whether it's the gao or the cbo or -- these are not policy making bodies and we are. we can debate about whether or not an investment in some aspect of quality is a good decision or not a good decision. i would be reluctant to set the precedent of giving an outside organization to have the ability to cancel the program because they've conclude that's it might have a cost associated with it. that's really our function as a body here as well as a finance committee to make those determinations. it's been a general conclusion over the last number of months as we've had a number of hearings and working groups that we clearly are going to bend the curve down, it is going to be in the area of prevention and quality, not quantity as has dominated the health care, how much people are in a doctor's office, in a hospital that determine the sick care system. we're all interested in keeping people out of those offices, out of those hospitals, true prevention and improvement of quality. we rank 37th in the world in terms of quality of health care according to organizations that eva

some of the things that the gao has said are quite staggering. and they're talking about the sec should take to ensure equal access to rule-making information. that's the title of a booklet. which trit criticized the agency for providing more information to certain stakeholders to the detriment of others. according to the gao in some instances the sec staff would go so far to call individuals to inform them of the upcoming items scheduled for a vote. new mexico contrast, stakeholders representing consumers and public interest groups do not hear from them. i hope you're not satisfied with that. >> no. no. >> i call on the ranking member. >> thank you, mr. chairman. on the broadband issue, how do you view the issue of no service versus underserved areas as priorities. >> senator, the first thing i would say is that in working on the national broadband plan that congress entrusted the sec, i would start where congress started. congress asked the sec to look at deployment, national purrs and the fcc i expect would do that. with respect to unserved and

i would just note that the senate -- i think the congress passed a rule recently that would allow the gaoto directly audit aig and other individual bank or other interventions, and we are perfectly comfortable with that. we provided extensive information to the congress on aig and those other rescues, including monthly reports required by congress on all 133 lending. so we have been quite open about it. if there are specific issues -- >> how about specific issues on the specifics, who gets the money, what are the terms, what are the -- >> on what program? on what program? >> on any programs under your emergency powers, where you rely on emergency powers. certainly on the -- on the approximately trillion dollars that you say you'll be doing on mortgage-backed securities. >> well, mortgage-backed securities, so if you look at our balance sheet, the bulk of it is in two things -- short-term lending to financial institions, which was up to a trillion is now down to less -- about $600 billion, $700 billion because of payback basically. the institutions relates to what you referred to earlier,

i know that some of the reports issued by the gao and members of congress have brought to our attention that the department of labour has not kept up pace with respect to investigations that should be done by osha and by wage and hour. now is the time to make that shift, and we did get additional help to do that in the recovery program. i hope in the following year will be able to do that as well. our goal is to help people find employment, but also provide safety and protection in the workplace. when you go to your job in the morning, you should be able to come on to your family at night. >> there were some last-minute rule making mother wished administration. >> we are making an examination of what they call the midnight rules that were passed by the previous administration. we have suspended some of those and will go out and talk with the difference stakeholders and come back and make whatever necessary changes we deem appropriate. >> anything specific so for the you have done already? >> right now, we are looking at a rule regarding the h2a basis that deal with the farm workers. the

in fact, the gao report on this recently said that the fms tried to negotiate lower interchange fees with visa and mastercard and negotiations were not successful. in addition to the general questions of the fees on retail establishments across america. what is the status of your effort to make sure uncle sam isn't paying too much for the credit card companies for use of a credit card. >> this is a complicated question and to be honest with you, vint thought about this very much yet and i would be happy to spin time with you and your staff and taking a look at both questions you raise. i think you asked the gao to do a stud of one of these dimensions and we would look carefully at the conclusion of the study, but i'm happy to commit time on this and to see if there's something we can to to protect the government's interest and not just to reform what you just raise happened. >> i think with the establishment of t.a.r.p. under the previous administration and its continuance under this ad n administration there has been a shift of personnel within the department treasury to deal with t

