settled into mediocrity when we compare ourselves to other advanced countries and wealthy countries. that is a problem. the reason that america over the last 100 years has consistently been the wealthiest nation is because we have also been the most educated nation. it used to beat by a sizable factor we had the highest high school graduation rates and college graduation rates. we had the highest number of ph.d.'s, engineers, and scientists. we used to be head and shoulders above other countries when it came to education. we are not anymore. . . there in the classroom a lot longer. [applause] so here's the bottom line. what do we have to improve? that brings me to the next point in your question, which is, how do we do that? i agree with you that if all we're doing is spreading around a lot of standardized tests and teaching to the test, that is not improving our education system. [applause] and so, there is a saying in illinois that i learned when i was down in a lot of rural communities. they said, just weighing a pig does not fat in it. -- fatten it. [laughter] the point being, if all we're doing is testing and teaching to the test, that does not insure that we are improving educational options. we do need to have accountability, however. we do need to measure progress with our kids. maybe it is just one standardized test plus portfolios of work that kids are doing. also observing the classroom. there can be a whole range of assessments, but we do have to have some accountability. also, we have to upgrade the professional development for our teachers. we still have a lot of teachers who are well-meaning, but they are teaching science and they did not major in science. they did not necessarily know science that well. they certainly do not know how to make science interesting. we're going to give them the chance to train and become better teachers. we have to recruit more teachers, train them better, retain them better, match them with master teachers said they are upgrading their skills. if, after all that training, the teacher is not very good, we'll probably have to ask that teacher -- there are probably a lot of other professions out there that you should try. i am just being blunt. [applause] we're going to have to pick up the pace. the key point want to make is this. we should focus on what works. based on good data. arne duncan, my secretary of education, this guy is obsessed with improving our education system. he is focused 100% on it. he is completely committed to teachers. we think that teachers of the most important ingredient in good schools. we're going to do whatever works job. we're going to eliminate things that cannot help teachers to a good job. some of it is going to require more money. in our recovery act, we had more money for improving curriculum's, teacher training, recruitment. you cannot just put a lot of money without reform. some of it is demanding more accountability and reform. we have got to have parents putting more emphasis on education with our kids. that is how we're all going to be able to pick up our game. all right. i have time for one more question. i am going to go with this young lady right here who has a picture of me. >> we're very strong supporters of you. we followed you back in september. i took my 5 month old son. his name is daniel clay stevens, and he is enrolled in wisconsin. we were fortunate enough. -- you held him and called them adorable. will you sign this? >> i will be happy to sign it. everybody is pointing at this young lady. she must be really important. or very popular. >> i am the president of the green bay school board, and i'm also a registered nurse working at st. vincent's hospital. [applause] my question centers on wellness and personal responsibility for 1's health care. can you talk about how your reforms can encourage well as encourage people to take more responsibility for their own health care. >> is a great question. -- it is a great question. for those of you who still have employer-based care. one of the things we have been doing is meeting with companies who have been doing some innovative things to encourage their employees to get well. some of it involves financial incentives. these employers, they will say that we will provide for your health insurance. if you quit smoking, you will see money in your pockets in the form of lower premiums. if you lose weight, you will see an incentive, money in your pocket. they set up gems or range -- gyms, or arrange for a club membership for their employees. they also set up a computerized systems you can check your progress on an ongoing basis. just by logging on, through the company. there are a whole range of steps that a lot of employers are taking to help encourage that. what we want to do is to help work with those employers to get company incentives to do the right thing with their employees. for those who did not have an employer based system, or they're going through medicare, medicaid, or what have you. anytime we can reimburse for preventive care, getting regular mammograms or a past year -- papsmear, or regular checkup for colon cancer, we're encouraging reimbursements on those items so hopefully people will utilize them more. i think that this is extraordinarily important. we can all take steps to become healthy. there is nothing wrong with us getting a little bit of a nudge in moving people in the direction of healthier lifestyles. look, it is hard. changing habits is hard. it starts with our children. which is why, as part of our overall health care reform, but also got to talk about our school lunch programs. [applause] you're the head of the school board as well as a nurse. i know you are struggling with this. the cheapest way to feel the kids is to have the frozen tater tots, you get them out, heat them up. they have pizza, fries, and of the soda companies all say they will put in a free soda machines of the kids can have as much soda as they want. pretty soon, our kids are seeing their rates of type 2 diabetes skyrocket. they're not getting any exercise because schools are running out of money when it comes to p e. kids are sitting in front of the tv all day long. when we were kids, folks are age and older will remember this. basically, especially during the summer, you would leave at 