Transcripts For CSPAN Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20140117

Here on cspan, we bring you more live coverage of the state of the state live from michigan. Members of the house and senate gather for the state of the state from republican governor rick snyder, who was sworn into office three years ago. Just a reminder as we wait for his speech to begin, we will re air some of the state of the state speeches we have covered in the past couple of days. Night, beginning on c span two, among the speeches you will hear, colorado, idaho, and indiana. That all gets underway tomorrow night at 8 00 eastern. Tonight, waiting to hear from Governor Snyder live from lansing. F sergeant at arms. Mr. Government, the governor of the state of michigan, the honorable rick snyder, the first family and the lady weight entrance into the joint convention. Will these special committee please escort the governor to the rostrum. [applause] thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, please be seated. Thank you. Thanks, folks. Please, be seated. Thank you. Members of the joint convention, the governor of the state of michigan, rick snyder. [applause] thank you. Thank you very much. You. Please be seated. Thank you. Thank you and good evening. Governor, lieutenant for that introduction. I would like to start by recognizing speaker boulder, richardajority leader and Senate Minority leader gretchen wentworth. We have three fine Public Servants that are completing their term of office with term limits, and i have asked for some recognition for these three fine Public Servants. [applause] it has been an honor to serve with them, and i look forward to a strong year coming up. Now i would like to recognize Lieutenant Governor brian kelly, my partner in the executive branch you has done an outstanding job. Thank you, brian. [applause] recognizeso like to House Minority leader graham holds, and i am looking forward to many years of working with him in a productive. Elationship area at [applause] i appreciate the recognition for everyone. There are a number of parties i also want to recognize that are also here, and i would like to begin with the members of the supreme court, the members of the court of appeals, secretary of state ruth johnson, our attorney general bill shoot he, the members of my, the state board of education, the ladies and gentlemen of the legislature and my fellow Public Servants. Also, i would like to give special recognition to several Service People who are with us tonight, and i asked that they rise when i say their name. Brigadier general johnstone. State command Master Sergeant dan lincoln. Lets give a round of applause. [applause] we owe a special thank you to every member of the service for what they are doing, what they have done in the past, and what theyre doing in the future. Tonight i am proud to report the number of Service People we have in the field. In 2013 at the end of the year, we had 657 Michigan National guard personnel and harms way. Quite by an amazing circumstance that i am very proud to report that as i am standing here now, we have zero Service People in harms way. [applause] unfortunately, that is not going to continue, despite the amazing circumstance that we were fortunate enough to get a large deployment back. People,continue to have and soon we will have 180 six National Guard members in the field, and they will have our thoughts and prayers. I would also like to mention that in 2013 we lost a service michigan. M s our thoughts and prayers are with his family. We also lost a Michigan State trooper. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. Also like to say thank you to the citizens of michigan for being here tonight. I would like to give a shout out to my family. Family, thanks for putting up with me. [laughter] [applause] as you all know, i dont know how to wear a tie, so sue clearly picked this out. I hope you like it. We have justson recently lost i wanted to mention, and that was the Lieutenant Governor of our state, connie been sealed. Connie been sealed was loved by many. Was a true role model for public service. She was a champion of childrens issues, and she set records in terms of womens roles in both the legislative branch and the executive branch of government. I would ask that we all give a moment of silence for connie. Thank you. I did not know connie well, but there is something i am anfident that connie would be supporter of. In recent days and months, we have had people make comments that were derogatory and negative towards other people. Publicly tonight, i would like to make a call to all citizens of michigan to ask us to have a andter degree of civility respect toward others of different backgrounds and different views. The future of michigan is dependent on having people findstand that we can Common Ground. Divideork together, not us. [applause] what i would like to do now is move to the main theme of tonight, the state of the state. This is a different state of the state, from my perspective. This is different. Final year of my first term in g ande of doing i address. I would like to have us look back at the last three years and look toward the future of michigan. Lets go back to before my term began. Decade, weo the last were broken. What did we lead the country and . Jobless this, reduced income levels and loss of population. In november of 2010, the citizens of michigan spoke, not just about my role, but many of us here tonight. They made a statement the michigan was broken. Fixing michigan was not good enough. It was time to reinvent michigan. A michigan to find with its brightest days ahead of us. That statement was made. We were hired to do a job. I am proud to report tonight that we are getting the job done. We are reinventing michigan. Michigan is the comeback state. We have come farther and further than any other state in the since theecovery biggest recession since the great depression, and we should be proud of that. Thank you for all your hard work. [applause] in terms of looking at 2013 in years,ears, and prior one thing i have done since my first date of the state address is to do a dashboard review. I think it is important because it really says how this come back has transpired. First of all, lets talk about jobs. In the last three years, we have added 220 1000 private sector jobs. Not only that, we have led the nation, we are number one in manufacturing jobs. For the First Time Since 2006, our labor force is actually growing in the state of michigan. That is something to be proud of. [applause] lets talk about personal income. How has per capita income done in the state of michigan . For the first three quarters of 2013, we were number one, tied with wisconsin, for Income Growth in the great states. We were number seven in the nation for growth in personal income. That is a whole lot better than being 50th, folks. [applause] , theiry families greatest asset in addition to their family is their home. In terms of home sales, they are 13 yearoveryear. We ranked number five in the nation in terms of improved home prices across the country. That is something to be proud of. In terms of our construction industry, housing permits and Building Permits are up when he seven percent, the highest level 27 , the highest level since the midto thousands. Again, progress. s. Mid2000 again, progress. We were the only state to lose population in the last decade according to the senses. How have we done yucca in 2002, we added people. Into how have we done . In 2002, we added people. In 2003, we added people. One other benchmark is interesting about who is staying and who is leaving. United van lines has done a survey for many years. For 16 years in a row, michigan was classified as a high outbound category. We have just been reclassified in the balanced category. , and were staying again should be proud of that. In terms of more and better jobs, lets get into specifics. I encourage you to go to the auto show in detroit if you have a chance. It is their 21st anniversary. They have the worldss best auto show. , auto production in michigan has doubled. We are at our highest level of production since 2005. Another industry critical to michigan is agriculture, and we are having great growth there. In 2010, it was a 91 billion industry. In 2013, it is a 96 billion dollar industry. It is on its path to being a 100 billion dollar industry. Agricultural exports from michigan to other countries grew by 16 . Agriculture is on a roll. [applause] i appreciate it. We had some farmers get up and leave that round. First program i want to talk about is connect. That is a Good Neighbor policy to ask Michigan Companies to buy more from Michigan Companies. The program is only two and a half years old. Impressive. Tely we now have over 24,000 companies signed up. In terms of incremental business instrumental to michigan, it now accounts for 1. 6 Million Dollars and 8000 jobs. Energy, dte energy were founding members. We just had an announcement from the auto show, ford announced 10 million in new contracts to Michigan Companies because of this program. [applause] i have a program i really want to spend a couple of minutes on because it is not just helping businesses succeed. It is helping the structurally unemployed. We put state resources behind this, working together. It is called Community Ventures, and Community Ventures is geared to give the structurally unemployed opportunities they did not otherwise have. Succeeding. Is we have placed over 1400 people in the last year. The oneyear retention rate is almost 70 , and we have 75 employers participating. One thing i will tell you i am really impressed with is the average wage for people in these pertions is over 11. 