to have the skills, producing a video to communicate, have the skills being what i would call video literacy and being able to understand how they could access services that they would have a difficult time being a successful as their peers.@@úsiú be

this broadband plan the president already with roots and community organizing will think of americorps, teach for america and that is a group of young people who are trained or encore on japan worse, people in my age group looking to get back into civic engagement or public service that will go door-to-door working with families. think of this as a technology tupperware party. think of this as an opportunity to reach out at the grassroots and show a person how their life can be better. they can save energy, they can get connected and communicate with relatives, they can look at the medical records, the can get remote diagnostics from a health care clinic. that's sort of the grassroots movement that i would love to be part of that hundred cities were we to stop this new technology sort of court, americorps volunteers working in every community. >> if i can, if i can add to that one of the other things that i would encourage you to

consider is the game changing nature of actually deploying broadband because a human computer interface for far too long we've thought about it in terms of typing and interacting that way. you will be able to shatter barriers when people can communicate with each other across state lines, across the world without actually having to worry about that interface. and it is going to be powered by what you do here in terms of the work. >> okay. i'm going to open up the floor to questions from the audience in washington, d.c.. if you have a question please raise your hand, and i would ask you to state your name and organization before asking your question. >> my name is wojacki with the minority media and telecoms council. i have a follow-up question naturally for the municipalities that have difficulty connecting their low-income constituents to city initiatives if these

municipalities turn to broadband to get their message across, will the still miss these low-income constituents because the adoption rate is so low? and then also without universal broadband service and an option doesn't reliance on broadband for e-government simply amplify the voice is the already have access to these technologies? >> i think when i see a community, i see so many different dimensions of the community. so for example, a person who is wheelchair-bound, an individual who is blind or has hearing impairment, and we have a very substantial increase in population that will have hearing impairment -- those individuals may not have the financial constraints of some of the folks that you're talking about. i would envision the day when you have substantial public service is coming to a household, maybe there is a young person who has a father

that's the way in prison. the probability of that young person, unfortunately, movant were the same direction is very high. so how do you intervene when there is already a lot of public money coming in terms of assistance to the family? it seems to me just like you in the textbooks and now some schools are paying for computers for students of all income regions, just as we have school lunch programs should we be thinking about a national broadband policy that makes available by volume down the cost of the barrier to entry to those families i think it could be an astoundingly good investment we don't seem to have data on the payback of what you do if you have subsidized access to families already receiving thousands of dollars of support by making sure that they also can do the things online that

they are standing in line to do or waiting at the library to get a computer. >> to that point on june 25th of the president announced a 90 day initiative with the united states customs and immigration service that we have been -- had the privilege to be part of the, which is going to use the cell phone platform, going to use the technology that is more ubiquitous in people's hands to deliver updates about the status of immigration applications, these applications and the like via cell phone. so to the point many, many more people are going to have access to information that previously was never available to them before because the information existed in a closed box similarly a meeting like this that would have only been available are accessible to somebody that could come to washington, that is a much higher barriers for the submission by lowering the barrier making it available through a web connection through a virtual protection and i think

you are right to bring into the third windows we are creating opportunities using cell phones and other less-expensive technology we began to glow were the barriers but we are working towards projects like the one the president mentioned from the immigration service that will allow people to get the window in government more readily and excessively and we do need policy to match that and projects to match the will help figure out how we can do more of this to create openness, more openness than we had before in a closed culture that has been less accessible than should have been to so many in our population >> if i could pick up on that, my name is jerry from a law firm here in d.c. and i am on behalf of the local of government organizations and it is always great to see you. i think one of the things we would like you to ask or think about is what are the threads to

the ongoing sort of communications and interaction in community building that local governments have? it's terrific a lot of people are seeing this on the web but for a lot of people who saw this on educational and government access channels. they didn't have the ability to interact instantaneously if way folks can e-mail today. but a lot of those are disappearing and they are disappearing because laws are changing allegedly to enhance the deployment of broadband which we are not seeing. so again as you are doing your list and your first question to the mayor was what can other mayors to. a lot of others are doing this on a daily basis for their needs assessment, cable franchising, public education and governmental access channels. please recognize and identify some of those threats as they go

away because they are. >> thank you. a two-part question from the online audience. from second wife, was the most vigorous example of crowd sourcing reaching to the public that is currently going on in the federal government and number two, a lot of data is generated. what are the best examples of the public interacting with this data? >> from my perspective of course we are seeing a huge impact i would say on the whity negative board where it is actually moving the way the federal grand actually spends money. and we are making decisions from a public policy perspective based on a real-time feedback that we are getting from the public itself. and the second part of that question was around the death. so on that data side of the things we recognize is that we don't really know which of data feeds are going to lead to

better analysis so we are doing is trying to release as much data as possible with the exception of course of information that may be classified or sensitive in nature as a result of that, we are finding a lot of innovation happening out there. a lot of people are spotting patterns that we haven't seen before. just fly time in u.s., looking at the airline's we have people that have come out and said this is fascinating. we never thought this flight was this late so people are changing their behavior based on that, but more importantly i think what is happening is even at the local level in the district of columbia for example based on where you're standing if you have an iphone you can pull up an application and see what the closest the metro station is and when the next train is coming in both directions in real time. you could also see on the same application crime near where you are standing and as you move the

data gets updated. [laughter] you can also see the closest borers and restaurants so you can make some interesting decisions based on real time information you have access to and the idea is if we can create a national grid are now the information that will influence the way we act in terms of moving us toward making better decisions because we have access to real-time data and the government has made a decision not to keep the data secret but make it public. >> we have time for one final question. in the back. >> thank you. this has been a great panel and i appreciate questions. my name is lynn bradley with the american library association and i have heard the fort wayne story before. you have a great library people there to work with you. one of the questions i have is that while we were building up broad band, we've talked a lot about literacy and certainly the library community is one of the major areas along with other

kind of anchor institutions to provide such literacy confirmation literacy, video literacy, all of this ability to find and use information. within a national broadband plan, how would you deal with the human infrastructure that needs to be developed to ensure that there is collaboration, to ensure that there are these cycles, that the silos are broken down? our research shows where there has been successful broadband is where there has been quality of leadership with lots of collaboration as the mayor said, you know, convene, connect and, you know, collaborate. but there is this team and infrastructure that we still have some until us baby boomers buy off or something how would you address those human infrastructures, both engineers, leaders, the others who have to do this, and should that be at local or the national level? ..

