Youre always welcome up here. Thank you. Gentleman from florida seek recognition. Yes, thank you. Gentlemans recognized. Mr. Chairman first. Thank you. And our presenters i perceive and believe that mr. Pallone and mr. Shuster are two good friends of mine here in congress. And im deeply appreciative of them all the time. Im hopeful of mr. Cramer getting to know you better. On this subject, i would echo the sentiments of my good friend. It does appear just listening to you, and this is the second time ive had that opportunity that you certainly do know your subject. And i, for one am appreciative of members who make their presentations in a manner that is not abrasive but makes it in a persuasive manner in the perspective that you hope. I also would like to borrow from our good friend from oklahoma, mr. Cole a notion of something that i believe he and i would be able to work on right away. And ive done some initial work on it. Understanding that the price of oil or today, and im not a Petroleum Expert or i dont have any stock. I used to tell people only stock i had was in over the counter. And that was groceries. So im not in the market, and i dont understand truly the spot market and how oil is transmitted. But general way i do. But it would seem to me while prices are low now whatever our, meaning the american oil reserve is, it should either be if it is not already maximized it certainly should be maximize maximized. And if the potential exists and legislation is required to increase the maximum amount of our oil reserve it would seem to be that this would be the perfect time to do it because we probably have about a 6month, 1year window before that price is going to go back up. And then regrettably, not in my lifetime, i wont get to see the full thrust of alternative energy. All of us that are advocating know that its going to be a 20 25, 30year process before you will really see a lot of solar and thermal and wind and other things like that. Theyre in progress. But we are not getting there fast enough for me. Let me also put on the table an area that i have a measure of expertise, i dont agree with the notion of requiring the litigation to be held in the Circuit Court or here in d. C. Article 3 courts will set up for a reason. And among them was to ensure that litigants would be able to access to the court. And so far as efficiency is concerned. If its in an area that requires expedition. The courts are fully in a position to do that whether its at the District Court level or at the Circuit Court level. When appropriate. Theres no assurance because its in the d. C. Circuit court that is going to be done rapidly either. It dead pans on a given day on a given issue as to whether or not it would even be deserving of going to the Supreme Court as it were. I do have a question, and that is again, following on my friend from oklahoma when he pointed out i had written on my little notes that i wanted to ask how much of the pipeline has already been built. Then i heard the discussion on that. I do have an american question on that. And that is do any of you know whether the steel that has been utilized in the building of the pipeline is American Steel . Gentleman yield . Yes. It certainly is. A lot of that steel built in arkansas. But its American Steel american products. Right. Then that all goes well for your position. Now, let me get to a stickier subject. I, too, have friends in canada. I served with a senator. I served with an organization for security and cooperation in europe. I served with the former defense minister and foreign minister of canada. But were making this sound like this is a canadian thing. And when the argument is made about it wont cost an american taxpayer anything to build this while i agree, that suggests to me knowing my canadian friends that there are private investors that are in transcanada. And its kind of ironic that theyre never talked about. The who they are, theyre not all canadian. Some of them are american. And im not grudgeful of folk who had great genetic accidents and abilities as a result thereof. But the fact of the matter is that some people that are involved in transcanada, they are givers to canadian parliamentarians under their structure and givers to some of us, as well. Does the gentleman yield . Yes. Just by way of information, and i probably should double check, but im almost certain transcanada is an american company. Its based in the United States. Mmhmm. And investors, and well, as my friend knows, theres considerable crossborder investment between canada and the United States. Sure. And i stay away from pointing out. Ive read the articles as to who owns, you know. And im not uptight about that. I do have abiding concerns, for example, the National Security argument, i could flip it. If we were in other areas for example, putin just shut down one he was getting ready to run across kazakhstan. And no one has satisfied me yet as if this is so good for america, then why isnt canada running it through their own territory . Which would be their option if by chance it does not ever lift here fully operative, then theyre going to wind up doing it in canada. But i dont want to belabor the point. There are several other areas. I, too, am concerned, as ms. Slaughter has pointed out. There will be spills. There will be concerns. Im not sure what the nebraska litigation is contemplating. I hesitate because so many people on the negative side of the endangered species arguments. I dont know whether there are any that are contemplated here or need to be. And so, ill be listening. I do want to end with a moment of humor. We spend our time with the Keystone Pipeline and theres a fear of brewery in belgium that is run in a beer pipeline 2 miles outside, but he wanted to keep the Family Business manufacturing it where it is. And id hell of a lot rather be at the end of their pipeline than at the end of this one. Thats all. I yield. Gentleman yields back his time in an effort to keep this Committee Hearing going. I know weve been here a long time, id defer and ask the gentleman from colorado if he seeks recognition. Where is the financing for the pipeline project coming from . Quite honestly, i dont know it where it comes from, i suspect the shareholders and the administration. The executives of transcanada which i believe is a canadian company, not an american company. I recently read a report, and i havent seen this disputed that shows that the majority of the tar sands about 90 of it require a price of 95 a barrel and the other 10 require a price of about 75 per barrel. Given that the price of oil is essentially lower than that, is there any evidence that this would even move forward as a construction project even if the president or congress were to approve it . Well, i guess first of all, thats not germane to this bill, obviously, because its not our decision to make whether they build it or dont build it. Our decision is to whether its in the nations interest. Should they build it . Or if its not in the nations interest, they shouldnt build it. And the reality is, investors will make that decision. But theres nothing that procludes this from Going Forward based on the financing of the development of the crude oil. Look i hope we wouldnt be wasting Time Congress time with the project that isnt feasible or isnt likely to occur. So hopefully there can be some evidence presented on the floor about whether this is a viable project and whether anybody is serious about moving forward with this. They havent withdrawn the application as far as i know. The market will determine that just like the low oil prices isnt good for oklahoma, not good for the steel industry. U. S. Steel in pittsburgh announced theyre eliminating 400, 500 jobs in ohio and in texas because the markets not there for the pipe that goes to the ground. So the market, and as he said, no ones withdrawn and i havent heard anything at this point. Again, from the evidence ive seen here, nobody actually wants to pay for a bill this pipeline that were talking about here. I dont know then we could all win. I dont know why were talking about it. Maybe its again a little deja vu. It had be talked about, 110 a barrel. Perhaps a relevant discussion at that point. No taxpayer money going into this. Private people are going to decide whether theyre going to spend it or not spend it. Thats the question. Any private people that actually want to build this pipeline . So, again, for this to be a topic of serious debate, it would be nice to have evidence that somebody wants to build a pipeline as opposed to talking about a phantom pipeline. Ive never heard a stronger argument for the cart coming before the horse. You know, the chicken or the egg, youre not always sure, this is the cart before the horse. Dr. Burgess . Thank you mr. Chairman. And youre correct. Weve observed a lot of things on this, but i do feel its important to reiterate part of this pipeline from cushing, oklahoma, to houston texas, is built. People have put up with the pipeline being built in the backyards and now its waiting for the rest of the connection. And my personal feeling is they waited long enough. Ill be happy to be talking about this a lot tomorrow and yield back my time. Mr. Stivers . Thank you, mr. Chairman. And appreciate all the members for being here. I think this is a National Security and its an Energy Security issue for america. And to the point the gentleman from colorado made you know we dont know what the price of oils going to be tomorrow but what we do know is theres a pending application. And this is its a Good Opportunity for us to start to create a National Energy policy which we desperately need in this country. And we need secure trading partners with whom we agree on international issues. We buy a lot of oil from venezuela and other countries we dont agree with on many things. Internationally, i dont know why we wouldnt want to buy our oil from a country weve agreed with since the french and indian war. So i feel very comfortable with this. I would want to thank you for all being here. I think there were great exchanges of ideas but i think this is a great idea that needs to move forward and i appreciate the gentleman from north dakota for all his efforts on it. Thank you very much, mr. Stivers, welcome to the committee, mr. Collins . Mr. Chairman, i appreciate being recognized and being here on the committee and being a part of this. Because one of the things that was discussed and one of my colleagues from across over there, this is a process. This is a Committee Process but also an issue and congress process. How much more process does this need . How many more times do we need the practice on the field . Jobs, secondary jobs money invested. I mean, it is sort of interesting that i believe there was no interest in this pipeline that would definitely not be an interest in the permit. I think the idea it was going to get built, or not, is really definitely not a concern because were still here. The people keep coming back for this. The issue, again, it is amazing to me when we continue this conversation habit movinge ing about moving it by train. The least safest way were arguing for, i had a professor at georgia tech who our only argument was when were talking about this well, theres other ways in the environment were scared of whats next. I said youre arguing, actually, to move it by nonenvironmentally friendly way. Thats the part that really struggle with here. But i just wanted to say at this moment just to say, the one thing that shows process here is Regulatory Burden in this country. And i know