. >> it is the gao review of the activities of those titles. >> we now -- and to have 10 or 12 here?we only have 10. we're still missing people. >> i can talk about it if you don't mind. >> go ahead and give max mr. chairman, as we all know and the president has made the point and is totally inappropriate, one of the average has to be to reduce the cost of health care and the rate of a growth and cost over the years because we are basing -- >> [inaudible] >> i do. we are facing an unsustainable situation in our federal budget which is jim and in large part by the cost of health care. we know that we have a approximately $38 trillion unfunded liability in the medicare accounts. another large amount of unreliability i think in the range of $10 trillion in the medicaid accounts and we also know that health care is not taking 17 percent of gdp headed toward 20% of gdp in the these numbers are simply not sustainable for our government coronation and thus one of the core elements of health care reform has been not only to get everybody covered which people on our side are totally committed

the government accountability office, and the gao participated all the way through. this is a very limited program due to giggling and i think there are no policy issues from the administration. host: let's hear from our independent line in texas. caller: i believe that the tsa is complete and effectual in protecting the flying public. there was a woman who brought her friends id card in trouble from pennsylvania to florida a couple of weeks ago. all of the yelling in the line does not protect me. i would like to see the officials pursue a kinder, gentler face to the public. i travel worldwide and this is the only place i get screen that in the line when i am trying to get on my plane. guest: certainly the part about screaming while standing in line should not be the case. the entire work force at tsa has been trained on that. we have tried to find personnel who will protect getting onto the plane without acting like a hall monitor. i hope that as to travel more you will see the quieter, calmer, confidence tsa personal and less of the old. this program by allowing th

passenger rail corridor should connect population centers within 500 miles of each other. 11 months later the gao concluded the existing inner-city passenger rail system is in poor financial condition and the current structure does not effectively target federal funds to where they provide the greatest public benefits such as transportation. court or reeds, generally less than 500 miles in length have higher ridership, perform better financially and appear to offer greater potential for public benefit. we also recommend congress that our nation in vest at least $8 billion per year over the next 50 years in passenger rail systems. president obama and senator reid and this congress realize that investment in passenger rail is needed now, not over the next 50 years. eight billion dollars was put into the stimulus bill to create jobs and kickstart the program to begin a valiant new vision for america's transportation. this president and senator reid and this congress have a vision for transportation in our nation much like that of president eisenhower which is connecting america. the united states is

could we get cbo and the gao to take -- to tell us because of the implementation? >> i would feel better if we had a little more time to look over this. >> let me see if i could. >> this is not a blow off. >> i know. i have respect for the question that you are asking. there are two or three points that we will send to you. all 50 state's directed on the internet. this is readily available. no. 2, we rejected out of hand center greg's vote -- senator gregg's vote. we know without a shadow of a doubt that the cost it saves would be greater than the cost would be to implement it. it is pretty obvious from the medicare numbers. i would like to work with the gentle lady and the chairmen during the course of the mark up before we get to the end. i'm pretty serious about not slipping this. it is an opportunity for me as it is for a lot of other people to do things they have always wanted to do. i think this one makes an awful lot of sense. i would appreciate the opportunity to continue to work with the lady. i will get the information on the web access. >> that think abo

that's been going on in the defense department especially after a year, a year and a half ago when the gao can now with the report that said we have $295 billion in cost overruns in just the 72 largest systems and it seems to me anybody who considers himself or herself to be fiscally conservative should have been extremely upset or horrified by that, get it didn't seem that many people were, and it looks as though both parties are trying to prove how patriotic they are or are concerned somebody one might feel they are not patriotic if they don't just give the defense department every penny that they want and then some, and now we are ramping up in afghanistan and spending unbelievable amounts of money. and then on read in your testimony, mr. thibault, you're talking about massive confusion and loss, enormous waste. you save billions of dollars in wasteful spending has occurred and may still be occurring. and it looks to me like, you know, it really would be unpatriotic if we didn't question these things and do everything possible to stop all of this waste. very few people are willing to go

would break it up or disturb its current structure immediately, but the concern is that given that the gao is under, that congress can request such a review, that could lead to some political interference. that is the concern. on some questions the caller raised, we do know the accounts of the fed. the fed releases a balance sheet statement every thursday afternoon. we all look at it closely. it tells us how much money is in various accounts and what the fed has done with various programs. they have gone to lengths recently to provide even more information. they have not provided everything the congress has wanted, but they have provided more. we certainly know a lot about the federal reserve governors in washington. they are government officials. as far as the reserve banks, those private institutions part of the system, that is where much of the concern is. the presidents of these banks are well-known across the country and in their districts. we followed them closely. the board may not be as well- known. with public documents you can find out about them. their role and responsibility is

basic, matched the watch list against those traveling, and the government accountability office, the gaocipated all the way to the billing of this until it was finally approved so i think this is a very limited program that is due to get going and i don't think there are policy issues whatsoever, not with the new administration. >> host: texas on our independent line. >> caller: thank you

