before the end of last year. [cheers and applause] time for someone to stand up and lead. and it is time to quit blaming the american people. time for the people in congress to quit blaming us, the american people. take a look in the mirror and figure out i will return the country to the greatness we know it can be. [cheers and applause] may be what they should be doing instead of telling everyone for all, they should be trying to figure out what they're doing is so successful. it's time to get it right. and if it does shut down, just a member, it's the governments fault. is congress' fault and the white house this fall. i wants you to remember what being. if you remember nothing else here today, remember this. i'll were doing -- all the tea

party peaches are doing, the american people were asking congress to cut less than three pennies out of every dollar they spend. let's hear from some of the people who are willing to leave him or her doing the they can in these halls and a little later we're going to talk to them face-to-face and make sure they're listening to us. our first speaker is congressman jim jordan who's the chairman of the republican study committee. [cheers and applause] >> thank you. thanks for being here. go buckeyes, yeah. two weeks ago i had the opportunity to go to independence hall. and when you walk in there and you imagining your mind by jefferson in fact, were adam, and claims that and what these

men did when they started this grand experiment of liberty we call america. and you think about the declaration that was put together if they are signed, these guys wrote and i tell folks next to scripture the next us towards a non-paper is we self-evident. all are created equal with inalienable rights. when you think about what to base their comments truly amazing is that i called the united states of america, greatest country in history. and then you contrast the action in the words and the wisdom of the founders with what we're hearing in the united states senate by senator schumer, was more interested in playing politics in the future of the country which is truly a state, where he says saving money for tax years as extreme. i mean, think about that. you think about these guys who put in contrast that with so

many politicians today, were worth $61 billion as extreme? i mean, you've all but the numbers. with that of $14 trillion national debt, $1.6 trillion deficit. the largest monthly deficit in american history, 220,000,000,061,000,000,000 in savings for you to tax payer of the american people is somehow extreme? in maine, we talked about this before we came over. if this represents the amount of money were going to buy this year, 61 billion is about that much. and if this card represents the entire budget, we're talking about that much in savings. this is a good first step in if they characterize it as extreme. last night we heard -- we listen to a guy give a speech. maybe part of the sky, christopher steve. you ever heard of that kia? [cheers and applause]

and he made a point. he said you know, we're at a point in american city at the president and author we need petri nets, not patrons. i learned a long time ago that if you want to accomplish anything of meaning or significance got to get in the game. on the sidelines, nothing much happens. you've got to be willing to get off the sidelines and out of the shadows and into the game. i want to thank you for doing that. or at a critical point in american history and you are making a huge difference in helping us that the country back on the right path. i'll just finish with this. i have my -- i had a coach in high school come and ask my parents had the biggest impact in my life with anyone. he was the toughest teacher at our school. retyped chemistry and physics. toughest wrestling coach in the state of ohio. this is no exaggeration. everyday he talked about this. you've got to be disciplined

about preparing the night before and doing homework. in the wrestling room, you want to excel for sport you've got to have self-discipline. the most important quality necessary. there are days we've got to be quiet. he's saying what my dad says every day at home. i did great definition. hanks and are wrestling room at our school. he said doing what you don't want to do when you don't want to do appear to be sicker than meant doing things coaches like and that doing things the right way with a brother to them that a convenient way. i've only been washed in a few years, but one thing i've seen is that politicians love to do things anyway. it's so convenient to canned on the road and kind of keep spending and playing around the edges. what a point in american history where we have to do the tough thing, the discipline thing. we could do with the american people are doing, small business owners.

we actually have to live within our means and began to cut spending. i know we're going to do it because she'll help us send a message to the united states. we're serious about the budget. we need the full amount of savings that can take the first step towards fixing the country and making sure that the founders on this on this place, we can hand it to her kids come in the great country they envisioned for us a thank you and god bless. [cheers and applause] >> thank you, congressman jordan for pushing to the hundred billion year colleagues pledged to us. next recall for that freedom ring i want to rescue one thing. the camera crew -- holger signed up for when i come not just put them down. we're live broadcast and broadcast and we see standing to leave, so that we people can see it all across america. >> things, jennings asked. you know you're in the news today. here's what abc news said this morning on their thing.

