Ive been asked as you can imagine since mondays announcement about what i think about this candidates or that candidates position and i say they can speak for themselves. Policy, they can talk to themselves. But today, one of the candidates made a comment about john mccain. Now, say what you want about his politics one way or the other. But let me be fundamentally clear. John mccain is an American Hero and i will denounce anyone who speaks ill of someone who has been a prisoner of war, not just senator mccain, but anybody else like that. We need to stand up and defend them. I will make an exception to speak out if someone goes personal against someone in our military. I will always defend other veterans regardless of what their politics are. So im glad to be here today. I had a lot of fun last month in with joni joni, ernst, her husband, gayle we rode into the ride and roast. They tell me if i win this job, i may not be riding for about eight years. So i want to be riding as much as i can. But were crisscrossing the country and we love to be here with you all. Ive got my whole family with me. I have my wife my two sons matt and alex are with us. Weve got a winnebago out in front. In the last trek we were playing games with our nieces isabella, my sisterinlaw, maria, theyre having fun. This is a great time. I love times like this going out in the winnebago. Were doing the full grassley, just like senator grassley and senator ernst and my friend, terry brand, kit republican old, we are doing all 99 counties here in the state of iowa because were going to make a play not just for winning the clock, but going ahead for november of 2016 and the past i believe goes to the midwest and that means doing well in iowa and wisconsin and michigan, ohio, i throw in pennsylvania because theyre in the big ten. But for us, we think its imperative to win. So were in here to do well as well as to come back and do well in november of 2016. So youre going to see a lot of them. Were going to have a lot of fun here and we love going through all 99 counties here. Monday we made our first big announcement as to our attentions monday night. Now i can officially say back in iowa that im scott walker and im running for president and im asking for your vote. Im asking for your vote. I mentioned a phi veterans world one one veteran world war ii veterans and im reminded of those two as well as others that ive met along the years and around this country who remind me that america is a cando kind of country. Were a can do kind of country. Weve got a government in washington that cant quite seem to get the job done. But you know what . Ive got good news. Its not too late. Help is on the way. We can make this country great again and thats exactly what were going to do with your help going forward. To do that though, we need big, bold leadership. Its the kind of leadership that is new and its fresh. Its the kind of leadership that gets things done. You know thats what weve done, just across the mississippi. We got things done over in wisconsin. A blue state. Since ive been governor we took on the unions and we won. 100,000 protesters occupied our capital. They put up protests, deaths threats, they is d a recall. We werent intimidated, we got the job done. If we can take them on there, we can take them on anywhere. We look at that and we said since ive been governor we didnt just do that we lowered taxes by 2 billion. We lowered taxes on individuals lowered taxes on farmers, we lowered taxes on property owners. Property taxes in my state are lower today than they were four years ago. In the last budget i just signed a week ago, theyre going to be lower in 2016 than they were in december of 2010. How many governors can say that across america . We did other things, as with the approximately laut lawsuit reform Regulatory Reform passed pro life legislation and defunded planned parenthood. We enacted do many doctrine and concealed carry so lawabiding citizens can protect tlemz, their families and now in my state we have a law that says its easy to vote, but hard to cheat. You have to have photo i. D. In my state to vote across the way. So i say if it can work in a blue state like wisconsin i travel america, i have to tell you, whether its traveling across the state or iowa, one of the common things i hear from people are they tell me that theyre tired of politicians who tell them what theyre against and who theyre against. Americans want to vote for something and for someone. So let me spend a couple of minutes telling you what im for. Im for reform. Im for growth. Im for safety. Im for transferring power out of washington and putting it into the hand of the hard working taxpayers and states all across this country nap is real reform. Im for building a better economy that allows everyone to live their piece of the American Dream. Thats pro growth. Im for protecting your children and grandchildren from radical islamic terrorism and all the other threats in the world. Thats true safety. So reform, growth, safety. Let me tell you why im for real reform in washington. In our state, we have big bold reforms that took power out of the Big Government of special interests and put it firmly into