were going as republicans, were talking a lot about that. The regulatory process, im not one that says there should be no regulatory function of government, state, local or federal. But there has to be reasonable Regulatory Burden. This is an example of just a massive bungling. And i just want to say also from my class, it comes with our class, it is good to see him here. His expertise has been acknowledged from the other side. Its refreshing, especially on this issue to here and also the concerns on both sides. There are valid concerns. There are also valid concerns that both democrats and republicans agree, this is a good idea, its time to put this on the floor. I yield back. Thank you very much. As a young boy i remember studying about Philmont Scout ranch. I rattle on about the outer doors and a lot of things, but also learned about the people that were behind that. And the gentlemans name was phillips who gave the scout ranch the boy scouts of america. And he had a saying that went like this, take all the time you need, then make a quick decision. Take all the time you need. Well, i think we need to make i think weve taken all the time we need, now lets make a quick decision. I think thats what were trying to do today. I want to thank all three of you for being before the committee today. I hope your time was well worth it. Mr. Chairman, i know youre busy. You enjoy this way too much. We understood that. Thank you very much. This now closes the hearing portion of hr30 save america workers act of 2015 and hr3, the keystone xl pipeline act. Chairman will be in receipt of a motion from the gentlewoman from North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, i move the committee grant, hr3, the keystone xl pipeline act a closed rule. The rule provides one hour debate equally divided among and controlled by the chair and Ranking Member of the Minority Committee on transportation and infrastructure and the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on energy and commerce. The rule waives all points of order against consideration of the bill. The rule provides that the bill shall be considered as read. Waives against all provisions in the bill. Provides one motion to recommit. Section two of the rule provides for consideration of hr30 to save American Workers act of 2015. Under a closed rule the rule provides one hour debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on ways and means. The rule waives all points of order versus consideration of the bill. The rule provides that the bill shall be considered as read. The rule waives all points of order against provisions in the bill. Finally, the rule provides one motion to recommit. The motion from the gentlewoman of North Carolina is there a discussion or amendment to that . Gentleman from colorado. Mr. Chairman the amendment to the rule, the necessary amendments. This amendment would increase the number of fulltime employees exempted from the calculation of the Affordable Care acts employer penalty. And increase the exemption from 30 to 49 employees to provide for a more rounded and probusiness way of accomplishing, i think, some of the goals of the deficit busting version that we otherwise would face. Further discussion. The vote will now be on the amendment from the gentleman from colorado. Those in favor, saying aye. Aye. Those opposing say no. No. Nos have it. The vote will now be on the motion from the gentlewoman from North Carolina. Those in favor, aye. Aye. Those opposed no. No. The ayes have it. Gentlewoman asked for roll call vote. Clerk . Ms. Fox. Aye. Mr. Cole . Aye. Aye. Mr. Woodall aye. Mr. Burgess aye. Mr. Stivers . Aye. Mr. Collins. Aye. Ms. Slaughter . No. Mr. Mcgovern . No. Mr. Hastings . No. Mr. Chairman . Aye. Mr. Chairman, aye. That would make it eio. Clerk will report the total. Seven yays four nays. And the gentleman from louis lewisville, texas, will begin on this for the republicans. And democrats. Mr. Pollis for the democrats. I want to thank not only the staff, the new staff and welcome them but also all the people including our great sten nothingstenographers who have taken time out of their day. This finishes the work for today and thank everybody for being here. This closes the hearing. At the white house today, president obama called the terrorist attack in paris this morning a, quote, cowardly evil act. The president spoke in the oval office. All of us recognize that france is one of our oldest allies, our strongest allies. They have been with us at every moment when weve from 9 11 on in dealing with some of the terrorist organizations around the world that threaten us. For us to see the kind of cowardly evil attacks that took place today i think, reinforces, once again, why its so important for us to stand in solidarity to them just as they stand in solidarity with us. The fact that this was an attack on journalists attack on our free press. Also underscores the degree to which these terrorists fear freedom of speech and freedom of the press. But the one thing that im very confident about is that the values that we share with the french people a belief a universal belief in freedom of expression is something that cant be silenced because of the senseless violence of the few. More from president obama later today here on cspan 3. Hes traveling to michigan to speak at a Ford Assembly plant about the u. S. Economy and job creation. Thats live at 3 45 p. M. Eastern, again, here on cspan 3. Until that starts, a conversation from this mornings washington journal. Governor gary herbert, the governor of utah, also the vice chair of National Governors association, good morning. Good morning to you. Youre in washington, you met with the president yesterday, what was on the agenda . I think mainly to say its a new year new beginning. A new opportunity for us to Work Together and certainly the governors and the states want to be a partner in shaping policy for the on the national stage. And frankly, the governors in the states are good resources for not only the president but for congress as we deal with some of these challenging issues for the american public. You and governor hickenlooper who is the chair of the Governors Association met with the president. What was on top whats top of the agenda list . Well transportation and reauthorization. Our infrastructure needs and weve had kind of a slowing down. Not getting accomplished the transportation reauthorization. Federal government involvement with our interstate highways has been there since the 1950s with president eisenhower. Always been a commitment. That commitment seems to be waning. More responsibilities going to the states. And that probably theres an appropriate balance. We think they need to step up and fund their appropriate share or state highway and federal highway system. How much do states depend on the federal government for highways and the like . Give us an example from utahs position . We get probably somewhere in the neighborhood of about 250 million a year comes into our highway system. We spend about 1 billion a year. Its about 25 of our overall expenditures on highways. Thats a smaller portion than weve had in times past. Its larger than some years. But were not really on our highway system in the nation doing the Maintenance Work that needs to be done. Were not expanding capacity. And as a country thats still growing quite rapidly, up to 320 million people, infrastructure needs and transportation are really a key issue for not just quality of life but economic development. Have you talked with gop leaders about this issue . We have an opportunity and well take advantage of the opportunity now. Weve got leadership races over and the congress is back in place. Well be coming back in february, and many governors will probably have the majority of the 50 governors and our territorial governors, too. Here talking about issues that are of common need for the states. And talk to leadership in both the senate and the house and republican and democrat alike. You talked about the concerns about reauthorizing the bill. We have a new congress. Weve been talking to folks about Common Ground. Is Transportation One of those Common Ground issues that you think the two the white house and the congress can find . Oh, yes. I think so. Its not a matter of do we need it. At what level do we fund it. And, of course the big debate and where does the funding come from . Right now we have a gap. And so the question is should there be a gasoline tax increase, for example . Or is there a place to raise the revenue . In states, weve really dont pay with things with onetime money. Too often washington, onetime money takes care of this year, but what do they do the next year. To develop the revenue stream. The gasoline tax has been one mostly used in the past. Most states have a balance between general fund moneys and gasoline user tax to come up with the kind of the balanced approach to build their own highways. The governor with us to talk about issues that are concerning the states. Hes the vice chair of the National Governors association. Met with president obama yesterday. If you want to ask him questions about what states face overall particularly maybe give us examples from your state if you want, heres how you can do so. 2027488000 is our line for democrats. 8001 the line for republicans, and 2027488002, the line for independents. Aside from transportation, governor, what are some of the major issues that states face . Well, theres a lot of issues out there. And every state has its own unique uniqueness. Thats the beauty of the system. We call it the United States of america. And as we all know the famous statement by judge brandeis the laboratories of democracy. We have unique demographics unique policy unique cultures. And we learn from each other. Thats one of the beauties of the National Governors association is that we look at best practices in other states, learn from the successes. Learn from the failures and modify and improve and learn together. The one size fits all approach which doesnt necessarily fit. So we think we are a resource for washington. A look at the states, let us help you as we decide and debate policy out here. Where its Health Care Reform transportation, National Defense, National Guard or army reserves, those kind of things that are in the backyards. A lot of areas where the congress and president can learn from the states. What about education . Common core . I think the idea of having standards, i dont think any governor doesnt want high standards. And frankly, governors have been disappointed, you know, about the fact that weve dropped in the World Rankings when it comes to educational achievement. 