have also sent a letter to the gao to ask the they study the safety practice in place to prevent and deal with the icy conditions. let me say the ntsb in my judgment appears to be doing a very thorough job, which is not a surprise to me, in trying to gain an understanding of this crash. we need to fully understand it and find out what changes if any are necessary to be made to insure it does not happen again. as i said this will be the first of two such hearings and are witnesses today will be randy babbitt, mark rosenker, the acting chairman of the ntsb, calvin scovel, inspector general of the department transportation and john o'brien who will be with us shortly, a member of the flight safety foundation. i indicated a protocol on the ranking member of the subcommittee for an opening statement and the chairman and ranking member of the full committee and then call on the witnesses and have seven minute rounds for questions. senator demint. >> i particularly want to thank you for your diligence and your sense of urgency in having these hearings and i'm trying to get answers to the am

>> my concern about the legislation is if the gao is auditing not only the operational aspects of the programs and details of the programs but making judgments about policy decisions that would effectively be a takeover monetary policy by the congress a repudiation of the independence of the federal reserve which would be destructive to the stability of the financial system, the dollar and our national economic situation. >> thank you. thank the gentleman from tennessee. i now yield five minutes to the woman from ohio, marsha kaptur. >> thank you mr. chairman very much. and chairman bernanke, welcome to this committee. i am very concerned about the laws that create money in our society and how we hold them accountable. for those who counterfeit if we can find them most often they go to jail for a long time. but to those who create money in sophisticated ways through the financial system and then do great damage sometimes they are more difficult to apprehend and prosecute. today i with like to explore the relationship between the bank of america, merrill lynch and a firm called black r

this includes oversight by the gao, esa's financial stability oversight board, the special inspector general for t.a.r.p. and the kwongsal oversight panel established under esa, as well as reporting to multiple house and senate committees. in a better world, the choice to intervene in these companies would not have had to be immediate. but in the midst of the worst economic crisis in three-quarters of a century, the administration's decisions avoided a devastating liquidation and put a stop in the auto industry of picking hard problems down the road. while difficult for all stakeholders involved, these restructuring provide gm and chrysler with a new lease on life and a chance to fundamentally restructure and succeed. thank you. >> dr. montgomery, welcome. >> thank you. i appreciate this opportunity to appear here today to discuss assistance that's being provided to and being sought by communities and workers affected by auto job losses. as you're well aware, the current recession is arguably the most severe since the great depression and has had a profound impact upon businesses, wo

this includes oversight by the gao, financial stability of sideboard and special inspector general fortarp and congressional oversight panel established under esa. in a better world the choice to intervene in these companies would not have been made. but the worst economic crisis in 3-quarters of a century, the administration's decisions avoided a potentially devastating liquidation and put a stop to the long practice in the auto industry of kicking hard problems down the road. difficult for all stakeholders involve these restructurings provide a new lease on life and a chance to fundamentally restructure. thank you. >> dr. montgomery, welcome. >> thank you, members of the committee. i appreciate this opportunity to discuss assistance as provided to and sought by communities and workers suspected of job losses. the current recession is the most severe since the great depression and has had a profound impact on our businesses, workers, homeowners and homeowners throughout the country. striking as this decline has been for the country as a whole is even more severe in the auto manufactur

we want to have like we have every other aspect of government allow the general accounting office the gao to go in and do extensive audit to provide for the extensive and open honest government that we are all calling for. in the area of accountability the same thing and likewise in an area there is i believe will be bipartisan support because we have heard there is the need to address the aspect within the exigent circumstances and activity the fed has been done before to try to draw a ring around that. we need to do that as well and we can do that by simply sitting before they go forward on activities in the future we need to define them and have oversight and accountability by the executive to the treasury and congress as well. finally, in the area of fiscal and monetary responsibility another thing the american public is looking for. and here what we are asking to do is reestablished for the fed to hone the interest with the worse it up for and that is monetary policy, to take their of iraq activities that might distract them away and focus on this so that we have the responsibility i

them like we have for every other aspect of government to allow for the general accounting office, the gao, to be able to go in and do an extensive audit. to provide for the extensive and open and honest government that we're all calling for. in the area of accountability, same thing. likewise, in an area that i believe there will be bipartisan support for us. of course, we've heard there's a need to address the with all the exigent circumstances and activity that the fed has done before and troy to draw a little ring around that. we need to do that and we can do that simply by saying before they go forward in any such activities in the future we need to define them and have some oversight and accountability by the executive through treasury and congress as well and finally, in the area of fiscal and monetary responsibility, another thing that the american public is looking for. and here all we're asking to do is re-establish for the fed to hone their interest in what they originally was set up for and that is monetary policy. to take their other activities that may distract them away and

