women with the kind of respect and dignity that every nation that succeeds has shown. and to make sure that they've got a free market system that works. so across the board, we are engaging them in building capacity in these countries and we have stood on the side of democracy. one thing i think americans should be proud of, when tunisians began to protest, this nation, me, my administration, stood with them earlier than just about any other country. in egypt we stood on the side of democracy. in libya we stood on the side of the people. as a consequence, there's no doubt that attitudes about americans have changed. but there are always going to be elements in these countries that potentially threaten the united states. we want to shrink those groups and networks and we can do that,

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let's go to the next segment, because it's a very important one. it is the rise of china and future challenges for america. i want to just begin this by asking both of you, and, mr. president, you go first this time, what do you believe is the greatest future threat to the national security of this country? >> well, i think it will continue to be terrorist networks. we have to remain vigilant as i just said. with respect to china, china's both an adversary but also a

potential partner in the international community, if it's following the rules. so my attitude coming into office was that we are going to insist that china plays by the same rules as everybody else. i know americans had seen jobs being shipped overseas businesses and workers not getting a level playing field when it came to trade. that's the reason why i set up a trade task force to go after cheaters when it came to international trade. that's the reason why we have brought more cases against china for violating trade rules than the other -- the previous administration had done in two term, and we've won just about every case that we've filed that has been decided. in fact, just recently, steel workers in ohio, and throughout the midwest, pennsylvania, are in a position to sell steel to china because we had that case won.

we had cheap chinese tires and we put a stop to it and a a consequence saved jobbance throughout america. i have to say that governor romney criticized me for being too tough in that tire case. said this wouldn't be good for american workers and it would be protectionist. but i tell you, those workers don't feel that way. they feel as if they had finally an administration who was going to take this issue seriously. over the long term in order for us to compete with china, we've also got to make sure that we're taking care of business here at home. if we don't have the best education system in the world, if we don't continue to put money into research and technology that will allow us to create great businesses here in the united states, that's how we lose the competition, and unfortunately, governor romney's budget and his proposals would not allow us to make those investments. >> all right. governor? >> first of all, it's not government that makes business successful.

it's not government investments that make businesses grow and hire people. let me also note that the greatest threat the world faces is a nuclear iran. let's talk about china. china has an interest that's very much like ours. in one respect. and that is, they want a stable world. they don't want a war. they don't want to see protectionism, they don't want to see the world break out into various chaos, they have to manufacture goods and put to work 20 million people to work coming out of the farms every year. coming into the city, wanting jobs. they want the economy to work and be free and open. we can be a partner with china. we don't have to be an adversary in any way, shape or form. we can work with them, collaborate with them, if they're willing to be responsible. now, they look at us and say, is it a good idea to be with america? how strong are we going to be? how strong is our economy? they look at the fact that we

owe them a trillion dollars, and other people 16 trillion, total, including them. they look at our decision to cut back on our military capabilities, a trillion dollars. the secretary of defense called these trillion dollars of cuts to our military devastating. it's not my term, the secretary of defense called them devastating. they look at america's commitments around the world and see what's happening, they say, is america going to be strong? the answer is, yes, if i'm president, america will be very strong. we'll also make sure we have trade relations with china that work for us. i've watched year in and year out as companies have shut down and people have lost their jobs because china has not played by the same rules. in part by holding down artificially the value of their currency. it holtz down the value of their goods and we lose jobs. that's got to end. they're making some progress, they need to make more. on day one, i will label them a currency manipulator, which

allows us to apply tariffs where they're taking jobs. hacking into our computers, counterfeiting our goods. they have to understand we want to trade with them. we want a world that's stable. we like free enterprise, but you have to play by the rules. >> governor, let me just ask you -- if you declare them a currency manipulator on day one, some people say you're just going to start a trade war with china on day one. is that -- isn't there a risk that that could happen? >> they sell us this much stuff every year, and we sell them this much stuff every year. it's pretty clear who doesn't want a trade one. lgts it's a silent war and they're winning. we have an enormous trade imbalance with china, it's worse this year than last year, and worse last year than the year before. we have to understand that we

can't just surrender and lose jobs year in and year out, we have to say to our friends in china, look, you guys are playing aggressively, we understand it, but this can't keep on going, you can't keep on holding down the value of your currency, stealing our intellectual property. counterfeiting our products, selling them around the world, even into the united states. i was with one company that makes valves in process industries. they said, look, we were having some valves coming in that were broken and we had to repair them under warranty. we looked them up. they had our serial number on them, and then we noticed there was more than one with that same serial number. there were counterfeit products being made overseas with the same number as the u.s. company. this can't go on. being sold as if they were made by the u.s. competitor. this can't go on. i want a great relationship with china. china can be our partner, but that doesn't mean they can just roll all over us and steal our jobs on an unfair basis. >> governor romney is right. you are familiar with jobs being shipped overseas, because you invested in companies that