>> it was about a kid i know who live in illinois named sam he and his classmates the together using the slip a video camera they decided to film the expos eye on their teacher. who makes out was being unfair

to them in some particular manner of the way and third grade they'll pressure do so they adopted comment they did this on their own recognizing in the ways they could collaborate to change the institution in which they operated as the eight year-old but there is a way in which as we run the institutions have power need to embrace this collaborative way to work to encourage the sams and his teammates and classmates to work together on those video projects and set up and enable people to make policy and crowd source information about age one and one and whether the library or the next generation mediatek company on liner offline or otherwise government institutions all we can do is take your question as an injunction to say we need to do more of this

to do policy the first is always about human capital and investing in people not only through traditional thinking with investing in grants and research perspective but how do we train people for 21st century jobs? not just technical skills but collaboration, and new ways of working for institutions and their response the. >> one of the biggest problems we see right now is the fact that so much of what we do on-line action requires training. were you will see the greatest innovation in the coming decades will be around the human computer interface. think about it. there are people on the second life but imagine a universe where you have the "star trek", dec liu can literally asked the questions and get

answers in the same way if you look at the software companies may make it so complicated to@@j change from how applications are protected with skip logic and video and other ways rather than buy neary or call

always to interact with those applications. >> thank you for appearing today. we will take a five minute break to reset for the next panel. [inaudible conversations] we would like to welcome back our second panel which is on citic engagement we have five distinguished speakers we have the american and it enterprise institute and a personal democracy forum ellen goodman from the wrecker's school of law john wonderlich and bass white from the organizing committee we will hear five minute presentations from each

panelist fallen by 20 minutes of q&a from the sick panel then we will open it up with you and say so with that. >> let me thank all of you for your doing it does take on the importance of a top national priority for a second some of the earlier discussion everything in this society from our discourse to our commerce will be done through the vehicle of broadband as we move ahead and if we move to a society of haves and have-nots a deep divide it is not appropriate for a functioning democracy or a vibrant economy some evade universal broadband is critical on so many levels. my initial comments i want to focus on the public square the

sick and is the campaign finance system we have or can move to. on the public square let me start by giving my definition because it is multiple. having a public square means having a viable forum where citizens can learn about the government, what government is doing about how government interacts with them. there is this the way to communicate with government that includes communicating mag ideas with the great virtues of the obama cockburn reform which senator obama and his colleagues did when he was back in the senate to put all government contracts online is you can move beyond the small number of experts and commerce and government that can examine these to see there are corrupt elements or problems

to unleash a large number of people out there who may have more time opportunity or brainpower and innovative capacity to do those things. it is a way for citizens to air their grievances in a much better and broader fashion and to give their opinions and enable those in the government to learn what is it a sense our thinking and feeling progress the same time having a public square means having a forum for a robust debate in a common space with shared facts and that is a debate about issues, one that we should be having in a more robust fashion with shared facts and health reform and acid is the floor for debate with the

campaign that we have it is a real challenge to find a public square in an extended republic and it always has been. it is something we have managed to do effectively and town meetings come at the local level and doing it on a national level is difficult, a tricky, it was easier when we had three broadcast channels and virtually everybody in society tuned in to them. it becomes much more difficult when you have a system with fragmented areas of communication. that cacophony and fragmentation is extended to the internet level with the internet but also offers multiple opportunities for finding ways to develop a public square and what it means as we look for those innovative ways to develop a public square in which people can participate and learn

about ideas and can see that debate and enrich the process of deliberation of what our whole democracy, the framers built around, cannot work unless everybody has access to what will be the vehicle for the public square? that will occur over broadband. if you do not have access as we look ahead it is the case candidates will advertise on television but even as the share of audience diminishes as broadcast television diminishes and it is the place where you have the greatest opportunity to reach the largest number of people but over time more communication will occur over the other means including, especially via the internet. acid is installed have access to that means they are shut out of the essential elements of the public square and public debate.

just a few words on the second. i was engaged in the campaign finance reform for a long time. there is a real chance with the citizens united case the supreme court will knock the pins out from the basic fundamental elements of our campaign funding system and a system of discourse that has been in existence for at least the last 100 years there's a significant chance they will take away all restrictions on corporations from participating in the campaign-finance process and we will be back not just at square one but a brave new world and it is not clear where we are going to even if the court does not do this they are chipping away fairly steadily up the system that exists. i have been spending a good deal of time with my colleagues to look toward the next generation of campaign finance reform what can we do that will fit within supreme court restrictions, this one

and not just a future one that will lead to a better system that has much larger citizen purchase a patient that tilts away from large donors? being a problem not just because they have an inordinate impact on political figures but frankly we have a shakedown scheme. i and my colleagues have come to the conclusion deal on campaign of 2008 offers the ideas and openings for what we could have been the future and it is a system for the first time in decades offers the opportunity to have the fundamental financing coming through a large group of small donors but doing that in the past 30 or 40 years was impossible because it was not cost-effective. i have had member of congress after member of congress telling me of above to go back to the $25 per head barbeque you bring in large numbers then you have a stake in the

system if i could break-even i would do it but it cost too much. now communicating over the web and contributing over the web, that possibility existed and the reality existed in 2008 not every candidate is a barack obama but by incentive -- offering incentives to a robust matching fund a system with instead of citizens to give your tax credits like some states like minnesota have done effectively we have a chance to tilt the system and dramatically and expand the number of people who give small amounts and we know from dated and experience that if you give even $5 just as you do with the n.c.a.a. final four pool you have a stake in the system and to elberfeld. that is doable but only in a way that will make sense for our democracy of everybody has

access to that system. he unleashed not only a small number of donors but a community, a social network that brought in the expansion of donors to expand democracy if you cannot communicate in that fashion with the largest group of people including especially with those with limited resources, then we will not fulfill our goal of having democracy with a campaign finance system that works to the benefit of all and not just benefit of a few. it is critical to work through these elements of the future of our democracy to move as rapidly and expeditiously as possible to universal broadband. thank you. >> in february 2007 i started a bipartisan political blog to track and analyze the way candidates used to the internet and how the internet was using them.

