♪ ♪ >> friday nights watch c-span's 2024 campaign trailing, a weekly round-up of c pan's campaign coverage a providing a one-stop shop to discover what the candidates across the country are saying to voters along with firsthand accounts from political reporters, updated poll numbers, fund raising data and campaign ads. watch c-span's 2024 campaign trail friday nights at 7:30 p.m. each on c-span, online at c-span.org or download as a podcast on c-span if now, our free mobile app, or wherever you get your to pod kansass. c-span -- podcasts. c spark your unfiltered view of politics. >> next, a conversation on enforcing antitrust laws and consumer protections in the u.s. during the discussion, panelists including ftc chair lina khan and assistant attorney general for anti trust jonathan kanter

examine the impact that labor markets and mergers have on consumers. this event was hosted by the, the tc and the justice department -- ftc and the justice department. >> welcome to the 2024 enforcers' summit. i want to extend an especially warm welcome to our federal partners today who join us and our international and state enforcement colleagues for the third annual convening of this event. i'm also especially pleased to note that the ftc is now operating with a full commission,ay we will be joined by the ftc's two newest commissioners, commissioner melissa holyoke and commissioner andrew ferguson. i know the staff and my fellow commissioners join me in extending a really warm welcome to commissioners holyoke and ferguson. we very much look forward to working with them, learning from them and forging common ground. i also want to pass on chair khan's regrets that she is unable to join us in person.

she's celebrating ead with her family. together with our sister agency, the antitrust division, we established this summit as a forum for enforcers to discuss shared challenges and to learn from one another. as a greater number of countries have developed and built out their competition regimes, we now have a greater set of experiences and a wider body of expertise that can inform us. this means not only partnerships internationally among competition agencies, but also intranational coordination to broaden agencies with whom we share our important work. a prime motivation in hosting this summit is to learn from the valuable experiences of our counterparts both from the tremendous work being done overseas and the vanguard work our state attorneys general are doing bringing innovate i lawsuits to challenge unlawful practices -- innovative now, i'm from new york city, and one thing you can always count on new yorkers for is to be direct.

so i would like to take a moment to address head on the idea that there is something somehow improper about u.s. government agencies working constructively and collaboratively with our partner enforcers in the states and in foreign governments. let's start with some fundamental principles. first, every government has the right and the responsibility to target illegal conduct that violates the laws of its jurisdiction. that includes u.s. agencies enforcing u.s. law against foreign enterprises that operate within our borders and, for example, e.u. agencies endows -- enforcing e. e.u. law against foreign including u.s. enterprises that the operate within hair borders. those law -- their borders. those laws are different and we are, of course, each bound by the parameters of our own laws. second, it is in the interest of both nation-states is and their commercial markets for this to be consistency and harmony in our legal regimes.

it is the not good for international business enterprises to deal with contradictory legal systems in different parts of the globe. that creates uncertainty, compliance challenges and myriad layers of complexity. so given these principles, what to make of the various allegations that u.s. officials have been somehow nefariously colluding with european officials to, quote, punish u.s. companies? if i find the entire allegation rather confusing. as my colleague, maria coppola, director of our office of international affairs, has extensively documented, the push for international cooperation came primarily from the u.s. legal and business community. the idea that today foreign law enforcers should grant a special exemption to large multi-national u.s.-based businesses that operate in their markets is almost as absurd as the idea that u.s. law enforcers should somehow exempt u.s.-based companies from law enforcement in order to protect our national

interests. our obligation is the same as that of our international partners, own force the law as a written without fear or favor. that is what i am proud to have done at the ftc, and that is what i am proud for all of us to continue to do. the counternarrative is that we, and by extension our foreign counterparts, should be protecting national champions. this is an idea i reject entirely. but that is not because i want foreign-owned enterprises dominating u.s. markets. to the contrary, i envision a universe of vibrant competition. competition pushes companies to solve problems, innovate and provide great products. competition pushes companies to care about their reputation and respond when products go awry. our national security is better protected in a resilient market made up of multiple players, and it would be with wonderful if u.s. policy supported the prolive ration of multiple competitive domestic players.