were shipping jobs overseas, and that's your right. i mean, that's how our free market works. but i've made a different bet on american workers. if we had taken your advice, govern are romney, about our auto industry, we'd be buying cars from china instead of selling cars to china. if we take your advice with regard to how we change our tax code so companies with profits overseas don't pay u.s. taxes, compared with companies paying here taxes, that's estimated to create 800,000 jobs, the problem is they won't be here, they'll be in places like china. and if we're not making investments in education and basic research, which is not something the private sector is doing at a sufficient pace right now and has never done. then we will lose the lead in things like clean energy technology. now, with respect to what we've done with china already, u.s.

exports have doubled since i came into office to china. and actually currency, at their most advantageous point for u.s. exporters since 1993. we absolutely have to make more progress, and that's why we're going to keep on pressing. and when it comes to our military and chinese security. part of the reason we were able to pivot to the asia pacific region after having ended the war in iraq, and transitioning out of afghanistan is precisely because this is going to be a massive growth area in the future. and we believe china can be a partner, but we're also sending a very clear signal that america is a pacific power. that we are going to have a presence there. we are working with countries in the region to make sure, for example, that ships can pass through, that commerce continues, and we're organizing trade relations with countries other than china, so that china starts feeling more pressure

about meeting basic international standards. that's the kind of leadership we've shown in the region, that's the kind of leadership we'll continue to show. >> i just want to tyke one of those points, again, attacking me is not talking about an agenda for getting more trade and opening up more jobs for this country, but the president mentioned the auto industry and somehow i would be in favor of jobs being elsewhere. knowledge could be further than the truth. i'm a son of detroit. i was born in detroit. my dad was head of a car company. i like american cars, and i would do nothing to hurt the u.s. auto industry. my plan to get the industry on its feet when it was in real trouble was not to start writing checks, it was president bush that wrote the first checks. i disagreed with that. i said, these companies need to go through a managed bankruptcy, in that process they can get government help and guaranteed. they need to go through bankruptcy to get excess costs and the debt they've built up.

>> governor romney that is not what you said. >> you can take a look at the op ed. >> governor romney, you did not say you would provide government help. >> i said we would provide guarantees, that is what was able to allow these companies to go through bankruptcy, come out of bankruptcy. under no circumstances would i do anything other than help this industry to get on its feet. the idea that's been suggested that i would liquidate the industry, of course not. of course not. >> let's check the record. >> that's the height of silliness. i would liquidate the industry. >> the people of detroit don't forget. >> that's why i have the kind of commitment to make sure that our industries in this country can compete and be successful. we in this country can compete successfully with anyone in the world, and we're going to. we're going to have to have a president, however, that doesn't think that somehow the government investing in car companies like tesla and fiskar making battery operated cars, this is not research, this is

the government investing in companies, investing in solyndra. this is a company, this isn't basic research. i want to invest in research. research is great. providing funding to universities and think tanks. great. but investing in companies? absolutely not. >> governor -- >> that's the wrong way to go. >> that's -- >> i'm still speaking. so i want to make sure that we make america more competitive, and that we do those things to make america the most attractive place in the world for entrepreneurs, innovators, businesses to grow. your investing in companies doesn't do that, it makes it less likely for them to come here, because the private sector is not going to invest in a solar company if you're investing in somebody else's. >> i'm happy to respond if i can get the floor for a while. look, i think anybody out there can check the record. governor romney, you keep on trying to airbrush history.

you were very clear that you would not provide government assistance to the u.s. auto companies even if they went through bankruptcy. you said they could get it in the private marketplace. that wasn't true. they would have gone through -- >> you're wrong, mr. president. >> no, i am not wrong. >> people can look it up, you're right. >> people will look it up. more importantly, it is true that in order for us to be competitive, we're going to have to make some smart choices right now. cutting our education budget, that's not a smart choice, that will not help us compete with china. cutting our investments in research and technology, that's not a smart choice. that will not help us compete with china. bringing down our deficit by adding $7 trillion of tax cuts and military spending that our military's not asking for, before we even get to the debt that we currently have, that is not going to make us more competitive. those are the kinds of choices american people face right now. having a tax code that rewards companies shipping overseas

