we can seeether, that is being done by the west virginia legislature. i expect the same response in congress. we need to be a constructive partner to the people of west virginia. thank you very much for your testimony. with that, the hearing stands adjourned. >> the house returns at noon. to suspension bills are on the agenda with votes after 6:30 p.m. meanwhile, the senate gavels in at 2:00 p.m. to consider reducing military retirees under the age of 62. the reduction was part of the budget agreement that both chambers passed last month. a procedural vote is expected at 5:30 p.m. 60 votes a be required to advance the bill. c-spantch the house on and the senate on c-span2. i have often said that when i am traveling on amtrak that i run to the quiet car. it will provide consumers, more opportunities for data rich engagement. it will open up the market for more competitors to provide. when you look at the international ecosystem, i have 90% of engagement is data only. a very small part of it is conversation. it is up to the carriers, the airlines. >> the s

the west virginia legislature is considering legislation that help to fill the void that currently exists in the regulation of above-ground storage tanks. the bill discussed in the legislature today requires thing important from the perspective. one of the most important is to have a register professional engineer or other qualified individual to inspect and test the tanks and secretary containment annually and certify the integrity. on the federal side we support the manchin-boxer proposal. by requiring epa to establish minimum acceptable standards by which the states will be held accountable we can significantly reduce the risk of similar problem in the future. the program was developed in the late 1980 they recognized over 2 million systems estimated to be located at over 700,000 facilities nationwide existed with little or no oversight and that over 75% of the existing systems were made of unprotected steel, a type of tarng system proven to be the most likely to leak and thus great greatest potential. the success of the program nationally undisputable. the tbof ground stonch tank univ

i think working together i'm glad to see that is what is being done by the west virginia legislature and i expect the same type of respond here in congress that we can be a constructive partner to the efforts of the people of west virginia so again thank you all very much for your testimony and with that, the hearing stands adjourned. senators had the day off for the annual policy retreat and burgess everett with politico is a congressional reporter and i guess being a congressional reporter means covering these retreats. first senate democrats at national park in washington hearing from president obama and former president bill clinton. what is the significance of the timing of their hearing from president obama? >> is significant because in some way senate democrats have been breaking from the president on certain issues and some of that is related to the 2014 elections. it's also a big moment for legislation in the senate. unemployment insurance still is not then revised and they are preparing to go forward with a minimum wage increase so i think they are preparing to strategize as

so the west virginia legislature right now is actually considering a bill that would establish, basicallysome separate stats from natural gas, drilling, and what they have an opportunity to do, if they pass that bill, which we hope they do, is to direct those funds to things like infrastructure, things like economic diversification, things like education, and really plan for the future. >> i want to go to listening to the secretary of state from west virginia, talking about how fed up people are as we go out. when we come out, we'll talk more about west virginia, more about north carolina, but also california, where there simply isn't enough water. as we go out, i want to listen to the secretary of state from west virginia talking about just how fed up people are. >> too many west virginians are still wondering if their water is really safe. first off we hear it's one chemical, then we hear it's two chemicals. first we hear it's 7,500 gallons, then we hear it's 10,000 gallons. one day we're told that the water is safe, the next day we hear that pregnant women should not drink it. it doesn

this follows a public hearing last night before the west virginia legislature. le who were directly effected by the spill got to express frustration directly to state lawmakers and robert ray joins us from charleston, west virginia and a statement issued by the office senator jay rockefeller of west virginia says we can no longer trade the public's health and welfare for industry profits as we have seen in west virginia when we cannot drink the water, not much else matters. who is in the hot seat in washington today? >> good morning stephanie. i can tell you this, that people here want decisive and dramatic action and who is on the hot seat, we should look at a couple people, west virginia secretary of state and west virginia cabinet secretary of environment will be talking to the senate committee on environment and public works this morning, a ten, basically that committee will be looking at the safety, security of drinking water supplies and trying to figure out exactly what happened nearly four weeks ago here in west virginia that caused 300,000 people unable

on your car or missing utilities and so i have worked hand in hand with the secretary of state's office, west virginia legislature to have a piece of legislation, small business emergency relief fund where the governor, along with several agencies have the ability, would have the ability to promulgating emergency rules that would aid those businesses and aide those employees and those workers who have lost their wages. >> thank you very much. >> secretary tennant, in your opening statement you raise these frustrations, a number of frustrations in the aftermath of this bill about lack of clear guidance, lack of consistent trustworthy information. on january 24th papa group of 24 western genius scientists sent a letter to epa and cdc voicing very similar concerns and saying among other things, quote, if the government had been more forthcoming about what is not known about the leak chemicals, citizens and local officials would have been able to make better choices about the actions needed to protect their families and communities. do you share those concerns? how would you like to rectify that uncertainty and lack

what the people of west virginia really want and i mean what the corporation wants what the people of west well what about their health care so what are a viable other job their state legislature what about some of the mansion i mean one of these people wanting to say before i come in and second guess that determination i want to hear with those democrats there on the ground that's a democrat run state what they're up to so what would you i mean you have a state that is basically captured by a single industry there's only one industry in west virginia for all practical purposes and that's extracting coal and coal or wood so i wouldn't force i don't have a state of the law that force is a state to lead our federal law here i'm just i'm just curious because it's just you know this need not be a debate how would you advise a state to diversify itself away from an industry that is so toxic that it kills its own citizens. i'm not sure that's the same thing as coal so if there were this theoretical industry that existed the way you do in arsenic i would say that there are options that they ought to look at then they ought to pass some laws that invite in some competing companies to

