cdbg was already flexible. we've been able to get congress to give us even more flexibility in recent rounds on the dr money, but it would really take changing the stafford act to make progress on some of the fema dollars. and that's, you know, you know how likely it is to get something through congress these days. so i think it's very important that if you want to be sort of surgical about that, the you've got some very specific -- if you've got some very specific changes to bring that forward, i'd be happy to work with craig fugate and the new secretary of dhs, jeh johnson, to focus on that. >> appreciate that answer, secretary. what we can do, mayor, is also we could sort of follow up if there's a group of mayors from this committee that are interested in going to the second level of that question, perhaps we can connect with the appropriate staff from whatever agencies and see what our next steps might be. so finish. >> [inaudible] >> we talked before. >> okay. we will -- let's to that. we'll make sure we d

cdbg about 25% from when our fiscal crisis started. and so these programs have been squeezed as much as anything else. i think it is a big victory for all of us. i will tell you i have never seen better work than i saw this year. partnership between our agency and all of you to make the case for cdbg and home. i give you, setti, a lot of credit and your fearless leaders for marshaling the team and making the case this year. when you go from $1.6 billion in the house bill to $3 billion, that is a real victory. it is a real victory in the times we are dealing with. i think is important that we show that we are thinking in innovative and creative ways and are looking at commonsense reforms to these programs that will help us make the case even better. this past year and many of you were involved but the new folks may not have been involved. we started a dialogue that we called moving cdbg forward. we had 20 different listening sessions with all of you and other stakeholders to get your ideas about smart reforms, how we can simplify the pr

funding for cdbg at $1.6 billion.we are pleased that that did not happen. all of this work that we have done in collaboration is important in the implementation of funds. in introducing secretary shaun donovan, he has been a fantastic partner to all of us. his door is always open, he is very accessible. we areushing what pushing, outcome and innovation with the use of these funds. it has been a pleasure working with you, secretary. andow many of the mayors solving problems at the ground level, we are proud -- glad that you are here. i will introduce secretary shaun donovan. thank you for being here. very much appreciate it. [applause] >> thank you. it is great to be back with all of you. i want to start by thanking setti for his incredible leadership. we have spent a lot of time together. not just through his leadership of this committee, but also, i got a call from him saying i found this innovative thing, what you think about it -- he is not just talking the talk, he is walking the walk on doing things that are inno

this year is the 40th anniversary of cdbg funds. it's been one of the most successful programs in history as far as funding housing, economic development, assessability. we want to make sure we communicate around the importance of the program. what we are asking you members of the committee and member of the conference to commit to highlighting successful czbg projects. in your community between now and may. we have, as you know, in our committee meeting in las vegas, we now have a website u.s. conference of mayors where we're asking you all to upload highlight from the event as well as the community partners that help make cdbg so successful and productive. we want you to upload that on our web page the u.s. conference of mayors. we will send it out. it will couple nate with an event on capitol hill that will do in the spring with members of congress and the senate. i'm announcing that now. i want to get your commitment. i'll stop you before you walk out of the room and make sure you join us for that. we have to make sure we protec

in particular, using the bully pulpit of the 40 year anniversary of cdbg. we'll be asking them out there. thank you very much for your participation this afternoon. i look forward to working with you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] >> coming up, a debate on u.s. gun policy. then a preview of the state of the union address. on "washington journal." examining the recent changes to ,ilitary retirement benefits including cost-of-living adjustments under the bipartisan budget act. live starting at 9:30 a.m. eastern on c-span 3. subcommittees -- the next round of talks on iran's nuclear program. a former u.s. ambassador to the u.n. live coverage starting at 2:00 p.m. eastern on c-span 3. i realize that tax reform and entitlement reform will not be easy. the politics will be hard for both sides. none of us will get 100% of what we want. the alternative will cost us , visiturt our economy hardship on millions of hard- working americans. let's set party interest aside thatork to pass a

look at overall, this money is moving faster than in any prior major disaster and also remember the cdbg money is really the last resort for families who haven't been able to get help. >> they get immediate money from feel mark they get money from their insurance programs, and this is the last step, so it's not unusual that we would have folks a year after the storm who are still rebuilding. remember, these are the folks whose homes were devastated the worst, and where we knew the rebuilding process would be a long one, what i will tell you is, could it be going faster? yes, are we doing everything we can to cult red tape? absolutely, but i am confident that we are monitoring this money closely. >> hud secretary sean donovan, stay warm out there. thanks for joining me. >> thank you. >>> i know you watched the state of the union last night, did you watch the response? you may be saying, there were so many, which one. don't worry, we've rounded up the best. >>> republicans have a lot to say about the president's state of the union address last night. between the official response, the adap