over the next 21 months we saw house is a sense engaged in political discourse using social networking tools like face. flicker and youtube we found hundreds of millions americans commenting on blogs and posting an attacking photos and watching youtube videos. on media we tracked including the new friends on facebook no statistic was more telling than those associated with youtube there over 150 million views of political videos created by the candidates and their quest for the oval office. many achieves of holy grail of the web and went by role sometimes in a matter of days or weeks the weber as the explosion political candidate media may have been it was dwarfed by video created by this is a sense themselves. in the cycle there were 1.3 billion views of political videos created by people

independent of the political party is. you will remember some of these videos it jumped to exposure on television. the obama girl, yes we can, dear mr. obama which achieved legendary status. for every video back out hundreds of thousands or millions of abuse there were thousands more there were only seen by a few hundred people. this process of forming political opinion by people communicating among themselves is as old as our country's founding and goals-- goes back to socrates. these conversations would build consensus around the water cooler or dining table or the checkout line up a grocery store. and 2008 because of broadband internet reach these conversations are on steroids. this became very clear to me one year before the election

when my 82 year-old father a self professed frustrated technophobia asked me to help them figure how to send more than one e-mail out at a time. i went over to the house to look over their shoulder at. >> i had bought them showing how to use their address book and i looked at the email my dad was trying to send and the subject line was watch this and the text was a simple think to a barack obama youtube video. actually it was the one on race. in a previous election cycle my parents would not have picked up the phone or send letters to their friends offering opinions they would not be found at campaign rallies were canvassing for voters to wherever they were sitting at a dinner party or another social gathering and politics came up they certainly would have made their opinions known. they hear it would have taken

my appearance months and months to catch up with their friends in a meaningful way and only if the subject was brought up but here they were reaching 50 friends in one afternoon that it would take them months to reach the old-fashioned way because of broadband my parents were 21st century pamphleteers and don't even know it. that is the good news. the bad news is a large part part of the public does not participate in new york city the average cost of broadband access is close at $700 per year that leaves large sections of americans not to engage in democracy and democratization and necessary to inform -- to form their political opinions critics will say the job of delivering information should fall to journalist working for newspapers or radio or television but in 1995 "the new york times" was on average

30 pages it not only cover local government but city council hearings and government announcements but also covered activities of towns and coun4i%s@@@@l blogs and online new sites but of working-class people cannot afford the sites they are being excluded from the connected 21st century democracy. it is time we redefined the term public. it is no longer adequate for any government law that requires a doctor piece of data be available to the public only and a government office in a file cabinet and

our connected world information can only be defined if it is a machine readable, searchable and accessible online. we talked in a previous panel about education. let me give you a quick example of how much the digital divide has changed and how it relates to the subject. in 1997 if you look at the information technology available in schools and businesses they are in essentially the same. facts machines, xerox machines, telephones, and glorified word processors broke if you got a business card it did not have an e-mail address, you would not be surprised we called it surfing the web because there was not that many great web sites. what has happened in 12 years? one last thing. jack welch 1997 said the internet was a fad and would

not last more than three years. if you look in the new year time she was a full-page ad a fortune 500 company and the website address would be in the smallest possible print in the lower right-hand corner so what has happened in 12 years? every fortune 500 company in america throughout the world has either build or is rushing to build a dynamic 24-hour network where customers, suppliers and employees are connected regardless of blackberry, iphone, a desktop, laptop if you buy a so the digital camera case and other and press click to buy, of the cow nose at. [laughter] and if you get a business card that did not have a business card they did it on purpose wheeze been massive amounts of time wiring schools but let me

give you this statistic schools are only open physically 15% of all of the time in one year. if you add up what productive activity in the 21st century could be successful being accessible only 15% of the time? imagine if we could connect our students, teachers and community leaders to each other and to all of the world's information and learning resources on the same 24 our dynamic network that our businesses have figured out how to do in 12 years? has an alibi to quickly make a comment about healthcare. i invested in a small company in poland that figure out to read e cagey by connecting to electrodes to people's chest and sending that signal through a small blackberry

device to a doctor or hospital. like to ask the audience how many of you think within 10 years it will be possible for us to actually monitor people's hearts 24/7 to prevent people from dying of heart attacks or bring health-care quickly in the event of an emergency? just a show of hands. within 10 years? more than half of the room agrees we have to rush to deliver the future not only for the health care of those people but our country and democracy. thank you. >> ms. goodman? the floor is yours. >> 42 years ago the public broadcasting system was created to innovate with the communication technology that was not realizing its potential for democratic engagement and universal service. it was structured to the local

and community oriented to reach out underserved communities to provide access to information and communication infrastructure and engage public with information and tools that would match and their lives part of the 20th century broadcast technology could only do so much now with 21st century technology public media has the possibility to fulfill the vision of the great society and for this we need broadband to allow all communities to experience the power and productive capacity of stories and information. too proactively engage in the public especially kids days kids and minorities and to support the production of the information by amateurs and the public. public meeting and a broad band need each other to fill the three basic functions and here i have three different words.

1/3 is the same to create, curate and connect a one to illustrate these functions very can and bigger rise the public and public media. when we talk about creating for the broadband future it is not about streaming "sesame street" or talking back to front line they must me thick -- rethink the application and digital environment. when the highest priorities is use resources as the paper's close npr is joining with the news hour to pilot project to strengthen news reporting and news operations this and other efforts create tools at the front and back and to facilitate production search and public reuse on monday also harnesses and in journalism eyewitness is hosted on line by the pbs

series from line is a show that uses skype and web cam that allows people to report on breaking news so we may see a video on there from samberg of public media has shown documentary's that foster democratic practices they are linking these works to collective action and one example is not in our town which is a documentary first broadcast one decade ago how residents in billings one tammet created a community initiative to combat local day crimes. this action inspired more films over the next 10 years and a nationwide movement and in 2007 leaders are more than 50 towns and cities gathered to create a national organization and networking site see you can see how the original production and our reach became the connective tissue and the ensuing action and communication.

an increasingly important role is to carry eight public audio and video residing across platforms and buried in archives as well as other professional and amateur digital works the objective to bring people affirmation and information to people it is hear that the trust and public entities become an invaluable asset a good example is the public radio exchange for using an open platform we bring local stations in search of content and digitally distributes through the public radio player on open platforms broadcasting and close to plot forms like the iphone it is three to eight-- rating curator by the public and the editorial staff and a bookcases ross servicing new talent. indexes over 20,000 works most of which can be clipped and read next by the public we

need the same kind of innovation for video and here it will not be true the public or meaningful without broadband. public stations are moving from being media entities to being community have set use information and communication infrastructure and physical plans to foster such as an engagement with each other and information that makes a difference in their lives. these hubs connect technology to expression it to action and they grow the public media audience as well as the appetite for broadband and underserved populations especially if they think there is something for them and for the expression they can contribute in the eighth. to link it at shin it requires new media makers. several new nonprofit at outfits have a minority is that these minorities with multimedia production

including the national black programming consortium which has activated hundreds of new voice is. the new engagement model of public media is exemplified in the st. louis. the conversation responded to the mortgage crisis by networking dozens of independent community organizations to help families save their homes for from closure -- from a foreclosure. . .

would also reach out to the gatekeepers and leaders in the technology leaders for example child care providers, caregivers for the elderly, educators, citizen journalists, and equipped them with not only the technology but also be audiovisual know how to connect these communities to the possibilities of broadband and meaningful content.

