1 1 NATIONAL GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION 2 OPENING PLENARY SESSION 3 Saturday, August 5, 2006 4 Governor Mike Huckabee, Arkansas--Chairman 5 Governor Janet Napolitano, Arizona--Vice Chair 6 TRANSFORMING THE U.S. HEALTH CARE SYSTEM 7 Guest: 8 The Honorable Tommy C. Thompson, former Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and former Governor 9 of Wisconsin 10 HEALTHY AMERICA: A VIEW HEALTH FROM THE INDUSTRY 11 Facilitator: 12 Charles Bierbauer, Dean, College of Mass Communications and Information Studies, University of South Carolina 13 Guests: 14 Donald R. Knauss, President, Coca-Cola North America 15 Steven S. Reinemund, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, 16 PepsiCo, Inc. 17 Stephen W. Sanger, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, General Mills, Inc. 18 19 DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARDS 20 RECOGNITION OF 15-YEAR CORPORATE FELLOW 21 RECOGNITION OF OUTGOING GOVERNORS 22 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE BUSINESS 23 24 REPORTED BY: Roxanne M. Easterwood, RPR 25 A. WILLIAM ROBERTS, JR., & ASSOCIATES (800) 743-DEPO 2 1 APPEARANCE OF GOVERNORS 2 Governor Easley, North Carolina 3 Governor Douglas, Vermont 4 Governor Blanco, Louisiana 5 Governor Riley, Alabama 6 Governor Blunt, Missouri 7 Governor Pawlenty, Minnesota 8 Governor Owens, Colorado 9 Governor Gregoire, Washington 10 Governor Henry, Oklahoma 11 Governor Acevedo Vila, Puerto Rico 12 Governor Turnbull, Virgin Islands 13 Governor Risch, Idaho 14 Governor Schweitzer, Montana 15 Governor Manchin, West Virginia 16 Governor Vilsack, Iowa 17 Governor Fletcher, Kentucky 18 Governor Pataki, New York 19 Governor Lynch, New Hampshire 20 Governor Kaine, Virginia 21 Governor Sanford, South Carolina 22 Governor Romney, Massachusetts 23 Governor Minner, Delaware 24 25 A. WILLIAM ROBERTS, JR., & ASSOCIATES (800) 743-DEPO 3 1 PROCEEDINGS 2 GOVERNOR HUCKABEE: Good afternoon, 3 ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the 98th annual 4 meeting of the National Governors Association. We 5 appreciate all of you coming from across America. 6 It is going to be a tremendous weekend as we gather 7 together to officially continue and, in essence, 8 conclude the focus over the past year for Healthy 9 America. We're going to be talking about the 10 Healthy America Initiative today and hear from our 11 most esteemed former colleagues of how we can truly 12 reform the United States health system, which I 13 think all of us would agree is in desperate need of 14 some transformation. 15 Later in this session we'll be joined by 16 one of the esteemed members of the Fourth Estate, 17 Charles Bierbauer, who has moved into the circles of 18 higher education here in South Carolina. Most of us 19 know him from his days in broadcasting. He will be 20 moderating a discussion with three CEOs from three 21 of the largest, most prestigious and successful food 22 companies in America to talk about what's taking 23 place in the industry to help us deal with the true 24 crisis of health. 25 We'll also be recognizing Distinguished A. WILLIAM ROBERTS, JR., & ASSOCIATES (800) 743-DEPO 4 1 Service Award winners and 15-year Corporate Fellows, 2 and then of course near the end of the session we'll 3 have a brief meeting that will involve the members 4 of the Executive Committee. 5 At this time, in order to officially get 6 underway, I need to ask for a motion for the 7 adoption of the rules of procedure for the meeting. 8 GOVERNOR ROMNEY: So moved. 9 GOVERNOR HUCKABEE: Governor Romney 10 moves. Is there a second? 11 GOVERNOR OWENS: Second. 12 GOVERNOR HUCKABEE: Governor Owens will 13 second. And because this is really generally not 14 something we fight over, I'm not even going to ask 15 for discussion, just call for the vote. All who 16 favor say aye. And it passes. Thank you. We have 17 two entire governors voting on it, so ... 18 Let me just mention that part of the rules 19 that we have require that any governor who wishes to 20 submit a new policy or resolution for adoption at 21 the meeting will need a three-fourths vote to 22 suspend the rules. If you have any policy that you 23 wish to submit, it needs to be presented to David 24 Quam, the Director of Federal Relations for NGA, by 25 5:00 p.m. tomorrow. A. WILLIAM ROBERTS, JR., & ASSOCIATES (800) 743-DEPO 5 1 I would now like to announce the 2 appointment of the following governors to the 3 Nominating Committee for the 2006/2007 NGA Executive 4 Committee. They are Governor Manchin, Governor 5 Schweitzer, Governor Romney and Governor Douglas, 6 and Governor Minner will serve as Chair of the 7 Nominating Committee. 