. >> the situation in west virginia also has legislatures looking at the nation's water reserves, last month bills introduced to deal with sump reserves across the country. >> an annual gathering of people of all faiths that dates back to 1953, it underlines the underpinnings of religion and how it plays a role in our society. >> pay ago high price to go to college, the average debt students graduate with and why paying it off is important to the american economy. >> actor philip seymour hoffman's death, shedding new light on the heroin addiction in america, addicts sharing stories of daily struggles to stay clean. >> the financial world, what started out as a simple social media concept now influencing what happens every day on wall street. >> good morning, welcome back to aljazeera america. i'm del walters. we're going to focus on the catch 22 of a college education. you need to go to get ahead, but going can leave you buried in student loan debt for years. >> first, relief spelled rain on the west coast and nicole mitchell is here with that. >> we've been so dry in this region, but

the west virginia department of human health and resources said the last word on the issue came june 30th 2011, and at the time, that agency and the environmental protection jointly agreed to approach the legislature to provide funding for a study of successful initiatives from around the country, yet no legislation was ever introduced. >> it's challenging because i'm the first person who introduced it to the state. so to be here again at this particular moment, saying exactly the same thing, is really challenging. >> it's a group of people concerned about chemical safety, following a disaster in bopal india. there the chemical methoisocyanide was released. and they hope that the chemical outrage in the chemical spill that contaminated the drinking water for 300,000 people will bring tougher regulations. >> he was talking about his pregnant wife, how she's avoiding the water, and that's impacting on a personal level. one reason it gets swept under the rug, people with decision making power aren't dealing with the ramifications first hand. >> reporter: two bills are being introduced for chemical facilities in the state. too late for this incident, but maybe preventing a future one. robert ray, char

the west virginia department of health and human resources says the last word on the issue came june 30th 2011, at the time that agency and the department of environmental protection grid tagreed to jointly approach the legislaturending for a study of successfully in addition tiffs from around the country, yet no legislation was ever introduced. >> it's really challenging considering that i am the first person that introduce it had to the state in 2009, even before the chemical safety board. so to be here again at this particular moment saying the exact same thing, is really challenging. >> reporter: maya represent a group of people concerned about chem is safety founded in 1984 following a disaster in india. there a chemical was released killing thousands. the same chemical was made and stored at a plant in institute, west virginia. she hopes public outrage over the freedom industry's chemical spill that contaminated the drinking without fore 300,000 people will drink tougher regulations. >> one of the senators was talking about his pregnant wife and how she avoiding the water and impacting him a personal level. one of the reasons the issue get swept you understand the rug is because people in decision-making p

west virginia. [applause] senator, you are a former west virginia governor and i'm wondering, when you were governor, did you ever go before the state legislature in a state of the state speech and say i'm going to go around the legislature and do things because -- i can't work with you and i have to do things at an administrative level? >> never. why? >> first of all, do you think someone says they are going to do with or without you. you are going to hunch down and try. i would like the benefit of the doubt, the president is very frustrated. i understand that. if you are an executive, you have been frustrated. i worked with the right and left but bottom line i have to get something accomplished for the people of west virginia. that is what i was elected to do. i have to figure out how i get everybody to vote. and the bottom line is, you never put your opposition in an embarrassing position and don't send them home. >> do you think -- >> we have an atmosphere up here if you don't you you'll get me. that's not getting anything accomplished. if i was trying to get you on the other side of the aisle and know we are a different party, but still we

the west virginia verge department of health and human resources says the last word on the issue came june 30, 2011. at the time, that agency and the department of environmental protection agreed to jointly approach the legislature to provide funding for a study of successful initiatives from around the country, yet no legislation was ever introduced. >> it's really challenging, considering that i'm the first person that introduced it to the state in 2009 even before the chemical safety board so to be here again saying the exact same thing is really challenging. >> she represent as group called people concerned about chemical safety, founded in 1984 following a disaster in india. there is the chemical was released, killing thousands. the same chemical was made and stored at a plant in west virginia. the public outrage over the freedom industry's chemical still that contaminated the drinking water for 300,000 people will bring tougher regulations. >> one of the senators was talking about his pregnant wife avoiding the water. that impacts him on a very personal level. one of the reason issues get swept under the rug is because people in decision making power aren't dealing with the ramifications of their decision