8:00, and maybe you came home for some lunch. then, you would be gone until dark. that whole time, you were out there running around. kids are doing that. some of it is safety issues, and that is why public safety is important. having playgrounds is important. having adults that are willing to volunteer for little league and basketball leagues, that is all-important. we have got to get our children into healthier habits. that, in turn, will lead to healthier adults. government can't do all of this. i am the first one to abolish this. i am always puzzled when people go out there and create this bogeyman about how obama wants government run everything. i did not want government to run stuff. i have enough stuff to do. i have north korea, iran, afghanistan, iraq. [applause] i don't know where people get this idea where i want to run things. or want government to run things. i think it would be great if the health care system was working perfectly. and we did not have to be involved at all. that would be wonderful. that is not how it has worked. we have a 50-year experiment in that. it has not worked well. i actually think that if everybody has a pragmatic attitude about this problem, they say we're all going to have to do our part. families will have to do their part by being healthier. employers need to encourage employees to be healthy. government has to do its part by making sure that those people who are working very hard and still did not have health insurance, or their premiums are getting to sky high -- too sky high, making sure insurance companies are not price gouging -, if we're doing all of those pieces, we can start bending the cost curve right now. what you'll hear in this debate over the next several weeks is that people will also say the deficit and the debt are skyrocketing. that is the reason why we can't afford to do health reform. i just want to repeat. the single biggest problem we have in terms of the debt into the deficit is health care. it is medicare and medicaid. when you hear all these projections about all these trillions of dollars in red ink going out as far as the eye can see, almost all of that is because of the increase in medicare and medicaid costs that are going up much much faster than inflation. it is undoubtedly true that this economic crisis has hurt our budget situation, because again, a lot less money is coming in from corporate taxes. that reduces the amount of money coming in. we have a diploma -- a lot more money out for food stamps, insurance, and all kinds of other help the people the when they get thrown out of their jobs. that has contributed to some of it. i have proposed investments in education, energy, and health information technologies. all those things i have proposed, my stimulus package, the financial system, all of that stuff accounts for 7% or 8% in terms of increases and deficit. the real problem is medicaid and medicare. that is the nightmare scenario. health care inflation is no more than ordinary inflation. it needs to match the increases you're seeing with your wages and your incomes. then, we're going to be ok. if we do not get a handle on it, we will be consumed by huge debt for the next generation. that is why it is so important. thank you, everybody. god bless you. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] >> how is c-span funded? >> private donations. >> taxpayers. >> i do not really know. >> from public television. >> from donations. >> federally. >> contributions from donors. >> 30 years ago, america's cable companies created c-span as a public service. no government mandate, no government money. >> house speaker nancy pelosi restated her support for including a government run insurance option in health care legislation. she also comments on wednesday's shooting at the holocaust museum here in washington. this is about 15 minutes. >> a good morning. yesterday, we were all deeply shaken by the news of the violent attack at the holocaust museum. it reminds us of the valiant work of the people who strive to protect us here, whether it is the tourists who visit, the press to cover it, the members of congress, the indices, the administration -- the embassies, the administration. they do so with great courage. the two who lost their lives on guarding the capital -- and now, stephen john's. later today, we will have a resolution on the floor to bring comfort to his family and to also talk about how despicable this act of violence was. it is really sad. earlier this week, we met with the president at the white house when he announced his pay-as- you-go initiative. it was with great excitement that we heard his statement. just as a little history, maybe even ancient history, before you were born history, in 1982 at the democratic midterm convention in philadelphia, congressman george miller introduced a resolution for pay- as-you-go. it passed. it became part of the democratic -- democratic platform of that year. it took until 1994 to become operative here. president bush was president of the united states. throughout the '90s, it was how we operated pay-as-you-go. you know what has happened in the eight years in terms of the reversal of that under president george w. bush. now, happily, democrats are coming back around. it has been the central organizing purpose of the blue dogs. fiscal discipline and fiscal responsibility. i want you know that there are initiatives from all sectors of our caucus which support pay-as- you-go. earlier, i sent letters to my colleagues to ask them to subject everything under their skirts need -- scrutiny -- under their scrutiny to look for waste, fraud, abuse. we saved $10 billion below the president's budget in that respect. as our appropriations bills go forward, they will implement that direction. health-care reform will be part of how we address reducing the deficit. health-care reform is entitlement reform. we're accelerating our discussion of pay as you go. it is one of the three pillars to turn the economy around. congress, and the next week or so, will have legislation on the supplemental and the fda. our committee work will be focused on the three pillars of the president's agenda which were in the budget. health care, education, and energy. reduce the deficit. lower taxes. create jobs. turn the economy