but i guarantee we will suffer if we try to immunize u.s. companies from compliance with the law because we want to protect a national champion. i used to work in the national security space, and early on i learned an ax a i don't mean that stuck with me. if you have two, you have one. if you have one, you have none -- ax a i don't mean. national security experts understand the benefit of resiliency, and as competition professionals, we should all understand it as well. so this morning in conversation and in partnership, we will focus on two topics. the first is a whole-of-government approach to competition policy. and we are tremendously fortunate to have an all a-star cast with us today. seven secretary vilsack -- secretary vilsack sack and director chopra, we are so fortunate to have you with us and and to be able to showcase for if our counterparts how agencies across the federal government are taking aggressive steps to bolster competition that is hobbled by consolidation, concentration and other roadblocks resulting from

higher prices, lower wages, declining entrepreneurship, growing inequality and a less vibrant democracy. but even as we draw from from outside the ftc to discuss the whole-of-government approach to competition, i encourage everyone not to sleep on the important whole-of-agency approach that is happening within the ftc. when i first aa arrived at the agency six years ago, i i was surprised by how the ftc had evolved to treat its two missions, competition and consumer protection, as siloed from one another. this never made sense to me because, fundamentally, i believe consumer protection law is an important competition guardrail. consumer protection law at its best ensures that honest businesses are competing fairly to provide the best products, services and innovation to the market. without gaining a competitive edge through deception or unfairness. to that the end, our consumer

protection and competition market missions work hand in hand with each other, and i'm extremely proud of the ways in which the agency has worked to develop this cross-mission if thinking over the time i've been here and especially in the last few years. the second topic we will tackle this morning is one to which probably every person in this room can relate beth as an enforcer -- both as an enforcer but also as a human who exists in the world. across the u.s. ask and throughout the globe, high and rising food prices are a deep concern. widespread, substantial and sustained shortages in 2020 contributed to the situation in which we find ourselves today. and there are real questions as to whether the high prices at the grocery store are not simply mirroring higher costs but, rather, reflect higher profits for those retailers. marked by brittle supply chains, there is also substantial evidence that the good if supply chain has become increasingly concentrated over the last several decades and that this concentration may be contributing to the concerning trend in profit margins.

both the ftc and doj, often in cooperate with state a.g.s and other federal agencies, have prioritized addressing anti-competitive conduct and mergers a occurring up and down the food supply chain includeing cases and investigations involving pesticide manufacturers, food processers, food distributers, restaurants and supermarkets. today's discussion will allow us to share experiences both about how we are responding to food price inflation as well as broader enforcement and advocacy activities across the food supply chain. the food supply chain discussion reflects an important and live conversation throughout competition the policy circles. how do we redirect markets from a focus on short-term profits and prices to long-term are durability? this is not just about food. this concept is echoed throughout our economy. the technological innovations that made possible just in time shipping, for example, also

kitted vulnerabilities that -- created vulnerabilities that imperil u.s. markets and our national security. as we think about building economic policy going with forward, how can we balance providing the best value to market participants in the sort term with ensuring those markets continue to cyst in the long term -- persist in the long term in the face of kind of previously unimaginable world events we have seen in recent years? if we have learned anything, it is that short term only is a shortsighted approach. the enforcer summit is being live streamed publicly, providing the public open access and insight into these discussions among enforcers. this afternoon international and state competition enforcers from nearly 25 jurisdictions and 30 states will continue these discussions in closed door sessions. misto the topics -- in addition to the topics raised in this morning's plenary if session, enforcers will share experiences, strategies and successes in our efforts to

