That is important to point out. Im discussing changes that will be there for my generation. People will have to except that are Social Security and medicare will be the best in the world compared to other countries, but it will look different. It will look different because it has to and because we will work longer and live on her. Makee going to have to that change. That is a choice we will make. If we dont, all i can tell you is that these programs will not exist as we know them. Socialstion is not if security will be reformed. It will be, one way or the other. The question is whether it is performed in a way that is productive or distractive. Or whether they are reforms in a chaotic way. As you would expect, your remarks have generated questions on other topics. Week you rejected the assertion that human activity is causing climate change. Action taken to curtail this activity will destroy our economy. How do you propose that the country deal with the impacts these ships could have . Let me make the first point. The climate is changing. The climate is always changing. You can see that theres climate change. The issue is not whether the climate is changing. The issue is whether their legislative proposals that can do anything . When i disagree with is the notion that if we cap trade, this. Happening. Half of the new omissions on the planet are coming from developing countries and half of that is coming from china. They will not follow whatever laws we pass. A better approach is that i am in favor of technology and innovation that makes us cleaner and more efficient. Analysis, itnefit is good for our economy. I do not think those things are incompatible. It must be a part of that analysis. The other thing i would find out is that we spend time and energy on litigation as well. Mitigation as well. There are mitigation acts that we can take. There are storm occurrences near where i live where we have bill berkshires that are susceptible to weather events. I have no problem with mitigation. I have no problem with advances in technology. If we do these things that they are proposing by changing these issues. It would have any measurable impact on our weather. It is not accurate to say that. , reports, ormation studies are you relying on to inform and reach your conclusion that human activity is not to blame for climate change. Have never disputed that the climate is changing. I pointed out that it is always changing. That is not the question before me as a policy maker. The question before me is, should we ban all coal in the u. S. . Should we ban all carbon omissions. Climate andge the these dramatic weather impact that we are reading about. Anyone who says that it will is not being truthful. United states is a country, not a planet of stop there are things we can do to become more efficient. There are things we can do to develop alternatives. We can make better use of our energy resources. For people to go and say, if you pass this bill im proposing, this will somehow lead to less tornadoes and hurricanes, that is not an accurate statement. That is what i take issue with. The u. S. Geological survey has warned that the levels could by 2060 2060, imperiling the florida coastline. How should we deal rising levels and catastrophic flooding . Archive as i have pointed out, i have no problem taking mitigation action. We encourage mitigation action. We were hit by hurricanes. We took steps to encourage people to harden their homes against these occurrences. Likewise, we have expended on extraordinary amount of money on a drainage ram in florida. South ornkly, much of it was built on the everglades. Portions are still there. We have had to account for that. I have no problem with us taking the steps. Not simply because of the weather occurrences, but because of the fact that we have developed extensive Population Centers near areas that are vulnerable. Whether it is earthquakes in the rat west or tsunami is in the isapacific, the bottom line that natural catastrophes of noise existed. We build expensive structures, we will have to take mitigation actions. Turning to another subject, a year ago you were a key figure in shaping a bipartisan immigration bill that passed the senate and stalled in the house. What are the chances that immigration will move the house this year . I am not need prognostication business. That is a question that is more appropriate to someone who serves in that leadership. It is a critical issue that our country will continue to face. We do not have a 21stcentury immigration system. We have a system that does not work and is not responsive to economic realities of today. That needs to be reformed. We need an immigration system that takes our economy into mind. Quite frankly, that proposal from the senate would do that. It shifted immigration based on family reunification to one built on merit. The second component is that like every southern sovereign country, the u. S. Has the right to enforce this law. Our existing systems do not work. There are three sections of the border that remain insecure. We have no effective way for lawyers to verify that the people they are hiring are legally here. There is no effective way of tracking visitors to our country. That has to be reformed. We will continue to have an illegal immigration problem. There 12 million human beings who are living here illegally. We have debated this issue and there was a lot of opposition. Not a Single Member of the senate file an amendment that would call for the deportation of 12 Million People. That is because we will not do that. But we will not grant blanket amnesty. Somewhere along the line, we have to address that reality of stop there are 12 Million People who are here illegally. We have to ensure that that does not happen again. We have to deal with that in a responsible way. If there is a better way to do it, i am open to those