the hands of the hard working taxpayers. And because of that our state and local governments are telling me people are doing better. Sadly in washington they seem to think that you measure success measure success by how many people are dependent in the government. We as americans i think should measure success by just the opposite. By how many people are no longer dependent on the government. You see, we understand that true freedom and prosperity, yeah, you can go after that. True freedom and prosperity do not come from the mighty hand of the government. They come from empowering people to live their own lives and control their own destinies to a born of work. Of work. I grew up in a small town. My brother david and i, its kind of funny along the way. Before i tell you about where i worked as a kid, when i was first born, my dad was a preacher. Hes called to be a minister in colorado springs. Thats where i was born in 1967. 1970, my parents were called to a church up the way in northeastern iowa called plainfield. Population about 450. We used to watch heehaw. And that would have been one of those absolute moments, right . But a year later, my brother david, came on. He was born in waverly, iowa. I pulled a picture up. You can tell how old sth picture is. You pull the plastic up and the picture off. Ive got a picture here of my brother and i 40 years ago in plainfield, iowa because our small little town had an American Flag in the city hall, but it didnt have an iowa state flag. We didnt think that was right. So we got a mayonnaisen mayonnaise jar. We walked around town and got enough coins in the jar to buy an iowa state flag. My mom took a picture and she still has it 40 years later. She pulled it out and said you have to take a picture of you and your brother david. He was much cuter than he is now. Hes the guy in the left the little guy right there. But thats just, to me a great reminder growing up. And then in third grade i moved to my dad was called to a church in wisconsin, a small town in South Central wisconsin. Thats where david and i grew up and went to middle school and high school on down the way. And i think about our roots. For me my first job in that town was washing dishes at the countryside restaurant. And i loved up to the big time. I started in high School Flipping hamburgers at mcdonalds. In fact, when i was flipping burgers at mcdonalds, my friend, paul ryan you may have heard of him. Paul was flipping hamburgers in jamesville about 15 miles down the road. He was flipping hamburgers in the back because his manager told him he didnt have the interpersonal skills to work the Cash Register. I wonder what that manager is thinking today. But i think about that growing up in plainsville and i think about my parents, my dad being a small town preacher, my mom being a parttime secretary and a book could happen keeper and a little business in my town. My grant parents were farmers farmers that didnt have indoor plumbing. My grandpa was a machinist, 42 years at barb what coleman, a factory over in rock ford, illinois. For david and i, we think back over the years we didnt inherent fame or fortune from our family. We got a belief that if you work hard and play by the rules, you can do and be anything you want. That is the American Dream and that is worth fighting for. So let me spend another minute or two telling you why im for a pro growth economic plan that helps families and individuals erp and save and achieve their piece of the American Dream. Because, you see theres a real contrast out there. You see, i believe instead of the top down government knows best approach from so many politicians in washington we need to counter to that. That is to say we need to built the economy from the ground up in a way thats new and fresh and dynamic. Something that says as long as you dont hurt the health and safety of your own neighbor, start your career build your own life build your own business, live your own life. That is freedom. The freedom thats the cornerstone of the American Dream. Wife got five simple things to do. Help create more jobs in this country and help raise wages in this country. Its a pro growth economic plan that can i know begins with pealing obama care once and for all, put Health Care Decisions back in the hants hands of patientes and families. And in addition to that, i think we need to reign in the out of control regulatory climate in the federal government. Im all for enforcing common sense, but lets do it in a way that gets rid of all the bureaucratic red tape. It hurts our Small Business owners and our farmers. You know it in this state and across the midwest, the federal government is a heavy burden on that. We need to lift that up. Third, we need to go forward with a way that says lets put in place and all the above energy policies. That levels the Playing Field for all energy sources. You know what . Were an energy rich country. We can literally start refueling our recovery if we go for it in the rooid right path. Along with that id say lets find a way to get people the education and the qualifications that tooed they need to succeed. When we do that, we can help people find careers. Not jobs but careers that pay far