address health care costs, better detect cartels and foster competition in the a.i. stack. the day will close with a candid discussion among enforcers of some of the challenges they may be facing including undertaking legal reforms, horizon scanning, improving competition advocacy and handling resource constraints. today's summit is an all a hands on deck effort or to promote fair competition across sectors and invites close collaboration among enforcers -- among regulators if antitrust enforcers. i'd like to particularly recognize the work of the ftc and doj staff in pulling today's summit together, especially cynthia and patty. as we refocus on using the full anti-monopoly toolkit available to enforcers, we are eager to identify ways to further strength thennen collaboration and use our tools in comet limitly -- complementary ways. again, we're so excited to have our enforcement partners here today and really looking forward to today's discussion. with that, i will turn it over

to a pre-recorded video of chair khan and aagkanter. >> hello, everybody. i'm so sorry i'm not able to join in person, but i'm grateful to have the chance to at least vir clully chair -- virtually share what's been top of mind in the antitrust division. the enforcer summit has been a valuable forum to come together and learn from one another. and since last year i know we've all been hard at work to deliver on our respective mandates. there's an enormous amount to discuss. i'm so glad to be here with my partner and friend, assistant attorney attorney general kanter, so let's kick it off by diving into the 2023 merger guidelines which suggests a true herculean effort by the exceptional a teams at doj and f if tc. why don't you kick it off and share with us just how the guidelines reinvigorate the rule of law.

>> thank you so much, chair khan. it's the really a pleasure to be with you and to be here with so many great enforcers. and although your voice is a little scratchy, your words are mighty. so we're thrilled, chair khan, that a we can have this conversation today. and and we're equally thrilled to have worked with our par merits -- partners on the 2023 merger guidelines. we are e really proud of the work product, and we think it embodies some is really important and significant principles. and first and foremost, the merger guidelines start with a really important question. how does competition work in this particular market when we evaluate a merger. and making sure that we are protecting competition, the competitive process, because with it results in so many wonderful benefits for society whether that's better wage for a worker or a lower price for a consumer, more opportunity for

information to be shared among citizens which is so critical to the political discourse. and so it's, it's an important first question. it's also -- we talk about in the merger guidelines that we developed how antitrust in the united states' merger review is a risk assessment. so what we're trying to do is we're trying to assess the likelihood that the merger may be substantially lessening competition or tend to create a monopoly and really focus on that risk assessment9. other important principles in the merger guidelines that we put forward in this most recent draft is fidelity to the law. ultimately, we're law enforcer s, both the ftc and the doj enforce the clayton act to make sure that we are preventing anti-competitive and illegal mergers. and that process has to be driven by the law itself. and if that includes the words of congress in the statute, but it also includes relevant and binding supreme court precedent. and we talk specifically and

refer specifically to that precedent including, you know, giant cases that remain binding precedent such as brown shoe and philadelphia national. finally, i think it's, you know, by way of introduction the updated guidelines really think a lot about making sure that a we're meeting market realities. and we've learned so much about how markets function, ask and markets have changed so considerably even in the last 15 or 20 years. and making sure that we are thinking about areas such as platform, economicsing or zero price markets, all of these important disciplines have pound their way into animating how we a approach the guidelines. but i will be really interested, chair khan, in understanding your view on particularly areas where you feel like the guidelines may have filled important gaps or added

additions that are critical to understanding markets as we face them today. >> yeah. i mean, as you noted, you know, this is just an effort that a -- whose north star was both fidelity to the law and market realities. and on both of those fronts, i think the new document really equips us to make sure we're fully addressing mergers where they risk to substantially less aren competition or create a monopoly and protect americans from those harms. two areas that are really key in terms of areas that previous guidelines had not explicitly talked about are labor markets and acquisitions involving platforms. and so on the labor market front, you know, the antitrust laws protect everybody. that includes consumers, but it also includes workers. and so we wanted to make sure that we were being very explicit in the guidelines that, a, we