50 hour. I talk a lot about numbers, but i want to make sure everyone realizes we are talking about real people and their lives here. I am going to share a story now about Community Ventures. This happened up in flint. This is the story of two entrepreneurs that came together to say lets create a business, and they went on and got a partnership going with diplomat pharmacy, a fabulous company in the Health Care Industry in the flint area. What was that business . To say they can sell designer scrubs. Diplomat changed their dress code so more people could wear these scrubs. They kicked off this business. They now have 26 people working there. They have helped 700 other people find work. Their goal is to put 100 people to work. What i would like to have you do now is meet the two wonderful entrepreneurs. If my two wonderful entrepreneurs could stand up, you will have a chance to meet sister judy and sister carol from st. Lukes new life ministries in flint. Lets give them around of applause. [applause] thank you, sisters. Let me talk about education now. Let me start with something i believe everyone of us is passionate about, and that is Early Childhood education. Last year when i was here, we had gone out to see how many preschool kids did not have the opportunity to get a preschool education because of need. The number came out to be 29,000. That wasnt right. We couldnt solve the problem in one year in order to be fiscally responsible. I said lets do a 65 Million Investment in last years budget. He got tremendous support because people do believe in this cause. Openings this000 past year for those preschool kids. Thats fabulous. In fact, couple of days ago, a report came out the talked about early preschool education in the entire United States. You know who was at the top . Both in terms of percentage investment and dollar investment, the state of largest made the investment in preschool education in 2013 of any state in the United States. [applause] so let me share, again, this is a personal thing. This is not about numbers. So now, from Harrison Park Elementary School in grand rapids, i have a mother i would with her 25d children. In sixth grade. Brooklyn is in preschool and she thishat opening because of program. Thank you for being with us tonight. [applause] i will let you two girls decide which of you will be standing here someday giving a speech. The other thing is to say we. Ade half that commitment when you find my budget message coming to you this month, you find an additional 65 Million Investment, and we are going to make it a no wait state for Early Childhood education in the state of michigan. [applause] our Great Start Readiness Program has such great recognition. We won our first race to the top award of over 50 million from the federal government to supplement what we are doing. That shows we are among the best in the country, besides the biggest. In terms of k12 education, we need to invest. It is critically important. This is a product that has a lot of misinformation on it. I am here to set the record straight. I firmly believe in investing in k12 education, and i am proud to say in the last three years we have increased funding for k 12 each year to the point where invested 650 more per student than there was previously one i took office. That is a huge investment. [applause] you will find people saying it did not show up in the per dollar allowance. Let me clarify the record on that. Those dollars have been invested in k12. Over a billion dollars have gone into the School Employee pension plan. And why did it happen that way . As i think it is critically important that we properly fund our Pension Plans to make sure those 440 thousand School Employees and retirees can count on a solid pension and at the same time allow School Districts to put dollars in the classrooms instead of Pension Plans. It is the right answer, and we need to keep it up. Now one area we worked on that showed some Great Results was stem education. Some people may not be familiar with the term. Science, technology, engineering, math. It is critically important to our future. We need to encourage more people, particularly women, to go into that field. One of the programs we found is called first robotics. In terms of kids going to college, the average percentage that pic engineering as a major is six percent. For those that do first robotics, that number jumps to over 40 . Roboticsof first teams, michigan was among the leaders, but i thought it best that we lead the nation in first robotics. We added over 80 teams. We now lead the nation. We passed california. They are going to have to look in their rearview mirror. We are going to keep going and add more teams in this state. [applause] and again, to put a personal touch on it, it is great. With us. Team and we have a number of people. As i call your name, would you please stand . Teacher and director. William is the founder. And we have two students, holly and duncan. And 12th10th grade grade respectively. It is great to have a team here. One of the reasons i highlight this team is not only do they have this competition, but i want to complement their School District and their school. For thisived credit absolutely fabulous work and i hope that can happen to every team in the state, so lets give a round of applause to that team. [applause] on the people front, on health care, first of all i want to mention the Blue Cross Blue Shield reform i did with strong support from you, our legislators. It was not only strong reform, but we were able to create a Health Endowment fund that will improve health care for kids, seniors, cross containment and access to health care. That was great legislation. Another item i want to mention in terms of great healthy michigan is about bringing Health Coverage to hardworking michigan residents who deserve health care coverage. And a special shout out to senator con, representative shirkey, representative lori, and the entire house and Senate Delegations from the democratic caucuses. Thank you for your strong support and thank you for making that happen. [applause] and let me talk about some of our citizens with special needs. One that strikes all of our heart, our children, on adopted children in particular. One of our goals is to find every adopted child to measure the have a forever family. How have we done . Andou go back prior to 2013 2012, the average percentage of kids who were available versus who got adopt it ranged between 56 and 70 . There were a lot of kids left looking. Proud to announce that in 2013 we achieved 88 of the kids looking for a family, and there is a Firm Commitment for Public Private bishops to make that we haveo to 100 , but had tremendous progress in helping those kids. [applause] veterans. To do more. We were asked about them in terms of how we service them in many respects. What have we done . We established a new agency, the veteran affairs agency. Moreve tried work much closely with veteran service organizations. We achieved accreditation at the state level to process benefit plans. We have done jobs fairs, making tremendous progress on this front. Am particularly proud of is helping Homeless Veterans. Particularly if they are a veteran. I was able to go to a place called the silver Star Apartments in battle creek. It is adjacent to the battle creek veterans hospital. It is a fabulous place. It is because of fabulous people working there. They have good state support, but it is really the people working there. Couple ofrecognize a people. The first is david phillips, the resident manager. He was there from day one. They actually just opened their theond phase of facility. The second person is michael carter. Michael was a veteran who went through tough times. He became homeless. He was homeless for about three years. In phase oneo get of the silver Star Apartments. He was able to bring his life back together. It is great to say that today michael is the support services coordinator. He is working for silver Star Apartments. He is helping people. So when they opened phase two, when we went there for the opening, and a matter of 59 days they filled 100 units with Homeless Veterans who will have an opportunity to find success like michael did. I want to give a shout out to both david and michael for your outstanding work and the people on your team. Thank you. [applause] in the veterans area, i also want to give a shout out to senator hildebrand for his fine work being a leader on this topic. Thank you, dave. [applause] public safety. A critical issue. Two topics under this. The first, we were successful in obtaining 100 million from the federal government to really deal with some important plight issues. I also want to thank many legislators for your great work, though, doing legislation to help prevent plight blight and help people who have taken advantage of other people. Particularly a shout to senator virgil smith for his outstanding work in this area. Gil. K you, vir [applause] we still have more work to be done, in particular senate bill 295, which i hope well get fast and good consideration to deal with situations where somebody is to liquid on their taxes, to stop them from going to auction to buy more properties. Is the secure Cities Program which we launched in 2011. Cities. O focus on four we have had four cities in michigan that have been on the top 10 list for most Violent Crime in the United States for multiple years. That is unacceptable. I said that in 2011, and we talked about making a commitment to have that end at some point, get them off that list. There is been a concerted effort with the Michigan State police, the Michigan Department of corrections, and many other state departments, but also great local partnerships in terms of sheriffs, jails, other people, prosecutors coming to the table, judges. It has been great teamwork. I would like to announce some preliminary results from 2013. These are preliminary of Violent Crime numbers for the first 10 months of 2013. Detroit, down seven percent, flint downn 16 , 30 . [applause] the kernel does not have to ask from the Michigan State police. She knows the order she is getting, stay on the gaps. In the environmental area, i want to mention two things. We had the first meeting, this is hard to believe, first meeting of the council of great lakes governors which includes the premiers from ontario and quebec. The first to be held in eight years. It is an abomination, had not met in eight years. We held that conference this summer. Tremendously woelfel stop everyone theyre committed to say this is a good thing. We talked about environmental issues, Critical Issues at the great lakes, Economic Issues about how to Work Together. We all made a commitment we will not let eight years pass again. We will stay focused on Critical Issues. Another issue in the environmental area is we made a major reform in hunting and fishing. This is a big hunting and fishing state, folks. Its something we all enjoy. We had a situation in michigan where we had come to the point of having 227 different licenses if you wanted to hunt or fish. That is nuts. We had a great reform, we got the number down to 42. So now to all of the hunters and fishermen, you waste less time figuring out which license and get out there and catch something or shoot something and have a good time. [laughter] [applause] we had the Department Director to midi meeting this morning. I got to a topic and one of the director said, yes, this big. I said, you are a fishermen if i ever saw one. [laughter] Good Government. Regulatory reform. , a net eliminated number, not gross, over 1500 unnecessary regulations in this state, great partnerships. [applause] we have set a goal of improving our licensing times in terms of going 50 faster, and the Health Care Field or motor carrier, and the results currently show you can get your license about 67 faster than in the past. That is the kind of service that you