that's because in 2008 then mayor ron littlefield helped to make chattanooga one of the first american cities to offer super high-speed internet through its own power utility. to do it he had to battle with telecommunications giants. >> whether you deal with those giants, with the comcasts and the at&ts, they are reluctant to gich up the market they have. >> littlefield and city officials worked with their power utility, electric power board or epb. needless to say, the existing providers were not happy. >> representatives of at&t and comcast paraded into my office to tell me why they didn't think chattanooga should get into this business of competing with private enterprise. >> epb paid for the $320 million price tag with bonds, a line of credit, and a $111 million government stimulus grant, but not before littlefield said he offered to let local telecoms build out the infrastructure

. >> littlefield and city officials worked with their power utility, electric power board or epb, the hope was to provide faster cheaper service than was available. aneedlesneedless to say they wet happy. >> they paraded through my office to tell me why they didn't think chattanooga should go into this business to compete with private enterprise. >> epb went into a $111 million government stimulus grant but not before littlefield said he offered private telecoms the opportunity to do it themselves. they said no we can't afford to do that. i said we can't afford not to do that.

. >> littlefield and city officials worked with their power utility, electric power board or epb, the hope was to provide faster cheaper service than was available. aneedlesneedless to say they wet happy. >> they paraded through my office to tell me why they didn't think chattanooga should go into this business to compete with private enterprise. >> epb went into a $111 million government stimulus grant but not before littlefield said he offered private telecoms the opportunity to do it themselves. they said no we can't afford to do that. i said we can't afford not to do that. meanwhile, comcast sued the utility to prevent it from building out its network. unfair advantage for profit companies. >> most companies provide broadband users a fee. doesn't have to make a profit, uses subsidies, it really is unfair. >> in the end epb prevailed and to date has almost 70,000 subscribers. the city fest credits its gigabit service for creating a new stem education program. >> our rates on par are about theirs. we were simply competing on the basis of service quality. i have to say we did it righ

>> and my boss, the president of oh beck, elizabeth littlefield is also sitting in the second row. >> thank you so much. we appreciate that. mr. ward, we'd like to hear from you and your nomination to the representative to the organization of chemical weapons, would you like to introduce people you have here with you today? >> i have no immediate family with me here today, i would like to introduce the former ambassad ambassador, dr. robert mclack, and also the brother i never had, robert cadillac who is the deputy staff director on the committee. i'm honored to have both here with me today. >> thank you. >> mr. chairman, ranking member senator murphy, it is an honor to aappear before you as president barack obama's nominee to be the united states representative to the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons with the rank of ambassador. i greatly appreciate the trust and confidence president obama and secretary of state john kerry have shown in nominating me for this position. after decades of negotiation,

. >> littlefield and city officials worked with their power utility, electric power board or epb. the hope was to attract entrepreneurs and businesses and offer cheaper services than was available. needles tneedless to say,. >> they praye paraded into my o. >> epb paid for the $320 million price tag with bonds, a line of credit and a $111 million government stimulus grant. but november before littlefield said he offered local telecoms to build out the infrastructure themselves. >> they said, we can't afford to do that. i said, we can't not afford to do that. >> epb built 9,000 miles of fiber. comcast and others have argued that cities have an unfair advantage over for profit companies. >> most cities that actually charge broadband providers a fee and then if a city comes in and uses taxpayer dollars doesn't are to makhave to make a profit. it really isn't fair. >> epb prevailed and has almost 70,000 subscribers, the city credits its gigabet system for creating a new stem environment. >> we are competing on behalf of quality. we did it right. we did not actually compete unfairly wi

in 2008, then mayor ron littlefield helped make it one of the first american cities to offer super high speed internet through its own power utility. to do it, he had to battle with telecommunications giants. >> when you're dealing with those giants, with the comcast, and at&t's, they are reluctant to give up the market that they have. >> littlefield and city officials worked with their power utility, electric power board, or e.p.b. needless to say, the existing providers were not happy. >> representatives of at&t and comcast paraded into my office to tell me why they didn't think cat puga should get into this business of compete, private enterprise. >> e.p.b. paid for the $320 million price tag with bonds, a line of credit and a $111 million government stimulus grant, but not before littlefield said he offered to let local telecoms build out the infrastructure themselves. >> they both said no, we can't afford to do that. i said well, we really can't afford not to do that. >> e.p.b. began installing 9,000 miles of fiber. meanwhile, comcast sued the utility to prevent it from building ou