the office of governor of michigan -- i sought the office of the governor of michigan to reinvent our state because we were broken in many ways. we have repaired and reinvented many critical items over the past five years, including issues many did not think could be solved. flint makes itin clear to me that more needs to be done. it is truly a humbling experience to see the people you work for and care for harm done by the people that work for you. let michiganders don't quit. we don't give up.

instead, we will work with even more passion and commitment to truly improve our state, for everyone who has chosen to make michigan their home. this is more than a promise. this is my commitment. thank you and god bless michigan and our nation. [applause]

>> the escort officers will escort the governor and first family from the chamber. [applause] >> michigan senator, debbie stabenow, tweeted in response to last night date of the state that governor snyder needs to tell the people of flint how he plans on helping them. she retweeted a message saying governor snyder has pledged to release his e-mails from 2014 and 2015 related to the water contamination in flint. attorney general loretta lynch was on capitol hill this morning to answer questions about the president's executive action on guns in the justice department roles on the new rules. we will show you that tonight at

8:00 eastern. then coverage of some of the lesser-known presidential candidates, more than 20 candidates spoke at anselm college in manchester. that's on c-span2 at 8:00. >> c-span's campaign 2016 is taking you on the road to the white house with the iowa caucuses. getting february 1 on c-span and c-span2, we bring you live pre-caucus coverage, taking your tweets and texts and phone calls. live coverage begins of the republican caucus and on c-span2, live coverage of the democratic caucus. stay with c-span and join in on the conversation at c-span.org. senate health committee this morning held a hearing on how to improve until health care in the u.s. lamar alexander chaired the 90 minute hearing.

>> senator murray and i will have a panel of witness and senator mikulski will increase the first witness. then senators will each have five minutes of questions. before we begin today's hearing, i want to mention for the information of the committee that our progress on two or three items on our agenda -- yesterday, i announced we planned to hold our first markup on february 9 two consider the first set of bipartisan bills aimed at spurring biomedical innovation for american patients. senators and staff have been working through 2015 on this on a number of bipartisan pieces of legislation. the house has completed its work

on the 21st century here zach and the president has reiterated his support. in the state of the union address for a cancer moonshot, it is urgent the senator -- the senate finishes its work and turns into law these ideas that will help every american. achievebeen working to interoperability of health care records for doctors, hospitals and their patients. we have a lot of agreement on that and the committee will be releasing a staff draft for public comment. this february markup will be the first of three committee meetings land to debate and amend bills as the committee moves forward to get safe, cutting edge drugs to patients more quickly. the bills that will be considered all have bipartisan

cosponsorship by committee members, including those that will be considered in april. the committee intends to be -- a law that is not implemented properly is not worth the paper it is printed on. we will make sure it is implement the way congress wrote it and the way the president stein did. we have a lot of work reauthorizing higher education which expired at the end of last year. will make it easier for students to attempt to attend college and administrators to manage our 6000 colleges and university -- universities. most important of those items has to do with the mental health crisis we are discussing today. hope and senator murray and i agree on this that we can move

promptly to offer bipartisan recommendations on how to address the mental health crisis. hell -- ane a lot of lot of work on it and passed the mental health at center murray and i introduced. senators cassidy, senator murphy has introduced legislation and senator murray and i are working with them. bring a combination of those recommendations to the full committee. not everything the senate might want to do is in our jurisdiction, so we are working with senator blunt, who with senator murray runs the health appropriations subcommittee on ideas senator blunt has proposed and we are working with senator cornyn on issues the judiciary looking at. we want to move promptly to take the things in our jurisdiction and have them ready for the floor and working with the other

committees so the leader can bring them to the floor if he chooses to do that. sucheason there is interest in the mental health crisis today is that one in five adults had a mental condition than the past year according to the mental health services administration. that's nearly 10 million adults with disorders like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression that interferes with a major life activity. 67% of adults did not receive mental health services in 2014. health conditions that remain untreated can lead to dropping out of school am a substance abuse, incarceration, unemployment, homelessness and suicide. suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the united dates. 90% of those who die by suicide have an underlying mental illness. i hear that from many tennesseans.