8 I think all of us recognize what a 9 tremendous privilege it is to be in Charleston, 10 South Carolina. It's just simple to say, this is 11 one of America's true treasures. Charleston is a 12 beautiful city, filled with not only historic 13 places, but incredibly hospitable people. If you 14 have not yet been out and been able to enjoy the 15 delightful scenery of Charleston and meet the 16 incredibly kind, gracious and helpful people, then 17 you've already missed one of the great blessings of 18 being in Charleston. 19 I also want to point out that a year ago 20 we weren't expecting that we would be here in 21 Charleston. Our original intentions and plans 22 according to our long-term schedule was that we were 23 to be in Biloxi, Mississippi, where NGA was 24 scheduled to meet. I think all of us are aware of 25 what happened last Labor Day weekend. And when A. WILLIAM ROBERTS, JR., & ASSOCIATES (800) 743-DEPO 6 1 Hurricane Katrina pretty well obliterated our 2 prospects for our meeting in Biloxi, we were really 3 pretty desperate for a situation to try to find an 4 alternative site. 5 The reality is that most cities and states 6 have up to four years to prepare for a National 7 Governors Association Meeting. The logistics of 8 putting this together are simply enormous, between 9 security and securing hotel space and meeting room 10 space and being able to acquire all of the things 11 necessary, and generally four years is just about 12 what it takes, including an extraordinary challenge 13 of the local host committee to raise funds to help 14 subsidize this kind of meeting. 15 We approached Governor Mark Sanford and 16 his wife Jenny, and we asked would they be willing 17 to host the meeting here in Charleston, and they 18 graciously agreed to do so. They have done in 10 19 months what it normally would have taken four years 20 to do, and they have done it with an extraordinary 21 sense of graciousness. I told Governor Sanford this 22 morning when we had a press conference to kick off 23 NGA, I said, I want you to know, Mark, you are my 24 new true hero, and he really is. 25 Governor Sanford and First Lady Jenny have A. WILLIAM ROBERTS, JR., & ASSOCIATES (800) 743-DEPO 7 1 been magnificent in preparing this city and 2 preparing, really, South Carolina to welcome us, and 3 I cannot think of a more wonderful place for us to 4 be. They've certainly given us a warm welcome. 5 When someone said it's hot here, indeed. 6 Someone mentioned that it's hot in Charleston, I 7 said, tell me where in the United States it isn't 8 hot today. At least it's very pleasant when you're 9 in Charleston, and the hottest day in Charleston is 10 still a delightful day, indeed. 11 At this time I want to ask Governor 12 Sanford to come, who will also introduce the mayor. 13 We're very, very thrilled to be here. Please join 14 me in welcoming our host governor, Governor Mark 15 Sanford. 16 GOVERNOR SANFORD: Thank you for those 17 very kind words. I appreciate it. Indeed, you are 18 welcome. We're glad that every one of you is here 19 in Charleston. We're glad that every one of you is 20 here in South Carolina. I beg of you to make it a 21 point to get out and wander around, and I can see 22 that a number of governors are doing just that this 23 afternoon, but it is worth exploring Charleston and 24 the environs because we think we have a lot to offer 25 in this neck of the woods. A. WILLIAM ROBERTS, JR., & ASSOCIATES (800) 743-DEPO 8 1 I think that there's a special 2 significance about this conference being held in 3 Charleston, because Charleston is a city of 4 remarkable history. The one thing that we can learn 5 through history are lessons. What we have seen in 6 Charleston is a whole lot of things changed over the 7 last 200 years, and it's a reminder of the 8 significance of the work that every one of you all 9 are doing in preparing for the changes in the next 10 200 years. The one great lesson that can be learned 11 in Charleston is that history and things change. It 12 is vital in terms of the decisions that we make that 13 we prepare for the changes that are yet coming our 14 way. 15 One of the folks that has been 16 instrumental in preserving the unique and special 17 feel to Charleston as a place is Mayor Riley, who I 18 am about to introduce.