-- somewhere between 2 and 2.5 percentage points a year and it was projected to continue into the future. gao the center on budget and policy priorities, a number of analysts in the private sector, like henry aaron, and bill gale, and allen hourerback did similar calculations and came up with similar conclusions. when i played around with these projections back in 2007, i concluded as others had that through some miracle we could hold down federal healthcare spending growth to half a percentage point faster than g.d.p., we could extend all of the tax cuts that were enacted since, index the alternative minimum tax, allow discretionary spending to grow along with both inflation and population and have a balanced budget for at least the next 40 years. so this gives you an indication of what role rapid healthcare spending plays in the projected unsustainability of our fiscal situation. without some restraint on healthcare spending, the choices that faced us were quite unpleasant. sharply higher taxes, deep cuts in nonhealth programs or budget deficits that would begin to balloon and at some point

> well, the poverty level in the west bank is somewhere around 20 or 25% and you compare that to the gao's strip where it is probably more than 50%, some has to do with a much larger refugee population in the gaza and west bank but are also has to of the fact that when both of these territories control of jordan and egypt, jordan and best and enhance a lot more in the west bank economy to the point there was more industry than there was in gaza, but gaza, hamas essentially has destroyed a lot of what ever was available in industrial zones men available to it, the greenhouse is that the israelis left after their evacuation into 1,005 in all this could have been put to warrant a better quality of life where the average gaza resident poet have seen spewing essentially destroyed it and this raises the question of whether hamas is less popular because of the way they have governed off the gaza strip and i was a there probably are but the extent to which they are unpopular is just almost impossible to tell given the problems we talked about earlier with regard to media and the way freedoms have

members and meeting with the congressional oversight panel and the other oversight groups including the gaoand seeking their guidance as well to make sure that this program is well controlled and highly transparent to all who have to oversee it. >> well, let me jump to the issue of foreclosures. there was an article in one of the leading newspapers in the country yesterday about concerns over whether or not the foreclosure mitigation program, which we've been so actively involved in on this committee for the last several years, is working very well. we -- the administration is dedicated $50 billion of t.a.r.p. funds for foreclosure prevention mitigation through a loan modification program. most members of this committee strongly support that effort. we've had various ideas as to how this would work. and obviously when there are 23 of us up here trying to craft something, you get a lot of different ideas that can make up that decision, and all of us, i think, understand as well -- while we may debate about how many causes conflicted or contributed, rather, to this crisis, i think all agree t

mikulski has a strong interest -- >> could we get aarp's take on this and also, could we get the cbo or gao to tell us the cost of implementation? >> i just would feel better if we had a little more look at this thing. >> mr. chairman, if i could, one minute. >> we want to be clear. this isn't a blow-off. >> i know. i know. i have respect for the questions that you're asking. two or three points that we'll send to you. there's a web-based all 50 states directives are on the internet. this information is readily available. i've told my staff to give you that site. number one. number two, i don't want to be picky here but we rejected out of hand senator gregg's vote on his first amendment that he offered to check costs. we know without a shadow of a doubt that the cost this saves would be greater than whatever cost it is to implement. it's pretty obvious from the medicare numbers how much is spent at end of life. i would like to work with the gentle lady and the chairman during the course of the markup before we get to the end but i'm pretty doggone serious about it. this is not a flippant, i

sure that we are adopting sensible recommendations by not just the t.a.r.p., but by the congressional oversight panel and gao who are looking very, very carefully at all these programs. >> thank you. >> senator lautenberg? >> thanks, mr. chairman. mr. geithner, the financial crisis we're seeing was, in my vi view, due in significant part to poor management of these companies and particularly contained by the outcome of the management years in the automobile industry who refused to see what the public appetite was and refused to be competitive and thus, jobs have been lost and an industry practically destroyed, that we loved and admired for so many years. well, when we look at risks taken by corporate executives and decisions made, many of these executive pay packages insulate ceos from the risk and again, i may -- i don't want to take you out of your bail, but to avoid this excessive mismanagement, should executive compensation be tied to the long-term health of a company? where do we have a right to interject our views? >> senator, this is a very important issue, and i agree with you that i think although m

