when i look at that conversation with olympia snowe and i look at the results, the reality of internet access in the united states from the year that olympia took me to that school in maine am a the reality is this. internet access in the united states was led by access to schools and libraries. in its first 10 years, it was led by access to schools and libraries. the us-led the world in having a generation, on to the internet. we have in fact in that generation highest standards of internet savvy people of any country in the world. and we did it on a narrowband platform. what tom wheeler came and told you today is how you're going to reimagine the whole thing on broadband platform. thank you. >> i knew he would be a great closer. he always had the good vision and we are lucky to have someone with his knowledge and passion talking about these issues at a very important time for all these issues. we are just about to close. we want to thank all the panel members. they were terrific, and our board, for sharing their time and expertise and aspirations with us today. we had thoughtful anal

actually i know we can take it because when i look back at the conversation with olympia snowe and i look at the results the reality of internet access in the united states from the year olympia took me to the library and maine internet access in the united states was led by access to schools and libraries. in its first 10 years it was led by access to schools. the united states led the world in having a generation come onto the internet. we have in fact in that generation the highest percentage of internet savvy people of any country in the world. .. [applause] >> i knew he would be a great closer. always has a good vision and we're lucky to have someone with his knowledge and his passion talking about these issues your in the circles of d.c. at a very, very important time for all these issues. so we are just about to close. want to thank all the panel members. they were terrific, and our board, for sharing their time and expertise and their aspirations with us today. we have thoughtful analysis and dialogue. we really hope that we provided a forum that's highlighted many of the acti

actually i know we can take it because when i look back at the conversation with olympia snowe and i look at the results the reality of internet access in the united states from the year olympia took me to the library and maine internet access in the united states was led by access to schools and libraries. in its first 10 years it was led by access to schools. the united states led the world in having a generation come onto the internet. we have in fact in that generation the highest percentage of internet savvy people of any country in the world. .. we will be continuing to discuss them over the summer. we know we are at an historic crossroads for libraries and access and next-generation broadband. we expect many issues discussed here will become more developed in the public's fear as the fcc continues toward modernization of the e-rate program and eventually asks congress to weigh and. i have no doubt that the public record established today will help inform those conversations that we could not have done with tunnel of love participants in the audience. i wanted thank or virtual a

these are not the things that al gore and olympia snowe knew would be the demand case years later but they knew that something like them would be the demand case. 30 million americans every single year ago to a public library for free access in order to improve their careers. that's one tenth of the population. and it's not the same people every year. over the course of just three or four years the majority of adult americans go to a library to try to get a job or improve the job they have. this is the importance of public access. you all have studied. you have all shown that there is popular opinion behind this vision. now let's talk about some of the statistics and i want to go right to the core of an issue that has plagued us today since it started two years ago. first schools or libraries which is more important? schools or libraries? i think it's a false choice. i think we should talk about al reg about what libraries need and that should be some amount of money and schools need some amount of money and when you add the two together you know the total you need. it doesn't mean a

olympiaer senator snowe. former governor johnson a new of new hampshire who was resident bush's white house chief of staff. you special personal thank to former transportation secretary andy card who served president bush and that role is white house chief of staff. i can tell you he was essential to the success of the september 11 victim compensation fund. he was my of these on at the white house. what andy did i cannot repay him, i will be at his debt forever. thank you very much. [applause] both of whom served into poetic posts in president bush's administration. thank you for being here. a special thank you to [inaudible] in 2006ived the award and is with us to salute the newest recipients. a past winner of the award. we would like to thank -- there you are. thank you. youfinally a special thank in these -- and the introduction of distinguished guests to our dinner chair and two nights award dinner who helped make this year's dinner and unprecedented success in terms of diversity, amount of money raised b

people like the governor of new hampshire and senator olympia snowe, who is here, we were very worried about that. and canada was tougher on the -- suffering from the effects of acid precipitation and prime minister, a very close friend of this president, spoke about it quite a bit. so people were concerned. if you roll the clock forward today, one of the reasons that the environment has not been quite as much an issue is that the environmental laws we have enacted in the last 45 years have actually worked very well. our air and water are cleaner. conditions in the rivers are safer to swim in. our landfills are safer. we have measurable health results to show that. of all of those laws, i believe there is a very strong case that the single most effective has been the clear act amendment of 1990. amendment of 1990. i think it would be accurate to say that this is the most effective environmental statute ever enacted. why do i say that? first of all, the clean air act is still in the books today and still working well. 23 years later, it still has an effect. more importantly, the actual