>> fulfilling the promise of public media will require many changes in advances. a chief among these is better broadband. as the original public broadcasting system is premised on universal broadcast service in every town and across every rural expand so too the new public media system will require universal broadband and just as broadcast towers without content and capacity to engage would have been insufficient, so will a broadband system without the mindful mission oriented efforts of public media entities to create, curate and can act. just take one example, science education could move to a new level with access to hd video conferencing and emmerson interactive databases, for example, data bases of molecules or the cosmos the reside in america's leading research universities. so we can imagine students conferencing with nasa experts and collaborating with other classrooms across the country. we can do this now if schools

have the necessary bandwidth. jeter free hd videoconferencing requires 100 megabits stable connections and access for multiple class rooms of about 20 students to the science curriculum of quote cone noval" or documentary resources which are rapidly serving curricular needs requires merely a gigabit of bandwidth. public media applications and content properly developed and deployed can capitalize on the multibillion-dollar investment we've already made in public media infrastructure and content. and they can leverage the multibillion-dollar investment we are now making in broadband to strengthen space engagement and quality-of-life. thank you. >> thank you, ellen. next turn to john wonderlich. >> my name is john wonderlich, policy director for the foundation.

we are a nonpartisan, nonprofit dedicated to using the power of the internet to catalyze greater government transparency. at the heart of our work is the appreciation for the transformation of power of online technology. our technology with vision for government transparency is visible in our organization, which digitized data and create tools presenting information in cages communities and advocacy from more information and makes tools and information, makes sure tools and information are in the hands of journalists, citizens, government employees and everyone between. technology's role as the driver of disruptive change, has become culturally familiar as our role as consumers, family members, and businesspeople have evolved over the last few decades. the internet's role in shaping the friends and citizenship, however, is only just starting to develop. as technology redefines how we interact, our government now has the opportunity to help redefine savitt life, too little to president obama's vision for

technologically in power to society by creating a more transparent connected democracy. i would like to point out to primary constraints that will determine how connect and transparent government can become as we adjust to this technology. first, digital citizenship will only be available to those americans who have access to the tools and infrastructure necessary to be part of the growing national digital sphere. and as the sec addresses its mandate to promote access broad policy should be driven in part by what the internet access makes possible. digital technology creates new forbes of agency for all citizens. online access to government information allows curiosity to become expertise, allows disparities to become investigations, and allows expertise to become guidance and policy. citizenship kanaby transformed into a more mature and relevant for fulfilling the potential of the nationally connected

citizenry. when the government is willing to make our vital national and information to the public, and that means online and in real time. most fundamentally, government must carry to modernize disclosure of ethics and influence data. among the government's primary responsibilities is to preserve public trust on which it is built. the summit foundation has a focus on creating digital access to this information which includes campaign contributions, a earmarks, lobbying records and personal financial disclosure statements. president obama clearly shares this priority processing for example in the change we can believe in to build a centralized online database of lobbying reports, tax earmarks, congressional ethics records, campaign finance filings and information on how much federal contractors spend on lobbying. if fulfilled, this vision for all mine accountability start can deepen the public trust in government and in power citizens and government overseers alike and exposing and detouring public corruption.

ethics.gov will need to be built on interoperable databases to allow functions between different bodies of information many of which will be posted on line after a real commitment to public access is able to overcome discomfort at increased scrutiny. in addition to checking influence and realigning incentives, public attention to government information can and our citizens to become more relevant purpose of pins and governments. if an essential public modifications are accessed in practice as they are now, often only through expensive commercial publishers, even for government employees we should expect them only moneyed interest will have the information necessary for participation. and agencies and offices broadcast opportunities for public participation and beyond traditional means only then will the distribution expertise of citizens across the country become an asset for governments. solving this problem will take eckert from individual agencies and offices, reaching out to

citizens and sticklers where available, and also will take unlocking public information now collected in unapproachable repositories like federal register or fed business ops. in order to unlock citizens for digital potential, the government must also recognize and an urgent body of technological expertise growing throughout the country. programmers, web developers and designers, both amateur and professional are discovering the skills are now irrelevant to many government problems and are looking for ways to help. data.gov helps the digital national sphere by offering the raw data necessary for innovation outside government, which in turn can inspire change within government. the successful ad for america and for democracy contest just to name to demonstrate the potential of this citizen developer creating dozens of applications that a little or no cost to the government. so influence datacom procedural

information, and bulk data access can help in power since to a more fully participate in governments. these three particular spheres of public information represent a large part of governments new opportunity and new responsibility to serve the needs of the digital the import citizenry. just as successful national broadband policy is necessary to fulfill our shared vision for a transparent and connected democracy, government transparency is necessary to allow digital citizenship to develop to its full potential. thanks. >> thank you, beth from the 2016 organizing committee. >> and were actually reminded me of a kind of amusing anecdote along the same lines.

when i started to work at salt lake city i worked on the winter games in 2002, and i went to leave one evening and my boss was on line and i told him

hong as well as the citizens of chicago to educate them on what is we are about and what we are trying to do in this, we believe is it could be a transfer experience for the city. the couple things we are trying to do is raise money for the bid. we are trying to show that we are innovative and creative, and we are also trying to reach and engage use. it's one of the things interestingly with technology the games are turning slowly away from a younger audience, so being able to bring technology backing to wait three engages with a younger audience for the olympics. but we also didn't want, you know, we are not a corporation with a tremendous amount of money to put into this and a long-term lifecycle. we are a bid election group and so it is how can we do this in the most fiscally responsible way, and so, you know, we need to go where people already are.

we can't create those places. we need to go and find them. obviously our audience is chicago and people who are national patriots excited about the games, torchbearers, because that people excited about the olympics as well as youth and secondary, the ioc athletes and volunteers. volunteers, we have used this to sign up over 20,000 volunteers and they are able to get online to check their hours and to kind of find out other events coming up and as an interesting of shoe to that i am also involved with a program we are doing called 50 boards in 50 days leading up to the election where we go to all of the wards in chicago talking about the bid and one of the number one thinks they are concerned about is jobs. and so this whole discussion of transparency and government is important to them as well and transparency in our bait because if the games come to chicago it means a lot of opportunities, and how can we be transparent to

all those will be doled out in different communities. and our work programs are, you know, through community benefit agreement posted on the web site and we have seen and speaking to those groups when we say it's available to them, the anxiety level even goes down. okay i can get on and read and find out about it. so that activity is important. and really we have come out of this three-pronged approach to engage, to empower to activate. i feel that now i don't have c's. [laughter] but engaging that existing supporter and looking at ongoing social monitoring and listening sites. the biggest key is right now through that we've been able to target the 1.2 million supporters connected with us and to reach out for them when we need them for a number of activities.

