Testimony. Theyre aware of and theyve been, you know, the deputy secretary has been working on. So i think that works well, and we also try to meet regularly with other Senior Leaders in the department as well, so that relationship is important. You need that good working rels ship, because we cant force them to comply with working relationships. In terms of operationally, you know i would say that the secure the implementation of the the recommendations is something that has been a department. But its something were working on now and monitoring. Its one of the bigger issues. I really think that theyre they need to step up their oversight of contracts and grants. So i would say that is probably extremely important priority. And the it infrastructure. After all weve heard about hacking in the news and so forth. This is a very serious issue. Theres a lot of Sensitive Information on the networks. And we need to make sure the Information Security system is protected. To me, those are the
Has only 40 inspectors. West virginia has 56,000 active wells and as of 2011 just 20 inspectors. Pollution of Drinking Water whether from fracking or flawed construction of the well, or from surface waste from the site moving into aquifers has occurred 248 times between 2008 and 2014 in pennsylvania. We actually do not know how many incidents in total there have been because the state did not start collecting statistics on incidents until 2014. If we had more transparency, more accountable and more oversight, local communities would be able to make well wellinformed choices. However, building an oversight hearing around Public Relations campaigns to dismiss those concerns of local communities not only does a disservice to members of this committee, it also does nothing to increase the trust of the fracking industry in those communities. In closing, i would argue that it is not some hypocritical Smear Campaign by. The federal government, but rather repeated attacks against epa and campa
Okay. Now the fun part. Where . Right here, governor. Have a seat for a second. Raise your hand. Okay. Holler it out loud. Thank you for your service. As an inventor, serial entrepreneur and writer, i believe ill come up with a solution to the immigration problem. Can i hand this to you . Sure. And tell me what you think. If we eliminate the magnet that the problem resolves itself. Its very simple. Costs zero dollars and will resolve itself very easily. Thank you. Lets talk about this issue just a second, if you will. What i happen to see as a that may help a bit right there. The point with this is to have this this country has got to be secure. When you look at the constitution, the constitution tells us a few things that the federal government is supposed to do. Stand a Strong Military and secure our borders are two of the most important things enumerated in the constitution. And weve got to get back. I got to think that steve king touched on this about the rule of law and doing what
Prof rosen im thrilled to welcome you to signers hall. Let me tell you about the National Constitution center. And tell you about this room. The National Constitution center is a very special place. It is the only institution in america that has a charter from congress to disseminate information about the u. S. Constitution on a nonpartisan basis. And that means that in these polarized times we are the only place in america that brings together all sides in the constitutional debates that transfixed the country to debate and discuss not political issues but constitutional issues so that you the people can make up your own minds. We do that in three ways. A museum of we the people on Independence Mall in philadelphia with the most beautiful constitutional views and america looking out on Independence Hall where the constitution was drafted. We are also americas town hall, a place where you can see at the center and also thanks to cspan , often on tv, debates and symposia and panels deba
Discussion and help move transportation and infrastructure policy forward. Thank you very much, and i look forward to our discussion. Thank you. [ applause ] go ahead and sit in the middle. And rich, if you join us on the end there. Well have some q a here. Well chat a little bit and then time to open it up to some questions from you all in the audience. Thank you both for being here. As i said at the top, a host of issues where the chamber and the aflcio, organized labor do not see eye to eye. I saw mr. Trumka and on this issue there is so much overlap and the question is raised immediately, if organized labor and the Largest Business Group in washington are on the same page, why cant this get done. Maybe ill go to you, rich, first. Whats standing in the way . Youve looked at this issue and battled over this for years. Whats in the way . Its pure politics right now. In the past this was always a bipartisan issue. There was never bickering. Everybody knew that you had to keep the count