one of the problems that gao has commented on repeatedly it the lack of data, the lack of standards and benchmarks and within the end of the line legislation we create that framework. i think the question of accountability is accountability where, and i think if we create a program which we are several programs in this legislation, we ultimately have to be accountable for whether the program is terminated and the level of funding. routinely each year the secretary of every department makes that recommendation to us in the budget. they put some money in to a program and some programs they zero it out. in fact, there are a number of programs i would suspect that hhs today that have some up with a budget of zero funding. the secretary doesn't believe or the president doesn't believe or omb doesn't believe they work, but ultimately i think the accountability has to be here in terms of terminating a program, shifting funds to another program. that's the legislative process, and to short circuit it by giving -- and this would be i think unprecedented, actually allowing the secretary to termin

the joined contract in command in afghanistan. others that served in congressional staff work, gao the fence and important positions in the commercial industries which are the focus of our study. they bring hundreds of years of combined experience and education in many fields to bear on their mission and a performed a valuable work for their country. in conclusion the commission and staff of the commission on wartime contract and in iraq and afghanistan take very seriously the tasks that congress has assigned to us. we appreciate how important these tests are to improve support for our warfighters and their diplomatic employees. we sincerely thank you for the opportunity to describe to you today and pleasure best efforts to provide information, recommendations that will help make the decisions on contingency operations. mr. chairman, we thank you for your support of this commission but also as well your critical review. we know this committee will be looking at everything we do to help udo a better job and make sure we do a good job. >> i thank you both of you and the witnesses as well. you are right mr. shays, this is all about wor

i talked about the stake holders and gao and our auditor. tell me about cade. $1.5 billion technology portfolio. it's important, because it is our core data base, not everything we do in technology. what i was told by overseers, we've made great progress and proven we can do system development, but they don't see a path to finishing c.a.d.e. internal projections were 2015, 2020. i believe technology projects, the way you get them done, you have leaders, people who run agencies focus on them and drive towards result. what we've done is refocus the effort. and we've split apart trying to do all of the application work at the same time we do the data base work. the core is getting the data base done. we'll get refunds out quicker and address material weaknesses and we will be able to use data for enforcement programs. it's the real business comes out of the data base. we're focused on getting that done now and we're slowing down application development and focusing on conversion of the database. the other thing that's important from the report

to do what the state is doing filled with federal mandates written appear limiting when managers and national are different places can do and with an intolerable waste of taxpayer dollars. gao has said the government accountability office that 10 percent of all we spend is wasted. if his $32 billion a year. that is -- think what we can do to help people have better health care without. second, the imposition of this proposed expansion would raise state taxes inevitably in a time when states are making massive cuts, if you are nearly literally bankrupting. it is daylight tennessee i mentioned earlier that by my computation it might cause us to enact a new state income tax by 2015 a 10%. why would that? here are the details on that because the state director says that increasing the expansion of medicaid to 150 percent of federal poverty level acosta's teefive under $72 million. the federal government according to the finance committee of my pay for all that i remember a pays about there is one plan 6 million to increase so then pay for all that for the first three or four of five years. sounds good. let's said that. if we pay medicaid providers 110% and pay doctors at the ra

the sec? >> there's no question but that -- and there's a recent gao report that suggests this as well. that the resource constraints have hindered the ability of the enforcement division to pursue as many cases in as timely a way as i would like to see. in addition, there are some procedural difficulties placed in the path of the enforcement division over the last several years that slowed cases down, and discouraged, if not explicitly, implicitly, seeking penalties from corporate issuers from certain kinds of cases. and we've eliminated those hurdles and cases can be start much more quickly now. investigations can be pursued with the approval of one commissioner if not the full commission sitting in a meeting. we've eliminated the penalty pilot program and we reorganized in a way we hope will eliminate some play layers of management and some of the stove piping that existed over the years and allow us to be more nimble and aggressive in pursuing much larger cases, particularly those arising out of the financial crisis. >> on another issue, there was a mindset for a long period of time

a private sector fully 20% and a domestic resources means actual cash into the program and about 14% and non gao and others about 5% of their resources so quite a diverse mix and if you to look at this program of the financial structure at any time you receive a changing to radically to adjust to the realities of who can pay for what went and who is willing to pay for what when. there is still is substantial finance the next two years as you can see a $345 million this by the jim and his generosity of these players. particular you see in the big orange block at the bottom rotary international which has played an extraordinarily special role in the program not just as one of the initiators but in bringing both financial resources, political advocacy and volunteerism on the ground to getting the job done. again the importance of having a diverse range of funding is reflected i think in this graphic here. this shows the trend in g8 contributions since 2005 in polio eradication and in 2005, not since 2005 s shows you from 2003 through 2013 but the recent 2005 is important is because that was a year