25, 26 were certainly not at the top of the pack. And so the motivation from governors that developed really the standards that became the common core was motivated because had the desire to elevate and have high standards. The same time youve got to contrast that with states. Its their responsibility. Its not washingtons responsibility. Its the state responsibility for education within the borders of their state. And they dont want to give up any kind of sovereign control of that. And so standards should be developed by the states independent of washington, d. C. , the curriculum should be developed independent of washington, d. C. To address their own unique demographics. And thats some of the pushback you see with i think the common core rebellion or concern that we see in many of the states today. How does washington how does utah deal with common core . Well weve gone through to make sure legally we are in control of our education system. Weve had our attorney general do a complete legal analysis to ensure us and utah that we are in charge of the education system, that the standards are our standards. We can modify them and improve them. Well probably have a report coming out here in the next few weeks to give to our state elected school board as recommendation for what the standards should be in modified somewhat differently probably than what the common core is. Also making sure the school board understand their responsibility is how do you teach to the standards . What is the curriculum . And making sure that its local control from top to bottom in the state of utah. Were also looking to make sure were control of our resources what we require for textbooks. Our testing is developed here in utah. By ourselves, were not part of the nationalized testing program. And were also concerned about Data Collection to make sure that what datas being collected from our students what is appropriate to collect and also, what can you do with that data. I think were trying to alleviate any concerns that somehow weve ceded that responsibility to washington, d. C. Would you describe yourself as a supporter of common core overall . Im a supporter of standards, high standards, and the common core standards had to do with reading, Language Arts and math. And those standards nationally have to be raised. I agree with that. But i also agree that states should be in charge and we should control that. And its really a local control issue. The challenges facing the nations governors. Again, the numbers will be on your screen. Lets hear first from alice. Alice is from missouri on our independent line youre on with gary herbert of utah, the vice chair of the National Governors association. Good morning, go ahead. Caller good morning. I would like to make a comment about the roads and stuff. If we would get a lot of the big trucks off of the big roads and bring back more of the railroads, we would be a lot better. I was raised in the 50s. And we had better roads than they do now. And on school, i think the parents should be in charge of their childrens education. I had a grandson come out of sixth grade, he couldnt read, write or nothing. Hes been home schooled the last five years and he has accomplished a lot more with his his and us teaching him at home. I feel this country has gotten to the point where the government wants to take over our lives and i dont think its right. We should be able to control our own lives at home and the government take care of government. Well, thank you. I think the parents should be in charge of education. I agree. The best precursor to success in education is when parents are involved. And it doesnt matter whether its home schooling or public schooling or private schooling or Charter Schools. Theres a variety of different options out there, and parents and families ought to make that choice. Whats in their own best interests, fits for their own desires of how they bring up their children. We have a lot of successful home schoolers in utah. We have people that go to Charter Schools that have been a big part of our Public Education, and we have the ability for people to choose their schools within the Public Education system. Its extremely important to the success of the students. I agree with that. Clearly as weve developed particularly from the 50s you mentioned in the 50s. Put on the interstate system which has been a great blessing to our nation, to be able to get from point a to point b and have roads that connect with each other and make it travel a little bit more conducive for business as well as just individual and personal travel, you know, that infrastructure needs to be maintained. And with the growth of the population, it needs, in fact, to be expanded. Railroads are a little more rigid. You dont have the flexibility with the roads. Its a combination of both our railroads in utah are working very well. They continue to service for commercial and industrial needs. They certainly are a part of our Transportation System but not the entire part. Clover, south carolina. Youre up next. This is danny, republican line, hi. Yes, good morning, governor. Good morning. I wanted to Say Something about education. It seems to me that you got states and local School Boards who were in charge of education. Its those people who should be adults cant figure out what to feed little johnny for lunch or cant figure out how to teach little johnny to read and write, then they need to be invited to go home and let someone else have that position. The idea that some bureaucrat in washington needs to tell the local School Boards or the states how to educate children, its just ridiculous. And i have a comment about the roads and the gas tax. Its not unusual here to drive up on a construction site and youve got one guy working and six guys watching. Now, you want to raise the gas tax so maybe we can have one guy working and ten guys watching . Thanks, caller. Well, we certainly want to find efficiencies in government. And there are those anecdotal stories where weve got six guys leaning on one shovel. I know at least in utah, where i can speak to it, we have a very Efficient Department of transportation. And building more roads for less money than weve done and our cost per mile has gone down and our construction. So we privatize virtually everything we do. We certainly gather the money from our gasoline tax and general fund to build the roads, but then we contract out and have it bid out by private sector contractors. Which, again gives competition to the issue so the best value for the lowest cost for taxpayer, and it works well in utah. And on education, i agree that we ought not to be dictated to by washington, d. C. Because theyre too far removed from our own backyards. The control ought to be with the parents and how the parents control it is by electing their school board members. If they dont like what theyre doing and how theyre performing, elect somebody else to do it right. The school board should control who is appointed for the superintendent of schools, they should control who is the principals of the schools and empower them to manage the resources. If they dont do it right, replace them and someone who will run the schools appropriately. That puts the parents in control of who is elected for the school board. Good morning. Really enjoy cspan and listening to the governor. Governor, af governor, i have a quick question for you. I agree, 50 independent states different set of problems that cover a wide and diverse spectrum. My question to you after listening to is i kind of wonder what you think about the expression, states rights. To me, in this era, states rights means each individual state expresses itself in the way you just described because they have different problems. When i have conversations about this with people at work, they refer back to the 50s and 60s. When that express was used primarily to hold down minorities for Voting Rights and so forth. I wondered what your thought was on that and ill just hang up and listen. Thank you, governor. Well, thank you. Federalism was the idea we had these states out there again, laboratories of democracy. We got together you know, with the constitution and created the federal government. We felt like at the time that we needed a stronger centralized government, George Washington was one who very much wanted to have a little more centralized government and ability to have National Defense and regulate commerce and to have the states Work Together in a little more cohesive fashion. It was designed to be a partnership. The states were designed to be sovereign in nature. Worked collectively with a centralized government. Heres an interesting statistic to show you how weve gotten out of kilter. If you took the collective budgets of all 50 states added them all up its about 1. 7 trillion. If you take the federal budget today its about 4 trillion. We all know in the constitution the powers enumerated are few. And the responsibility of powers in states were many and varied. And yet, weve got this kind of upsidedown. Too much power to washington, d. C. , i agree. People have probably misused in the past state sovereignty and states rights. But that doesnt mean that the principle is not correct and that is that states are the laboratories of democracy. We have the ability to run pilot programs to try things out. And well win on some and lose on some others. Well learn from each other. The onesizefitsall mentality out of washington, d. C. Is not conducive to Good Government and really does not represent the taxpayers very well as they make so many mistakes here. And theyre so large theyre not nimble to make any kind of adjustment. We need to the United States. We should be on an equal Playing Field for the federal government. From ft. Mills, south carolina, heres rose on the democrats line. Caller good morning. Good morning. Caller thank you for taking my call and good morning to both of you. Thank you. Caller the governor makes many great points. However, you know, when you have a speaker on and they refer to washington as the enemy, i just wonder if the white house becomes a republican white house, will they have this obsession with federal Government Works against us . Another comment id like to make is about schools. And i think that it is necessary because we have so many children who are undereducated. We have so many we have teachers that are coming out of college that dont even take education courses. We have teachers who and ive been a substitute teacher and ive seen what ive had to work with as far as what the absent teacher leaves behind. I think one of the things that we have to do to improve education in this country is to hold a teachers feet to the fire and make sure theyre doing their job. Well, let me respond to that. One, i hope i never refer to the federal government as the enemy. Because theyre not the enemy. Theyre our partner. We should be working together to solve the problems. And address the needs of the american public. We have state responsibilities within our borders, and we have a general responsibility through the federal government. Its not a matter of us versus them. Its really a matter of us working together. Its like any kind of a team effort. We have different roles as governors in the states. We have different roles in local governments. Cities and counties. But we all are on the same Team Including the federal government. We need to find ways to Work Together and really play our roles well. That would respond to what the needs of the taxpayers are. So ive been equally critical during a Republican Administration as far as the overreach of the federal government under the past administration with president bush as they reach in and take on more responsibility than really the federal government is warranted. On education again having high standards is really an important thing we need to attract the best and brightest into the classroom. Some to do with salaries and some with appreciation. There needs to be support from the parents. We have too many parents that get upset at the teachers that are trying to do the best they can at classroom but have a problem because their children are not disciplined. Youve probably seen that thats a parent problem, not a Teacher Education problem. Thats a lack of discipline and proper rearing by parents with their children. It really is a combination of us working together and we ought to show up at Parent Teacher conference nights and talk to the teachers and say hows my