is this a tea party has emerged -- as the bogeyman of budget negotiations on capitol hill. well, good morning boogie man. [applause] and the women. absolutely. listen, you're going to hear a lot of people trying to put these budget cuts into perspective today. here's one way to look at it. let's assume that you're in trouble with your bank and your bank says, wait a minute, we've got to call in an expert in look at your income and your outgo. and they finished their calculations and they say, you know, you're spending $16,000 a year more than you're taking in. but the number we can relate to. we don't understand one point extra in her 61 billion, but we

can understand 16,000. for now let's imagine that you turn around and say to the bank, yes, i am spending 16,000 more than a take and, but i've got a solution. solution is i am going to cut my spending by $610. well, that's exactly what the bank would do. they would laugh. well guess what? this time aroundcoming for the bank. at least her half the bank and the chinese or the other half of the bank. so i'll tell you what's really extreme. as extreme as the senate that can understand this. they don't have their hands on a period even 100 billion that was in the pledge, that's not enough. in our little example, that would translate to $1000 or one 16th of the problem. we have got to change the culture entirely. we've got to commend leaders like congressman jordan and

congressman king who is coming later and congresswoman thought meant and even the republican leadership. they're doing the right thing and changing the direction of spending, but they've got to go further. so i ought to wrap it up by asking you to join me and a chance that hopefully will be loud enough that they can hear it up there on the hill, that i guarantee you they have never heard before. here's the chance. we want less. join me in that. we want less. we want less. we want less >> thank you, ladies and gentlemen. >> thank you very much, colin. next we have congressman steve king from iowa. [cheers and applause] >> thanks, jennie bass.

thanks, colin. and thanks for coming out. some say it's a dreary day. that's not going to stop us. we've got a country to save. it lifts my heart to sing the national anthem here with you and start to soften this plays center to other symbols for the whole greatness of america here in the city. ..

and we want it back mr. president, we want it back, and united states senate. [chanting "we want it back!"] and 87 freshmen here and the quick reaction force to take it back. [cheering] and every one of them ran on the repeal of obamacare and every one of them voted to repeal obamacare and over the united states senate every republican voted to repeal obamacare, too. the market has been put down. he fought the fight and cuts out of this fiscal year and the

freshman stood up and fought the battle and came to a number it calculates out for the full year but its 61.5 billion. that's where the fight came down on h.r. one. that's the account we've taken. let's hold it. general rose manning and army and training at around this city and the beginning of the civil war lincoln wasn't pleased because he didn't want to fight. you've to pick the ground you want to fight on, that's this continuing resolution and you want to fight when your army is as strong as it can possibly be. that was a month ago but it's still now so this is the time, this is the ground we need to fight on this continuing resolution, we need to fight on the 61.5 billion on the proposal on the u.n. funding planned parenthood.

[cheering] and we are going to hear from him in a minute and we need to fight on cutting off the funding that implements obamacare. [cheering] so here's my pledge i stood in front of my colleagues this morning and said if you choose to fight on the 61.5 billion i will stand and fight with you. and if mike pence is we're going to fight on funding for planned parenthood, i will stand and fight with you. [cheering] and if we choose to fight to cut off all funding to implement obamacare the $105.5 billion i will fight with them. [cheering] and if we choose to fight on on funding obamacare if we choose not to fight their then i will fight alone but i'm going to fight obamacare until it's gone. i want my money back and forget

to have your constitutional rights back. i'm going to have them back and we can put up until we get them back. god bless you all. [cheering] thank you, a congressman and now we have congressman mike pence from indiana. jericho i'm mike pence, from indiana, the two-party patriots americans tell all welcome back to your nation's capital. [cheering] with a deficit this year of $1.65 trillion in the national debt of $14 trillion a defiant

little majority in the senate it's time to pick a fight. [cheering] in 2010 the american people send a deafening message to both political parties in washington, d.c.. they said it's time to end of the borrowing and spending and the bailout's and to end of the congress of nancy pelosi once and for all. [cheering] and you did it. and house republicans have gone to work since being awarded the majority again. we cut our budgets. we repealed obamacare lot of stock and barrel on the floor of the house of representatives, and we voted to cut spending to the pre-stimulus bailout levels, defunding obamacare and ending all public funding for planned parenthood of america.