olympia snowe is a senior fellow and co-chair of the organization commission on political reform. me now. senator, thank you so much for joining me. >> thank you, kristen. >> let's run through a few of these proposals. you say we should increase the number of voters in primaries, create one national primary date, disclose all political contributions, which i think a lot of people would agree with. five-day work weeks for house and members of the senate. >> very basic. >> very basic. >> two-thirds vote needed for senate rule change. monthly meetings between the president and congressional leaders. these seem like very common-sense suggestions. what type of response are you getting? >> actually it's been very positive. i know in speak across the country, people embracing a number of these initiatives, and some of them i had proposed as well. so we worked as 29 members of the commission to come up with the recommendations based on the town meetings we had across the country, four of which engaged the public. they embrace them. so now it's working on cap hole hill and beyond the publi

ed royce and former senator olympia snowe. follow the show online on facebook and twitter.ea's travels at mitchell reports. ron ronan farrow is here now. >> we have the latest on the mississippi mud slinging. we havehakim jeffries with a plan for the undocumented children. it's something that might make a big difference in your life. stick around. >>> on this tuesday, we are watching heavy rain developing with showers and thunderstorms throughout many portions of the southeast. localized downpours could cause airport delays from florida right through atlanta. we're also watching heavy rain in ohio and western new york and out west, quiet for much of california. the summer of this. the summer that summers from here on will be compared to. where memories will be forged into the sand. and then hung on a wall for years to come. get out there, with over 50,000 hotels at $150 dollars or less. expedia. find yours. say "hi" rudy. [ barks ] [ chuckles ] i'd do anything to keep this guy happy and healthy. that's why i'm so excited about these new milk-bone brushing chews. whoa, i'm n

the beginning of the e-rate program and i am always so proud to mention that my former senator olympia snowe was essential, was critical in getting this program into the american telecommunications legislation of 1996. allah recognizing the importance of e-rate for libraries early on established an official at e-rate task force that closely monitors and responds to fcc proceedings within the washington office and i am so pleased to work with these people at allah who are so supportive of the task force's work. there is no question that the e-rate has transformed the way libraries and schools function to better serve the needs of patrons and students and from my perspective in maine it's been an incredibly successful program however after nearly 20 years even the successful program should reassess to make sure that is focused on meeting today's connectivity needs. therefore allah supports the fine-tuning of the program and creating efficiencies wherever possible. however i do caution we first do no harm. in march the fcc released a public notice and i will share a few details since i have bee

they decided to worship people like olympia snow and susan colli collins, he's going to break through this with negotiation and never happen that could be the long-term. >> the moderation i hope has passed now. that might be the one good thing that's happened here. people stop thinking being in the middle is somehow in and of itself a good thing. >> it leaves you then if you've come to that realization, then you need control basically of all of congress to get anything done and that's the whole other -- there are other things we want to get to. moving on to iraq, that's one of the biggest and there's big news this morning. the most influential shiite cleric in america is calling on country's leaders to choose a prime minister by this tuesday, three days from now. the clock appears to be ticking on iraqi prime minister's nuri al maliki's eight-year rule. an editorial this morning is highly critical of maliki saying the u.s. military support won't accomplish much. mr. maliki and others refuse together to save their state. it appears to be what the united states wants, the idea of gettin

or the establish lt, people like former senator olympia snowe who quit the senate in 2012 because there was no long er er any pla for her in the increasingingly polarized congress. still, tea party is a useful short hand for those of us in media to make politics seem more interesting. take mississippi where six-term senator thad cochrane beat back a very nearly successful challenge this week by state senator chris mcdaniel. it was billed, as i said earlier, as the establishment versus the tea party. much of that came for each candidate was getting his money and endorsements. in cochrane's corner was national party chair haley barbour, senator john mccain, the u.s. chamber of commerce, the establishment. mcdaniel had sarah palin and the senate conservative pac and the club for growth, the tea party. the major policy difference between cochrane and the challenger, their views on what to to with federal fund iing. cochrane has a track record of funneling federal dollars from 2008 to 2010 alone he secured . 2.6 billion in earmarks for projects in mississippi. that was before the earmark ban