johnny doing and jane doing . And if theyre not behaving properly, weve got to make sure that happens and changes are made in the home. Together we can improve the education in this country if we Work Together. When it comes to funding transportation, said you were open to the idea of gas taxes, is that true . It is. I had a transportation summit over a year ago to look at the longterm aspects of transportation utah. We found that by 2040 with growth and were about the second Fastest Growing state in america right now. Good economics, quality of life people attracted to utah as well as a higher birthrate weve got to anticipate for the future. Its got to be really generational thing as we look down the road. We came up 11 billion short. And we have not adjusted the gasoline tax in 17 years. Just to recapture inflation means we should raise 10 cents a gallon. But were having a discussion whether it should be an excised tax and a permanent tax like right now at about 24 1 2 cents to raise it up to 34 cents. Should we have a sales tax . Should we index it for inflation . Should we have a combination . Should we have more maybe a sales tax or fee on registration that raises up . Or on batteries or higher sales tax on automobiles . How do we address, you know, electrical cars and nontraditional fuels. We dont tax, yet beat up the roads as much as anything else. Thats going to be a debate and well have an adjustment and fuel tax and how we charge to maintain maintain the roads and build capacity. How is your legislature responding to your idea . They understand, theyre practical people. Nobody wants to raise a tax. That thats the worst thing you can do as a politician. Thats why it hasnt been done in 17 years. But the practical realities are, weve got to do something our capacity is not going to be what it needs to be. And then we end up hurting our economy overall, which means we could reduce our revenue stream. And our maintenance. Our local governments are struggling, too. Working together, obviously the federal government, weve talked about has a role to play for our state, as well as other states on the interstate highway system. Were going to address that and think longterm not shortterm. Should the federal government raise its gas tax. I think they should consider that. Theres clearly a need for them to develop a revenue stream. Somebodys got to come up with a revenue stream somewhere. Theres certain things that, you know, are the responsibility of the government. Im a conservative republican i think thats limited National Defense. Interstate commerce and interstate travel is a part of that responsibility that the federal government has a role to play. And so develop your revenue stream. Find efficiency some place else. Cut over here and probably get out of areas we ought not to be in, too much of health and Human Services in some areas and put it into the infrastructure needs and let the other responsibilities devolve where they should be. Joining us to talk about the challenges. Steve in brownsburg, michigan, you are next for the governor, youre on the republican line, good morning. Caller yes good morning. I have a comment for the governor the highway fees and so forth for the taxes to help fund our infrastructure. I support some kind of a revenue enhancement to increase revenue to improve our roads and so forth that i hope that instead of just pushing for a flat increase in the gas tax we start to address the funding from some user fees or so forth because the gas tax has now become somewhat regressive from the fact that the more affluent people can buy the newer cars which are more fuel efficient, electric cars and so forth as the lower income people are struck with the vehicles that get lower gas mileage and thus paying more to use the roads than the more affluent people. And we need some kind of thing and i think you just addressed it a second ago was the electric fuel in cars, but now basically very little gas. Thats correct. And, again theres not really any kind of a Silver Bullet here. And thats why in our state were going to look at a combination of different issues before we decide what is the most appropriate way to fund our highway needs Going Forward. Again, its a longterm strategy, its not going to be something well solve overnight. Well get on the right path to make sure we have the ability to fund and maintain the roads we need in the state of utah. Were a large state we have a lot of roadways out there, some of the rural parts of the state really it hurts them disproportionately because of their needs in the agricultural part of our states and have more distances to travel and dont have any kind of metro system to help them get around mass transit. Let me mention one other thing because its i think important here, too when we talk about the role of the federal government, part of what we need to have out of the federal government changing the rules and regulations. Weve ive met with many of the contractors that built roads, and theyre saying you know, if we could get rid of many of the strings and the regulations that come in the processing to build a federal road, we could cut the cost by 20 . So get rid of the strings and some of the nonsensical regulations redundancy in the system and we can actually build more roads for less money. Thats a win win. We get the roads we need to have we help the federal government balance the budget by reducing costs and getting rid of the red tape and the public has served on both sides of the equation and their cost and having the services they need from the roads. On our independent line, chuck from indiana. Yes, there. I do have a few questions. State rights. When they come in and override the decision that you have made from your state, says no, you cant do this, then the federal government to the governors. And i believe theres too much of this going on. These people built a pond in the yard, they went through the county got the states permission, had a pond in their yard and the epa comes along and says, well, its going to cost you 150,000 a day to use the gradient. Who are these people . Who do they think they are . They had a highway here where the clover leaf turned and that dirts contaminated. Youve got to take it out and haul it and put it in a pile somewhere. The grass, going to plant a garden there on the clover leaf turn. So as far as im concerned, its a waste of our money and time and a direct tops everything that the governors are trying to do when it comes to building a highway. Caller thanks. Well, i can tell you that the epa is a challenge for, i think, all of the states. Because under the Clean Air Act empowerment has been given to the epa that sometimes seems draconian. Gives them the ability to set rules and regulations. Sometimes the rules and regulations that put into place make it a little difficult. And certainly, there are anecdotal stories out there where its been egregious and really by what they do with the epa and rules and regulations, theres an inverse condemnation that occurs where properties have been taken and taken away without, in fact u. S. Compensation. So i know we are trying to work with epa on many issues. We have air quality issues in the state of utah. The epa has brought authority because Environmental Impacts no no border. If you have bad air in one state, it will drift over to the next state. If you contaminate the water and the underwater aquifers and the water sources it can cross over border. So theres a need to have a broader spectrum when it comes to Environmental Impacts. But i would say this and ive mentioned this to the president yesterday. It is a concern for the Environmental Impact studies that we have to do ad nauseam. I understand we ought to study and make sure we are good stewards of the earth. I support that. Now take three four, or five years to do an Environmental Impact study is just ridiculous and a waste of time. We can do them shorter than that. We can be effective and efficient. Im making sure were doing things that are appropriate for mother earth and protecting the environment which we all want to be as good stewards but the length of time that we have are taking for these studies is just ridiculous. Governor, how is your state dealing with the Affordable Care act . Whats been done in your state . Well, the Affordable Care act, again, thats an example where i think we would have had a better product if somebody here in washington, the congress and the president said why dont we talk to the governors . Lets talk to the states and see what they think about this thing. Everybody has a concern about health care, making sure its affordable. But we were never consulted, never talked to. And i think that was a big mistake. Do you have a federal exchange or a state exchange . We actually have a unique system in utah. I negotiated a hybrid. We have our own exchange that we had, massachusetts had one and utah had one. Were the only ones that had them set fun n the beginning but ours has no mandate to it. So we have one that has defined contributions as opposed to defined benefits. We have contributions for employers and then the consumer can go to the internet and choose from about 125 different programs and its worked very well for our Small Business. The individual mandate and the subsidy weve left to the federal exchange. So they have a federal exchange and a state exchange but we handle Small Business, they handle individual mandate. By the way, were also working to try to come up with something as an alternative to Medicaid Expansion which we call healthy utah. That met resistance from your legislature, is that right . Some not all. And, you know, we need to be convinced that its the right thing to do in the long term. The concern the legislature has is are we buying something we can afford . Its one thing to say well get 100 funding now then go to 90 10. Theres some concern, will the federal government always uphold their part of the bargain and give us the 90 . It will still have an increasing cost. And can we afford it down the road in ten years . So thats just fiscally prudent so thats not a problem. Weve also had a little twist weve tried to add in to it and say if you want to have health care from the taxpayer, were prepared to provide you with health care but we ask you if youre ablebodied to make sure you let us help you also get a job. If youre ablebodied and can work well give you skill, education, training to get a job. If youre unemployed well help you get a better job. We think thats a Fair Exchange if you ask the taxpayers. Well also help you get a job so you can get off of government assistance. Here is cindy from North Carolina, republican line. Hi, cindy. Caller hi. My question am i on . Youre on, go ahead. Caller okay. My question is one is very important to me and everyone else, that we stand with israel, we stand with our allies. Okay. Well, i had a chance here a year ago to spend some time in israel and met with shimon peres, the president at the time and Prime Minister netanyahu and they both said a very interesting phrase to me. They said governor we live in a very dangerous neighborhood. Which is probably the understatement of the day. They very much appreciate the United States support and i think weve given support an well continue to give them support. They are a stabilizing influence in the middle east and so i think they deserve our support. And i know we have a lot of connections in utah with israel and we support them as a nation. From alexandria, virginia karen up next independent line. Karen, go ahead. Caller hello how do you