12, one out ofd five adults in tennessee reported having a mental illness. 4% had a serious mental illness. the most recent data shows our rate of suicide has reached its highest double and five years a couple of years ago. it was the second leading cause of death. the committee heard from administration witnesses about what the federal government is doing to address mental illness today. we look forward to hearing from doctors and advocates who work every day with americans who struggle with a mental health condition about how the federal government can help patients and communities better address these issues. we want people to take advantage of the most innovative research. we heard about that at our recent hearing about the raise study.

how theerested to hear government can support state efforts to implement evidenced-based treatment programs. this will require modernizing our leading agency on mental health and require involvement from patients, families, andunities, law enforcement many others who are involved. i look forward to hearing from our witnesses about the challenges we face and the solutions they offer. senator murray. senator murray: thank you, chairman alexander and our colleagues who are here today. i'm really glad we have this opportunity to continue our discussion about ways to improve our mental health care system and we have an incredible group of witnesses joining us to share your experiences. thank you all for coming. , i hearure all of us do far too often about loved ones, friends and neighbors struggling

with mental illness and are not getting the support we need. it is heartbreaking because when someone does get treatment and support, it truly can make a difference. i heard from a woman in seattle i call amanda. she was experiencing mental illness so severe, she was in eighth mr. in fear of being abducted by aliens. she was connected with primary --e and given supplementary supplementary income benefits. today, she is enrolled in school and pursuing full-time employment. jack is a veteran from king county and he enrolls in outpatient support services after he was hospitalized for attempted suicide. he had serious addiction problems and was becoming alienated from his family. but after being connected from support, he was able to find

recovery even while recovering from cancer and is now recovering with the help of his teenage son. mentals a comprehensive health care can truly give someone their life back. storiesately, a lot of don't and that way. of people with serious mental health illness received treatment in the past year. i am going to focus on a few challenges today that i believe our witnesses will have a lot to say about as well. first is inadequate access to treatment. far too many communities lack access to mental health professionals. half of u.s. counties don't have a single psychiatrist or social worker. that means for many patients and families, it is unclear where to turn for help. we need to make sure communities and treats to train those struggling with mental

illness. in addition to strengthening our mental health workforce, we need to make sure when someone presents in crisis or chooses to seek help, there are providers who can take them in and meet your needs. no patient should be turned away, asked to wait in an emergency room for days or be left on the street because there is not an available that. i'm sure this is a problem you have seen all too often in the er and i think we can and must do better on all of this. i'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts. another issue i'm looking forward to hearing about is the need to integrate physical and mental health care. the two stories have something important in common. amanda did not just need psychiatric help, she needed primary care. during the course of his recovery, he needed treatment for cancer. the silos that exist between mental health care and physical care do not match patient

realities and that needs to change. senator murphy and senator kathy have worked on together would take important steps to better integrate mental and physical health care. i am also interested in innovative steps being taken at the state level. the university of washington has a residency program that allows you to focused on psychiatry to get experience working in a physical health setting. i know you are focused on this challenge and i'm grateful we will have your insights today. i want to reiterate something from the last hearing. if we are going to confront the challenges in our health system, we have to take down the barriers the stigma creates for those suffering from mental illness. researchs prioritizing which helps enhance our understanding of and ability to treat mental illness and it means raising awareness so those

struggling don't feel they have to struggle alone. nearly one in five people in our country experience mental illness and far too many don't receive treatment when they need it. part of the reason is stigma gets in the way. you have worked for over a decade to raise awareness and moat understanding of until health and communities across the country and you have been an inspiration to many people who otherwise may not have had the courage to seek your help. what your to hear think congress should do to lend voice to efforts like yours. we have a lot of urgent work ahead of us to make sure our families and communities have access to comprehensive, high-quality mental health care that they need and i look forward to working on a bipartisan effort to strengthen our mental health system and give patients and families the opportunity to lead healthy, for filling lives.

>> we welcome our four witnesses. you all have disease can then other things to be doing and we are grateful for that. i'm going to ask senator mikulski to introduce one of you since she has a conflict which will require her to leave soon. : thank you soki much, senator alexander. i want to thank you for your progress on holding hearings on the issue of mental health. i know this is your third hearing on the topic and i want to salute you and senator murray for moving in this direction. justiceerce subcommittee is holding a hearing on president obama's proposals on gun control and as the vice chair, i must be at my duty station and have to excuse myself. i really want to be at this hearing because i am a professionally trained social worker. we have been working on this --

these issues all of my professional life. this is why i came to the senate , to listen to good people with great ideas on how we could help our people. we have two distinguished marylanders here. one is dr. hepburn who headed up the state of maryland's agency on mental health and himself a university of maryland trained clinician who went on to breathe mental health into a bureaucracy and bring care to our people in a state -- we are going to have some great ideas. is a professor at the department of mental health at the famous on topic and school of public health. dr. eaton is a professor there and chairs the department of mental health. with the only department that unit of public health in the world.

usually public health inks about oxidation. what dr. eaton thinks about is how can we do the preventive work senator mikulski: he will talk to you today about his work appeared everybody with a mental health problem needs individual treatment, but they live in a social world and we need to look at indicators and how we can make certain that institutions are with families and with goals. i have already learned a lot from him. and i have listened to the folks at the school of public health. i look forward to where we are going on this issue. when i got out of graduate went -- school, i