[cheering] [applause] but house republicans have run headlong into harry reid. harry reid took to the floor of the senate and said that our modest down payment on fiscal discipline was reckless, irresponsible, mean spirited, she even defended federal funding for the cowboy poetry institute of nevada. the truth is they just don't get. they don't understand the party's over for the liberals of washington, d.c.. [cheering] the american people are demanding that we change the fiscal direction of the government, but i have to tell you i learned a long time ago things don't change here in washington, d.c. until they have

to. we've got to say to harry reid and liberals in the senate this far and no farther. we have to borrow a line from harry and say that stops here. [cheering] you know, and if liberals in the senate would rather play political games and shut down the government instead of making a small down payment on fiscal discipline and reform, i say shut it down. [cheering] nobody wants the government shut down that if we want to get and we are going to shut down the future for our children and grandchildren and make no mistake about that, this is a defining moment for the majority of congress. not that $61 billion of cuts is

anything to write home about, except in the chest a down payment maybe it's just earnest money on research in fiscal discipline, but it's a start and it's a first step and will be the first win for tax payers that could set the stage for larger victories on battling against the debt ceiling increase without fundamental reform, battling for the budget in the long-term vision for fiscal discipline and setting the nation back on the halfway towards constitutional limited government. you know, sometimes even small steps aboard the taken can change history like it did christmas night, 1776. the harsh winter storm settled in the delaware valley, public support for the war was waning and troops were weary and demoralized and a general conceived of a bold and daring

plan he would pick a fight in the dead of night, taken directly to the enemy so they boarded the boat, crossed the great river and they won the day. by historical standards, washington's crossing was a small event. on that might 2400 americans fought 1500 haitians and the battle lasted a couple of hours. bye contrast, 115,000 men fought a terrible battle and continued for a day, battle of the bulge involved more than a million men and went on for a month. but while the victory was not a great battle, it was a battle of great consequence. history records that was a defining moment in our still young nation. that small victory brought by the continental army showed the victory was in our reach. the americans were still willing

to fight it rekindled the fire of independence and set the stage for the larger victories to follow. it's not against an implacable enemy and we will not hear compared with three contest with political debate the principle was the same by picking a fight and winning this one small step towards fiscal discipline in washington, d.c. the american people will see that victory over deficits and debt is within our reach, that we can fight and win and we can restore limited government at the national level and so we must fight. [applause] republicans must show we are worthy of this moment to be equal to the crisis, willing to stop, turn and squarely face the

mountain range of debt that threatens our children's future and squarely face all of those who defend the status quo. if harry reid wants to fight, let's give it to him. [cheering] democrats in the senate may think they have the advantage, but let me assure you it only seems that way. a minority in the senate plus the american people equals the majority. and no this, men and women, whenever you take a stand for freedom, for future generations, for traditional values, you do not fight alone. he who still is the waters, who clears the guice flow on the delaware will make a way for

america because he's not done with america yet. [cheering] let's go pick a fight. [cheering] thank you, chris van pence, and i want to thank everybody for out here today for giving a tour de and getting to d.c. again. we have groups from pennsylvania, virginia, ohio, massachusetts, are they here? , georgia, wisconsin, west virginia, california. this is great. thank you. thank you. this is our fight, and we are going to make it. we have our next speaker as

cathy, a grass-roots activist from ohio. [applause] thank you. >> good afternoon everyone. first i would like to give a patriotic heartfelt think you to representative bachmann, jordan and representative king. i feel forever indebted to them for what they've been doing for us lately in the house. the first time i learned about obamacare being fully funded the next eight years was through michele bachman on the sean hannity show and i have to tell you i was pretty angry because i did not know that this bill was being funded without the knowledge and consent of the people or their elected representatives. and the last time i checked, it was of the people, by the people and for the people, not over, under and around the people. but there were 54 representatives who recently