will absolutely assess and analyze labor markets and try to understand a merger's risk of reducing competition for workers in ways that will harm those workers. and there are different ways that mergers can do that. it can increase the merging firm's power to cut or freeze pause pay, slash benefits or degrade working conditions. we also got comments from workers and worker organizes noting that even beyond pay the factors really make a difference to workers' lives like whether they're going to have predictable schedules and, you know, examples of how previous mergers gave companies power in ways that upended people's ability of scheduling. the ptc also recently filed -- ftc recently filed the acquisition of albertson's, the largest proposed supermarket merger or in history. that case is currently in

administrative adjudication, so i'm limited in what i can say. but the complaint itself alleges both that the merger could lead to higher e grocery prices and substantially lessened competition in ways that'll harm consumers, but also that it would harm workers and unionized workers in particular. second, the guidelines lay out very clearly how enforcers will assess acquisitions involving platforms which is an area, as aa a g kanter noted, it's just been an enormous one of learning and experience. and so the guidelines note, for example, that in platform if markets and in timingal markets, often times -- digital markets, often a times the biggest threats and most significant threats to incomes and platforms come not from direct replicas of those platforms, but from adjacent markets, from markets or that are adjacent to and sometimes rely on the incumbent platforms. and so we need to be really multidimensional in how we're

understanding the competition implications. we know, for example, that, you know, the -- a merger may be lessening competition on the platform, for the platform or to ultimately replace the platform, and those are all dynamics that we need to be keeping in mind. .. data provided for acquiring media at the complete noted the deal would eliminate not just head-to-head competition between the companies it also to grade access to key data sets which is a key mechanism and lever you

can used to disadvantage or cut off or degrade competitors. the last i will mention briefly is how the guidelines address acquisition which is new for the guidelines and across sectors we have seen deployed world wide worldwidestrategies to incremeny consolidate the market and clarified an overall pattern of acquisitions or examine it as part of an industry trend rather than having to look at each. exciting part of the process. it's just uniquely wide breadth of public engagement we have received thousands of public comments. sessions that you and i did together print i would love to hear what really stood out to you for that process? >> thank you so much. the process was extraordinarily educational. and robust. we not only did we did in the

past is to make sure we hear from scholars and antitrust law practitioners be expanded outside the beltway we opened our doors. literate simply and figuratively to people affected on a daily basis but concentration of power and corporate power we heard from healthcare workers. we heard from people who are trying to start businesses and cannot do so. because they would find their wy blocked by concentrated power. the willingness to people to speak up in their own names and their own voices is something we rarely see or have really seen to date and that work we do and antitrust. but something that we are seeing almost on a daily basis. it is really important because what it does is it explains how the work we do affects people. how it affects their daily lives how it affects the opportunity

for upward mobility which is so important. how it affects the farmer and a rural community or sustain a way of life that has for example been in that family farmer for generations. what struck me was the sophistication and the willingness of the public more broadly to engage. and i have to say is we crafted our merger guidelines those comments, those values those observations were top of mind for all of us. it played in an enormous role and figure out the direction we were going to go. because we have to make sure we are not just looking at things in it laboratory we have to make sure we are not just thinking about competition in the textbook sense. we have to the decisions we make regarding a law enforcement have effects on real people.

i'll be curious your reaction to some of the public responses in the listening sessions and some of the comments we got from people. those we don't normally hear from. >> i was similarly blown away by the level of engagement. across sectors and common themes that emerged. showing and underscoring the point that when illegal mergers are allowed to go through, there is a lot of suffering out there for a lot of challenges people are facing in their day to day lives. it's has not always been checked especially on the front end but we are reviewing mergers. so making sure we get absolute rights is critical to make sure people are able to afford the products that they mean. and make a stable living and live in communities that are not

hollowed out by faraway absentee farms but are actually thriving there so much commonality from healthcare workers be it from artists and musicians via from farmers as you noted and that whole set of it was incredibly important informing us part of a broader level of public engagement that both of our agencies have seen over the last couple of years where it is clear people are really connecting the dots between antitrust which should sometimes be seen as arcane and their own day-to-day lives. antitrust enforcement can be the difference whether someone is driving 5 miles to go to a hospital or 100 miles. whether someone is able to easily switch jobs or whether they are locked into their employer. billy underscores the responsibility both of her agency have to really get it