and then in power and then making them part of the process and helping them build our content we have video contests we talked a number of times about youtube and we put together a program called why chicago, and people put together their own videos why they felt chicago was a great city to host the olympics and enabling them to be part of the process that is reaching out ioc you know, we had a national olympic day in may and i think it was 1500 people came the year before and drew twitter posts, facebook and blog postings we rallied 20,000 people to a celebration at the beach which was astounding. we also have a new application that we are working on called

sport finder where somebody can get on, volunteers, some have plugged in to friends of facebook and say beachball at north avenue wednesday at 6:00 who else wants to come? so by layering that on the other activities going on we can help them connect and find activities, find each other on the sites and keep them engaged in what it is we are doing. we have another program we are working on called world sports chicago, and it's trying to engage you've and programs in the city paired with the park district and private funding the bid is bringing and one of the things we have challenges with is there is a lot of these kids are in areas they can't safely get to these programs and so one of the things we are looking at is this application in the same way to get people to drive kids to the sites to get volunteers

or even off-duty police officers to bring them to and from the sites so they can remain engaged in activities. we are not a consumer site. our numbers aren't as large but you can see the biggest thing is how much larger we are than our competitors. a few folks were asking what the status of our days. it is we are competing against rio de janeiro, madrid and tokyo and the vote is october 2nd. so where we can get ahead of them on things it makes us happy to do that. but the most important thing is obviously on the vote on that day. but, you know, we've got 30 times more activity than you are seeing on some other sites, so we have tried to have that be a part of our bid. the other one is being able to engage them when we need them. fi ioc commission came to see the city now because of the new

organization, the ioc, all the members don't come to the city and evaluation committee comes and it's about 16 people. they spent three days in meetings and one day of the new taurus, so the one day they are outside of the city you want them to see the people supporting the bid. and we went through the facebook page and asked fans to help us out. it grew 50% in that week and we used all the networking sites to get them to places where the boss was going so fans were there with a back the bid posters and science and there were people live going on saying i think there's protesters at north avenue beach and the whole group would run over to the other sections of the could swarm the protesters and have more supporters. i think there were only about two or three, one angry guy with a golf club. i don't know what he was talking about. but again, some of the metrics what we are doing.

we certainly see the numbers so much more than the other cities that are there and i think, too, having the first and only database of a big city with of the numbers that we have is really important to us because it enables us to reach out to those people when we need them and connect them back. again, for us and some of the first i think are pretty important, the first to integrate with the social media and communicate, the first to have kind of our own youtube channel and some of you have it, i hope you don't, if you don't, your first iphone application that counts down the days. i believe we are on the 56 which gives you a fun fact about the bid. so it is the other interesting thing i missed when i went back before is the age. if you saw -- i miss it. the age of those following the house, the predominance of being

in for 13 to 34 range where that's the range the ioc is looking for, too, and the sports are drifting away and as kids are getting into different things you're losing that connectivity to the olympics and to see it now with what we are doing brings that connection back. thank you. >> great, beth. good luck to chicago and its bid. we are now going to have questions from the fcc panel. mary beth, can i ask you to ask the first question? >> i've been thinking as we move from the physical public square to a national virtual public square, and you all have kind of looked back at changes that you've seen over the last couple of years, the last 12 years. what is the experience -- what do you predict the next 12 months or the next couple of years with the use of broadband

and applications and things we should be thinking about as we move forward? >> i think we are going to@@ destructive discourse. what we need now is innovation that can move tosk back in a virtual form and maybe use a lot of these different tools and i am hoping public broadcasting will be a very significant

vehicle for this that can induce people to come and have an interesting experience but where we can rebuild a set of common facts to have our arguments. >> the trend i would point out is barriers are decreasing. you made a website in 1997 the first step would be to learn how to code and html and if you want to put together a vlore website now you don't have to do that. you certainly can what tools are being made so the interface is much simpler and that is happening on a couple of different levels so if you want to play with databases for example there are tools to do that without having to learn to program a database language or if you want to put together a visualization of a spreadsheet or data set there are tools developed to do that so that is a tramp we can recognize a lot of different spheres is the barrier for entry is being

lowered. >> steve? >> thank you. ellen dave great examples how public television can connect to an online presence and i would love to hear the panel edify -- >> public media. >> sorry, i wrote a public meeting on pure, promise. i would love some perspectives were examples of other best practices where technology or broadband can address the somewhat bigger wind digital divide almost sick decide that we see in the country and along with those examples i would love to hear if you have advice for people connected to the internet to address and engage with people not connected in the internet in the same communities. >> so, 2005i ran for the job of public advocate which is the second position in the new york

city government office on a platform of making the city wireless and i became known as the wi-fi buy but the reason i was running and promoting wi-fi wasn't so kids could open laptops in parks and get online and googled their friends or joined facebook and the cocoon as norm says, but rather because i believe organized minorities are always more powerful than disorganized majorities whether or not they are on-line or off and in new york city city council hearing that might address an important funding issue around health care or education or community development happens on a wednesday at 10:00 in the morning when few people are able to attend so my vision was the public advocate's office should be reinvented not as a single person trying to solve the problems of 8 million people but rather a network of public advocates already cleaning up

parks joining community boards mentoring schools and other places they already are being civic leaders but are not connected to each other so for example if there is a single mother with a child with asthma in the bronx fighting for every emergency asthma care in hospitals in the bronx she could connect with another mother fighting for the same thing in queens or statin island and i can assure you if 30 of them were to show up at a hearing at 10:00 in the morning on a wednesday all the city council staff would call the city council and tell them to come to the hearing because they are not normally expecting anybody from the public to attend. you could take that one step further and may be the city council hearing itself shouldn't just happen at 10:00 in the morning like this one that could happen online and be available in an economy of abundance where comments or testimony can be delivered not just at the time the hearing is being held, but rather over a period of time,

reasonable time the most number of voices could connect with each other. sounds like a pretty good fishing. when i went to the new door times editorial board to get their endorsement i had to spend 30 of my 45 minutes explaining what wi-fi what is and they couldn't understand how with 1,800,000-dollar budget how i could conceivably wire the entire city. the reason i'm bringing the subject op is to give you a vision with the potential is but to point out of the dramatic divide is and imagination between politicians who don't know the difference between the server and weeder -- wait for and the connect citizenry to reinvent democracy and civic engagement and remove the most damaging element in the democracy which is apathy.