suggestions. That has to happen as well. The impediment is that people are concerned that we will only the people who are here legally, but we will not make reforms to the enforcement programs and a decade from now we will have a repeat of this problem. Critical to the success of this reform is achieving measurable reforms. Not just to modernize, but he put in verifiable laws so that americans have confidence. This problem will not happen again. Believe that it is the single biggest impediment. You lost some tea party support. Do you have any regrets . I regret that we did not have more support for. Office to make a difference. I understand politically i knew about the perils. I knew about the history and white has not passed. Thats not a surprise people were not in favor of what we were doing. Much of the opposition that we it had to beerns faced stop the flipside is that i came here to do something. I understand that politically, the easy thing for me to dine would be to follow a bunch of amendments. This is what i would have done. I get that politically that would have been the smart thing to do. But i want to solve this issue. I came here to make a difference. I did not sign on to give a bunch of speeches. I wanted to propose ideas. This is not a theoretical issue. It impacts my state dramatically. Feel every issue of this for this country to move forward, it needs his office. Immigrationsolve and win the Global Confidence competition for talent. We need to have immigration laws enforced. Have 12 Million People living in this country illegally. We have to address whether it is responsible or reasonable. Those positions, political peril. I made the decision when i got involved with Public Service that i would do so in order to make a difference. Sometimes it makes you well life and sometimes it makes it controversial. We have a few questions. Would you run for reelection to the senate and for the republican nomination . Or would you choose one . I have addressed that. A couple points. If someone decides to run for president , you run for president of the United States. I do not believe you can run effectively Foreign Office of that magnitude will having an exit strategy in mind. Others may disagree. If someone decides to run for an office, you do so because that is what you want to be. Some sort ofo find button to get out of politics. That is my personal opinion for the others may decide differently. Would you still run for the republican nomination if jeb bush does . I had not heard he was interested. [laughter] i think he would be a formidable candidate. I know hes going through his own decisionmaking process. All i would say is that when someone contemplates running for president of the United States, you do so based on the criteria you have established. Those are not decisions you make with someone else in mind. I think that is the way you approach the decision magnitude. It is based on your own criteria. Who in your estimation is the strongest democratic candidate . Why is mark why . Probably harry reid. That is why hope they will i am not an expert on democratic primaries. I do not know the answer to that question. They have their own process for deciding a candidate. Any president ial campaign will be highly competitive. Both parties will feel competitive. Ultimately people will decide what direction to take the country in. Thank you. We are almost out of time. We are asking the last question. We have a few housekeeping matters. To remindll, i want you of Upcoming Events and speakers. , chairman of the trump organization. Dr. Ben carson, narrow surgeon and author of stop i want to present our guest with the Traditional National press club mode. Mug. [applause] senator, you mentioned that this is your first time at the National Press club. Speakers who returned for further engagement may get multiples. We hope you come back. [applause] one last question. If you do become president , which democrat will you invite to your first beer summit . That is a good question. Beer summit . The current president has had a few. Probably, joe biden. He always tells good jokes. [laughter] how about a round of applause . [applause] thank you for coming today. I would like to thank National Press club staff, including the Journalism Institute and broadcast center, for organizing the event. If you want a copy of the program, or to get more information, please check our website. Thank you and we are adjourned. [applause] a portion of remarks yesterday from marco rubio. A potential republican candidate for 2016. You can watch all of his speech at cspan. Org. A live picture from capitol hill. The Senate Finance committee will hear testimony from Sylvia Burwell. Her nomination is up for consideration to be the next health and Human Services secretary. She would replace kathleen sebelius. The hearing is expected to get underway in a few moments. Live coverage on cspan. The capital was quiet this afternoon and will be for the rest of the week stop the house is in recess for meetings with constituents. Members will return on monday. The senate is at work on legislation to extend certain tax credits. Votes are coming up this afternoon on a number of nominees. You can see the senate right now on cspan two. Finance committee will come to order. The finance Committee Meets today to discuss the nomination of Sylvia Burwell. She will be the secretary of department of health and Human Services. If one thing has become clear in the months since the president announced her nomination, it is that she is tremendously well respected. Ledonly by those she has and worked with in the administration, but by democrats and republicans in congress as well. That should not come as any big surprise. Last year the Senate Confirmed her nomination to be the director of the office of management and budget by a vote of 96zero. That was a big and well deserved bipartisan