deserve. [applause] im going to stop for a minute until one more story. This is a story that i can say about hopefully close to 40,000 people. We had to find a situation to represent those 40,000 people. I found a great one. It is important. At this point i would like to ask doug smith to stand up. They work for the department of human services. They have been with the department eight years. She is in child services. She has been doing many things. One of her areas is instituting a Safe Sleep Program into counties. This is something my wife, sue, is passionate about, safe sleep. Deb has been very successful, but it is not just what she is doing everyday in terms of doing great work. It is about going above and beyond, to show how much state employees care about our citizens. You remember the storms we have had in the past few weeks. During one of those storms come she got a call from the local health department. About a new mother who had just had a baby and they had come home. Numeral or had no concept of what to do with her baby at home. The new mother had no concept of what to do with the new baby at home. She was not a client of debs. Technically she had no response bill. She went out on her own time during an ice storm, met with the mother. A pack and play system, showed her how to use the system, gave her the instructions, showed her how to be successful. And she may have saved the childs life and created a great environment. That is the kind of person that works for the state of michigan. Thank you, deb. [applause] another Good Government thing that i want to thank the legislators for your leadership on, returning hardearned dollars to your taxpayers. One of the big purchases after a home that somebody can make as a vehicle. One of the reforms we made this year, because we had a broken system in michigan, we were one of the few states in the country where you would pay a sales tax on the entire purchase price. Most states you pay on the difference. We cannot take care of the tax liability, but we passed legislation to return dollars on thedifference back to taxpayer. So thank you for that great tax reform. [applause] two pieces of unfinished business. One is transportation. Achieve comprehensive transportation reform. We need to invest more and i think we are seeing that. We have entered pothole season. I would say i want to complement the legislators in partnership we were able to put close to a quarter billion dollars of general fund money towards transportation. We are going to work toward solving this problem. Lets keep relentless positive action up until we take care of making our roads as good as they should be for our citizens. [applause] one of our bigger projects is the new International Trade process. We have successfully gotten the president ial permit from the United States government earlier this year. The project is tremendously important to the United States of america, the government of canada, all the great lakes states. An absolutely important to michigan. It will be the busiest trade crossing in our country for commercial traffic when it is done. Im convinced of that. The only reason were been able to do that is because of outstanding partnerships. It is something i said before and will continue to say. It is because of a very long and very close relationship with the that went of canada have been able to make this project move forward. Tonight we have another representative. We typically get our great counsel general. We actually have a member of parliament. I want to give special recognition tonight, and i ask the minister tonight we have another representative. We typically get our great counsel general. Of transport to stand, from the federal government of the government of canada. Lisa . [applause] minister, on behalf of the citizens of the state of michigan, i want to personally thank you, and i hope that you convey that to your administration and your government. Thank you so much. Another item we need to work on, again, the road funding issue. I want to give a shout out to a number of people who have worked hard. I want to recognize representative lane, representative schmidt, and senator caspersen for your fine work in the transportation area. Thank you. Thank you. [applause] one other topic we need to get finished, though, is Metal Recycling. I asked that we work hard on getting reforms done for Metal Recycling the session. 2014 in terms of major items to share with you. More and better jobs. We have a number of trade programs and entrepreneurship and Small Business. In terms of entrepreneurship, we have launch the micro loan program with huntington bank, starting with a 5 million pilot. It will grow to a 20 million other program. That is fabulous in terms of micro loans, creating new businesses. Another Great Program that i create it was Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business program. Goldman sachs made a commitment of 20 million to our urban areas to do education, investment, and networking to help entrepreneurs be successful. There is a smart son collaborative i want to recognize in the upper peninsula. Us is about how well people partner. We had an instance where we had a smart zone with michigan tax. They work great in the holden and hancock area. Now we have a situation where withare partnering Northern Michigan university and marquette. We are bringing communities together, bringing synergy and power. I want to couple met those committees and universities and the u. P. For their outstanding work. With Northern Michigan university and marquette. [applause] another critical topic, how to connect our great talent with careers in michigan. That is critically important. What we did last year as we had andsummits, education economic development. We actually had some College Students who were looking for work showing up. Fabulous. You it is there were literally College Students there who had graduated and got a job offer that day because companies could recognize what outstanding talent we have in michigan. We need to keep that up. It went so well, we have gone to prosperity regions in our state, 10 regions, and six of them had small summits to do the same thing. We need to take situations in terms of particularly skilled trade, career tech education, and connecting young people with careers. We will do that again this year and make it bigger and better, so im very excited by that. Another program of great things i mentioned was something called math squared. Michigan advanced training. It is a programmatic and airy Ford Henry Ford Community College about creating partnerships. People applying get in and over three years they work for a company, get their Associates Degree pay for. They complete the program if they are successful, and they will be successful, they work for a few years and have a well paying career. The pilot plan this year, but im very bullish. We will grow that program and see that in all parts of michigan i believe over the next few years. So lets celebrate that. [applause] a topic that does not get enough attention nationally and a positive sense, something i will talk about now. Because it was critical to build our country. We have some icons in michigan that if you say these words, most of us know them. We think of them as ours. Dow, meyer,words we think of michigan. Every one of those companies was created by an immigrant. We need to focus on Legal Immigration and make sure that people know that michigan is the most welcoming place, and i am intent on moving forward with that to take action on this front. I will sign an executive order creating the Michigan Office for new americans to be a coordinating resource to say lets welcome these individuals and encourage entrepreneurship and though students were getting advanced degrees in engineering not to have to leave the country but to stay and Grow Companies and help michigan residents work on agriculture, tour is him, a statewide program which is not partnership program, and continued to say how can we be more innovative and creative, to say if someone has the opportunity to come to our country legally, lets hold our arms open and say, come to michigan. Us is the place to be. This is the place to be. [applause] thank you. Items i would like to mention on education that i think our programs that i hope as legislators you will seriously consider and we can Work Together on. The first is educator effectiveness. A couple years ago, you actually mandated we work on this topic, and i appreciated that. That was the right answer. This last year we had to counsel and educator effectiveness, a Blue Ribbon Group of people who came out with a report. I think it is time we take that report and make a review to say how can we implement recommendations from that report into action. Because it is critically important. Another topic is the whole concept of what happens to young people, particularly lower income or in distress or lower performing schools because of summer vacation. There is evidence out there to show they can lose much of what they learned because they are not actively in learning mode. There are some states who say you can lose a couple grades by ninth grade if you are not going on a yearround basis. Again, i am not suggesting this for every corner of michigan, but think it is appropriate to look at a pilot for low performing schools about can we support them to look at year round school. To help give those kids every chance to be successful. So ill ask that we look at that. Another topic on that same area is truancy reform. If we dont know what the truancy numbers are, how do you solve the problem . And we are not doing the data appropriately in the state. I appreciate it. There was an investigative report of michigan. There was an audit of 22 School Districts. 