broke away from the leadership and took a strong stand. they refused to vote in support of the last cr because it didn't remove 105 billion from obamacare. and they simply said to the congress a familiar phrase, hell no, we won't go. they are truly the heroes of the house and i want to thank them all and then to know that america has your back. [cheering] it was made clear with absolutely no doubt, with absolutely no question the american people said through on the brakes, let's go in reverse. we must make serious cuts to the budget. we must not raise the debt ceiling and we must defund obamacare. [cheering] i wrote all day yesterday on a

greyhound bus from ohio. i live in john boehner's district and i got up at 4:30 in the morning and i got here last night at 10:00 at night and there's only one reason i did that and that is because i love my country. i love my country with a capital li love my country and right now i picture my country on the edge of a cliff and with such little effort it could be pushed off the side. and everything that i hold dear and everything that i cherish will be lost. the leadership is worried about a government shut down and future elections and to me that is like a house burning to the ground and the republicans won't put out a fire because they are afraid water might splash on a nearby house. i say to the republican leadership to gough your lease panties, stop being noodle

backed, take a strong the bold unwavering stand for and with the american people. [laughter] our republic depends on you. thank you. [applause] [cheering] >> thank you so much, cathy. i think we have someone you're going to enjoy hearing from, congresswoman michele bachman. [cheering] >> hello everyone, good to see you. thank you for coming. [cheering] you are a sight for sore eyes. thank you. thank you for coming. you know, it is your heart that i love. you have such a wonderful part. thank you for coming today come to the party patriots. we love you. [cheering] and harry reid thinks you're the

problem. i think those cowboy poetry festival for the problem. [cheering] what do you think? i'm so glad to see your faces and it is so wonderful to see that all of you are still fighting. there are people here in washington, d.c. who fought after the november election that your all going to go home and go back to sleep; is that true? >> no. >> in fact what i have seen across america you are paying more attention now than ever. [cheering] because you have an investment in what is happening in washington, d.c.. you made the difference, you knock on doors, you made phone calls, you donated to campaigns, you sent your voice to washington, d.c., and you expect that your voice will be heard. and i agree with you.

well, it's no surprise to me and i think you the power here in washington, d.c. specifically in the white house have been wrong about a few things. >> wrong about everything. >> wrong about everything is that it? you can always count on the tea party to get it right. [cheering] well remember the head of commons? they promised we would see unemployment not go below 8% if we just spent a trillion dollars of your money. were they right? they were wrong. you're right. then they promised the health care law we would create jobs and would bring down the price of your health insurance premium by $2,500 per household. were they right? >> nope. >> we've increased 20%, 40%, and some cases even higher. 242, they are not doing real well. then we were promised this would

be the most transparent congress -- >> i think you have an opinion, is the right? and then they forgot to tell us a little fact that there was $105 billion buried in the obamacare legislation. >> [booing] >> have they been transcript? >> no. >> okay that's three fer three. how about this promise, president obama promised when he was running for the white house that he would make energy prices necessarily skyrocket. has he kept that promise? yes, he has. he's getting his wish, this is exactly what the president was hoping. we've got gas at $4 a gallon, and we know that his energy sector terrie weigel the president was running for office was reported to have said we've got to make the price of energy here in the united states the same as in the united kingdom or

the european countries which have that time was approximately $8 a gallon. would you like that? >> nope. >> that's their plan. that's their plan. >> [inaudible] >> okay let them move there. would that be an idea? [laughter] maybe we need to send a change of address form to 1600 pennsylvania avenue. [cheering] i think you've made it abundantly clear, stop spending money you don't have. but president obama doesn't seem to get it. the big spenders don't seem to get it. we are headed for an annual deficit this year bigger than anything we've ever seen and we have had a couple of them in the last two years. we had 1.4 trillion, a 1.3 trillion, does anyone know