right. i was so thrilled and pleased to the work of our agencies and a landing this document is such a strong place. i will just say i have been so blown away and endlessly inspired by the work coming of the antitrust division. you and your entire team fighting every day to vigorously protect the american people. i am curious there is so much to choose from. >> thank you for that. the feeling is most certainly mutual. it feels like every week for sometimes multiple times a week they have the opportunity to congratulate for one another and our teams on another success or victory at our respective agencies. and so it is wonderful to see the hard work of our teams and the important work we are all doing together paying off. in fact this past friday we had an exciting victory at the

appellate victory in a case involving real estate. and our efforts to ensure we are keeping the cost of buying a home down for people throughout our country. such an important area of the economy. we have seen and i'm so thrilled with the work our team is done to secure victories. for example we will not just one but two airline mergers we block successfully in court after complete trials. americans throughout the country are concerned about the price and the quality of air travel. the team said extraordinary work to block two airline transactions. that merger of book publishers that would have resulted in labor concerns. concerning the amount of money professional authors can get.

we have taken steps in healthcare. i'm really excited about the criminal resolution that not only resulted in over $200 million for purely domestic cartel. we had historic first. the first ever we are aware of we are able to successfully result in the breakup of the vested assets in response to a criminal antitrust violation. $50 million it's pharmaceuticals for people in need. these are differences. these are outcomes that are making a difference for real people. similar we had a result involving poultry process plant workers who received over $98 million in direct restitution for harm to competition. we brought cases and have seen success in matters involving eat

sports and e sports flavors. antitrust violations. really extensive work that we have done. in our statements of interest a lot of that alongside you and your colleagues of federal trade commission numerous statements of interest in housing cases involving real estate costs. and also significant work we have done together to help advocate for enforcement of the law properly with collusion including areas related to rental prices. again these are issues that affect real people. i would also add we have seen a

historic rate of mergers being abandoned. it is an area across the economy everything from shipping where we successfully step in the way a significant mergers. one just a couple weeks ago involving lettuce and salad. kitchen table staples in this instance five -- $6 billion a year and prices would have got up with her challenging of the acquisition and forcing it to abandon. we have seen this across so many parts of our economy. in agriculture. i'm really, really proud of the work our team has done. i think it is quite clear the commission has been firing on all cylinders as well. we'll have to hear about the efforts. i'm sure the audience would as

well. in some of the significant achievements. >> one area of focus that continues to be a real priority for us as it is for you i know is healthcare. given a life or death stakes of whether people can afford their medicine. afford hospital care for it with the quality of that care looks like. we have really been doubling down on her work in healthcare. over the last year alone have had really important successes stopping anticompetitive mergers in the pharmaceutical industry. an overall making sure we are really understanding the strategy that's striving some of these mergers. looking be on are there direct overlaps understanding what's happening in the pipeline the acquisitions go through. are there weight the incumbents for competition in the future that would have benefited

americans? we are really glad for the first time in over a decade block to separate mergers. we have been continuing as long which of the ftc of scrutinizing hospital mergers. there's a lot of preachers showing hospital consolidation is led to not just higher prices for americans but also lower quality. we enforce the law states as broad as rhode island to utah to new jersey to connecticut that's been really exciting work. we've been scrutinizing the role of private equity and healthcare markets since we just heard an enormous amount of concern. particularly from healthcare workers so what are some of the effects can be when you're private equity firms entering healthcare markets. can be an important source of capitol for these markets but sometimes you see when they are

focused on short-term outcomes some of these models could have a pretty devastating outcome. and so the ftc last year i set of companies have alleged in anesthesiology in texas we named both the anesthesiology in the private equity partners because we alleged they had systematically bought out the largest anesthesiology providers across the state of texas and jacked up prices resulting in texas patients and paying millions of dollars to more more effectively for the same service. the last thing noted we have been scrutinizing the abuse and pharmaceutical and challenge whole set on medical devices like inhalers and epi- pens which are successfully resultedd

in several of those companies recently announcing maximize how much they're paying out-of-pocket. it's going to make a really big difference for those who rely on inhalers to read 500 -- $800 just to get an inhaler even though they've been around for decades. that is been the victory we are all really proud of. >> i will say for both of our agencies working closely with state-level partners has been crucial. could you just share how d.o.j. has been approaching these partnerships and doubling down on them? >> that is great. i will reiterate in terms of healthcare you and i and our agencies have been quite clear competition healthcare is often the difference between life and death.