do. Good morning, governor. Please, i want to give you a quote of john f. Kennedys favorite poet robert frost. And that was he was against a homogenized society because he wanted the cream to rise. We dont have cream rising in this nation today. Our schools of education are cookie cutter factories. Programming. Theres no individualism. Its gone. Theres no cream rising. Our nation was built on immigrants that came to this country who use their own develop their own skills, pursueder their own passion and brought us made our country what it is today. They put our country on the map, the world map as one of the most technologically advanced in the world. Where are they today . Everybody is being programmed. One other issue that i did want to raise with you please, is i represented Westinghouse Nuclear municipal industrial Hazardous Waste divisions beginning in 1982 on superfund projects. Id like you to name one superfund project in the entire nation that has ever been resolved. Well let me just if i can remember let me just talk about american exceptionalism, because i believe in american exceptionalism and i do believe that cream has risen to the top in the past and it certainly can many the future. If its not taking place, we need to take stock in what is inhibiting that from happening. In utah weve started Charter Schools which have unique characteristics and unique discipline. So there is individualized efforts in these unique schools whether it be in the arts or engineering and other kinds of disciplines like math and science. You know, so theyre not just cookie cutter schools and parents have the ability to choose and put their children in schools that have a little different emphasis. So i think the its not a cookie cutter system, at least in utah. Were trying to give a variety and opportunities. We have 41 School Districts in utah and each local school board can develop their own unique curriculum to meet certain general standards that you would need to have to have a high school diploma. So theres some standardization. But the ability to have excellence. And we see whats taking place in the last little while in technology around this country. I mean, we have iphones now that can do everything that a small compute kerr do here just ten or 20 years ago. Thinks we cant even comprehend as we access information in this great age. We have better health. Were living longer, better quality of lives, the advancement of science and medicine and america is great and people come to america for those kinds of health care issues. If youve got cancers, if youve got a heart problem they dont go to other countries, they come to america to have those kinds of treatments. So i think we still have exceptionalism thats taking place in utah and america and i think that will continue. And if we have things that are getting away we ought to stop it. The last thing6 hnwas what . You know, caught me there. I totally i should have taken notes. Lets move on to our next call. Democrats line. Caller yes, good morning. Im glad youre taking my call. Thank you. Caller i called because i was listening i watch cspan every morning, im 85 years old and this is my company in the morning. I listen to a lot of things and i dont understand the changes that they have made. Me growing up in the south, we went to school. We had to be respected in school, respect the teachers. If you didnt respect that teacher, she could send you home or sit you in a corner until you learned to respect her. You cant teach a child if that child cannot respect you. We have problems in school now. The parents want to fight the teachers if she tries to correct the child. Theyre take than out of schools. Theyre taking prayers out of schools, the pledge of allegiance. What do they have to learn . The teachers are afraid to try to correct the child in school today. If one of mine was in there and she spanked him and sent him home to me im spank his behind and carry him back. Well, the good old days. Theres no question i agree with you that we seem to have a little more lackadaisical approach to the discipline of our children and, again, i wouldnt want to say to anybody how you raise your children but clearly having discipline teaching them good values and principles, respect for your helders, theres a reason to go to school and its not to just sit on the block, its to knuckle down and learn. We need to elevate education and excellence in education and say its not just a matter of getting through high school which maybe was okay for my generation, but for the rising generation its got to be posthigh school. We set a goal in utah to have 66 of our Adult Population by 2020 that has some kind of posthigh school either certificate, associate degree or full degree. Were doing that because education is a good thing to have number one. But the practical aspects of it if were going to compete in the marketplace which is global in nature, you have to have skills line up with the demands of the market place. That means something beyond high school and more, so our emphasis is education, an opportunity for you to have options in your life choices. To support yourself and your family. That starts at home. Our parents need to step up and say lets teach our children good principle, the importance of education and give them the opportunity to be better than we were when it comes to educational achievement. Governor gary herbert, the republican governor of utah, the vice chair of the National Governors association. Governor i wanted to get your thoughts on the conviction the sentencing that came down yesterday for the former Virginia Governor robert mcdonald. Well, its a tragedy any way you look at it. I knew bob very well and i thought he was a very fine man. And politics sometimes you can get trapped into and sucked into thinking something is inconsequential becomes a really big thing and bob was a very talented person and at least all the governance i saw and his involvement with the national governs association, the republican governors situation, he was stellar. I wish them well he and his wife. I think knowing bob and maureen i think theyre good people at heart and made bad judgmental errors. This will foster discussion at the nga about disclosing gifts and people like yourself, whether you receive . These kind of events give people pause and make sure that were not crossing over the line. Campaign financial disclosures, what kind of gift you can take. I know in utah we have an ethical aspect of what we can do. You cant take sports tickets. You cant take more than a 50 gift. It has to be disclosed. Cant have more than 10 for a meal if somebody takes you to lunch. So theres some parameters out there to help keep us on the straight and narrow path. Its a difficult issue and every state needs to find their own way. We need to raise bar and we need to expect more and we do expect more from our elected officials and thats appropriate. So we should have a higher standard for elected officials. Will will help prompt a discussion and make sure we raise that bar, which is really what the taxpayers want. They want to trust our elected officials to do the right thing and not be somehow be holding to some special interest out there thats i dont know whether you call it a bribe or incentive to do something that would be otherwise inappropriate. Before we let you go, a little bit about the houses new member from utah, mia love. Yes. Have you had a chance to talk to her before today . I have. I, in fact, went to a little reception she had monday evening. Ive known mia for a long time. When i was a county commissioner before i became governor i incorporated the city she became the mayor called saratoga springs. So she used to call me up and say hey, your baby that youve created needs a little help. So she became the mayor. Shes first on the city council. I got to know her in that capacity shes a wonderful personality. Just has Great Potential and she will be a great addition to the congress. Shes going to represent us well in the state of utah. Were excited by this great new opportunity for her. The governor currently serves as the vice chair and will become the chair when . Next summer. Thats when the changing of the guard takes place and, again, governors are really maching it happen out there. Look to the states, look to the governors. I think were the best hope for america to turn this whole thing around and make sure were on the right road going in the right direction. Thank you very much for your time. Were waiting to take you to michigan for remarks by president obama. Hell be speaking at a Ford Assembly plant in suburban detroit this afternoon to employees there. Hell be talking about the state of the Auto Industry. Its the first stop of the president s travel this week. Hes scheduled to be in phoenix tomorrow talking about the Housing Market and hell make two stops in tennessee, focusing on college affordability. Again, the president from suburban detroit coming up in just a few minutes live here on cspan 3. In the meantime. There are todays washington journal. He serves as the First District which covers camden, wood bury, good morning to you. Good morning, how are you . Fine, thank you. The folks that dont know you, give a it will about your history. How did you end up where you are . I started my career as an electrician working up and down the Delaware River refineries and became involved with the labor unions and was a representative out of the ibew for close to 20 years. Then i had an opportunity to run for the assembly which i did so quickly moved into the senate where ive served the last five and a half years until the announcement of congressman rob andrews was retiring and we jumped in. And so as far as the way you view things, how would you view yourself or at least describe yourself politically to people . I like to say im middle earth. Certainly when it comes to spending other peoples money and taxpayers money i feel that im the conservative side, but certainly im concerned about jobs. As my original capacity, i was invested in workers. My original capacity working in trenton for the past five and a half years. Theyre concerned. They want their kids to have the opportunities they did and they want to be able to go to work. So as issues facing this congress is concerned, even as of friday, one of the first votes youll take part in is that of the keystone xl pipeline. Where do you stand on that . I have been in favor of the pipeline for a number of reasons. Number one safety. Number two, it is about bringing jobs and making sure americanmade energy is on the forefront. Not too many of us remember, but the odd even days of gasoline really creates a nightmare to many people remembering that. And here we are now, the Worlds Largest energy producer. We need to take advantage of that. As far as the white house signaling the concerns about it possibly veto of it, your thoughts on that . The president will make his decision based on what ends up on his desk but im in favor of making sure we move this forward. Is it perfect . Absolutely not. The Eminent Domain issues are among others are of great concern to me. As a whole im in favor. We asked our viewers earlier about Common Ground possibly between the white house and the congress. Talk about Common Ground possibly between republicans and democrats in the house specifically. What are areas aside from jobs that you might find some favor in, at least agree on . Well i think thats important. My history in trenton over the last five and a half years was working across lines and i did that rather successfully