what it will be this year? 1.65 trillion every year going forward until 2020, over a trillion dollars. is this the hope and change we were hoping for? who is ready for true hope and change? i like you guys. [laughter] i'm with you. how many times can these big spenders and the president be wrong? every time, that's right. every time. but that's why we are here. that's why we are fighting and that's why i know that you are not going to walk away from this fight. because i know that you are here to hold all of us accountable and you represent so many people, everyone of you here represents essentially a community that column of people who are thankful to you can be here today because all of the other people are out working

today to be able to pay their taxes. i feel it's time to get serious, don't you? and cutting 61 billion in my opinion is a starting point. it is not the goal. because taking a vote to repeal obamacare is a good start it can't just be our goal. we have to actually repeal it and actually defunded. [cheering] and cutting off funding to groups like planned parenthood has to be one of those issues we are just not going to back down from. [cheering] because we can't afford anything less than a fight on these important issues and if the democrats want to shut governor down, and this week we found out from harry reid, chuck schumer and howard dean that they've got their fingers crossed right now that the government will shut down.

that's their plan. they want to shut the government down, and they want to turn you into their scapegoats and say that it's the tea party's fault for shutting the government down. >> [booing] >> now the cat is out of the bag. we know who had no interest in negotiating. it's harry reid, it is the liberals over in the senate and they want to once again for two years it's been the same song second verse. it's always the tea party's fault, right? what i like about you is whenever i'm with you i feel like it is a family reunion. i feel like we are going to the state fair. you don't even leave later afterwards. [cheering] you're just awesome. you are awesome people. no wonder they are so afraid of you. they are afraid of you because you are powerful. so i'm here to give you a message stay courageous, and i know you will. don't back down, and i know you

won't. we will stand for cutting the size of government. we won't change our principles. we are going to say no to another debt ceiling increase. we are not going there. [cheering] we are going to bring the government back to you, we, the people, that's the government hour founding fathers gave us. stand strong, told us accountable. we love you. thank you, everyone, thank you for coming. thank you, tea party patriots. [cheering] >> thank you, congresswoman bachmann. next, we have david -- >> michele? [inaudible] >> all right, next week of david

smith, is that correct, from -- i just ruined his name. he's from pittsburg and he has shom something to show you so let's hear it for david? [cheering] [applause] >> i don't know how a non-politician can follow michele bachman. ayman as grassroots as it gets. we drove from self of pittsburgh today to be here. this is and our first time down. we are coming from a very traditionally liberal area, southwestern pennsylvania, can you imagine that? i have with me, altman and karen is with one of our groups also, from a group called the patriots. we just want to let you know our founding fathers gave us the greatest country with the grace of god gave us the greatest

country that the world has ever seen, and i think when ben franklin said we give you a republican keep it i think he was talking to us today. i truly believe that. and, you know, not everyone can drive to d.c. every time the turnaround. we have a very small part, so i brought some friends with us. [cheering] >> these are the conservatives and liberals from our area. everyone is upset. [cheering] the 2010 election was monumental. it was a tremendous show, but if you think was big wait until we showed in 3g in 2012. [cheering] thank you, everyone for coming, god bless.

>> thank you, david. if you want to sign this afterwards seeking add during to the list. next we have congressman louis gohmert from texas. [applause] [cheering] >> well it's great to be here with you. i'm telling you what, you bring calcium to those who need it for their backbones. [cheering] you make a difference. you know, for so long in washington when somebody had some little idea that we needed to throw money at the would always add at the end it's for the children. i'm telling you what, you know this or you wouldn't be here,

what you're doing, we are doing standing up against this incredibly excessive spending is truly for the children, right? now, if you dug a hole so deep that it would be tough to get out, is it helpful to keep digging even deeper? if you pay so much in taxes that you work for months each year to pay the government, does it help to add another several months to how much you work for the government? if everything the government controls takes longer, is less efficient and less caring about the consequences do you really want the government handling your health care?