and the people that i know and my colleagues at ashto while they talk about the reporting issues and auditing issues and lead gao and inspector general's office coming by, i don't think it has been a problem. i think it is expected and anticipated when you do get the extra funds whether they come from emergency and/or stimulus projects. to answer your question, no sir we have not had any and i don't have any real knowledge of other. >> that is encouraging to hear. i said earlier in the hearing at the very outset of the process of structuring a stimulus bill when we proposed it in this committee room december 2007 and then january january 2008 and then august we held a hearing in 2008, september, another hearing, we insist on openness and transparency these are federal funds and the public should know what is happening with the dollars for all projects are being implemented and where they're going and the jobs created that is not a burden some. that is pieces of information that you gather and collect and report internally at least 10 1/2 to report sixth of for the jobs you do not have to report that to the feder

the past few years, a series of food-borne disease outbreaks of spinach, peanuts, and peppers just to name is few have laid bare some major gaps in our antiquated food safety laws. oversight work by gao and by our own oversight committee has always helped us understand where we need to focus our efforts to bring our food safety laws into the 21st century. the draft legislation that is the subject of today's hearing is based on the fda globalization act of 2009 introduced by chairman emeritus dingell, chairman pallone and chairman stupak and i commend them for their work on that bill and their continued efforts in shaping this new bill. i also want to recognize the assistance we've received from the obama administration. we worked closely with the fda to identify problems with the current food safety law and to find workable solutions. we will not be passing legislation that sets up the agency to fail. the bill requires that the agency set tough standards but we've given them the flexibility to priorities to address the important risks first. i believe we can reach a bipartisan agreement and look forward to continuing to work with all the members of this committee. in working with the

gao is concerned. we won't go after that to pay for this? no. we'll just let the $72 billion go keep going on right out the door and charge $80 billion to our brand kids. we won't make the hard choices every family in america is making today. this is something about prevention, but you're talking about infrastructure here. you're not talking about the real interaction between physicians and patients and television advertisers and say if you eat this you're going to turn into a rogue lizard. we don't -- we don't know what we're getting in terms of value of our prevention programs. what we do know is if you give me 16 billion i can educate everybody in america tomorrow about what to do and not to do, but we don't have that. we don't have a metric so we'll take another $8 billion and put it in infrastructure for prevention and a way to get there which some people will use, but if you don't incentivize them, they won't utilize the $8 billion they'll spend on infrastructure every year, they're never going to do it. >> mr. chairman? >> senator casey. >> one comment on t

other program, the fact is when you go look at what the park program says and then you read what the gao says on all these programs, we don't get rid of them anyway, and all i'm trying to do is to say, you know, the american people want us to be a whole lot more efficient. they want us to not spend money that we don't have, that we're borrowing against their kids, and they don't really want us spending a whole bunch of money so we can say we're going to lower the spending of money. it doesn't fit with them. so i'll end. mr. chairman, i also will note i have to be somewhere at 7:00 which we're past, that and i don't know how much longer you're going to run. i'll be finished at about 8:30. >> well, i wanted to keep going to finish this section and to get to the fraud and abuse section, if we could as well, to finish those this evening with a goal in mind tomorrow to be able to deal with long-term care so we can sort of wrap up our work and then be leaving obviously for the independence day break and then based on the conversation earlier about keeping everyone informed as to any numbers we

honorable judge robert eckels, chairman of the texas high-speed rail and transportation company -- corporation. susan fleming director of infrastructure issues hipaa gao, and tom skancke, commissioner of the national surface transportation policy and revenue steady commission, president and ceo the tom skancke company. and we thank you all for being here and it governor rendell if you would please take five minutes to summarize, i try to meet the target of weekend. >> mr. chairman, you forgot mr. joseph boardman. >> my god, i look good show. and fire that person. [laughter] that is what happens taking care of relationships. we are glad to have you, joe, you have done a great job at amtrak. i'm sorry and we thank you, governor for the reminder. we will start to offset the five minutes. >> thank you mr. chairman and ranking member and all the members, it's a pleasure to be here. i think this is a momentous opportunity for the country and i will analogized to the opportunity we had when we built the federal highway system but we need to do it right. i am here today wearing three hats as governor of pennsylvania, chairman of the national governors' associ