>> can i respond to that, too? this is public media institutions are thinking about but need to do more how do you integrate spaces with virtual spaces with the public square, how do you integrate communities with the real communities and so to take the example of the llama with the kit with asthma so you could imagine, and i think what the importance of stories shouldn't be underestimated to say we had great, i'm sure there is one, great science documentary on asthma and its causes and treatments, well in the past that would have gone out and maybe it would be recycled and schools or have some of their use buy now you can imagine it's created, there's all sorts of pots and modules that go to health care providers and ngos and community groups and then an activist and to can begin to use the real space and public media, public broadcast stations have

these spaces and they are only open half the time so they are beginning to use these spaces to house out of work journalists who now can do their stuff using these abandoned offices. they can convene the active list, the moms and use of broadband technology to make their voices heard, to decision makers, policymakers, to each other so those without broadband access and we should obviously mobile is going to change all of that. can begin to fuse efforts with those with broadband access. >> just a couple of words. i was on pbs board for six years and one of my passions was as we move to the digital age to try to create digital channels. one was a public square channel which eventually will get. the other is a health channel

and my vision of this is that you would have on the health channel for example national programs that would focus in some ways around say terrible disease like crones and then you would have local stations that would follow up with their own activities and locally rios you could create virtual dialogue with patience, with families to share experience and then hope with specialists they wouldn't have access to otherwise to try and create a different kind of structure to give people best practices, how you deal with these issues in your own families and the like. on the public square it was something where you might be able to create a better dialogue around health care reform than replicate fl local level and have virtual town meetings so that you could get the best of

the old, the new england town meeting donner in a virtual frame but organized a that a national platform. those i think are very doable which you can merge all the new technology but create those platforms and in power people and connect them with others they might not otherwise have contact with. you think about people who suddenly need a kidney transplant, how do you know what to do, where to go, how to go about those things? there are ways we can empower people and give that information and connect them to those who've been through this experience before that didn't exist and now are available. it's going to take some resources. >> kristen? >> i have a question about global piece setting in this area and putting aside the statistics beth shared regarding the bid are there specific

examples internationally that we can look to that we should be taking a serious look at in terms of the plan we will be developing models for what it is a democracy, civic participation more broadly? anything come across in your work that we should be focusing on? >> just what we just witnessed with the twittering and posting of videos from iran should get people interested in what civic engagement might mean but also give totalitarian authorities pulls what it means. sure there are problems. you can't be sure that the veracity of the tweet or the date or time of a place or radio. but we are clearly seeing a connected world of 7 billion people, 80 to 90% of them by the year 2012 are going to be connected to cell phones and it's called the 3g phones

because by the time we hit 2012 the phones are going to the iphone of today look like a motorola break from five years ago or ten years ago. ..

>> in the context of 5t and legislature there is a strong example in the global center for itt parliament's organized out of the united -- says they provide a great example where sometimes countries in africa or that are still developing have a stronger or more transparent legislature because they do not have to fight against entrenched interest or legacy systems they have already invested that is one where you can see strong coordination and sharing of best practices with a rigorous study of what is necessary to make the legislature transparent.

>> we have one question for you john this also applies to from our online audience, what to wear three specific would you recommend the average person take for a more engage government and what steps should a citizen take now? >> i would say one of the first is to find out what is going on here you to understand what your representatives are and what different levels of government are around due to engage in that if the first question to me one should ask yourself is what is noble in this space? that is the one of the most powerful things you can do because that information is what allows you to be an actor and beyond that, the other big saying is to become technologically competent and

experiment online and engage in communities and a lot of people jumping in and commenting or e mailing a letter to the editor that is very uncomfortable they can be addictive and the baring so experimenting online generally feels it is okay to make mistakes would be the other piece of advice. >> to echo the comments before that there was finding out what is out there as we do these meetings through chicago, each of these the constituency is unaware of what is available and as we see with the programs we talked about earlier this morning things become easier to follow and find and a little user-friendly with the dashboard bloated to look things up we have done the same thing with our site trying not to bury things and makes it easy to find to know

what they are looking for. and asking for its. that is the other thing to ask for elected officials and talk to them. these meetings that we go through that they're there and they are taking those notes they want to hear what those people are looking for in their government. >> i will open the floor to our audience in washington if there are any questions? >> we solve the problem. [laughter] >> will we ever see online voting and would that be desirable? >> the latter answer is no. we're already running into a significant problems with votes by mail and other kinds of remote to voting. the difficulties that we see

with a much higher level of corruption when you lose the privacy of a voting booth we're nowhere is the point* you can have it without the possibility of some massive intervention or ways of corrupting the process. we had a conference that cisco systems is sponsored the brookings where the giants of the internet world were saying to do this with any level, of real certainty that you do not have somebody to manipulate the process would take a long time but even if you could get there, voting should be a community experience, a collective experience and we should encourage people to go to the polls delay and to vote, to be with their citizens to do the private act with a closed curtain of a voting.

good did -- damage to the civic fabricate you do this at home is very great. but does not happen but even if we move in that direction perhaps we will because people like convenience and it is cheaper. we have to take a long time to solve some of the other problems that would come with the. >> i am completely contrary and i believe we will see it with the proviso that term on line will be redefined and the term protein will be redefined 1a example to create something f value is wikipedia where there is over 200 million of time putting together were reputations develop a consensus about what they think is the most important information on any given topic they may not have gone into a voting booth but they voted through a process that was

collaborative and crowd source and technologically enhanced. of you think about our democracy failure to expand voting beyond a tuesday, the lack of ballot access because of technological lack of imagination and a lack of vision to create a cynically engaged society that does more than palaver but could conceivably leave a comment which may not change the votes but can you imagine the comments what would not look like after the election we have the opportunity to reinvent approaching in our lifetime to make it as we think of it today in a voting booth look like a horse-drawn buggy says to somebody. >> please join me to it thank

our panelists thank you for contributing your thoughts and insights today. each has demonstrated that broadband as a disruptive technology can energize open government initiatives and transform civic engagement of like to point* out that in our use of new on-line technology we have at the peak 100 and 35 individuals participating online over 125 individuals through the platform and 15 individuals at its peak on second line. two hour audience in washington he were joined by more than 175 others online presley close i invite and encourage each of you to continue your participation by providing your thoughts, questions and insights online at broadband dig of. thank you to each and everyone of you for being here.

i look forward to seeing you at the next workshop [inaudible conversations] s copyright national

cable satellite corp. 2009] .