21 undercounted truancy. That is not right. We should do something about it. There are a number of actions. As part of this, i would like to recognize some representatives and senators who have artie been active on looking at these issues. Pavlik, representative shore representative i and foster. Nike for your hard work on these topics. Lets try to get something done in 2014. Thank you for your hard work on these topics. Lets try to get something done in 2014. [applause] people topic, im going to talk about seniors. Later this year i will have a special message on seniors, but tonight i went to address a few items in particular. First, this last year there were some outstanding senior abuse and protection bills passed. Thank you. But our work is not done. I think theres opportunity to do more legislation, particularly on financial matters related to seniors to help prevent abuse in situations where people are being taken advantage of. Is one of thes, things we want to do is create independence for seniors, allow them to stay at home. Well, we are not helping with that situation because we have waiting lists. On some of these waiting lists, seniors are waiting more than six months on these lists. What are these lists for . Meals on wheels and other in home services. We have over 1000 people on the waiting list for meals on wheels. When i do my budget message, i will ask for digital resources so we can make michigan a no wait state for Inhome Services for our seniors. [applause] Mental Health and disability. A bluet week, there is ribbon group of people doing outstanding work. They will come out with a report on Mental Health and disability, subject such as development will disabilities, mental illness, substance abuse. In the interim, i want to mention a couple things. This is something we need to invest in because we are talking helping people again. Im going to imagine a program called project unified, through Special Olympics. It is appropriate to say lets together, youth athletes, kids with and without special needs together so they can learn from one another and grow together. Those are the kinds of examples we need. Hereery proud to have lois tonight, the ceo of Special Olympics in michigan. Shout out fors a their fine work. [applause] i know were running a little bit late, but you have a dad with a microphone. So one thing i would mention to you on this particular topic is im going to brag for a minute. I have a wonderful daughter named kelsey. Her school, a senior in high school, she led a Similar Program as she coordinated a program for her entire school that brought 500plus special needs kids into cool for a day of activities to match up with young peoples in our school. Thank you,kelsey, kelsey, also. Stand up [applause] by the way, she did not see that one coming. [laughter] related to the Mental Health issue, though, directly applicable, the issue of school safety. We need to do more on school safety. Tying into that, im going to ask for extra work to integrate the work of the Mental Health group with our school activities. One area we need to work on our improved School Drills and looking at what we can do. Launched a Great Program in coordination with the attorney general called ok to say, but there is more work to be done. On the environmental front, two items i want to mention. First of all, i mentioned the council of great lakes governors making progress talking about invasives, but there is too much talk and not enough action on invasives, from the federal government, other corners. It is time to back up the talk. When i do my budget message, there will be a request we put dollars towards invasive protection programs in our state. Michigan has been a leader in terms of loving our environment, protecting our great lakes, and we need to continue that leadership. We know it is important. Both aquatic and land based threats. If you look at the great lakes, it is the threat of the asian carp. I could go one with more. ,ne land, we have a new threat the asian longhorn beetle. You probably never heard of it. It is artie killed 80,000 trees in our country. It is already in southern ohio. Its favorite . It loves maple trees and hardwoods. We have a lot of maple trees in our state, folks. We should not be sitting around waiting. Lets do something about it. [applause] on the energy front, in december i launched a discussion that i hope will take place through the going into 2015 about copperheads of Energy Policy for the state of michigan. Good government, i have three items here i would like to share. First of all, i think it is about time that we let washington know we know how to do things right for michigan. There are a couple topics we could say that about. We could say about tax reform, paying longterm debt, about how to balance budgets, but im making your request here tonight because it involves you, the legislators, both the house and senate, that i ask you to take up the issue of doing a resolution asking the United States government to include in the United States constitution an amendment to say that have to balance their budget. And applause] hey, we balance our budget at home, we balance our budget at work. Why cant the federal government balance theirs . [applause] topic, distressed communities, both communities and School District. We have in its Standing Task force looking at how to do improvements to help communities do better transparency and Early Warning systems to avoid situations involving emergency managers. I never want to see an emergency manager and up in a community. That was good work of the task force, but i would now like to ask the legislators to take that up in terms of doing hearings and looking at what legislation can be passed to help prevent the situations from happening. There is a Good Opportunity to work and make that happen. One other topic i would mention is the bankruptcy in detroit. Ankruptcy in detroit is ongoing issue. I wont dwell on that tonight other than to say lets get it resolved this year. But one other detroit issue im proud to say is i want to thank the mayor for his service, but i also want to welcome and build a strong, Lasting Partnership with an outstanding individual who has become the new mayor of detroit, and i would like to now welcome mayor mike duggan. [applause] we also have a number of other officials from the Metro Detroit region i want to recognize. One in particular is a legend. He is a legend for good reason. Most fiscally the responsible public official in the United States in terms of track record. He actually won an award from governing magazine for public official of the year. My understanding is per patterson is back there somewhere. Broke . Brooke . We also have the county executive from wayne county, and i want to thank bob for his efforts to help on regionalism. R. T. A. , Regional Transit authority, he was very helpful and helping to lead the discussion on the detroit water and sewer issues. So bob, thank you for your hard work and putting things ogether. [applause] and the last mention but not the least mention is a good friend of mine that is the chief executive from Macomb County and done outstanding work and we went through those snowstorms and such and had the forethought to build an Emergency Operation center that really made a difference and hes doing it in many other areas. So i would like to recognize chief executive mark ackle. [applause] and the entire Good Government area i want to recognize again, a senator and representative that have been very helpful tekelec when you talk about balanced budget but so many areas of Good Government and senator mark green and representative ray fonts. I know you will help lead that balanced budget amendment. [applause] the last item, i apologize, i appreciate your patience, is an important topic, though. We have a surplus this year. I bet youve heard that. [applause] i always like to ask the question, why do we have a surplus . Its because our economy is succeeding. But what do you do with that . Well, i dont believe in playing traditional politics. Im not a career politician. When you look at these things, im a c. P. A. By training. The right way to look at it is we should act like a family. A big family of 10 million people. And we should all be sitting around the kitchen table. And the first question we should be asking is to say, what are whats our mortgage payment and what are our longterm bills . That goes to the point of making sure were paying our pension liabilities and all those longterm liabilities. Where have we put off paying for things that we should have, and weve done that in the state in terms of underinvesting in a number of areas including areas like Early Childhood. Lets make sure were paying those things, shouldnt we . Shouldnt we make sure we have some dollars in our savings account . A Rainy Day Fund in case we have unforeseen circumstances . Weve done some pretty good deposits. But that balance is not what it should be. So we have a number of things that we should be taking care of. Because its not about a government that simply says lets spend everything. And its not about a government that simply says lets do a tax cut for everything. Its not about politics. Its about being a family. And being smart. So lets be smart about how we handle this situation. Lets talk about that list. I believe, though, when ive looked at that list, theres going to be an opportunity for some tax relief. And when i talk about tax relief [applause] when i talk about tax relief, the people that come to mind in particular are those hardworking michiganners get up every day and pack their lunch to go to work. They work hard all day. They come home tired. And when after they get home, theyre worried about their bills. I dont think we can solve all their issues. But we can help. So when we have this discussion, lets try to stay focused on making sure were being fiscally responsible, not just for us. But for our children. Lets also work hard to say where it goes and it should go to those hardworking folk. [applause] now, in closing, ive covered a lot. But if you go back to the last decade again, we had a lot of ups and downs and they were you go will he ups and downs. I talked about it. What were we up on . Unemployment. What were we down on . Personal income. What were we down on . Population. An ugly list. So i did a new list. I did a list since 2010. 2011. Of some ups and downs. Let me walk through some downs first and lets do some ups. Downs. Violent crime. Infant mortality. Un adopted children. Homelessness. Regulations. The states longterm liabilities. Ups. Private jobs. Labor force. Per capita income. Population. Home sales. Home prices. Building permits. K12 investment. Access to preschool. Third grade reading proficiency. Veteran services. Senior protection. Rainy day fund. And the state credit rating. Thats a pretty darn good list, folks. Cheers and applause] so stepping back again, the last decade was a bad decade. 2011, we started relentless positive action to reinvent michigan. Weve become the comeback state. But our work is not done. Tonight was a night to go through a list of accomplishments. But it is not a night of complacency, nor contentment. With the success weve had, it should breed success. It should just as i told the colonel, its about keeping your foot on the gas. Because this is critically important. We have an opportunity to build a great michigan today and for the future. Its about creating a land of opportunity. We need to ensure, we need to strengthen the opportunity for every michigander to say they want to be in the state. They want to raise their children in this state. They can have a great life in this state. Were on the path to do that. Lets not stop. Lets reinforce that effort. So my call to each one of you that are here tonight in the Public Sector is lets stand up and let the citizens of michigan know we are not going to let them down. That they can count on us to deliver, to make michigan the comeback state, not just for three years. But for the next few decades. To make us back on the top again. Thank you so much. Cheers and applause] tonight on cspan, Environmental Protection agency Gina Mccarthy discusses the administrations Climate Change policy and f. C. C. Chairman top wheemer talks about the internet and net knew trailt and remarks by treasury secretary jack lew on the approaching debt sealing deadline. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2014] good morning, everybody. And id ask the panel to take their seats and i would ask the good senator udall to sit there at the end. And hes going to introduce us to a member of the second panel. But knowing his schedule, we said we would allow him to go first. We also want to know that senator inhofe, one of the great members of this committee, has to run to his be a Ranking Member in his Armed Services committee. So hes going to leave, preserve his early bird status and come back. All right. So before we can do our opening statements, senator udall, we want you to be able to go to your next appointment so please, go right ahead. Thank you, senator boxer. Good morning to the committee. Thank you, senator vitter. I appreciate the opportunity to introduce a member of your second panel. But a man who looms large in our great state of colorado. And thats former governor bill ritter. He helped our state become a National Leader in the new energy economy. And in our fight to combat Global Warming. And he was our governor from 2007. Senator boxer, to 2011. And he found really creative ways to build a bipartisan consensus around the need for our state to develop job creating clean energy while also safeguarding our land and our air and our water. The features that make this Centennial State and look, im going to be immodest here, were the envy of the world. He was raised on a farm. He brought that rural perspective discussions about crafting an effective state policy on energy development. Many of you heard me talk about our strong electricity standard and second only to the great state of californias. I helped lead that effort in 2004. And we started ow with a 10 requirement and very quickly met that requirement. And governor ritter came along and he built on that accomplishment. And he led the effort to senator boxer, and were going to triple the states use of Renewable Energy to 30 by 2020. Along the way, he created the Governors Energy office. Which was the first cabinet level office devoted toim proving the effective use of colorados vast Energy Resources. He also signed colorados clean jobs act which moved us in the utility front from burning of coal in our front range power plants to the use of clean burning natural gas. We reduced Carbon Emissions and cleaned up our air and created jobs. And that natural gas may have been from colorado, senator inhofe isnt here, it may have been from oklahoma. It may have been from louisiana. Senator vitters state. So were truly in all of the above energy state. Were now one of the leading states because of governor ritters great work in terms of the jobs created and money, total money invested. In our growing clean energy economy. And since were here today to talk about Climate Action plans, i want to add that governor ritter issued colorados first Climate Action plan in 2007. It was a bold proposal and called for a 20 reduction in Greenhouse Gas emissions by 2020. And an 80 reduction by 2050. So whats gotch ritter been doing since he left office . In 2011 . Well, he went up to c. S. U. , our land grant college, Colorado State university. He created the center for new energy economy. At c. S. U. The center promotes the growth of clean energy by working through with leaders and government and the private sector theyre pursuing business friendly policies that create jobs and promote investment. In the clean tech economy. And the center does this all the while by maintaining or through maintaining a commitment to the universitys original land Grant Service mission. To benefit the people of colorado. The center is expanding the innovative and entrepreneurial approach to clean energy research. Colorado state has long been known for that. And it will play an integral role in bringing alternative Energy Solutions to the marketplace. And i just want to end on this note, chairman boxer, and Ranking Member vitter. Im really pleased. I know senator bennett is pleased that you saw fit to invite the governor here today. Hes got a lot to share with you all. Its thanks to efforts like governor ritter that i can say with confidence and pride that colorado has a balanced approach to energy thats truly a model for our nation. So i know youll enjoy hearing from governor ritter. I know he looks forward to engaging in a backandforth with the committee. But again, thank you for inviting him. And i appreciate the time of the committee. Thank you so much. So well go to the fiveminute rule now, paul. Todays hearing will cover three topics. First the president s Climate Action plan. Which is a critical issue. We have four agencies here today to address it. Senator vitter and minority members of this committee stated in their december 2013 yearend report, vitter and the e. P. W. , republicans will continue pushing for an oversight hearing on the administrations climate agenda that includes witnesses from federal agencies. Second, todays hearing will include the budget for the e. P. A. And third, we set aside time for members of this committee to ask about john beal, an outrageous con man who was caught and convicted. We held a briefing on this on september 30. All members were invited. I asked many questions and senator vitter asked over 50 questions but senator vitter has more questions and we are covering that subject, too. The broad scope of this hearing was formally agreed to by Ranking Members. The wall street journal said in its editorial today that i am living in an e. P. A. Fairy tale for commending e. P. A. Administrator mccarthy for shining a light on the actions of a rogue employee. Well, thats what Patrick Sullivan said, the assistant inspector general, when he said about ms. Mccarthys role. Quote, to our knowledge, the first senior person to express concerns was ms. Mccarthy. So i stand by what i said. Now let me turn to the president s Climate Action. In his plan released on june 2013, president obama called for action to fight Climate Change. So we dont condemn future generations to a planet that is beyond repair. I couldnt agree more. Because Climate Change is a catastrophe that is unfolding before our very eyes. The president s plan lays out a plan for action. It calls for a wide range of reasonable steps to reduce Carbon Pollution, grow the economy, through clean energy, prepare for future impacts such as rising sea levels and storm surges, and lead global efforts to fight Climate Change. When the president announced his Climate Change plan, Many Companies issued statements of support. Including walmart. Honeywell. Dupont. Dominion resources. American electric power. And other business leaders. More than 500 companies such as g. M. , nike, nestle, une lever, have stated that tackling Climate Change is one of americas greatest Economic Opportunities in a 21st century. In addition to many of the nations largest companies, the American People have weighed in on the need to address this growing threat. And they want action now. A usa today poll in december found that 81 of americans think Climate Change will be a serious problem if nothing is done to reduce it. And 75 of americans say that the u. S. Should take action on Climate Change even if other nations do less. That poll also found that americans overwhelmingly support clean Energy Solutions like generating electricity from solar and wind. And heres the thing about the American People. They all say this. Not just democrats. Not just republicans. Not just independents. The only place that we have a partisan divide is right here in the congress. Im encouraged that significant action to address Climate Change is already under way. Including establishing limits on Carbon Pollution from cars and trucks. The Obama Administration is also working on Carbon Pollution limits for new and existing power plants. Together, these efforts address the nations two largest sources of Carbon Pollution. Now, a new Peer Reviewed study in the journal nature finds that unless we control Carbon Pollution, the most severe predictions by scientists and climate experts on rising temperatures will occur by the end of the century. Resulting in the most significant and dangerous impacts from Climate Change. And an increase of more than seven degrees fahrenheit by 2100. In my home state, of california, scientists have been telling us for years what would happen, for years. And theyre right on target. Years ago, they said there will be substantially higher temperatures, droughts, floods, extreme weather, extreme wildfires and rising sea levels. And it is happening. Future generations are going to look back to this moment and judge each of us, each of us by whether we started to act on this issue. So i look forward to hearing from todays witnesses who were leading their agencys efforts to reduce Carbon Pollution and i will pledge to you that i will use every tool at my disposal to ensure that your work will be done and the reason is, its a moral obligation. Its good for the economy. And its good for human health. Thank you very much. And id ask my Ranking Member to address us at this time. Thank you, chairman boxer, for calling todays hearing on the president s Climate Action plan. Its long overdue quite frankly. In 2013, the committee failed to hold an e. P. A. Budget hearing. And held only one climate hearing which excluded all federal government witnesses. Todays one hearing comes seven months after the announcement of the biggest regulatory after and nche in u. S. History this avalanche of regulatory actions will begin in 2014. And i believe will further frustrate our already struggling economy. Only a fraction of the jobs economists had hoped for were created in december. Last june, when president obama announced his Climate Action plan, it was clear to me that he didnt want his supporters to engage in straight economic arguments overpromise on the impacts, taking action will have or debate the validity of the claim that the science is already settled. In fact, white house talking points to that effect. However, these are topics that must be discussed. Now, while the current e. P. A. Administrator argues that the president s Climate Action plan is part of an overall strategy positioning the u. S. For leadership in international discussions, her predecessor argued that no such action would have impact