with a number of major issues. Last night we were at the speakers event at the library of Congress Making sure that we were reaching out across the aisle. Theres a new Congress Just north of me, tom mcarthur who he and i have a very good working relationship as do we congressman lobiondo whos just to the south. Ive had relationships with them over the last 20 years congressman lobe i dont knowbeyond doe. Our guest newly minted of the 114th Congress Representative Donald Norcross of new jersey. If you want to ask him questions, heres your chance to do so. 202748800. Democrats 2027488001 for republicans. You can send your comments on twitter. Brenda from beach island, south carolina, republican line, hello, go ahead. Caller hi. I worked my whole life. Started out when i was 15 on coop and went to school a half day and worked half a day and worked up until i was 48 years old and ended up on Social Security disability. And they have a 24month waiting period before you qualify for medicare or insurance. And when you go to obamacare you dont qualify for that at all because you dont pay taxes. So youre there are a position where you need health care and theres nowhere or anything available to get it. Well certainly your plight is one that we can all feel for you. One of the major issues that and i found out whether it was my first year in trenton or finding out as we work here in washington, d. C. Is that regulation by itself didnt happen accidentally. It seems time after time time after time people who are trying to game the system which clearly you arent they have to set up these set of rules to go go through to block out those who are trying to take advantage of the system. The system is designed to help people like yourselves get through it. However, in order to make sure that taxpayers money is well spent they have to set up these steps to make sure that nobody is gaming the system. Certainly i would encourage you to reach out to your local representative to see if he can help ease some of the burden in trying to get the paperwork in. Houston texas, robert. Democrats line. Hello. Caller good morning and good morning to both of you. The reason i called in was that the representative talked about being in favor of the keystone xl pipeline and what i would like to say is that being a former plant manager of a Chemical Plant im well aware of the importance of pipelines. But in this particular case we are we are going to construct the wrong pipeline in the wrong place to carry the wrong crude oil. What we should be doing is building a pipeline to carry crude oil from the dakotas to the same point in the midwest that the xl pipeline is set up to carry canadian oil and both of these both of these oils are actually in abundance and would be available for a sale worldwide. Will, its certainly Free Enterprise and the route, which has been debate under debate for so many years will never change peoples mind who are against this. But when we look at the tanker cars, i live a major metropolitan area where we have the old cracks that run right through the middle of the city carrying this oil. Certainly if we can put this oil in pipelines by most measurements, most people believe its a safer way of doing it. When it comes to which oil obviously theres pipelines running throughout the entire country. Most people done know which lines are running there. Just an additional line that will help bring that commerce to the United States and bring more energy to the world. Cherry hill, new jersey, republican line, charles, hello. Welcome, cherry hill. Caller good morning, don. I used to be in district three and was moved over with the redistricting, now im in district one, your district. And i used to enjoy john adlers town Hall Meetings and i wonder what your position is on that. Its great that youre asking that. We are actively putting together the greater town hall meeting, but well do it a little differently. Well have the federal government, obviously myself being there well bring in our state representatives, the county and the local so we can make sure that that this is a seamless message thats coming across so when you ask a question we cant say thats a state issue. So we hope to start those before the end of the month. The governor has just been elected the freshman representative for the democrats. Tell us about this job. Well which job . Freshman representative for policy issues. Oh, myself, im sorry. I didnt understand the question. Yes policy and steering which is helping to direct obviously the issues that are most concerned to us up on the hill and i think i can bring a lot of the reality to this again up until six weeks ago my job was to find jobs for electricians, south jersey. I know firsthand the pain that the men and women are going through in our district when they dont have a job. You give somebody a job who can provide for their family, it literally changes their life. And when that opportunity isnt there it is a very sad day. What are the details . How often do you meet with other policy members . Were weekly its much more during the last six weeks of the last congress we were going through a number of issues. There was a Ranking Committee campaign that was going for energy and commerce that we were meeting on a daily basis but at the end of the day we all came together behind congressman frank of new jersey and as were moving into the new congress its Rabbit Committee assignments and making sure that were listening to our colleagues. Have you been assigned a committee . Were waiting to hear that literal literally today. Its a dee dimensional chess board. Where would you like to serve if you had your choice . I have made it clear that i think i can be very fortunate in helping the military bases in new jersey. I know your family is form from the fort dix area so Arms Services and would like to spend time on work force and education. Representative Donald Norcross of new jersey. Catherine, north conway new hampshire, independent line. Hi there. Oh, let me push the button. Catherine, go ahead, im sorry. Caller i have very, very short three comments. The first is that should be on the democratic agenda, no Keystone Pipeline, no fracking. Thats first. Secondly democrats should be asking more questions. Could bit that the Oil Companies are, in fact in favor and gleeful of Global Warming and thwarting efforts to stop it for with the arctic ice melting and opening up the area to drilling means money in their pockets. Thirdly, we have to get more creative, the democrats. If poppies grow in afghanistan soil better than wheat and bring in more cash and they can grow two crops of poppies during the growing season. How come other uses for poppies than heroin arent in the works . We should be figuring out how perhaps you can grind up the stalks to make Paper Products cement, or pave something. We have to ask questions, become more creative and not do things to harm our environment. Well, thank you for the call, certainly. Woe all care very much for the environment. And its always a balance between those who want to enjoy the ability to drive their cars, heat their homes with the energy that we presently have or the options on the other side of the coin is where do we meet in the middle . I was part of a group in new jersey called the Work Environment council which is trying to bring together making sure people had opportunities for employment while making our consideration for the environment very high level and that we try to blend those two together because theyre not always the same direction. Brad from minnesota, democrats line. You are next, good morning. Caller hello. Youre on go ahead. Caller oh, okay. My question to him is this. Why do have all atheists on your show . And the other thing i have to say to you, were deindustrialized. You dont hear about los angeles anymore being smog. Its in china. The other question i got for you is im a veteran why in minnesota is a goddamn veteran home being run by a wiccan . Well certainly i want to thank you for your service to our country as a veteran and im not sure of the issue youre talking about in minnesota but again as i mentioned earlier, make sure you reach out to your local representatives. Im sure they can address the issue. Ray off of twitter says he spoke with congressman lobe i dont know doe about lobe beyond doe about trade issues. Should the u. S. Be doing more trade . Yes, but it has to be done fairly. Its not free trade its fair trade and if we go back to the nafta which i think has set the stage for many of the agreements since then, i knew too many people who grew displaced because of those agreements and i think that it needs to be fair trade obviously most countries, particularly in the middle east sorry, in the far east are paying their employees much less so its not just about dollars but its about conditions theyre working in. Weve seen these sweat shots time and time again where the collapses have come in because theyre not enforcing the type of rules that we have in this country. As long as we have a fair plague ground, thats really what people care about. Is it fair . I dont have to win every time. I just need to know its a fair shot. That should govern our trade policy. So the trade policy being considered for the asian area of the world. Is that fair in your estimation . No. Im not going to mix words. No i dont think its fair. Why . Well, theres a number of issues there. This goes back to again, i mentioned earlier because that set the stage for all the agreement weve had since then. So if were not playing by the same set of rules, whether its Environmental Issues making sure theyre not clogging the air with the coal that comes out of particularly in china. We were visiting taiwan and the earlier caller was talking about what other parts of the world are doing. Literally. The wind blows over, so china along their coast blows into their neighboring country. Well, thats a problem. Whether its trained in dealing with employment issues which is extremely important, making sure no child is working or being forced to work if if we level the Playing Field make sure that the enforcement of environmental rules make sure enforcement of work rules to make sure were not ebb slaving these folks, particularly in third world countries then it becomes a much fairer issue. Here is tim from kansas city, republican line. Hi. Caller good morning sir. My question is on whats your view point on the fact of Illegal Immigrants in this country . Were spending literally probably hundreds of billions of dollar dollars feeding these people, giving them housing, giving them everything and theyre not even citizens. They dont belong here. Well, with all due respect, these people are us. In fact, if we had the rules in place that we do today a century ago i would say most of us wouldnt even be sitting here. The fact is we need to have an immigration policy that works for all americans. I just want to share one example why i think this is so important. My son met a young lady when he was serving in south korea who was serving in the army. They were married, they had my first grandchild. We leave this recorded portion of washington journal to take you live now to a Ford Assembly plant in suburban detroit for remarks by president obama to employees there. This is live coverage on cspan 3. Thank you, everybody. Give mia a big round of applause for that outstanding introduction. Well, hello, michigan. Happy new year to everybody. What was that . I love you back. [ laughter ] i want to thank all the outstanding leaders that we have here today i want to introduce