they worked on a bipartisan basis for adequate funding for cdbg to meet compelling need in the area of housing, particularly housing for the elderly, the so-called section 202's, many of which were built a long time ago and now need to be retrofitted and remodeled; again, meeting need, coming up to the compliance of what we now know things like universal design to keep people out of long-term care, assisted living. and this is just a wonderful way to meet human need and also generate jobs. so they've done a great job. but i'd also like to comment was the leadership that they provided, and it was across all of the appropriations committee. you know, because we're not a committee that makes a lot of fuss, we're not usually a bunch of chest pounders about a policy, we're, we were once referred to in a major historical book about our work as the quiet guardians of the purse. we're mott quiet when -- we're not quiet when we're with each other but often the work is not well known or well noticed because we've done it in a tone of solving problems, in keeping the problem the problem and not m

we also will be in communication with the on regard to the cdbg advocacy program. we'll be doing an event in the spring. we're going to need your help. making sure that congress and the senate hear our voice on that for the next budget. in particular using the bully pop -- the bully pulpit. we'll be asking them out there. thank you very much for your participation this afternoon. i look forward to working with you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] meeting.yor he talks about some of the country's transportation needs. this is 20 minutes. >> we're going to adjust the program really quickly. we have a very important dignitary with us. to introduce them and invite him up. this person has been a champion for our organization. we are honored to have bill shuster, sherman of the infrastructure committee with us today. it goes without saying we all think very highly of you. little bitto talk a about his efforts to increase federal investment in the nation's infrastructure. be withled to vegas t

conference of mayors has been working very closely with the llc on issues related ,o cdbg the unfunded mandates one of the coolest and tallest mayors we have. come on up. [applause] >> thank you. thank you for having me. told -- chosen basketball, but coming from minnesota, i chose hockey, and that did not work out well for me. tom cochran, thank you for inviting me to be here to give you greetings on behalf of the national league of cities. personally, i want to thank you -- come up to me and expressed concern for how cold it is back in st. paul. you hate -- it hit 28 below without windchill. better feel a little bit if i knew you were not thinking in the back of your head that we were not that there -- were nuts up there. we are better equipped for 28 forw the legal coast is snow, so anytime you want a relief from that's no, we'll show you a mormon good time -- a warm and good time. we support tiles from the ground up, by rating building blocks for vibrant communities. there has never been a better time for the national league of cities and the u.s. conference of mayors to work toget

today, about nine months after the first phase of cdbg disaster recovery funds started flowing in new jersey, nearly $900 million - more than two-thirds of the funds for housing recovery programs are out the door or in the pipeline. from the very beginning, the priority was putting those with the greatest needs and with the most limited financial resources at the front of the line. of the nearly half of the housing money that has been obligated so far, 72.9 percent has been awarded to low- and middle-income families. we are proud of that. [ applause ] >> the bottom line is this: we are a long way from the finish line, but we are a long way from where we were one year ago. challenges remain and i will not rest until every person hurt by sandy has their life back. that sandy has their life back. that is my mission. i want to thank this legislature, and all new jerseyans, for the cooperative, bipartisan and resilient spirit you demonstrated in coming back from sandy. let that spirit of sandy be a powerful lesson to all of us, that when times are most difficult, cooperation and progress a

are asking you upload highlights from those events as well as the community partners that help make cdbg so successful and productive. please upload that on the web page on u.s. conference of mayors. we will send the conference and jean will send out a notice for a follow-up. this will be with a group we do on capital hill in the spring with members of the house and senate. i will stop you before you walk out of the room and make sure you join us for that because we have to make sure we protect this program. so, with that, as i said, the good news is cbdg is funded at $3.03 billion for 2014. they recommended at $1.6 billion so we are pleased that didn't happen. all of this work we have done with collaboration of hud is extremely important. introducing shaun donovan, he be a fantastic help. it has been a pleasure working with you, secretary, and many of the mayors are pleased you are here and sharing your time with us. so i will introduce secretary shaun donovan. thank you for being here. very much appreciate it. [ applause ] >> thank you. it is great to be back with all of you. i want to

this year is the 40th anniversary of cdbg funds. this has been one of the most successful programs in history as far as funding housing, economic developed, accessibility at the local level with the mayors. we want to make sure we communicate with the country about the importance of this program. ..