instead of companies that are investing here in the united states. that will not make us more competitive. the one thing i'm absolutely clear about, is that after a decade in which we saw adrift, jobs being shipped overseas, nobody championing american workers and american businesses, we've now begun to make real progress. what we can't do is go back to the same policies that got us into such difficulty in the first place. that's why we had to move forward and not go back. >> i couldn't agree more about going forward, but i certainly don't want to go back to the policies of the last four years. the policies of the last four years have seen incomes of americans decline for middle-class families. 23 million americans still struggling to find a good job. when you came into office, 32 million people on food stamps, today, 47 million people on food stamps. when you came to office, just over $10 trillion in debt, now, $16 trillion in debt, it

hasn't worked. you said by now we'd be at 5.4% unemployment. we're 9 million jobs short of that. i've met some of those people. i met them in appleton, wisconsin. i met a young woman in philadelphia who's coming out of college, can't find work. i've been -- ann was with someone just the other day that was just weeping about not being able to get work. it's just a tragedy in a nation so prosperous as ours, that the last four years have been so hard. that's why it's so critical, that we make america once again the most attractive place in the world to start businesses, to build jobs to grow the economy. and that's not going to happen. by just hiring teachers. look, i love to hire -- i love teachers, and i'm happy to have states and communities that want to hire teachers do that. i don't like to have the federal government start pushing its weight deeper and deeper into the schools. let the states and localities do that. the federal government didn't hire our teachers.

i love teachers, but i want to get our private sector growing and i know how to do it. >> i think we all love teachers. gentlemen, thank you so much for a very vigorous debate. we have come to the end. it is time for closing statements.

we have come to the end. it is time for closing statements. i believe you're first, mr. president. >> thank you very much, bob, governor romney and to lynn university. you've now heard three debates, months of campaigning and way too many tv commercials. and now you've got a choice. over the last four years we've made real progress digging our way out of policies that gave us two prolonged wars, record deficits and the worst economic crisis since the great depression. governor romney wants to take us back to those policies. a foreign policy that's wrong and reckless. economic policies that won't create job, won't reduce our deficit, but will make sure that folks at the very top don't have to play by the same rules that you do. i've got a different vision for america. i want to build on our strengths, i put forward a plan to make sure we're bringing manufacturing jobs back to our

shores by rewarding companies and small businesses that are investing here not overseas. i want to make sure we've got the best education system in the world, and we're retaining our workers for the jobs of tomorrow. i want to control our own energy. by developing oil and natural gas, but also the energy sources of the future. yes, i want to reduce our deficit by cutting spending we don't need, but also by asking the wealthy to do a little bit more, so we can invest in things like research and technology that are the key to a 21st century economy. as commander in chief, i will maintain the strongest military in the world, keep faith with our troops and go after those who would do us harm, but after a decade of war, i think we all recognize we have to do some nation-building here at hole. home. we've been through tough times we always bounce back because of our character, because we pull together.

if i have the privilege of being your president for another four years, i promise you i will always listen to your voices, i will fight for your families, and i will work every single day to make sure america continues to be the greatest nation on earth. thank you. >> thank you. bob, mr. president, folks at lynne university, good to be with you. i'm optimistic about the future. i'm excited about our prospects as a nation. i want to see peace. i want to see growing peace in our nation. it's our objective. we have an opportunity to have real leadership. americans will continue to promote principles of peace to make the world a safer place, and make people in this country more confident that their future is secure. i also want to make sure that we get this economy going. and there are two very different paths the country can take. one is a path represented by the president, which at the end of four years would mean we would

haves 20ds trillion in debt, heading towards greece. i'll get us on track to a balanced budget. the president's path will mean declining take home pay. i want to make sure take home pay turns around and starts to grow. the president's path means 20 million preem people out of work struggling for a good job. i'll get people back to work with 12 million new jobs, i want to make sure we get people off food stamps, not by cutting the program but by cutting jobs. america's going to come back, for that to happen, we are going to have to have a president who can work across the aisle. i was in a state where my legislature was 87% democrat. i learned how to get along on the other side of the aisle. we have to do that in washington. washington is broken, i know what it takes to get this country back. we'll work with good democrats and good republicans to do that. this nation is the hope of the earth. we've been blessed by having a nation that's free and prosperous thanks to the contributions of the greatest

generation that held a torch for the world to see, a torch of freedom, hope and opportunity. now it's our turn to take that torch. i'm convinced we'll do it. we need strong leadership. i'd like to be that leader with your support. i'll work with you. i'll lead you in an open and honest way, and i ask for your vote. i'd like to be the next president of the united states to support and help this great nation. and to make sure we all together maintain america as the hope of the earth. thank you so much. >> gentlemen, thank you both so much. that brings an end to this year's debates. we want to thank lynn university and its students for having us. as i always do at the end of these debates, i leave you with the words of my mom, who said, go vote. makes you feel big and strong. >> that's great. >> good night. >> thank you. >> thank you. [ applause ]