around. i will be pleased to take any questions. >> can you commit that health care will be fully paid for? >> yes. that is our intention. that is the work that we're doing now. the priorities, how as its core, how will it be paid for? -- how is it scored, how will it be paid for? >> you have large investments in the ig as well as other members of congress. not just in bailout funds, but your investing in clean energy. you think there will be stronger restrictions on how members of congress -- is it a conflict of interest? >> i do not think there should be a restriction on investment. when it became a company that is receiving funds, we divested ourselves. aig was a thriving company for a long time. when there was any thought of interests, -- conflict of interest, then we should the vast -- the best -- divest. it got to the place for the united states government had to bail it out. >> later today, there will be a conference committee, and there has been a lot of debate. as a final decision -- has a final decision been made on that? how was the decision arrived at, and why? >> no final decision has been made in the conference committee. i can say to you there is great concern in the house about making an exception to freedom of information act while the case is before a judge. >> when your office was working on the tar legislationp and others -- tarp legislation, did you know how much your money had invested with aig? >> i signed my disclosure form, yes. we didn't know on september 17 or eighteenth that the administration would come in and tell us the condition of our economy. if we didn't act now, -- that was a thursday night. no, we did not know that. i signed my disclosure form. >> they said that they're working below -- before the fourth of july recess. can you confirm that that is the goal you're working toward? how're you working towards reaching differences with the agriculture committee? >> we will do it when they're ready. i congratulate chairman max men -- waxman for passing the bill and the commerce committee. the other committees have their jurisdiction to weigh in on. that is the process we are involved in. when we're finished, it will go to the floor. >> there are bipartisan discussions in the senate about an idea of looking at creating a privately run cooperatives instead of a public auction. i was wondering what you think of the concept. is it something you might be able to -- >> i think that members have been very clear about what their concerns might be about a public auction. i agree. it should be sound, it should be an administratively self- sufficient . it should be a real competitor with the private sector and not have an unfair vantage. when you say the words public auction, if that is the term we are using, you have to say right next to it, level playing field. there is strong support for a public auction in the house and a great respect for the concerns that have been raised within our caucus. we will address them. >> given that it is going to be very complicated for people to understand, given the experience that the clinton health plan had, the public worries and a zaidi's and confusion, -- and anxieties and confusion -- health care is one of the most basic worries in life. >> it sure is. it is also an economic for them as well. -- an economic issue for them as well. we have our overarching message of affordability, accessibility, and quality that the president has put forth. in that framework, we will have the initiatives to help us meet those goals in a deeply rooted in those values. -- route it in those values. -- root it in those values. they will have something on the table in a week or two. hopefully, most of it will already be scored. at some point, we have to see what we can afford and how we will pay for it. that challenge for us is to relate what we are doing here to the lives of the american people and how this makes a difference to them. we're very excited about whether it is prevention or wellness. we can have personalized, customized care for americans with investments in technology so that we can have a common record for all the people to be on it, whether it is investments in community health centers to reach out to achieve this. it is hard. community health centers want to enable us to do that. whether it is having the resources to have sufficient health care providers at every step of the way, we will be able to explain the bill to the american people once a mark has come forward. congress will work its will. we will make suggestions and have a product that will meet president's values. it will meet the needs -- meet the needs of americans. >> is it your belief that this is central? kenya have effective health care reform without a public government plan? -- can you have effective health care reform without a public government plan? >> the president was asked this question. they said, don't you think that having a health care plan is unfair in terms of competition with the private plans? the president said, i think the public auction is a way to keep the private sector honest. -- the public option is a way to keep the private sector honest. we want all americans have access to quality health care. if you have another way to do that, put it on the table. that is where we are. everything should be on the table. from our perspective, there is strong support for a public auction -- optione right from te start. there is also full support for having it be a real competitor, not something that has an overwhelming advantage. it is not for profit, and it does not advertise. it does not have some of the overhead that the private sector has. already, just the thought of having a public auction has -- option has eliminated words from the health insurance glossary of precondition, portability, everybody seems to be subscribing to the idea that we should not have precondition in order to get -- eliminating you from health care. this is what we have come to do. we have asked that chairman dingell be the author of this bill. he has been the author of universal health care every year. before that, his father was. when he was a young member in congress in the 60's, he gaveled down medicare. we have heard the same concerns before. this is a
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