more than minimum wage. Let us talk about how were going to lift everyone up with the skills and the education that they need to be successful in life. Im proud of the reforms we put in our state. Wisconsin, we not only reform public education. We helped provide more quality choices for families because i trust parents to make the right decision for their children. You see, i want every child every child in america, no matter what their background, to matter what their parents do for a living, every child in this country deserves access to a great education, be it in a tradition public or a charter or a choice or a private or a virtual or a home school environment, every child deserves access to a great education in america. And i believe in high standards. But i believe those standards should be set at the local level, not out in washington or anywhere else. I dont believe in a nationwide school board. I think we need to take power out of washington and we need to send it back to our states and back to our schools where it is more effective, more efficient and definitely more accountable to the american public. Now, ive got a dollar here in my pocket and i say its a simple thing to remember. Where would you rather send this out . Would you rather send it to washington or would you rather keep it in your child or your grandchilds school . I think most of us would rather keep it here, right . Keep it here where we can see whats happening and hold people accountable for it. Speaking of dollars, i believe the last thing, the fifth thing pro growth, that will help grow the economy and raise wages is we need to lower the burden on hard working taxpayers so you can keep more of that hard earned money. Thats fundamentally important going forward. And i know we can do it. I know we can do it because we did it in my state. 2 billion worth of tax relief. I know we can do it. And sometimes people give me grief over there about why we focus so much attention on tax relief. Its simple. Let me tell you a little story. We love to shop at a place called poles. Ive told this story so many times, i heard the other night it was a segment on jimmy fallon. Im nothing but consistent. So to me, ive learned over the years if im going to go to kohls and buy a shirt, i go to the rack that says it wased 29. 99 and now its 19. 99. Then we go to the Cash Register and pull out that insert from the sunday newspaper with that scratchoff that has the extra discount or maybe if i remember to go home and get the mailer that we get, we get 15 or 20 or if were really lucky 30 off. I know who shops at kohls. I can see the nod. They know we go up to the Cash Register, we pull out the kohls cash and the next thing you know, theyre paying me to buy the shirt, right . It feels like it. So how does a good Midwestern Company like kohls, how do they make mope . They make it off of volume. You see, they can charge the higher price and a few people can afford it or they can lower the price, broaden the base and increase the value and the profit that they make. Thats what i think about your money, the taxpayers mope. The government can charge the higher rate and a few can afford it. Or we can lower the rates, broaden the base and increase the volume of people who participate in the economy. Years ago, a plan like that worked pretty well under a guy by the name of ronald reagan. Today, i call it the kohls curve because i believe you can spend your hard earned money better than the federal government. To prosper, we need to live in a safe and stable world. You see, the commander in chief has a sacred duty to defend the american people. In my lifetime the best president , when it came to National Security and Foreign Policy, was the governor from california. And under his leadership, we rebuilt the military we stood up for our allies, we stood up to our enemies and without a policy we stood for strong American Values and that led to one of the most peaceful times in modern american history. We can do it again. 3w l but today, sadly, under the obama obamaclinton doctrine, america is leading from behind. We have a president that called yemen the Success Story and iran a place we can do business with. Iran. David and i used to tie ribbons around our house. We tied ribbons around that tree during the 444 days that iran held 52 americans hostage. Iran has not changed much since then. Iran is not a country we should be doing business with as your president i will terminate the bad deal with iran, reinstate the sanctions and convince our allies to do the same. L you know, on top of all that we had a president earlier this year that said the state of the union, i think you heard him say this we had a president that proclaimed the greatest threat to the future generation was climate change. The greatest threat was climate change. Mr. President , i respectfully disagree. The greatest threat to the future generation sess radical islamic terrorism and we need to do something about it. We can start by lifting the political restrictions on our military personnel that are already in iraq. So they can assist our allies sunni and kurd allies, reclaim the territory taken by isis. Because on behalf of your children and