>> he has been in the iraqi parliament since 2005. he is the first deputy speaker and the leader of the independent bloc in the council of representatives. he also chairs the friendship committee with the european union and it is a key figure in a coalition which was formed in the recent elections and an important member of the united iraqi alliance in parliament.

his academic career is an impressive. he has a b.a. jurisprudence and have completed graduate studies under the supervision of others. he holds two master's degrees from the university in cairo. before becoming deputy speaker, he was the chairman of a commission in iraq and has published numerous articles and books on jurisprudence and islamic law and has edited several scholarly publications. khalid al-atiya has lived in egypt, lebanon, the u.k., and of course now in iraq.

i did not introduce myself. i am a fellow. our moderator is familiar to everyone. without further ado, i will invite khalid al-atiya to take the microphone and to speak about iraq and the parliament in iraq. thank you. >> peace upon you from god.

at first i would like to thank you for this beautiful introduction. and without a doubt, she is a very distinguished iraqi personality who has played a big role in the iraqi opposition. and represented iraq as the first ambassador after the fall of the previous regime in washington.

and she is still connected -- very connected with her own country and aware of what is going on in iraq. i also would like to thank the united states institute for peace for their generous invitation to meet with people who are interested in the iraq matter.

at first i would like to bring backed the -- or view the sides of the dictatorship in iraq.

despite my article today as critical notes, it also should reflect the highlighted or the hopes of the iraqi people to build its own country. despite what has been said about this experience from both sides, the iraqi, and the american, it is worth noting that iraqis have gained the best out of -- have gained the best out of the experience so

far. which is freedom. a complete understanding of citizenry or

patriotism. loyalties to identities such as religion, political party, ethnicity, and sectarianism have continued or sustained itself and overshadowed the citizenry. the role of the staid has been reduced -- the role of the state has been reduced and

overshadowed by power. proceeding authorities or governments have tried ever since 1920 to take the population into their own and have it act that way.

despite the iraqi state having been established on a western style institution, it has build democratic institutions, as well. they have not been able to establish or crystallize a national i.d. for the population. therefore we have seen in 2003 when the u.s. has entered iraq, we feel this state has failed, by the failure of the power itself.

what has risen as their results

of the failure of citizenship or loyalty or patriotism, loyalties to sectarianism or religious or ethnic loyalties which led the american ruler at the time to adapt the democratic system, the consensus democratic system or a democratic system of consensus. and also there has been a lot of conflicts including -- excuse me

-- doubts of the future or potential doubts and conflicts over hunger for power and money. and as a result of that, the democratic consensus or concession system of democracy has been adapted by the new

constitution. i have to be brief because i think the time it is very short perio. therefore, i will focus on the negative news of the system that has been adapted by iraq. and then i will move to the vision of finding a way to get

out of this negative -- and negativity. especially we are about to get into a new period where we have a new collection and there will be a new politicians and leaders that will lead iraq. the consensus democracy have

created negative phenomena ls which led iraqis to think of a way to get out of it. first it created the consensus -- the consensus of democracy created a weak understanding of citizenship or patriotism, and affirmed the private individual identity for iraqi individuals.

sharing the power have crippled the decision making and the operating of iraq. therefore, we have seen a lot of political conflict in that period of time. as a result of the difficulty to find consensus. for example, it took about five

months to establish the iraqi government, the government of mr. maliki. and it also took about 117 days, is about four months to select the chair of the speaker of parliament. and also as a result of -- it is hard to get consensus among legislators, it had delayed

some strategic and important laws that are still on the table above parliament. despite a majority to legislate or vote these laws, they already exist. to give you another example. another example i can give you is the law of establishing regions has taken months and it has not been legislated yeps.

-- it is not been legislated yet. one law, a very important law, and the entire world has been waiting to see it. it has not been decided or legislated yet since three years ago.

the apartment of ambassadors, deputy ministers, advisors, judges has been delayed or

stopped -- the appointment of them has been stopped for years. @@@@@ on the other hand, the power- sharing have delayed the

observation role or the observing role of the parliament. it has crippled the prime minister or the government to hold the ministers accountable just because of the power- sharing system. this isn't what i think -- this is a way to have -- pushed for

iraqis to think of a better way and to develop their own political system in zero way -- in a way where there will be responsive to the needs of iraqis. especially if it needs the power or the ability to make legislation and make -- and have a rebuilding of the country.

ever since the local elections, political entities have been trying to enhance their own performance and their own operation in order to be able to operate the country in a correct

way and also to develop more. these elections have pointed out for brought out the feeling of the iraqi citizen that iraq has to stay united and have an effective government that is able to rebuild the country.

and it also has brought up the need for the formation of parties or political entities and alliances or new coalitions that are beyond the loyalties such as sectarianism and ethnicity and think of a broader picture as patriotism or citizenship.

therefore we say the need to be out of the narrow vision of the power-sharing democracy and the need -- and to move on for the need of pluralism and democracy.

therefore, there has to be a ruling mechanism in order to provide the protection for the political majority that will result out of the upcoming elections, and it also should provide protection for the political minority and the other ethnic minorities.

the most important mechanism that i see is, number one, getting rid of the power- sharing and the executive -- or the quota or power-sharing in the executive positions. and therefore it will achieve what the constitution has said in the basic principle. there for everybody will be able to reach the executive position out of the knowledge, experience.

despite whatever the loyalties of whether it is a political or ethnic. the other important elements or mechanism is basically to have the opposition participate. that does not mean leaving the power-sharing democracy, it does not mean we will not, or we will

give up national reconciliation. it also naturally it will guarantee -- it should guarantee the quota of minorities for small groups among iraqis. i think these are the important basics or principles that i think it will lead us to better

performance to its chief the reconstruction and rebuilding of iraq. as for what is related to principles of the upcoming elections, i think they must appropriate direction -- the system of open slot, which will definitely achieved a better and

precise representation of iraqi people. and it will encourage the population to come out and participate in the election. which also, i think -- which should be followed is the system -- instead of one slot -- -- i'm sort instead of one district, multiple district systems. -- i am sorry, instead of one

district, multiple district systems. this will also contributes to the precise representation of the population and it will also encourage them to widely participate in those elections. the direction of most political entities, as far as i know, in this direction of adopting the

above system. despite another important political courses, it is adapting to another point of view. but i think generally the direction in the parliament and in the streets of iraq is the system of open slots and multiple districts. at the end, i think, as i have said in the beginning, despite whatever we have seen in the previous experience in iraq,

whatever has been achied@@@@@rrd world countries.

and last is the successful agreement between iraq and the united states throughout the security treaty or agreement that has been signed by the two countries. which has given the gradual withdrawal and safe and gradual withdrawal for the american forces.

after preparing the iraqi forces and having it sufficient enough to takeover the security file. i think all of this will give us hope that iraq will continue its democratic direction. and it will affirm its own constitutional institutions, and the reestablishment of its own natural position within the international community, which

enables iraq, who has the fortune and the resources to achieve prosperity, advancement for its own people. thank you very much. >> i am going to abuse my privileges and ask the first question. if you have other questions, please line up at the microphones. i think you will find a lot of people in washington who agree with your analysis and who would

agree with your support for an open list, system in the elections. i have to tell you in meeting with maybe 25 of your members of parliament, i found no support for the open list. they were collected on a closed list. the pressures, as you mentioned, for a closed list are strong, and you cannot tell us where they come from. is there a strategy -- how are you going to put together a majority for a open list, up multiple district system?