some of them. We have secretary of labor tom perez here. [ applause ] weve got detroit mayor mike duggan here. [ cheers and applause ] senator gary peters is in the house. [ applause ] congresswoman Debbie Dingle is here. [ cheers and applause ] your outstanding ceo mark fields is here. [ cheers and applause ] now i have to say i love secret service, i love the beasts they put me in. Thats what i call the cars i drive in the beasts. So i like my ride these days and it was made in michigan, too. [ applause ] but i just had a chance to look at these new mustangs and ive got to say that the mustangs had a little more style. A little more flavor. Bill ford is in the house. [ applause ] surprisingly enough. We talked a little bit about sunday. [ laughter ] now, listen, im a bears fan. [ applause ] laugh you beat us twice. But even a bears fan has to admit that that was a little suspect. [ cheers and applause ] i have never seen anything like that before. I would have been pretty irritated. Were you irritated . Oh yes. But all i can say, because im used to saying this im a bears fan, theres always next year. [ laughter ] and look youve got a lot to be hopeful for. First of all, you have one of the best defenses in the league. [ applause ] fine young quarter back, megatron. And if theres one thing that you can take to the bank when talking about detroit is that detroit always comes back. [ cheers and applause ] detroit always comes back. And thats why im here today. One of my new years resolutions is to make sure that more americans in wayne more americans in michigan more americans all across this great company, that everybody feels like theyre coming back. And there is no doubt thanks to the steps that we took early on to rescue our economy and to rebuild it on a new foundation we are entering into the new year with new confidence that america is coming back. [ applause ] now you dont have to take my word for it. The facts are the facts. And lets face it, a lot of times the media doesnt like reporting on good news. But every once in a while its important for us to hear some good news not to make us complacent but to give us dhafs if we work harder we can make even more good news so heres how we begin this year. Last year, 2014 was the strongest year for job growth since the 1990s. [ cheers and applause ] since the 1990s. Weve now had a 57 month streak of private job sector creation. Weve created nearly 11 million new jobs. Thats the longest stretch in our history of private sector uninterrupted job creation. [ applause ] heres another way of thinking about it. Since 2010 we, america, have put more people back to work than europe japan and every other advanced economy combined. Combined. [ applause ] and let me tell you whats leading the way American Manufacturing. After a decade of decline, American Manufacturing is in its best stretch of job growth since the 1990s. Here in michigan, manufacturers have created more than 100,000 jobs. Helps to cut your Unemployment Rate in half. So were making more stuff were selling it around the world, americas the numberone producer of oil, the numberone producer of gas. Its helping to save drivers about 1. 10 a gallon at the pump over this time last year. [ cheers and applause ] and the cars that you make help everybody go a little bit further on that gallon of gas. Thanks to the Affordable Care act, also known as obamacare about ten million americans gained Health Insurance just over this last year. [ applause ] weve cut our deficits by about twothirds. Id like people to think about that, because when they do surveys of like ordinary folks on the street and they ask them are the deficits going up or are they coming down . Everybody automatically assumes well the government is spending and deficits must be going up. Deficits have come down by twothirds since i took office. [ cheers and applause ] by twothirds. Theyre going down. After 13 long years our war in afghanistan has come to a responsible end which means more of our brave troops have come home and spent time with their families during the holidays. [ applause ] so the point is were moving. The years have been tough, demanded hard work, demanded sacrifice on everybodys part. You guys know that more than most. Which means as a country we have every right to be proud of what weve got to show for all that hard work. Americas resurgence is real. Dont let anybody tell you otherwise. Weve got the best cards and we are doing better than just about anybody else on earth. And now that weve got some calmer waters, now that the worst of the crisis is behind us, if we all do our part, if we all pitch in then we can make sure that this rising tide is actually lifting all the boats not just some. We can make sure the middleclass is the engine that powers american prosperity for decades to come. And that will be the focus of my state of the Union Address in a couple of weeks. Building on the progress that weve already made. But ive got to admit i only have two years left in office i didnt want to wait for the state of the union to talk about the things that make this country great and how we can make it better so i thought id get started this week. Clap clp i fig i figured why wait. Its like opening christmas presents a little early. So today im in detroit, going to talk about the incredible things that have happened in the Auto Industry and what more we can do in manufacturing. Tomorrow ill visit arizona, a state that was hit about as hard as anybody by the housing crisis, because we want to talk about how were making homeownership a reality for more middleclass families. On friday im going to go to tennessee, a state making big strides in education, to show how we can help every american get the education they need to get ahead in this new economy. But today i wanted to come here to michigan because this state proves no matter how tough times get americans are tough. [ applause ] plus i wanted to see the new mustang. Now, just lets just take a minute and think about what youve had to fight through. A few years ago nearly one in five autoworkers got a punch in the gut with a pink slip. The year before i took office 400,000 jobs vanished in this industry. 400,000. Sales plunged 40 . Then as the financial crisis built we faced what once seemed unimaginable, which is two of the big three gm and chrysler were on the brink of failure. This was the heart beat of American Manufacturing right here and it was flat lining. We had a choice to make. We could have kept giving billions of tack tax pay taxpayer dollars to the Auto Industry without asking for anything in return but that would have kicked the problem down the road. We could have done nothing but think about what would have meant for the country. The suppliers, the distributors the communities that depend on the workers who patronize the restaurants and shop on the stores, all those companies would have gone under also. And, look, the fact is nobody was in a stronger position than ford bill and his team had done a great job steering ford through tough times but bill and others are the first to admit that you could have had a cascading effect if the whole supply chain in the u. S. Auto industry started declining, then ford could have gone under too. Plants would have shuttered, we would have lost this iconic industry, sold for scraps. And folks like you, the men and women who built these companies with your hands would have been left hanging out to dry. And the communities you depended on, the school teachers, Small Business owners servers in the diner and, lets face it the bar keep [ laughter ] [ cheers and applause ] im just saying. Are you a bar keep or are you just waving at me . [ laughter ] but everybody would have been affected. Their jobs were at stake, too. And its more than that. The jobs in the Auto Industry have always been about more than a paycheck. Theyre a source of pride for generations. It was representative of what it meant to get in the middleclass. You work hard in this job, you can afford to raise a family buy a house, go on vacation, retire with some dignity. You knew you were making something that people could count on. You know, it meant something. Every car you sent off the line brought you that step closer to doing the right thing by your family and giving something to your kids. And having a sense of security inp so plants like this one built more than just cars, they built the middleclass in this country and that was worth fighting for. [ cheers and applause ] so in exchange for the help we demanded responsibility. Plants retooled plants restructured, labor and management worked together settled their difference everybody put some skin in the game, everybody made some sacrifices, it wasnt just some, it wasnt just the workers who gave something up. Everybody. And thats how things work best by the way, when everybodys in it. When workers and businesses Work Together. When whoevers in the board room and folks on the floor they both understand theyre in it together. And we believe that americas best when everybodys in it together. And we rejected the false choice that either unions or businesses could succeed but not both. We said, you know what . Whats going to work for the company is also going to work for that worker. And vice versa, which means when the company is doing better, than the worker has to get their share as well. [ cheers and applause ] and ford rejected the false choice that they could either take care of their shareholder or take care of their worker. They did both. And the company benefitted and america benefitted. We believed in shared sacrifice and that shared sacrifice leads to shared prosperity. Now, ive got to tell you i was talking to the detroit news, they were asking what was it like when you were making this decision . I just want everybody to clear. It was not popular. [ laughter ] even in michigan it wasnt popular. I remember they did a poll in michigan and it was like only 10 were in favor. And, you know you dont have to be a genius political analyst to say 10 is not very high. And, look it wasnt on my todo list when i know i ran for president. I wasnt expecting to have to do this. But i ran not to be just doing the popular things, i ran not just to do the easy things, i ran to do the right thing and saving the american Auto Industry was the right thing to do. Betting on you was the right thing to do. It was the right thing to do. And that bet has paid off for america because the mesh Auto Industry is back. [ cheers and applause ] now, part of the reason that we wanted to start this trip here is not just because i want to see the new mustang, not just because the american Auto Industry is back but because last month we actually marked a milestone. Last month the rescue of the Auto Industry officially came to an end. The Auto Companies have now repaid taxpayers every dime and more of what my administration invested in you. [ cheers and applause ] you paid the taxpayers back. With your hard work. With your dedication. And over the pastive if years, this industry created about 500,000 new jobs. Last year, american autoworkers churned out cars faster than any year since 2005. Ford has brought jobs back from mexico mexico. [ cheers and applause ] created nearly 24,000 new jobs across this country including 1,800 new jobs right here in this plant. [ cheers and applause ] and after more than a century since henry ford introduced the moving assembly line, youre reinventing it. One production line for gas, electric hybrid plugin vehicles. This is the first right here in wane wayne, michigan. [ cheers and applause ] first in the world. Thats always cool when you do something first. And youre helping rebuild the middle class for the 21st century. Just down the road in lincoln park uaw ford joint Apprenticeship Program is providing workers with handon training in the skills that employers need for the jobs of tomorrow. And nationally, by the way, 87 of all apprentices are employed after their complete their Apprenticeship Program with an average starting wage of 50,000. So the more folks we get in apprenticeships, the more folks are getting middleclass jobs. Thats why i called on last year for businesses across the country to create more and expand more Apprenticeship Programs. And since then weve seen the largest increase in apprenticeships in nearly a decade. And now my administration is investing 100 million in an american apprenticeship grant competition. We want young people to see that they have opportunities. They dont have all to go to a fouryear college, they can get an apprenticeship, save some money, start working. [ cheers and applause ] build a family buy a home. Get some lions tickets. [ laughter ] because everybody came together here and worked together. Folks are better off and some of the most hightech fuelefficient highpowered heartpounding goodlooking welldesigned fuelefficient cars in the world are once again designed engineered forged and built not in europe, not in asia, right here in the United States of america. [ cheers and applause ] right here in america. So because of you, manufacturing has a future in this country. Manufacturing has actually grown faster than other parts of the economy. And companies are now saying you know what . We have to get back to america. We have to relocate we were offshore and now theyre saying uhoh, americas back, we better get back in there. And that means because of you the middleclass has a future in this country. And the Auto Industry has proved that any comeback is possible. And, by the way, so has motor city. [ applause ] so has motor city. A year and a half ago, detroit became the largest city ever to file for bankruptcy. Today under the leadership of mayor duggan detroit is charting a new course, businesses and private investors are making big investments, including ford which is helping to launch a tech startup inge baiter downtown, new restaurants and stores are popping up. Residents are securing abandoned homes, cleaning up neglected neighborhoods. Were seeing stories of young people who left town for other opportunities, didnt they they could make it here and now theyre saying you know what . Maybe i want to get back to detroit. Hoping to be part of the rebirth of this city. Now, this city still faces big challenges but youre coming back, just like the Auto Industry is going to have to continue to come up with new ideas and new designs and address competition. It never stops. Weve got to stay hungry. We cant be complacent. Just like americas got to still keep on working. Just like the lions got to still come up with a little more work. [ laughter and applause ] were coming back. One thing is for sure, we may not all root for the lions but america is rooting for detroit. [ cheers and applause ] america is rooting for detroit. We want the motor city strong and behind the stories of plants and cities and Economic Data its people. Its all of you. So ill just close with a story of a gay named ramon because were rooting for guys like ramon. Ramon spent ramon spent eight years in the military. Served in afghanistan, served in iraq. Ramon here . Raise your hand, ramon. [ cheers and applause ] so ramon is someone who fought for our security and freedom. Sometimes we give lip service to supporting our troops but then when they come home they get lost. So when ramon came home he had a hard time finding a job because it was a tough economy. He moved into a homeless shelter, took whatever work he could get. And then one day in 2012 al v. A. Counselor that hed been working withed him an application from ford. Ford was hiring for new shifts. Imagine what ramon felt the day he knocked on his grandpas door, his grandfather who spent 25 years building mustangs in dearborn and ramon was able to tell his grandfather he got a job at ford. And now ramons got his own place and now ramons got a good job right on the line here in wayne. And everyday hes doing just what his grandfather did if you want to know what america is about, about grit and determination and hard work and sacrifice and looking out for one another and not giving up, think about ramon. Think about the midwest, think about michigan think about america. When our Assembly Lines grind to a halt we dont give up. We get up we fight back we come back stronger than before thanks for the hard work of people like you. Ill be on your side every step of the way. Thank you, michigan. God bless you and god bless america. [ cheers and applause ] thunders rolling down this truck, you dont know where youre going now but you know you wont be back well take what we can carry, yeah well leave the rest well, big wheels roll through where sunrise streams big wheel ss land of hope and dreams ride willing proi will provide for you and ill stand by your side youll be a good companion now for this part of the ride yeah leave behind your sorrows and let this day be the last well tomorrow they there will be sunshine and all this darkness passed, well be wheels rolling in fields where sunrise streams meet me in the land of hope and dreams well, this train, this train carries roses this train carries hoards of gamblers this train carries lost souls, this train president obama in michigan today at the ford michigan Assembly Plant in wayne. Talking to employees there about the state of the Auto Industry. The first stop of the president s travels this week. He will be in phoenix this week and then will make a couple of stops in tennessee focusing on college affordability. Earlier today at the white house the president condemned the terrorist attack in paris calling it an attack on our free press. Politico reporting this way, president barack obama fiercely defended the virtues of Free Expression following a shooting spree wednesday. A sharp contrast to his more tepid responses in the past. Continueroversyies have repeatedly drawn in obama during his presidency ranging from the role of an antiislam movie to burning of korans to avoidance of the term islamic extremism. It has prompted criticism from republicans by arguing that the president is reluctant to champion American Values and by championing the policy. Again that is from politico today. We will have the remarks on that attack in paris as well as french president s remarks at 8 00 eastern on cspan. And sunday afternoon at 1 00 part ofbook tvs college series. And on American History tv on cspan 3 saturday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern. Anderson university processor uses abraham lincolns life to understand views of white americans on race and slavery both before and during the civil war. And then a discussion with Birth Control advocate, her legacy and the impact race social class and politics had. Find out more and let us know what you think about the programs youre watching. Email us or send us a tweet. Join the cspan conversation. Like us on facebook, follow us on twitter. Now its a look at some unique photographs of rocket and Space Shuttle launches as well as Neil Armstrongs funeral. Here is more about bill ingalls from the Explorers Club in new york city which organized this conference on space travelers. Good afternoon. Bill ingalls has been a professional photographer for over 27 years and has heard as the senior contract survivor photographer or nasa since 1989. He has traveled the world. Assignments have taken him from the Kennedy Space center to the inside of an active volcano in alaska, oval office, inside of a dc8. His photographs have appeared in national geographic, newsweek, time, the washington post, fortune, people, the los angeles times. Bill is recognized amongst his peers for capturing some of our countries historic moments, including the first launch of a u. S. Citizen on a rush and rocket, jfk juniors life is it to the white house, and the burial at sea of neil armstrong. He is only the second photographer ever to receive the Prestigious National space club press award. The award was first given to edward armour murrow. It is my pleasure to introduce him to you this afternoon. Ladies and gentlemen, mr. Bill ingalls. [applause] no break . Good lord. Thank you. I want to thank stacy and the Explorers Club. This is an honor for me to be here today. I just dont feel like i am worthy of it, but happy to show slides. I am not comfortable being on camera. I apologize to those on cspan. I am real sorry. The rest of you here i was not sure how to put this together. I was usher who the audience would be, and what to focus on, pardon the pun. It is a portfolio of sorts. Way too many pictures. Feel free to get up and leave, tweet, and check your email. Thats me. Im in charge. I dont do this often, as you can tell. This is my predecessor. He was the first senior photographer for nasa. You will note the pall mall cigarettes in the right hand, the leica camera, the sunglasses on, whiskey drinking, cussing, hell of a photographer. I am doing everything i can to live up to his standards. He was with the crew from the beginning of the apollo project. He went through all their training together. He did all of their around the world victory marches. I was fortunate enough to get to know him, spend a few years with him before he passed on. This is some of his work. He set the bar pretty high. This is the apollo 11 crew. I came onto nasa as an intern in television. I was a writer and a producer and spent the summer and nasa headquarters and i also did freelance photography. I went on to teach television at the university of pittsburgh. I called nasa every day and begged for a job. I think they got so sick of me calling that they gave me an office pit we will hear less from him. My boss gave me the option. He said that this position that bill had had had gone away and there were other agency photographers who had started to pick up at the very centers. I could either revitalize that or work and be a Photo Researcher in their office. Both are great jobs. I definitely wanted to try to revitalize this position as best i could. I still have his original cameras in my office. They all have stories. We dont have all day. I will keep marching on. This is at the Kennedy Space center, which is also a wildlife refuge. There are quiet a bit of wildlife there. I also spent a lot of time in washington, where there is loud wildlife as well. This is Kennedy Space center and some of my shuttle related work that ive done there. This is on the transporter with the Space Shuttle on its last final role to the launchpad. These are workers and their families invited to the along the entire route to say goodbye to the shuttle program. Again, i take my job i am silly. I have a lot of fun. I work hard. I take it very seriously. I am no i know i have been given a privileged position to be on this, to be the eyes and ears for others that cannot be there. I take it very seriously. This is on that crawler transporter. This is Charlie Bolden shaking hands with workers as were writing the transporter out to the pad. Of course, the shuttle lift up at night. I had to get a lightning shot in their, too. You will see a common theme throughout my images. If there is a puddle, i would use it. Here is the first one
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