mine, id rather take the fight to them instead of wait until they bring the fight to us. We need to acknowledge that israel is an ally of the United States and start treating israel like an a ally. We need to stop the sovereign of other nations. Under obama and Clinton Putin has found year after year after year of mush. It is time for the United States to have a Foreign Policy that puts steel in front of our enemies. We need to stop cyber attack. Slow their advancement in international waters. We need to speak out about their abysmal human rights record. We need to secure our border, enforce our laws and stand up for a Legal Immigration system that puts a priority on american working families their way in a way that will prove the american economy. We need to give our women in uniform the resources that they need that they need not to just keep us safe abroad we need to give them the ability to protect themselves here now more than ever and then when they return we need to give them the quality and health care that they deserve. But the best way to honor them the best way to honor them is by fighting to win. There will be times thats right. In is important. This is important because our goal, our goal should be peace. Our goal should be peace through strength. If we fight, americans fight to win. The rest of the world must know that there is no greater friend and no worse enemy than the United States of america. So there are some big challenges for this next president. But im an optimist. I love merns americans. I love the american spirit i love the american people. I believe you love america or you wouldnt be here. I know that time is not too late. I know we can turn things around. We just need the right leadership in washington to make is that happen. When you look out at the field, youre going to have a tremendous responsibility here in iowa, not once, but twice, i believe. And again next november. Im not going to speak ill of the others individually, but im going to tell you there is a difference in this election. Theres really two groups out there. There are fighters and there are winners. There are fighters many of whom are in washington who have been fighting the good fight day after day, week after week, month after month, but they have not won this fight. There are winners, people who have been elected and reelected. Even besides their elections they have not consistently fought the good fights over and over for the issues of the day. I would submit to you there is only one candidate in the republican field one candidate at all, republican or democrat alike, who has consistently fought and won, not just three elections in four years in a blue state that hasnt gone republican for president since 1984, but someone who has won the common sense conservative fight that america is creating across this country. If you want me to fight and win for you, fight and win for america, i am your candidate going forward. I ask you to caucus for me support it and i ask for your vote again come next november if i am your nominee. People ask me all the time why are you running . Why are you running . I say i have two simple reasons. Matt and alex, right over there. Those are my two boys and to run for governor in the first place so many years ago, even though we knew it would be tough. Im thankful that thats the reason why i ran and it wasnt for the title or position. When we had the death threats, when we had the protests, we faced the recall we faced the number one target in america in the reelection, if it had just been about a title or position it wouldnt have been worth it. But for matt and alex and the others in their generation, i knew i wanted them to grow up in a state even greater than the one i grew up in. Im proud to tell you because we stood firm and we did what we said we were going to do. Our state is better because of it and their life and future generations will benefit from it. But today in america, im worried about the past theyre headed on others in their generation, as well. So the reason im running is simple. Its because of matt and al a ex because of my nieces isabella and ella because of your children and grandchildren because i know just like you know that we want our children and grandchildren to inherit a better america than the one we inherited from our parents and grand parents. I know it is not too late. It cannot be too late. With your help working together, we will not only win this election, but well take this country down the right path. Thank you so much for coming out here today. May god bless you, may god bless our military and may god continue to bless the United States of america. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you governor, for standing up. Thats outrageous. I said i dont have time on the stall pep jumped out of that plane. Thank you. Thank you for your service. Oh good to see you. Good to see you. Well make our way all the way around. Thank you so much. We appreciate it. Nice to meet you. Good to see you, as well. Thank you. Were looking forward to it. All my family in wisconsin, we really enjoy you. Ben is a sweetheart. Really is. Ben is my mothers first cousin. Oh, yeah. I am so glad. Nobody better. No. Thank you. We keep following you all the way along. Thank you. Thank you. Youve got me. Youve got mine. Thank you. Here it comes. I think we nood might do a little. They matched it up perfectly. Disciplined. Thank you. There you go. My son is a marine. I want you to be our president. Im going to pray for you. Thank you. And i will pray for your son. Thank you. Thank you. Good to see you. Glad to be out. What a great crowd. You can make an excellent president. Thank you. And ill be there for you. Thank you. Thank you. Ive got a good feel. Thank you. Nice do you see. Good to see you, too. Thank you. Good to be here. Keep coming back. Hi. How are you . Whats your name . Whats that . How old are you . 5 . You start kindergarten next year . Who is this guy . Hi. How about a high five . How old are you . 7. Pretty cool. So youre going into second grade . Yeah. Thats pretty cool. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Oh, thank you. Foreour country is not a good place and it needs to be. Yeah. So somebody like you can be here. We want to help turn the country in the right direction. Thank you. Hi. Thanks for coming. Youve got a question now . Thought to do about immigration for the people who are already here in this country . Youre the best candidate ive seen. Everybody is saying that. But what about the people that are already here . Part of the reason why, the things i do before until you secure the boarder and start enforcing the law, we can start dealing with that afterward, what to do. But so many folks in the media want to deal with that issue first. I think the next question the next congress can deal with that more effectively. Its going to be in that order. Part of it will be depending on how festive sure. Weve got stuff at sdotwalker. Com and we talk about all the other issues. Do you mind if i get a picture . Sure. Sorry about that. No problem. Thats fine. Precious. Thank you. We love it. Next up is ann. Its a nice little country. Good to see you. Yeah. Good to see you. As a matter of fact, that picture is actually from thats from the pars ynage right when 218 used to go across. Now it goes around. Yeah. Yeah. So its kind of cool. But thats right in the backyard there. So the 218 would be on the other side there. Very familiar. So well be back there on sunday. Were going to go over to one of the folks in our church has a farm there. Yeah. I love being there. Im very familiar with that. It was a long time ago. We moved in 77 but my parents have stayed in contact with a number of friends. Thank you. Sure. Yeah. Hey, i hope they do something with the supreme court. Well, one of the longterm things is going to be when you put people in place and as a governor, i do that. I have three criteria. Men and women of integrity, someone who understands the law, and can uphold the constitution of the United States. For years, we have had people that go far beyond. Thank you. Sure. Yeah. Well do anything to get the you elected. Thank you. I draw the line, though with there has to be a line. I said this year in the sigh loans messed me up. I had them going to the final four and they messed my bracket up. They were good in the conference tournament. Thank you. Thank you so much. I remember back in the days thats back in wisconsin, it was fun to watch iowa. Her brother played for hiden. Quite a coach. Quite a legend. Did they . Thats fun. The big ten. Oh, yeah. Thats pres pretty awesome. Right on 218 in plainsville. Yeah. Some are good, some are bad. I hope thats the better side right . Living in milwaukee, you say its something. Thank you. Thank you. Where is she at in milwaukee . In meclin. Sure. Good deal. Pleasure to see you. Thank you. I appreciate that very much. Thank you for your support. Thank you. Thank you. Oh, youre sweet. Thank you. Thanks for coming out. All right. Thank you. Hey, i run the oh, good to see you. I am retired. The balance. Absolutely. Right there. Level across the field. You can have Market Access is what its all about, right . Big time. Thank you for your service. Yeah. Air force. God bless you. I had as governor ive gone up with a lot of fun. The tandem, yeah. Good to see you. Congratulations. Thank you. Ill see you later, bill. Good to see you. Step back here a little bit. Hes coming back. City council here. Appreciate you remembering the smaller towns in iowa. I grew up in a really small town. I know that. And there was about 7,000 when i grew up there. Very similar. Thank you for stopping by. 10,000, right, somewhere in that ballpark . Right. We want to keep it at least that. Good to meet you. Thanks for coming out. Just wait. Thank you. Thank you. Hi. Good to see you. Thank you. Its going to work hard for us. Forward. Tell people were for it. Hey. How are you guys . Good to see you. Good to see you guys. I come out every october. Big part of it. Its a raw economy in our state and i know it is here in iowa so thanks. We appreciate that. Love that one. Okay. Level the Playing Field let the market drive and lets get market as sess to people. Theyre going to do good stuff. Thats dependent on those folks overseaes. Thank you. Have a good trip. Thank you. He wants you to be a honey badge badger. I do. That was