without International Participation first. For the purposes of facilitating international buyin, the administration is moving forward with a domestic agenda that will clearly damage our ability to utilize our Abundant Energy resources and to support the growth of manufacturing jobs. Im afraid these policies just show the International Community three things. How to undermine chances of economic recovery and growth. How to achieve the lowest Work Force Participation rate since the carter administration, and how to increase Energy Prices by denying the ability to utilize all Energy Resources. While these policies were squarely rejected by congress in 2009, since then, president has simply sought to legislate them through legislative fiat. President obama promised his administration would be the most transparent in history. However, his record including here reflects a determined effort to do the opposite. And i think the social cost of carbon is a perfect example on point. Since last june, a number of my republican colleagues joined me in asking the administration to provide details on those social cost of carbon estimates. Which were developed in a black box and are used regularly by multiple federal agencies to justify costly regulations. The first confirmation of even participation in these closed door meetings was acknowledged at a november e. P. W. Hearing by e. P. A. s director of atmospheric programs. She committed to providing further detailed information to the committee. In november. Nd we got a short, terse, very superficial response to our detailed question this morning. I think that says it all. Afterward, the administration gave in to pressure from congress and the public and announced that the estimates would be noticed in the federal register and opened to comment. Yet they are still being utilized in many ways across the federal government in rule makings. While the president s Climate Action plan includes a role for almost every federal entity, the e. P. A. Is clearly at the core. Im very concerned that the e. P. A. Waited over three months to publish the second try at proposed Greenhouse Gas, new source performance standards, for power plants. Im even more concerned that i believe these rules are still contrary to federal law. And i i think the e. P. A. s delay is designed to postpone controversial news during an Election Year and give the e. P. A. More time to make excuses about why theyre taking action beyond the scope of their legal authority. So in summary, i continue to be really concerned that the president s Climate Action plan has deeply flawed legal, justification and perceived theoretical benefits. I believe it undermines our economic recovery, threatens to keep offlimits our Energy Abundance and manufacturing renaissance. Exponentially increases federal bureaucracy and red tape and most tragically, hurts those who can least afford it. Thank you, madam chairman. Thank you, senator carden. First, madam chair, thank you very much for your extraordinary leadership on these issues during very challenging times. And i thank you for holding fast on science. Because the science is clear. Atmospheric science 101 teaches us that carbonbased gases in the atmosphere are what keeps the planet warm and habitable by trapping heat around the planet. Earths plants and oceans, naturally, help regulate and balance the level of carbon in the atmosphere by absorbing carbon. Since the industrial revolution, levels of carbon in the atmosphere have been steadily increasing. And the reduction of forest acres around the world have compounded the increase in Carbon Pollution emissions by reducing natures Carbon Sequestration capacity. Therefore, increased levels of carbon gases in the atmosphere have led to more heat being trapped which is changing the earths climate. We are accelerating by human activities the Carbon Emissions. And it is having catastrophic impact. And we have to do something about it. These are sign tiffing scientific debates. There isnt any debate in the Scientific Community on these facts and neither is there any debate among the political leaders in any other developed nor many developing countries. Because unlike in the United States congress, facts on Climate Change are accepted. I urge my colleagues to think about how future generations will look back upon our political squabbling and inaction to legislate meaningful policies to curb Carbon Pollution. And authorize action to adapt to our worlds changing climate. After all, it will be our grandchildren and their children, not us, living in the world we leave them. The effects of Climate Change can be seen around the world. Across the United States. And my home state of maryland. Scientists monitoring migrating patterns of fish and birds are seeing changes in these patterns as meteorological seasons are changing. In some instances, the changes in certain wildlife species, particularly cold weather and cold water adapted species like trout and salmon, are shrinking. Hile the ranges of species like bark beetles are expanding due to milder winters. Changing water temperatures in the Chesapeake Bay will have an impact on our blue crab and oyster populations which threatens the livelihood of marylands watermen who make their livelihood off the seafood of the bay. Climate change is also directly affecting human population around the globe. This raises rises concerns about climate refugees who have lost their communities to Sea Level Rise and other catastrophic weather events in the decades to come. My own state of maryland i can point to the people who live on smith eyeas they see their island being consumed by Sea Level Rises. Ill whime disappointed the politics of washington prevents congress from enacting legislation to address both the causes and effects of Climate Change, our nature nation is fortunate to have an administration thats able to rise above the squabbles in congress to take bold action to curb Greenhouse Gas emissions. Promote more responsible, Efficient Energy consumption, grow our nations Renewable Energy sources, and take critical steps to adapt the effects of cleement change. E. P. A. Has reduced u. S. Vehicle fleet emissions through improved cafe standards by setting ambitious yet achievable goals for fuel efficiency. The president s announcement in 2011 to raise cafe standards to 54. 5 miles per gallon by 2025 in some of the worlds most ambitious fuel economy standards in the world. These targets demonstrate how e. P. A. And the industry can Work Together to achieve what is necessary to protect Public Health and environment. And i might point out this is going to help our economy. An efficiencies and energy brings about creates jobs. Clean energy creates jobs. President obamas e. P. A. Is also taking bold and necessary step toward regulating Carbon Pollution from our nations power sector by using existing authority under the Clean Air Act to propose a first limit on Carbon Emissions for u. S. Power generated sector. All of this is helping. The Obama Administration has executed successful programs that are generating clean energy. And american jobs. Reducing our reliance on foreign oil. Bolstering our National Security and International Competitiveness and protecting health and the environment. We should help. Instead, what we see particularly coming from the house of representatives are proposals that would block this progress. Fortunately we have stopped that in the senate. But we should adopt an Energy Policy that will help this nation not only become Energy Independent for our National Security and not only help our economy grow, but also help our environmental future. Thank you very much, senator. Senator crapo. Thank you, madam chairman, for holding this important hearing on the president s Climate Action plan. I chair share many of the concerns outleaned by my colleagues on this panel and welcome this opportunity to hear from the federal officials assembled in the first panel who have and will continue to generate the president s core policies on Climate Change. Many of my concerns with the president s current action plan stem from issues that weve wrestled with on this set of administration in the past. For instance, the Environmental Protection agency has without providing for Public Comment or peer review adjusted upward the social cost of carbon to modify the accounting for benefits claimed from regulatory actions. Moreover, proposed regulations of green mouse gases from new and existing sources are likely to cripple numerous large scale manufacturing and Energy Projects across the nation. Creating an environment in which Foreign Countries will become far more attractive for future investment, potentially undermining our economy again. In another instance, the Treasury Department obstructed multiple transparency requests. For more than nine months regarding internal work on the development of a carbon tax. As well as sources of funding for International Climate commitments that were negotiated behind closed doors. We can all agree that Affordable Energy is a critical component of having a healthy and robust economy. In the United States. And were fortunate to have tremendous Energy Resources here at home. As such, im concerned that the administrations proposals threaten to undermine an important sector of our economy and the industries and jobs it supports. In the name of modest environmental gains. In reviewing the testimony provided by members of president Obamas Administration today, im concerned that the views of those most likely to be negatively impacted by the new e. P. A. Regulations have not been appropriately retaken and improving our National Environment Natural Environment is a goal shared by many. The vest policies for dressing are grounded in for dressing Climate Change are grounded in three principles. Policies that thomas the greatest benefit to both the environment and people without harming the economy. By recent proposals issued president obama will have severe economic consequences and will immeasurable environmental benefits. They would undermine the utilization of our own traditional, affordable sources of energy and increase the costs of electricity. We must utilize and all of the above approach which should include a robust expansion of nuclear energy, hydroelectric power, and other promising renewable and emissions reducing technologies. By expanding and diversifying, we can reduce risks to the environment, promote a strong Domestic Energy sector, and increase our energy security. That reserveutions and enhance our Natural Environment. Im deeply concerned that unilateral epa regulation of imposinge gases is the issue is fraught with significant social and economic consequences. It is essential that we get it right. As such, i look forward to hearing from our witnesses. Thank you madam chairman