if the federal government says you cannot stop it from spending more money, could you say yes we can stop it? if the federal bureaucrats say you cannot stop us from sending jobs overseas because of how much we over regulate, would you say? yes, we can! if the epa says you cannot brief out carbon dioxide without our permission, what do you say? yes, we can! with democrats in the senate and the white house say you cannot stop us from hiring 18,000 more agents to control your lives, what do you say? yes, we can! when the president says you cannot stop me from creating a new president controlled commissioned officer corps in my

obamacare bill, what do you say? yes, we can! when the president stops playing golf long enough to 66 [laughter] -- we cannot say no to whatever the u.n. asks, what do you say? yes, we can! when the president says we cannot avoid helping those who want to destroy us, what do you say? yes, we can! when the president by action says we cannot avoid hurting israel, what do you say? >> yes, we can! when the president says we can't avoid paying our enemies billions of dollars to drill in their country, what do you say? >> yes, we can! does the united states have more natural energy resources than any country in the world but our president says you cannot use them, what do you say? >> yes, we can!

>> when the president says you cannot keep me from making your lectures the costs skyrocket what do you say? >> yes, we can! -- when the president says you can't keep me from giving away your tax dollars to buy corporate buddies, what do you say? >> yes, we can! >> when the president says will street gave me four times more money than it contributed to my republican opponent so you cannot keep me from making them even richer, what do you say? >> yes, we can! >> when the democratic senators -- twice a centers? the democratic senators say that we only promised to cut spending so you would vote for us, but you can't force us to keep our promises, what do you say? >> yes, we can! >> let me read directly from the republican pledge last fall.

with common sense exceptions for seniors, veterans and our troops, we will let the government spending to the pre-stimulus, pre-bailout levels, that's down about 2.4 billion or trillion, saving at least 100 billion in the first year alone that's what the pledge says. so there's no mistake. it says we will say the least 100 billion. you rolled back to the pre-bailout, priest and nellis levels than it is more like 1.5 trillion. so let me ask you, can we keep that pledge? >> yes, we can! >> let me just tell you -- no kidding, we better because if we don't, we deserve to be thrown out of office. and let me tell you, for people

who don't keep that pledge, you need to keep stores and throw us out of office, right? [cheering] can you do that? >> yes, we can! >> i'm telling you from the bottom of my heart, if you will do that, we can save this country for our children and their children, and if we don't keep that pledge, it will be our fault and you get us out of here. thank you. god bless you so much. [cheering] >> thank you, congressman. and our next speaker from virginia beach is cassidy donelson.

>> i'm from virginia beach but my husband is in the military so we have been everywhere are around this country. >> thank you for coming! >> we have met a lot of people as we have travelled around this country. and as i have travelled, and talked with tea parties across the country that people who sacrificed time, money and energy and are contributing their talent, expertise and resources to bring this country back to what made a great, the constitution. [cheering] sound financial principles and free markets. as i look out at you today, i know that you have sacrificed to be here and i want you to know your sacrifice matters and it is making a difference. thank you. patriots of the tea party movement often look back to the founding fathers of this country

for guiding fundamental principles and inspiration. these are men whose names are well known, george washington, john adams, benjamin franklin, all have become symbols of strong sound government principles. before the iconic names were people who risked everything, sometimes sacrificed everything to begin a life where they could own the fruits of their labors and live their own beliefs. ownership. you put in the work, you reap the reward, this is the american dream. there have been times in the country's history when the dream mutated during the roaring 20's people played fast and loose with their credit, agreed and speculation the firm wall street. for the most part, government got out of the way and the house of cards came crashing down and we crashed. during the great depression, people were forced to live within their means oftentimes

scrambling for basic necessities and competing heavily for any job. but they came out of it, self-government, hard-working and financially responsible. in contrast a few years ago when i lived in michigan i spoke with a man who was very wealthy due to his high paid position at a major american car company. he was married and had two children. his goal, his american dream was that he would become so wealthy that his children would never have to work. how many of us dream we could have fortune without work? how many children do their homework and chores not because of the value of education and work but so they can vegetate in front of a tv show or video-game? the politicians we he liked serve as a mirror for the values the citizens as house. as the people of this country have wandered away from sound financial principles we have