my daughter there. Oh yeah thats awesome. Hes still here from one of the guys that is in wisconsin. In tucson, arizona, loves talking about the honey badgers. Yeah. Its got to be good. You get that story out, and its good. Hi. Oh, my gosh. I have a question. What are your thoughts on reducing Corporate Cash rates to bring Companies Back to america . Yeah. Today i realized i didnt mention that depending on how long weve got. I include that, as well. If we make et competitive again with the rest of the industrialized world, you would bringing more jobs back from overseas and put more americans back to work. Right. Because theyre all parked somewhere else. If you brought it you dont have to get rid of it, be competitive. Thank you. Thank you. Good to see you. How are you . Oh im doing great. I like your shirt. Very nice. Thanks. Its been great. Nice to see to do for the country. Thank you. Really appreciate it. Can i get a picture . Sure. Thank you. Nice to meet you. Good luck. Thank you. Good to see you. Thank you. Working hard. Appreciate the help. Good to see you. Sure, yeah. Can i photo bomb you . Yeah. Good to see you again. Thanks for your support. Good to see you. Yeah. Very nice. And you met me wife. Picture together here. Thanks for coming over. How about a handshake. You dont have to worry. We have a daughter go to graduate school in madison. I thought it was terrible what they think in its a beautiful place. Weve cleaned it up pretty good now. Exactly. A little different over there, over at a babcock hall. Hang in there. Pleasure. Good to see you. Good to see you, too. Governor walker i met you at outside, yeah. No, no we were in the chamber. We were in the back chamber. Oh thats right, because we came through, when we were going through with brad and everybody. I was thinking it was out by the pillar, but it was around the backside. Hey, were going to welcome you to the county and im going to host you. Were going to have a great time. You wore your harley gear here today . We brought the harley. Theres some really young guys here to came who find out about you. So you need to meet these guys. Get your picture . Here, come on in. There you go. Thanks for the coming out. Governor, can i sure, yeah. Thank you. Oh, here. Tom will take a long shot one if you want one too. Not that selfies arent adorable. Thank you, governor. Ready, one, two, three. You see with your gear on so i feel left out. But look. Ahh ready . One, two, three. Awesome. Are you going the buy some today . Are you going to buy something . No but if i was, i get points for my bike. But you know what ive got . Ive got punch cards so if you buy so much here, you get punch cards. Im going to get 75 worth of free stuff today. We were having a fun time with my nieces on the bus. We were playing this game, kind of like catch phrase. We had a blast. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for being a fighter. Thats what we need. Thank you. Dont be afraid. Not at all. Not at all. A lot of the other candidates are. Oh no. We love the contrast. That is a name from the past. Were antiwatching buzz. We got things done. There is not much support. You look at anywhere she played a role in the United States as secretary of state, its more messed today than it was when she took office. Thank you for running. Weve got a lot of people outraged. They final lit get in and they dont vote for those things. You have to fight and win, right . Get it done. I want you to meet my dad. My dad is a preacher. Hi im jerry. Thank you. Were excited. Were optimistic. Governor, nice to meet you. I like that picture. Although the the husband and the wife are the owners here. Theyre going to have me jump on her pink harley. Only a harley is about the only. Absolutely. Yeah. All right. Sure. Yeah, yeah. Thank you, governor. Good to see you. You know what . What . Talking to you today i used to live right down the street from you right here in thank you. We have complete confidence in you. If you were riding a bike with me today if you notice, its a lot easier to get kicking that way. Thank you. Youre welcome. Knight nice to meet you. Weve been following you since you got elected in there. Ive been very proud of what youve done. Thats why were here today. Its one of those where theres a lot of good people, but you want to know what are you going to do . Thank you. Many many many times. We look forward to having you. We look back and realize weve got providence to put it through. Right. Well be there. Thank you. Thank you again. Thank you. Have a good day. Thank you. Sure, oh yeah. Can you take a picture . Sure. There we go. Its a big ten shot here. Yep. Longing serving governor in the u. S. December 15th. 14th. 14th. Appreciate it. Oh, sure. We do that a lot. Tomorrow well be in Marshall Town for church but we try to go wherever were at. Thank you. Oh, my pleasure. That would be awesome. Thanks, everybody. Governor take care. Good to see you. Thats perfect. It is, isnt it . Very good. Were good. Thanks for coming again. Good to see you. Good to see you again. Always enjoy that. How are you . Can we get a picture . Yeah, sure. Here we go. Good to see you, too. Take care. Thats what you need. Take care, guys. Thank you. Thank you. We appreciate what you do. Here. Governor im not sure, how long are you going to be around . Theyre doing a radio interview for a minute. Ill do it right here. Xwrae. Start it up. I dont care. You know how to do it. Okay. Youve got to do that, right . What harley rider doesnt do that, right . Thats the best. Around the block. There you go. That is a beautiful bike. Thank you. 2003. Weve got two anniversaries coming up. These are good. Everybody is on me so thanks. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. My nieces they know theyre going to and they watch out for the chrome because its hot. They do. All right. See you, guys. Take care. Weve got your stuff together. Its less than a week until the Voters First Forum being held in new hampshire. Cspan is partnering to hear from all republican president ial candidates. Theyll appear on stage one at a time with the order determined by a live fish bowl style drawing. Questions will come from the audience and members of the public. Live coverage will be on cspan, cspan radio and cspan. Org followed by yourself reaction by phone and on facebook and twitter. Defense secretary Ashton Carter and joint chiefs of staff chair general Martin Dempsey will be on capitol hill testifying on the military balance in the middle east as Congress Considers the pending Nuclear Agreement with iran. The deal will set limits on irans ability to enrich uranium, build center funls and other reactions that could lead to a nuclear bomb. Live coverage of the Senate Armed Services committee at 9 45 eastern time on cspan3. Now, combatting Prescription Drug abuse at the state level. This is part of the National GovernorsAssociation Meeting held over the weekend in white sulfur springs, west virginia. Its an hour and to minutes. You can see more from the governors meeting on our website, cspan. Org. If i could have your attention, lets take our seats so that we can get our joint session started. First of all, good morning. Welcome. Im Governor Steve Beshear from kentucky. I chair the nga health and human Services Committee. So we would call this meeting to order. Welcome all the governors who are here and this is a joint session of the health and human Services Committee and the Homeland Security and Public Safety committee. Joining me is vice chair of our committee is vice chair governor bill haslam of tennessee. I am pleased that we have been able to come together with the Homeland Security and Public Safety committee for todays discussion regarding the nations opioid crisis. I want to thank the other committee, Governor Terry mccallkaul mcmccaullif. Theres a few administrative tasks to perform. The briefing books for this meeting were sent to governors in advance the speaker bios and the updates. The proceedings of this meeting are open to the press and all meeting attendees. Please silence your cell phone. Seated at the table are Committee Legislative directors Melinda Becker jun justin stevens. You can see them after the session. If you need copies of the materials or further details about any of the issues that we discuss today. Before we go into our form i cant tellal presentations within, i want to turn to Heather Hogsett who is the staff director for the National Governors association and the Homeland Security and Public Safety committees. She will provide updates on key federal and state issues. Heather. Thank you governor. Weve made progress on a number of priorities of the health and Human Services and Homeland Security and Public Safety committees. From the health and Human Services perspective, we advocated actively for an extension of the Childrens HealthInsurance Program which congress did extent in april for two years until fiscal year 2017 as part of a larger deal to overhaul medicare payments to physicians. That maintains flexibilities and planned funding levels for states. So that was a key priority of states so that was a key priority we were able to accomplish for you. One of the other things they have been working on is discussions to chair the systems to keep children safely out of foster care. At the same time the Homeland Security and Public Safety committee has been working with congress to maintain Army National guard and personnel to until after congress has time to consider the recommendations of the Army Commission that that is currently doing its work. Currently, the house and senate are conferencing their respective bills. They plan to have the final bill stooim sometime in the fall. Nga has been advocating that the senate bill provisions which would retain additional personnel for the guards and prevent the further transfer of apaches until fiscal year 2017 be included in that final bill. In addition the National Guard matters and has been work to go promote the states role in Cyber Security and foster greater collaboration with the federal government and the private sector. Thats all of the two main priorities that i wanted to sort of really cover from a federal relations perspective. Ill pause quickly and see if there are any questions before we proceed. Okay. Happy to answer anything afterwards. Id now like to turn to my colleagues. Weir going to start with Frederick