>> the fact is, a lot of political entities have declared their support for the open list, and on top of these entities is the rocky alliances and the front of the court, and others of those entities and naturally them. this is on one hand. on the other hand, the

religious system that has a huge influence on the iraqi street have called the politicians yesterday and the council of representatives in particular to adapt the open list and the multiple districts. and i think this will represent huge pressure on politicians and it also supports the opinion of the iraqi streets to push the politicians to adopt this system.

therefore i think it will be very embarrassing for most iraqi politicians to go against the wishes of the iraqi streets on one hand and the wishes of the religious faction on the other hand. >> thank you. introduce yourself. >> i am bob with "the nation" magazine. i find ironic that you say iraqis should reduce their religious identification, and yet you were wearing a turban and you are a religious man in

politics. the kurds have a secular leaders who are like most of the leaders in the united states or the arab world who are not clergy. the same with the sudanennis. some are secular individuals. what you think the shia of iraq have so far been unable to put forward secular politicians who are not affiliated with other parties or the supreme council or another party? why is it so hard for secular politics to emerge in iraq among the shia, seems to be the only sector of the country where

people still follow that? what does a 75-year-old clergyman know about shia -- know about that? what do you think is so hard -- in the elections, it seems to me that people rejected that. >> ok. >> as i said, local elections, or the governors at the local elections have brought upper what the iraqi people want.

and the iraqi population, or rockies won a system that will keep unity -- four iraqis -- or rockiiraqis want a system that l keep unity. and at the end to go towards the building of a stage away from the narrow loyalties of political parties or ethnicity and bringing back the spirit of

unity.

the cost of the previous experiences iraqis have underwent, they're looking forward to live under a state that can bring everybody together in one stayed that could have them live peacefully.

and that is what everybody is looking forward to and get rid of the thinking of being under sectarianism or ethnicity and that includes the secularist, as well. as far as the failure of secularists being in power, it goes back to reasons of their own. >> please. >> i am with the american information network. you made a reference to the lack of patriotism in iraq. if you look at it, thereat and unnatural state. i am referring to the kurdish

question in iraq. the oil that lies under the soil of kurdistan. the desire to be free between the kurds and the arabs is real. they have been coopted not to state it. do you see checklist of akia in the future of -- d.c. a check of slovakia -- d.c. an amicable divorce?

>> the iraqi constitution has lined@@@@ own

affairs within certain limits. but that does not mean exiting out of the overall iraq. and i think all parties, whether it is the kurdish party or other arab parties, have agreed to this principle and have agreed on -- to have iraq state as one unit -- to stay as one unit. kurds are a part and important part of iraq, and they have

authorities given to them by the constitution. and they are themselves, and i heard it from their own leaders -- a firm on the unity of iraq and their part of iraq itself. and they do not wish to separate from iraq. >> i would like to take the last two questions together. >> the question of majority rule and minority rights is one of the principal problems of democracy. in the united states, we address it through judicial review. minority rights are not guaranteed through the political

process but through the guarantee of judiciary that can overturn laws that violate the constitution. you did not mention the judiciary. you only talked about the political process. you are a scholar of jurisprudence. please address the role of the judiciary in guaranteeing minority rights in iraq. what are the sources of lot you would look to? >> and your question? >> according to the constitution, it should only exist for one term and should end with the next parliamentary elections. there is a call to extend this. do you think this amendment or any other amendment will be considered in the upcoming fall term?

>> undoubtedly, the judiciary is one of the main elements in the iraqi state. and it deals with the iraqi citizen despite its belonging,

or whenever he or she comes from. so that principle of equal treatment of everybody, the iraqi minorities -- the judiciary has been dealing with them as equal as everybody else. however, the rights of the iraqi

minority are guaranteed by the constitution in terms of civil and human rights and other rights. politically, the political minorities are represented within the government now. i did not think there is any problem minorities experiencing now. in the law of local councils, they have given a quota to the minorities. >> under presidency council. .

>> [speaking in foreign language] >> and --

>> [speaking in foreign language] >> and in the next four years election term, there will be a president and possible vice- president, and the vice president will be taking authorities from the president himself. >> [speaking in foreign language] >> and within the commission of the constitutional review, there has been calling to increase the authorities of the presidency.

>> [speaking in foreign language] >> but there is no consensus on those callings, so it will be discussed in the next term. therefore by -- therefore, the constitution will stay where it is mayor -- where it is. >> you have been generous responding to our questions and questions, tough ones. -- you have been generous responding to our questions, tough ones.

>> good morning. i would like to thank you for coming. i welcome you to the 31st annual national conservative student conference at george washington university, hosted by the young america's foundation. i am an intern scholar at the foundation. it is a premier organization that educates college students on the principles of liberty, government, individual liberties, strong national defense, and traditional values. for more information, go to

www.yaf.org. i have had the benefit with working for the foundation the past three years. they have had 77 conservative speakers. you all can have great success with the foundation. i am very excited for our next speaker. herman cain is an accomplished speaker and writer on leadership, motivation, national and economic policy and he is the american dream. godfather's pizza was performing poorly before he became the president and transformed it by providing focus and getting people personally engaged in the turnaround. he empowered the leadership skills and every individual in the organization. for his efforts, he was hailed by the wall street journal and business week as a visionary leader. he's been called a new voice for common sense, urging business leaders to stand up and fight against a government reregulation and

taxation. he was the chair of the federal bank in kansas. he's been engaged with national debates on fiscal and government policies. his website is www.hermancain. com. he is a radio host in atlanta and can be heard weeknights. join me in welcoming mr. herman cain. [applause] >> good morning. good morning. >> good morning. >> that is a lot better. it is about to get loud in here. tony is a good friend, but tony is a mild-mannered, great guy. we are very good friends. i've enjoyed his comments. i'm glad to be here with you

today. like many of the other speakers that have probably commented on this, i am glad to see that some conservatives are still alive on college campuses in america. [applause] thank you. there is hope. this is encouraging. many of you will recognize these words. "we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men and women are created equal. that they are endowed by their creator or with certain unalienable rights. that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. but it did not say anything about the department of happy located in washington. it says