it is so important they will continue collectively and deliberate in our pursuit of making sure addressing all aspects of healthcare system. such an important priority but so was the work with state attorneys general. we've set up a new relation team when i first came into the job i had an opportunity talked about house date enforcement predates federal enforcement. such important work to do. they are in such critical partners. we have invested and will continue to invest in building out capacity making sure we continue to work alongside.

from the state partners. really, really important. we will add to the same thing with international enforcers. u.s. law enforcement agencies obligation is making sure we are enforcing u.s. law for public. we live in a global economy. coordinate ways that allow us to be more efficient and effective in our investigation is something that's really important we are really pleased. crossing our entire program we have had the opportunity to coordinates and collaborate as appropriate with her colleagues abroad. but interestingly this has been a feature of the administration that our work has been really

impressive. international competition is working with other federal government partners to understand how the commission has been able to use that as a force multiplier. >> the executive order president biden sign in 2021 and very clearly set out d.o.j. and the fcc has critical tools to promote competition. we are not the only one. there's a whole fabric of federal agencies that are eating building leaders and unknowing shaping competition markets. it's clear we really need to make sure we are rowing in the same direction working closely together.

it has been really terrific to be following through on that deepening our relationship with other agencies. to give a couple of examples ftc roof on industrial space. it's an area we reviewed the acquisition to be how they would be affected how our military would be affected. how u.s. tax diversity affected. roeser deepening our relationship with the department departmentof labor and the natil relations board to better protect workers in make way for marketed more competitive. we are able to share atio prostrating and partner within each agency's authority. lastly the d.o.j. working to

file comments with other agencies what they are undertaking homemaking to make sure we are sharing our perspective that some of their work could be affecting competition. be it at usda or other agencies that are overseeing specific sectors. that's been a terrific area assured cooperation. anything to ensure? >> just to say it has been an extraordinary run. it has been terrific you talk about cooperation with the federal trade commission. i had the privilege and i don't think i have ever known a time when the relationship has ever been stronger in the collaboration has been better.

i am thrilled with the whole of government approach it's consistent with making sure we are working together hand in glove to ensure we are protecting competition for the benefit of the entire economy and u.s. population. working with the agencies and i know our teams have enjoyed a renewed and wonderful relationship. the only adds to our effectiveness thank you on behalf of the antitrust division we look forward to an exciting year ahead. >> i could not agree more. it is such an honor to this work alongside you of the dedicated professionals in the antitrust division. >> also. thank you everyone. thanks everyone for being here today. we look forward to an exciting inning aging day of conversation. >> thanks so much.

♪ more than 3200 students across the country participated 20 year anniversary of c-span student cam documentary competition this year we asked students in the next 20 years what's the most important change or like to see in america right or over the past 20 years what has been the most important change in america? all this month we are featuring top 21 winning entries. this year's second prize middle school winter are eight graders from eastern middle school silver spring, maryland c-span is available through comcast for winning documentary talks the inequality unrelated arguments is titled two sides of the street the fight for deceit representation in congress. with everyday or school bus drivers on eastern avenue between silver spring, maryland and washington d.c. passing by yard side stating status of the people of d.c. with taxation without representation license plates on

