As Chairman of this committee, I must emphasize to my colleagues and all of agriculture that retaliation is fast approaching and the responsibility sits squarely on our shoulders to avoid it.

Facts are stubborn things, and whether you support COOL or oppose COOL, the fact is, retaliation is coming and this committee has to fix it.

It does not matter if you are pro-COOL, and many are, or anti-COOL, and many are. You cannot ignore the fact that retaliation is imminent and we must avoid it.

Health IT is absolutely essential to improving the quality and value of care for patients.

I'm worried about the interoperability, Mr. Chairman, that is required to meet the financial investment that these medical groups and hospitals are making.

Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I'm happy to be here to witness the first peaceful coup I've seen in a committee in a long time.

Many doctors have adopted it as technology, whether they wanted to or not, and are seeing benefits.

I appreciate the committee's commitment to oversight of our Federal investment in the electronic record system and continued work toward achieving the goal of interoperability.

A lot of our providers are really concerned about the number of quality measures they're required to report on.

Focusing on quality improvement is no easy task for doctors.

The majority of docs that I hear from in Kansas tell me that the administrative burden on them is taking away from their time with their patients.

In your experience, have Federal incentives or leverage been effective in the past?