Seven years later, we have virtually done nothing in terms of some quick fixes that would cost $100,000 per transformer.

Voluntary is not working so good. From my standpoint, this is something that needs to be addressed.

Let us not sit back and go, 'Well, if you cannot protect everything, protect nothing.' Let us start protecting things.

The government has not done anything.

Some of these transformers are 2 years out in terms of lead time, correct?

So it was just ignored. It was something pretty scary, and we did not want to acknowledge it, so we put our head in the sand, and our head is still in the sand, by and large.

just government does not work, and I think this is pretty obvious.

I have raised this in secure briefings with members of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and I have been told, 'OK, we are on that. We are looking into it.'

It is 100 percent certainty that this will occur. Maybe not tomorrow, 10 percent every decade, but it will occur.

So God bless industry. I am glad you are moving forward.

the purpose of this hearing is to basically stop and pull our head out of the sand, and start paying attention to this very real threat.

the dangers posed by EMP and GMD have been well known really for decades but made public now for over 10 years, and we literally have not done anything.

Trust me, now I am all about let us not grow the Federal Government, let us not overregulate.

we have let the perfect be the enemy of the good, and we have allowed governmental dysfunction to prevent us from even doing the basic first little quick fixes to begin protecting our critical infrastructure.

So 7 years later, we have not developed national and regional restoration plans.

Almost 35, 40 percent are waiting to get into the system.

Senator Johnson. That compares to a cost per pupil in Wisconsin in general of about $11,000, Milwaukee is about $12,000, correct?

I am certainly well aware of that having worked to try and keep the Bleward system financially solvent.

It is not a lack of the money that equates to better education.

But they fell into line.

I am going to transition from you to Dr. Witte during this question.

Senator Johnson. And, again, the cost to educate a child in your system is slightly under $9,000, you get a $7,200 voucher?

I thought, Senator, that your job was to defend public schools; and I do not see anyone here from the public school.

Well, let me give you some figures on that. In Milwaukee, it's about $12,000 per pupil. In Washington, DC, it's $29,000.

So bottom line, we already have a system in the State of Wisconsin to accommodate those disabilities, provide the funding to provide the services within the public system.