endorsement. Ms. Burwells background of results shows why she has earned that respect. She is a graduate of harvard and oxford where she was a rhodes scholar. In the Clinton Administration as a top economics adviser to the president and the secretary of the treasury. She has years of experience in the nonprofit sector. First, as chief operating officer of Global Development at the gates foundation, she led efforts to summon the most pressing Global Health challenges of our time. As the head of the Walmart Foundation, she was a tireless advocate for the veterans hiring program. She was a leader in the fight against hunger. Ms. Burwell has also been a steady hands as an effective leader at the office of management and budget. Thehelps navigate difficulties of the Government Shutdown last fall. In the year that she served as deficit, the federal has continued to plummet. Theres one other important fact he keep in mind. The Committee Considers her nomination. You said we cannot leave this Generations Office of management and budget without being thoroughly steeped in health care. Health care is simply the biggest structural challenge in the budget and an essential part of the job. Everyone understands the task ahead for ms. Burwell. The Affordable Care act will be your central focus each day she serves as secretary. My view is that there are plenty of ways both parties can work andther to improve the law ensure that america does not go back to the days when health care was just for the healthy and the wealthy. There is a great deal promising from ms. T medicare burwell. Medicares rate of spending growth is slowing. According to the latest data, spending went up by 1. 9 over a twoyear period. That is slower than the overall economy and it is far behind the store great. And ae of lower premiums stronger future for medicare, it has been significantly boosted by these developments. With the bipartisan support of this committee, there been many improvements to medicare transparency. The largest single purchaser of health care will lead the way in making sure that all taxpayers have the information they need to get the best value for their dollar. We look forward to working with to once you are conference continue that effort. Next congress has never been closer to repealing the medicare physician Payment System and replacing it with bipartisan reforms. That would reward the quality of care. I am looking forward to working with you again once you are confirmed. The committee looks forward to working with you on what i view as the single biggest challenge for medicares feature. That is dealing with chronic disease. The committee will have to maintain a close relationship with the hhs secretary on various social services. I will wrap up by congratulating our nominee and thank her for joining the committee today. Has clearmation vote evidence that you are a respected and committed individual. I hope to have your nomination approved by the committee as quickly as possible and with equally strong bipartisan support. Thank you. I appreciate you convening this hearing. We have asked ms. Burwell to serve as the secretary and im very pleased that we have one of my longtime favorite senators here to testify for you to stop is a doctor in the senate who has certainly done it very well. I want to think director burwell for her willingness to serve. Somethingrt by saying that i think you already know. If you are confirmed to this position you will have your work cut out for you. The health and Human Services department surpasses any other cabinet level department. The budget is almost a trillion dollars. That makes it larger than the department of defense. It is double the department of defense. Hhs touches the lives of hundreds of millions of people. From cradle to grave, it receives more grants for improving and finding new diseases for those who have run out of other options. It includes the National Institute of health, the fda, the center for medicare and medicaid. Cms is the Largest Health insurer with an annual budget of 800 billion dollars. I believe you have the qualifications to do the job, but there is much that you will need to do in order to assure members of the committee that hhs is heading in the right direction. It is a turbulent time that lies ahead. One of the greatest challenges shoring up the exchanges and making sure that they are operating efficiently. Recent reports of the numerous issues faced by the state exchanges at something to implement the law have been cause for great concern. States are required to have a Healthcare Exchange where citizens can go and shop for Health Insurance. They have the option of starting their own exchange, using the exchange provided by the federal government, or in hybrid will stop they are determining what type of exchange to implement. Were given innts two stages for those days who were building all report all or part of their own exchanges. They quickly decided to build their own exchanges. In total, they spent 4. 7 billion on their exchanges. What is troubling is that seven days from the District Of Columbia failed to build a successful website. Received more than 1. 25 billion to build these exchanges. That is the huge amount of taxpayer dollars. It was apparently spent with little or no accountability. Many are looking to rebuild their systems. Introducing the state accountability act. It would be a statebased exchange and they decided to grants it and repay the that they receive from hhs. In addition to overseeing this massive expansion of benefits, you also be charged with the longevity and the sovereignty of the existing medicare trust. It is projected to go bankrupt in 2024. Between now and 2030, 70 6 million baby boomers will become eligible for medicare. The factoring in dallas, program will grow from 47 million beneficiaries to 80 million beneficiaries. That will be 2030. Mai