for holding this hearing. Thank you very much. Welcome thebriefly witnesses to this chamber. One in which reality is so often suspended. Where science is twisted and mocked. One in which the power of special interests to manipulate democracy is often so nakedly revealed. Belief is that the Propaganda Machine behind the climate denial effort will go down in history as one of our Great American scandals like teapot dome or watergate. Most americans see through it. Organizations,u coke and pepsi, nike, apple you can go on and on for the corporate community. The joint chiefs of staff. The u. S. Conference of catholic bishops. ,ver and over again organizations except the science and reality. They are starting to see it happen the in their happening in their farms. Ask ski areas in utah. I urge you all, while you are here, to keep the faith. Keep faith with reality. Keep faith with truth. Keep faith with science. Against thelves slings and arrows of the deniers in the polluters. Deniers and the polluters. I asked this on behalf of my home state, rhode island. A coastal state. On the frontline line of the undeniable effects of Climate Change. Sea levels are rising. It is not complicated. You measure that with a yardstick. Our oceans are warming. Not confiscated. You measure that with a fair moderator with a thermometer. We know they are getting more acidic. Anybody with an aquarium can take a litmus test. This is not, catered. It is affecting our people. Do our duty. I asked that my statement be put in the record. Senator sessions. You are next. It is up to both of you. The senator was here before i came. Thank you, madam chairman. This was the 50th anniversary of the war on poverty. This began with lyndon johnson. Lyndon johnson visited with a man in kentucky. At the time, the poverty rate was more than 60 in the coal mining area. This is from the npr story. The president crouch down and chatted with the man about the lack of jobs. Flash forward to today. According to the department of thatulture, 38. 6 of county is in poverty. This is twice the national average. In addition, 47 of children are in poverty. Went on to say that many people rely on government aid. It is the largest first income in the county. It helps to reduce hunger and improve health. Jobstime when coal mining when coal mining jobs are disappointing disappearing by the hundreds. Radio, National Public not knowing as a conservative outfit that champions coal. The actions of this thisistration cost Epa Administration pot epa to wipe out whole and eventually natural gas is costing thousands of jobs and driving up energy cost for full marble people euro four full marble people. Ulnerable people. The epa is threatening Vulnerable People and sending them back to the days before johnsons declaration. When you wait that the jobs wipe out the jobs, you create poverty. Folks wonder why the epa is making these decisions that deliberately hurt them. Associated press shed some light on this. Just six days ago they wrote this article. It demonstrates that the epa has been colluding with the sierra club and their beyond Coal Campaign to deliberately draft a rule that will prevent new coal fired power plants from being built. Ap, emails the between the sierra club and the epa produced through a freedom of information act lawsuit show met andp and officials corresponded frequently about the agencys work on coal regulations. The article goes on to say that they are working behind the scenes, an many en that was john and theween epas michael and alex. Just yesterday, a report of new coordination. More the report stated that they used official events to help environmentalist groups gather on agency rulemaking. They incorporated advanced copies of letters drafted by those groups into a official statements. They publicly pressured executives of at least one company. Thennot believe these are it is clear that the epa and administration has an agenda. This is raising energy costs. Making poverty worst in struggling communities around this country. Energy usingo communities is clear. If you like your community and your job and your electricity bill, you cannot keep it. Thank you, senator. Keep it. Thank you, madam chairman. Thank you, senator. Place in the record an article entitled, the future of coal. Despite the down because when people are productive, production is up. The news today that the Third Quarter gdp went up 4. 1 compared to the last quarter of george w. Bush where gdp went down 3. 8 . And that was the time that the administration then was arguing that they couldnt do anything about Greenhouse Gases. That it wasnt actually in the Clean Air Act. So i think we really need to balance to balance this out. And now were going to go to senator. Thank you, madam chair. You see the assault of Carbon Pollution on our Natural Resources. We can take and start with farming. Weve had three worst ever droughts in the basin in a 13year period. Based on the snow pack this year, we may well have a fourth this coming summer. Devastating a key agricultural part of our state. Or if we turn to fishing, we have streams that are smaller and warmer, affecting our trout and our salmon. A lot of folks certainly appreciate having a vital or streams with vitality, if you will, and do not appreciate this assault of Carbon Pollution on our fishing. If we turn to our sea life off the coast, we are having trouble with oyster seed, the baby oysters distributed throughout the oyster industry. And theyre having trouble because theres more acid in the ocean. Why . Because of the Carbon Pollution. Carbon pollution assaulting our Natural Resource base. If we turn to our forests, the concern is even more evidence. We have pine beetle infestations that are out of control because we dont have the cold snaps cold enough and long enough to kill them off in the winter. We have large red zones that ive taken tours from the air in, that you see red trees as far as the eye can see, as a result. And we have forest fire, the worst ever in 100 years, summer before last, and year after year, with dryer forests, more lightning strikes, more devastation. And part of that certainly, a piece of it, has to do with forest health. Which is why im lobbying the administration. A lot of it has to do with these changing patterns. In fact, the department of energy has a early version of their study from Los Alamos National laboratories that says the western forests will be largely wiped out by the year 2100 with the combination of forest fires and beetle devastation. For the people of oregon, in our rural areas, who see this devastating attack of Carbon Pollution affecting their fishing and farming and their forestry, we need to stand up for rural america. We need to stand up for this planet. I look forward to your comments. Thank you. It would be okay with me, madam chair. We have the Armed Services hearing at the same time. As you well know, senator sessions. On multiple occasions, most recently on may 30th of 30th of year president obama has said, and this is a quote hes used several times. He says the temperature around the globe is increasing faster than was predicted even ten years ago and that climate is warming faster than anybody anticipated five or ten years ago. Both statements are false and through letters to you, and i appreciate very much the Quick Response i got from you, ms. Mccarthy, and on the record of this committee, weve asked the epa to provide the data backing up these two statements, the two statements made by the president , but they didnt have the data and refers us to the unippc, the enter governmental and their scientists, apparently the epa thought they were the source of this. We went there and they had nothing to back it up. Apparently the president made that up. I think its very important. Because when you get statements that are made that are supposed to be based on logic and on truth, you have to check them out. Last weeks record cold temperature brought Global Warming debate back to the publics attention. Thats only important to the extent that its bringing more awareness to the uncertainty of the science around the debate. When you go back and look at the temperature projections from climate models and compare them to actual temperatures, two things are readily evident. First, temperatures have flat lined over the last 15 years, and secondly, an average of over 100 climate models from the last decade show that the Scientific Community did not predict this would happen. To my knowledge, not a single climate model ever predicted that a pause in Global Warming would ever occur. Senator sessions is going to go deeper into this. The truth completely contradicts the president s statement and begs the question as to why he and the epa not only continue to deny the truth but why it has raced to stop this information from disseminating into scientific record. What im referring to is the administrations effort with other nations to lobby the ipcc to back up the president s statement in the most recent report. And while i did not think the ipcc explanation was sufficient, i have to at least give them credit for recognizing the facts for what they are and that the hiatus has occurred and does exist, is existing today. I know the administration and i will never agree on the science of Global Warming, but we can set aside for now and focus on perhaps the more alarming issue, the politics of the epas regulations. Theres a chart do you have the chart up here now . In october of 2012 when i was Ranking Member of this committee i released a report highlighting the administrations systematic actions to deny finalization of costly environmental regulations until after the 2012 president ial election. Whether it was the farm dust rule or the ozone standards, the president punted regulation after regulation until after the election to minimize the influence this would have on voters, and again it appears hes doing exactly the same thing for the first round of Greenhouse Gas regulations for the construction of new power plants. As we know, this is because under the Clean Air Act and this is significant new rules for power plants must be finalized within one year of the proposals publication in the federal register or the proposed rule is invalidated. This is important because after announcing the Climate Action plan, the president ordered the epa to issue a new proposal by no later than september 20th of 2013. Now, the epa proposed a new rule on september 20th, but it didnt publish the federal register to after january 9th, 2014. Now, had the epa published the rule on the federal register on the same day proposed on september 20th, it would have been forced to finalize the rule by september 20, 2014, which is about six weeks prior to the 2014 elections. But because the agency delayed the publication until last week, the epa will not be required to finalize the rule until eight weeks after the election. This reveals an astonishing double standard on one hand the president says we dont have time to delay action on Global Warming. He says we must act before its too late. But on the other hand his actions show it is okay to wait to finalize rules that will harm the economy until after the elections so they wont have an impact on the vulnerable candidates that might be damaged by this. This hypocrisy reveals the administration is fully aware that the epas Greenhouse Gas regulations will put a drag on the economy. Study after study has shown that Greenhouse Gas regulations will cost the economy between 300 and 400 billion a year. If we remember, the predecessor of ms. Mccarthy had said before this committee that, even if we did pass these, it wouldnt have an effect of reducing Greenhouse Gases worldwide because it would only affect the United States. Let me say to ms. Mccarthy, thank you very much for your very kind condolences over the problem we had. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you so much, senator inhofe. And we turn to lets see. Who is next . Senator booker. First of all, i want to say thank you to the Ranking Member and to the chairwoman for this opportunity. This is my first hearing on this committee. It is a privilege and honor to be here, especially with committed activists on both sides of the aisle who have a passionate concern for our country. Its an honor to be here as i begin my senate career. Chairwoman, it was a long time ago that i was the mayor of new jerseys largest city. Thats back in october. What frustrated me is i am a guy who believes very strongly in the power of markets, in the power of private enterprise and industry to help poor communities, creating jobs, creating Economic Activity, lifting people up. Thats the idea of this country. But what i get frustrated with about being a mayor, having been a mayor, i look at the landscape of my city and frankly the landscape of the state of new jersey is that we have it backwards in our history about what it means to do private enterprise. All over newark and new jersey is the population as a whole paying the cost of corporations who did not internalize their pollution. Think about this right now. When i was mayor of newark, we spent the government had to spend and there were federal dollars, cleaning up browns fields where corporations of past years, decades and centuries ago poisoned our ground just to try to get it ready for Economic Opportunity. In newark had an incredible river, the Passaic River running through newark and new jersey that is so polluted right now, that not only will it cost this federal government as well as the State Government as well as past polluters, trying to chase them down in legal fees and legal costs, millions and tens of millions and hundreds of millions of dollars to ever get that river cleaned up enough, but it also killed entire industries. Everywhere around my state dozens and dozens of Super Fund Sites that we are paying for as a population i am all for the power of markets. But this idea that we are privatizing profits and socializing costs has got to stop. And the pain and suffering of especially poor populations is something that you cannot put a price tag on. What would it mean for people in america to live in a place where you cant plant in your ground to grow vegetables in your back yards . We did urban agriculture in my city, acres of it, and we could not go into the ground. We had to put the soil on top. Who is paying that cost . What does it mean in a city when youre separated from your air, with epidemic as asthma rates. What does it mean when people are separated from their water where they cant even go swim . Who is calculating those costs . Im happy that the federal government has caught up to the polluters and began to put the regulations in place. Im telling you right now theyre too late. So much land that should be developed with Economic Activity cant be touched. We have an agent orange site in newark, new jersey, thats capped over. Here we are today at another verge of being too late. Poor people who desperately need Economic Opportunity are denied that in communities all over new jersey. Look, when the temperatures rises on our planet, please know that cities like newark, new jersey, are many Degrees Higher because their lack personal able surfaces, tree canopy is not there and theyre suffering as a result. These cannot be calculated. These negative extra navlts cannot be calculated. What im simply saying is i cannot stand by and allow the continued socialization of costs and allow those who are doing the polluting not to be held accountable for factoring those costs into their business. The epidemic asthma rates thats causing a generation of children to miss school talk too teachers in urban areas, not just in new jersey, and see what asthma does to undermine the educations of children and, therefore, undermine their future economic viability, contribution, success that drives the economy, you understand the peril were in. I end with simple words of Martin Luther king, a hero to republicans and democrats. He says were now faced with the fact it seems that we want to ignore many facts in our day and age. He says, we are now faced with facts, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of right now in this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is no such thing as being too late. We cannot afford to be too late and terry away in needless and senseless discussions that undermine our ability to act and make people who put these pollutants into our air take responsibilities for the costs that they take. I do believe that the problem, as king said, is not the vitriolic words and violent actions of bad people, its the appalling silence and inaction of good people. We are good people. I hope we can act on this urgent problem. Thank you. Thank you for that eloquence. We turn to senator sessions. Thank you. Its a fair question to ask this morning, what is right and what is wrong with the president s climate agenda . Thats what were paid to do is try to do the right thing for america and wrestle through these issues. But right first. Ive said repeatedly it seems logical that Greenhouse Gas increases could, all things being equal, result in a warming effect in our atmosphere. Scientists have told us that. Its an important scientific question and there are smart justifiable steps that can be taken. For example, ive supported funding climate research, research into potential new technologies, cleaner sources of energy, common sense ways to promote Energy Conservation and efforts to expand nuke yar power, the most significant, a missionfree Energy Source in the world i would suggest. Ive supported in the past ethanol, solar and other renewables and gas mileage rules, quaf fay standards. The truth is predictions of warming simply have not occurred at the rate the experts have predicted. This rush to force billions more dollars of cost on this economy, thousands of more people laid off based on predictions of that are not panning out deserves analysis. There is Common Ground that we can reach, things we can do together, and there are certain things that i oppose and do not believe can be justified. Whats wrong with the president s plan . Id suggest four concerns, one. The president s plan lacks balance between costs and benefits. This administration primarily through the epa is imposing a massive bureaucratic expensive plan that threatens to kill thousands of jobs, increase energy costs for american families. It will hammer middle class working families and make our economy less competitive. Last month the economy added just 74,000 jobs. For every one job added, nearly five left the workforce. Thats not good. Today we have the lowest workplace Participation Rate in 36 years. We still have fewer jobs today than in 2008, and the president s climate agenda is hindering our economic recovery. Look at the thousands of jobs awaiting approval on the Keystone Pipeline which is being blocked. As significantly the amount taxpayers are being asked to pay for this agenda is out of balance. A recent report by the crrs found that direct federal funding to address global Climate Change totaled approximately 77 billion between 2008 and 2013. 18 agencies involved. For this amount the taxpayer should expect significant benefits, yet the facts show that the agenda if the agenda is adopted in its entirety and all these goals are achieved in the u. S. , there would still be no measurable difference in the Global Temperatures, 20, 50 or 100 years from now. What else is wrong with the climate agenda of the president s . It empowers federal bureaucrats to regulate in ways that Congress Never authorized. I reject the notion that the 1970 Clean Air Act gave epa the power to force every coal fired power plant in america to capture and store carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide was never even contemplated when the Clean Air Act was passed. Moreover, the president continues to misrepresent climate science. He repeatedly stated Global Temperatures are increasing more than was predicted ten years ago. Ive raised that before. His claim is demonstrably false. Its as false as, if you like your health insurance, you can keep it. Really worse because it misrepresents existing facts, not something that might happen in the future. As shown in this chart which was updated just a few days ago with the most recent satellite data for all of 2013, Global Temperatures have not increased since 1998. They just havent. That is not consistent with the models that weve been told correctly predict our fuf v future. Even the state department in a letter to me in december of this year acknowledge, quote, recent slowdown in atmospheric warming, closed quote. They acknowledge that. But the president is still claiming its higher than was predicted. Thats not acceptable. We expect more out of the president and we expect the epa to direct and tell the president this is not accurate and to stop saying that. Finally, the president s plan is doing too much too fast. Americans Scientific American justice month had an article entitled the long slow rise of solar and wind. They cited each widespread transition from one dominant fuel to the other has taken 50 to 60 years, and theres no technical or financial reason to believe renewables will rise any faster. Yet were trying to force this beyond reason. They go into some length about that. Madam chair, thank you for having a hearing. These are important issues. We need to wrestle with it and i think we can begin that today. Thank you so much. There is dispute about what you said, and i will put some things in the record at the end of the hearing, and i will be happy to share them with