our guest this week is the last chief technology officer, aneesh chopra. joining us is cecelia kang of the "washington post." she is a technology reporter for that newspaper. very quickly, we referred obliquely to this meeting that happen in the white house this week. what was this meeting? guest: earlier today a group of economists from all ends of the political spectrum if i may use the term, those that served in the bush of administration, in the clinton administration, those that are in all walks of life if you will in terms of their political leanings, came together and wrote a shared letter calling on congress to promote this notion of voluntary incentive options to ensure that policy lever is in place because fundamentally, our economy is a market-based economy where you have assets that trade to their highest and best use. what these economists that and of course i'm not trained as an economist at what these economists basically said is that by moving toward the voluntary incentive auction authority there will be a market mechanism that would allow

chief technology officer aneesh chopra. then, anita mcbride speaks to students on c-span's distance learning class about the changing role of the modern first lady. and later, the head of the u.s. nuclear regulatory commission speaks to a senate committee on the japanese nuclear crisis. >> tonight, a discussion examining the boundary between federal law and states' rights. you'll hear from panelists including a former arizona sheriff who is a plaintiff in a supreme court case that challenged the constitutionality of the brady handgun law. this event from the annual conference on world affairs at the university of colorado airs tonight at 8:30 p.m. eastern here on c-span2. >> this week on "the communicators," our guest is aneesh chopra, the chief technology officer of the united states. >> host: and aneesh chopra, chief technology officer of the united states, if you would start by giving us the parameters of your job, what the goals are many this position -- who you report to, etc. >> guest: well, i serve as an assistant to

. >> i've met with aneesh. he was undersecretary of technology under governor tim kean, and so i met him a couple of times. he's knowledgeable and a nice guy but i don't have really any interaction with that office. >> coming back to the auction issue, should the sec be looking for the field in just the broadcasters, what are the arguments for having the broadcasters returned the spectrum if there is the better use the news in the air waves to send signals to what is about 15% may be of the homes that might still rely on over the air broadcasting, but in the at&t t-mobile proposal they argued that it would do more by combining the two companies spectrums and either of them can do alone in terms of speed to get it the next generation broadband to market. mr. speaker held by its companies that may be better concentrated in larger hands and should they be offered or induce or inside it to take part in the options you may have the authority to hold? >> we are having the discussion in part because when the iphone de

. >> host: aneesh chopra. >> guest: he was our secretary of technology under tim kaine, governor tim kaine, and so i've met him a couple times. he's very knowledgeable, very nice guy, but i don't have, really, any interaction with that office. >> host: coming back to the spectrum auction issue, should the fcc be looking further afield than just the broadcasters? one of the arguments for having broadcasters return spectrum is there is a higher and better use than using the airwaves to send signals to what is about 15% maybe of homes that might still rely on over-the-air broadcasting? but in the at&t/t-mobile, at&t has argued it can do more by combining the two companies' spectrums than either of them can do alone in terms of speed to getting a next generation broadband to market. is there spectrum being held by other commercial wireless companies that the same argument could be made, that it would be better concentrated in more larger hands, and should they be offered or induced or invited to take part in these auctions that you may eventually have the authority to hold? >> guest: we'

large, as opposed to the micro- economic question as to whether it would give a set of carriers -- >> aneesh chopra joined our washington post guest reporters tonight on "the communicators" on c-span2. >> this year's studentcam, petition asked students to consider washington d.c. through their -- studentcam's competition asked students to consider washington, d.c., through their lens. >> i want to be a computer game programmer. >> i want to be a vet. >> i want to be the president. >> i want to be a football player. >> i want to be an artist when i grow up you'd the mother are few things as fundamental to the american dream or as a -- grow up. there are few things as fundamental to the american dream or as essential as education. at a time when our children are competing with kids in china and india, the best job qualification you can have is a college degree or advanced training. in a paradox of american life, when it has never been more prudent to have a higher-quality education, the cost has never been higher. the cost of tuition at private colleges has more than doubled, while costs at pu

