Aneesh Chopra Senate confirmation hearing

Date: Friday, May 22, 2009 3:26 AM

<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 2019 -- 5/22/2009 >>>>>

Remember Aneesh Chopra? He is President Obama's choice for Chief Technology
Officer (CTO) of the United States. Read the previous newsletter to find out
more about him: "Obama appoints Aneesh Chopra for CTO", No. 2010 -- 4/22/2009.

Chopra had his confirmation hearing in the Senate and not surprisingly he aced
the hearing. Of course passing the test wasn't that difficult because the
hearing was more of a love fest, and he was only asked one question.

His question was by Minnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar who asked if Chopra would
help health care workers treat rural Americans remotely through internet
technologies. Chopra replied that telemedicine would create jobs and lower
health care costs. Of course no thought was given by Klobuchar or any of the
other Senators to the fact that telemedicine is often used to lower costs by
outsourcing medical care to third world countries like India.

The Senators at that hearing probably had no idea what Chopra really meant
about telemedicine. They either ignored or didn't care that Aneesh Chopra led
a large junket to India in 2006 to promote the outsourcing of Virginia state
jobs.

After the hearing Chopra was asked by reporters about one of Obama's big
issues -- open government. Chopra said he could not comment on open government
-- another brilliant answer!

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You can link to a web cast video of the hearing from this page:

http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&Hearing_ID=fba30a2a-812e-4a37-aec2-d3ca7a8f6c11
The Chopra hearing begins at [48:00], and is followed by the others being
nominated. You will be treated by meeting his whole family, and to hear how
his dad was a hard working and innovative immigrant.

Chopra's single question is at the [100:30] mark.

His written testimony can be read here:

http://commerce.senate.gov/public/_files/AneeshChopraTestimony0.pdf

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http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090519_9777.php?oref=mostread

Senators skim over open government during CTO confirmation hearing

By Aliya Sternstein 05/19/09

Lawmakers seemed disinterested in President Obama's open government priorities
during a Tuesday committee hearing to examine the nomination of Chief
Technology Officer-designate Aneesh Chopra, among other commerce-related
appointees.

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where the first-ever
CTO would serve as associate director, is expected to unveil a draft open
government directive on Thursday, but no members of the Senate Commerce,
Science and Transportation Committee asked Chopra about his plans for the
initiative.

Only one senator asked the former Virginia technology secretary anything
substantive. Minnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar's question was whether Chopra
would help health care workers treat rural Americans remotely through Web-
based technologies. Chopra replied that expanding the practice of telemedicine
would create jobs and lower health care costs.

After the hearing, Chopra said he could not comment to reporters on his
potential responsibilities, including open government, spurring innovation in
the private sector and nationwide adoption of compatible electronic health
records, until confirmed. But he said citizens "will be very excited" with
what transpires on Thursday. One of Obama's first presidential memos, released
on Jan. 21, ordered the CTO, in conjunction with all agency heads, to meet a
deadline of May 21 for delivering suggestions on how to build a more
transparent, collaborative and participatory government.

"I won't be [presenting the recommendations] because I'm not confirmed,"
Chopra said.

His testimony briefly alluded to the open government memo: "We need to build
on the president's vision for a 21st century government, one that builds on
his core principles of transparency, participation and collaboration."

Chopra added that, if confirmed, he would apply the most cutting-edge
technologies to "bending the health care cost curve," reducing dependence on
foreign oil, creating jobs, and "delivering an educational system focused on
student excellence with special emphasis on science, technology, engineering
and mathematics."

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., did not have any questions for the nominee but
commended his past work for Virginia. During Warner's term as Virginia
governor, he appointed Chopra to several boards, including the Southern
Technology Council, the Board of Medical Assistance Services and the
Electronic Health Records Task Force.

Warner did not ask about open government policies because "he wanted each
nominee to have an opportunity to speak, he has been friends with Mr.
Chopra for 10 years and he has held countless conversations with him about
using technology to make government more accessible and accountable," said
Kevin Hall, a spokesman for the senator.

Transportation questions dominated the relatively brief hearing, given
concerns about airline safety. Separately on Tuesday, panel members requested
a federal investigation into inadequate pilot training and fatigue that may
have contributed to the fatal crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407 near
Buffalo, N.Y, in February. During the hearing, lawmakers reviewed the
nominations for deputy secretary of the Transportation Department and Federal
Aviation Administration administrator.

The senators urged the nominees to move quickly on executing the NextGen air
traffic modernization program intended to maximize air space for an
anticipated uptick in traffic.

The committee could vote on the nominations as early as Wednesday at a public
meeting.

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