elected leaders who spent frivolously regardless of whether the checkbook balances red or black. as the people of this country are the allies reward without work, our government has inched toward entitlement, the allowance and handouts until now. the households of this country have tightened their belts and we expect our politicians to tighten it as well. we will not stand idly by as our politicians spend our freedom away. congress has been kicking the can down the road looking for the next payday loan from the proverbial money tree. it's time to stop shuttling up to the teller a month after month and balance the checkbook we gave them. it will take time but all sustainable progress moves gradually. and gradually we will put politicians in office to reflect our value of hard work, living

within our means and respecting the constitution of this country [cheering] we will be like and support leaders who reflect the original true american dream. god bless. [cheering] >> thank you. the next speaker is congressman joe walsh from illinois! [cheering] >> a proud freshman from the president's home state. [cheering] let me do something terribly unusual for a politician. i'm going to take 45 seconds and that's it because you know what? we have a line of honorable the speaker is and you know what? we don't have much more time than 45 seconds. i'm one of these now eve freshman who came here to get things done.

i don't want to stay here my entire life, a term limit dhaka. we don't have a lot of time. i turned down my health benefits, i turned down my pension benefits, i came here not leave because i wanted to play my role in saving this country for our kids and grandkids. i've got 15 seconds left. folks, we do not have a lot of time. our kids and grandkids are going to be indentured servants. we will never speak to them, they won't speak to us unless we turn this around right away. the president in the white house has no clue, he doesn't get it, the senate democrats are in denial your house republicans

understand. your house republicans understand, the you know what? here is what most politicians never understand, the world didn't start with them. this movement to take back this country didn't start with them, it started with you, it will grow with you and succeed with you. we don't have a lot of time. pastore house republicans on the back when you can. tell us good job but you know what come have the bucher ready. patau us on the back, we are doing the best we can, but have ted deutch ready to put that boot somewhere the sun doesn't shine. keep us going. we don't have a lot of time. keep the pressure on knous and

we will do right by you. god bless. thank you all for coming. thank you. [cheering] [applause] >> thank you, congressman walsh. next, we have congressman tom graves from georgia. [applause] >> well on behalf of the georgia nine freedom fighters, i want to say hello to you. we welcome you here today. i tell you, being here today has taught me to think back a little bit. think back to maybe a couple of centuries ago when we had the founding fathers, these patriots. you think about one specific account where, against all odds, you had a young man who was born into poverty who had to go to work to support his mother who

was widowed and support his brother. and at the young age of 25, he found himself standing next to george washington outside of boston. the british have been held up for a little while and they knew they needed one of your step, one other element to get out, and so looking to this young man, henry knox, he said we need some artillery. who's willing to stand up? and henry said i will do it. so he took his band of friends and they traveled hundreds of miles to get the canons that were necessary, and the went to the fort begot the cannons. and it took almost eight weeks to get back to george washington, and they try first every kind of country that you could imagine, for this, swamps, frozen rivers, snowdrift, anything you could imagine, all elements against them. and of course we know the rest of the story. it was the pivotal point in our great history. and there was a van when they had the artillery the country

began as we move forward and had a victory in boston. why did henry knox step up? because he believed all along with the other sons of liberty that there was a cause, there was an idea i was going to be called this great and glorious cause called america. he seized the moment, and i'm here to tell you to do this is our moment. it is time for us to seize this moment. so i'm here to tell you that sees it and stand together to get so, when the left wants to attack the conservatives and the tea party, we are going to stand together. when they say you can't cut any more spending that is too close to the bone or maybe it's extreme, we are going to stand together. when they say free markets to work, capitalism is false and government is the solution, we

are going to stand together. so today we have a decision to make. the decision is clear, we are at a point we can either build upon our greatness as a nation or feed off in history. and i'm here with you today because we are going to build upon our greatness and seize the moment. we are going to stand together and we are going to do that on behalf of the next generation. thank you. god bless you. [cheering] >> thank you. next we have andrew langer from the institute for liberty. [applause] [cheering] >> you know it's funny coming up during one of these events and coming up after steve king and meshaal bachmann and toledo word and others it's kind of like the guy that went on after the