the side of the road. the guard's hands were commercially afterthought president biden every day for multiple years we decide to local further. we wondered why people from both sides of the street pay taxes and serve in the military wisely once on the street i felt federalrepresentation while ther doesn't? in a suburb of washington d.c. our lives or focus national politics with set up to learn more. we learned that for decades politicians have been fighting for and against d.c. stated without coming to a consensus on how to resolve the issue. we are left wondering, is there a chance things will change her will be always be stuck with an equality part of our nation? ♪ the origins of the creation of federal district go back hundreds of years. >> it was set up by the framers of the constitution to ensure

the federal government would not be overly dependent on any single state. no single state would be overly influential on the federal government. >> of the time of the writing of the constitution, bc would serve as a legislative federal district to serve as the seat of the government. however the population of d.c. increase hundreds of thousands minds with representation does not apply today. >> people live in d.c. is just like you and me. doctors and lawyers my wife is a fourth-grade teacher. we got people who work on the metro system and are doing normal day-to-day jobs. they happen to live at one side of the d.c. border from you all. because of that we do not have representation in congress and that is crazy. just reminding folks at d.c. iss not just a magical place people you see on the national news

that people who are living their day-to-day lives were just like in your community. because of where we happen to fall on the map we end up being treated completely differently but. >> 1973 home rule act of the residents of d.c. city government allows a city population to have some control over themselves. >> the council did not have full authority to do anything. until we got home rule. now we are able to pass laws on the complete range of issues that governments have to deal with records of primary role in 1973 important start for d.c. residents to gain rights did not completely resolve the issue. congress sociability to overwrite any decisions made by the council on the residence of d.c. still have a vote in congress the past 51 years have continued struggles for d.c. residents trying get their voices heard on a national stage very. >> the movement is translated on

the hands of d.c. movement. >> what we have home rule and do not have a say in congress congress has the ability to tell us who have been elected by us. but they can and cannot do on decisions that affect our lives for. >> significant part white statehood is the racial justice factor. >> is currently 46% black and brown formally 76% black and brown. what we understand systemic racism here in the country has led to places where black voices are normally not heard. this seems like cyst and assist by not allowing it to have a voice in nations congress for d.c. will be the largest black vote plurality if it were estate. there's no question this is a form of racism against black and brown. >> additionally the people of the district of columbia largely want to become the 51st state.

>> we ran another ballot referendum in 2016 so we would have a nice recent one there. folks voted overwhelmingly. they said yes we want to be a state. >> there are many reasons to become the 51st state granting statehood to the people of d.c. will be an incredibly hard challenge. >> our biggest challenge has been people not even thinking about it. >> the formosa challenge will be the rubric our founding fathers left with the creation of d.c. >> the challenges the 50 states we need at least a majority of the states to pass legislation and the house and the senate. >> we need people who are in d.c. that's when we were going to win. >> is the struggle that is why residents eat those who do not live in the district to come out who will vote for statehood. believe decisions of the d.c. council should not be over

writable light congress residents of d.c. deserve congressional representation the same as those who don't live in d.c. >> i would love to see d.c. not being a colony anymore. having our own decision-making authority. our own powers and not having to really vow to the whims of people we did not elect. people who do not live here. people who have nothing to do with d.c. and do not have our best interest in mind. everybody deserves the right to self-governance. everyone deserves the right to vote everybody deserves the right to decide their own future. >> to watch this all winning entries visit our website student cam.org. >> here is what is ahead on cspan2 tonight. a discussion on cooperation between u.s. and japan on

emerging thnogies with the japanese prime ministerfter that the white house press secretary joined by national security adviser take a poer's questions respondg to the arizona supreme court ruling on abortion at today's white house briefing. gop senators on capitol hill updating rorrs on the house impeachment of the srery of homeland security. later discussion but the state of u.s. democracy with former house speaker kevin mccarthy. all coming up tonight on cspan2. >> easement issue unfiltered view of government. funded by these television companies and more including comcast. >> do you think this is just a community center? it is way more than that. comcast is part of the 1000 committee centers to create so students from low-income low incomefamilies and get the y need to be ready for anything. comcast supports he spent as a public service along with these