scratched the surface on the issues we wanted to discuss with you, so you will have to come back soon, aneesh chopra, chief technology officer of the u.s. and cecilia kang of "the washington post," thank you both. >> host: thank you. >> guest: thank you for having me. >> "the communicators" also airs tonight in prime time. if you missed any of the program with u.s. chief technology officer aneesh chopra, watch "the communicators" again tonight and each monday night at 8 p.m. eastern here on c-span c-span2. >> just ahead, c-span's distance learning class hears from anita mcbride who is chief of staff to former first lady laura bush. then, the head of the u.s. nuclear regulatory commission speaks to a senate panel about the lessons learned from the japanese nuclear plant crisis. later today former speech writers for president richard nixon discuss how they attempted to shape the public language of the nation's 37th president from his minor statements to major speeches. among the participants is former white house aide pat buchanan. the forum is co-hosted by the richard nixon foundation and geor

aneesh chopra, chief technology officer of the u.s. and cecelia kang of the "washington post." thank you both. >> guest: thank you for having me. >> next a discussion about states rights versus federal authority. he will hear remarks from authors, academics and a former arizona sheriff who is a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the clinton administration regarding the gun violence protection act. this dialogue took place at the 63rd annual conference on world affairs at the university of colorado in boulder. this is about an hour and 20 minutes. >> we have a very diverse, talented and intriguing panel. i'm going to deduce them very briefly in the interest of time. but i urge you to consult your programs for more information about their many accomplishments. the members of our panel areart, starting at the far and terrence mcnally, and actor producer and filmmaker and general all-around artistic genius, also a veteran of the conference on world affairs. terrence gerer has a focused narrative allowing people to tell their stories in ways that reveal their truths and their foibles. m

. >> the president's chief technology officer, aneesh chopra joins us at 8 eastern on the communicators on c-span2. >> tonight on the networks, u.s. labor leaders discuss the future of labor unions, including recent republican efforts to curve the rights. >> even at the cost of disabling democrat has reached epidemic proportions. >> that's at c-span, and on c-span2, the look at the balance and state rights and federal authority. as well as a look at brown versus the board of education. >> i would say, correct me if i'm wrong, brown v. board was to protect the people. if that's the federal government overstepping it's bound, i don't see why the federal government is there. if not to protect the peace and prosperity of its own people. [applause] [applause] >> i must say for being a student at the university of colorado, you have great insight. [laughter] >> i would just say this, i would love to see the federal government dedicated to those principal that is you mentioned. but running every facet of our lives and including education is not one of them. i honestly believe that colorado edu

. >> the president's chief technology officer, aneesh chopra, on the demand for spectrum and expanding broadband in the u.s. joins a "the washington post" reporter tonight on "the communicators" on c-span2 c-span. every weekend experience "american history ." it's 48 hours of people and events telling the american story. hear first-person accounts from people who have shaped modern america, on oral history. it features history writers of the past decade and travels to important battle fields that shaped an era during the 150th anniversary of the civil war. every weekend visit college classrooms across the nation as professors delve into america's past. "lectures in history." join curators behind the museums of exhibits and sites on american artifacts. and "the presidency," focusing on american president policies legacies as told through historic speech and personal insights from administration officials and experts. "american history tv" on c-span3 all weekend, every weekend. get our complete schedule online. and sign up to have them e-mailed to you using our c-span alert. >> today sta

. >> the president's chief technology officer, aneesh chopra, on wireless mergers, the demand for spectrumand expanding broadband in the u.s. joins washington post guest reporter cecilia kang tonight at 8 eastern on "the communicators" on c-span2. >> now available, c-span's congressional directory, a complete guide to the first session of the 112th congress. inside new and returning house and senate members with contact information including twitter addresses, district maps and committee assignments and information on the white house, supreme court justices and governors. order online at c-span.org/shop. >> the commission on wartime contracting recently continued its investigation into how u.s. tax dollars are spent on contracting projects in afghanistan and iraq. the panel looked at reconstruction and development efforts by nonprofit aid groups and compared those to the same work by private contractors and u.s. civilian and military personnel. witnesses at the two-and-a-half hour event included officials from mercy corps, save the children and the international rescue committee. this is t