Isasi who is director of our health division. Good morning, governors. I wanted to give you a brief update as to how the worth in the Health Commission is going. We continue to be very busy. Weve had intensive projects going on around the country with hundreds of your leadership staff. Theres two projects i wanted to highlight for you this morning. The first is our medicaid transformation policy academy. This is our very intensive work with three states, alabama Washington State and nevada. Where we are working hand and glove with those states to negotiate broad new medicaid authorities. These are authorities that states have never had before that will allow governors to have a lot more flexibility in the way they pay for and deliver services in medicaid. We are very, very close to agreement with at least one state and in addition we are working hard to negotiate in some cases billions of dollars in up front investment from the federal government for the state in medicaid dollars. So its very, very powerful work. We plan on providing you with a very victorious report out in february during the winter meeting or january during the winter meeting about that project. In addition, well be releasing a road map for all states that were hoping to Reach Agreement with hhs will allow all of you guys to use a new process to get to yes with medicaid waivers much more quickly. So its a big project, were very excited about it. We also are launching in two days our next round of super utilizer work, this is work thats aimed at the highest cost highest spend medicaid patients. These folks are spending millions and millions and millions of dollars and have terrible outcomes. Your leadership staff are going to be working with us on that project and thats going to be for the next year and a half. Its a very, very exciting project. Its the second part. We did two years and had some pretty impressive results. And i just wanted to highlight, in that project in particular Prescription Drug abuse opiate abuse, heroine addiction has come to light as a strong component as to the reason why these folks use a lot of services and cost a lot of money and have terrible outcomes. So todays session is i think very relevant, both from a cost perspective and a quality perspective. If we can tackle this problem we will be able to solve one of the most important issues facing state medicaid problems and governors budget. Thanks frederick. Now to jeff mccloud. Thank you heather. Good morning governors. Since 2012, my division has worked closely with fredericks division. We hosted two policy academies over 13 states including michigan, kentucky, virginia and colorado. Governor cooper, governor bentley cochaired the first academy. Two states of launched legislation, launched Public Awareness campaigns, and approved coordination across state agencies and with stakeholders. To provide guidance for states on how to address this problem, we put out a few different products. We publish a second issue brief as followup to that. Currently, wee partnering with the urban institute. Three evaluation states can better assess the success and implementation and assuring those interventions are having the intended affect. Certainly the problem of Prescription Drug abuse has been grabbing headlights. Its a real problem with consequences for safety and children across the country. This is especially for children in the wild welfare system. The Human Services team in membership with programs will be launching a new policy academy of the three Branch Senate of improving child safety and preventing child fatalities. This addresses the Child Welfare system, as well. In addition my division will be working with frederick and his team on success in the policy academies and the momentum that i think that there is nationally on this issue by helping states develop approaches for the rising use of heroine within the brder context of Prescription Drug abuse and opiate addiction. I know thats a top concern for many of you. According to the disease for prevention, the rate of deaths involving heroine has almost tripled. Our distinguished speakers today will be speaking about this issue in more depth. But to the extent that if frederick or i could be of assistance to you in this issue, dont hesitate to reach out. Thanks for your time and with that, ill turn it back to heather. Frederick and i will stick around afterwards. Governor beshear, back to you. Thank you, heather. Lets turn to the topic of todays joint Committee Meeting and that is opioid abuse. As we all know, its a Major Public Health and safety crisis that affects all of our communities in every one of our states. Because of the rise in Prescription Drug abuse and in heroine abuse Overdose Deaths now, drug Overdose Deaths now surpass Motor Vehicle accident as the leading cause of death in the United States. Heroine deaths have increased especially nearly tripling since 2010 and 2013. Kentucky has its problems in this area. We have long been playinged with high rates of drug addiction both to prescription painkillers and Illegal Drugs like heroine. Over the last few years, two things have happened that are giving us more hope and confidence in the future