beatles on ed sullivan. it's amazing. you know, it's funny because we come to these events, and it always seems that it's raining and wet and cold, and you all are the hardiest bunch of americans that are out there so think you all for coming out. i'm supposed to be briefed today, and i will be because you all know why can talk. we all have our crops. this $30 billion that they're talking about is not a compromise. it is an insult to each and every one of you, not just those of us in the tea party. it's an insult. i want to put it in perspective. everybody has their props. this is institute for liberty stadium here. about 91 colin 92,000 people. if this, my friends, were the federal budget, you see the

black square in the bleachers in the nosebleed seats clacks that a little bit is what they are talking about cutting. that is their grand compromise >> [booing] >> is a compromise? are we going to stand for it? are we going to fight? muskett fighting. thank you very much. [cheering] >> how was too fast. i wasn't ready. [laughter] okay, next we have from washington, d.c. ben kessler. [applause] >> welcome to the nation's capital. you know, here as a person who has been a part of the problem. i wasn't watching what my government was doing.

but now i'm part of the solution. thank you all for being here. i want to tell you a little personal story. i was in a meeting a few months ago while the budget cuts were going on and some of the representatives who were here today came to speak to us and they were -- they looked like they were really beaten up. so i just can't imagine all of these great people what they have to do just to do the right thing, just to save the country to make cuts in a budget that is so large, so onerous, we have to do is give them help. we have to elect more people like the ones in the freshman class. [applause] we have to take back the senate and in 2012, the presidency.

that's the only way we are going to save our country. so we can do it. we are only for 2-years-old we need a lot of progress and we have a long way to go but we are all resolved that we are going to do this. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you. next we have congressman jack duncan from south carolina. i don't know about you all but i'm hot and it's not because of this mine war march the we have, it's what i see going on in washington, d.c.. it's why i ran for office to fight the policies coming out of the nation's capital and in south carolina let me tell you we spell poor with one o bankrupting this country. we are still fighting those

policies every day and i am blessed to be part of the 87 freshman class fighting for you but let me tell you, there are as joe said they are in denial about the debt, 14 print $3 trillion, they are in denial about the deficit, the third year in a row of a trillion dollar access. $1.5 trillion deficit. we need an aa program for the spending denial their we have in washington, d.c.. [cheering] ronald riggins of a lot of good things but he said the future isn't for the faint of heart it's for the bold and we have to be bold. the bold color which made it unmistakably clear where we stand on these issues. rall regan also said we were the first revolution in the history of man that changed this government with three little words. we, the people.

thank you for all that you are doing. let's send a message to the administration the we don't need to drill there and here we need to drill here american energy independence. we need to rein in this federal debt. we need to create surpluses and cut the spending in sanity. the we see in washington, d.c.. thank you for what you do and for your support, god bless you and america. [applause] [cheering] >> thank you, congressman. next, we have from pennsylvania [applause] >> gough where? that's the problem. good afternoon everybody. my name is rob and i just want to let you know, we are doing

out here is important. 26 months ago, i was like you getting mad every night wondering what was going on. and then i heard the rant and said that we've got to do with how we do it? about a week or two weeks later i got this call from a lady named diana asking me to join to go to a party in west philadelphia, and i went. and i've been here ever since. i've been here through the health care fight and every other fight we have had the last three years, but i'm here to tell you what we need to do is keep fighting. [applause] we don't have a choice. i am a father, grandfather, uncle and husband. i want to give my kids, my

grandkids a country they can be proud of and not one that they are ashamed of and wishing what the heck did he do. we are doing everything we can put we have to get those people out there to do it. [applause] we have to kick the can down the road. what we tell you what i'm going to do. i'm going to take in 2012 i'm going to kick some democrats cans down the road. [cheering] that's what we have to do. so everything we are doing, harry reid and nancy pelosi and barack obama think that this is going to die out, though we are just going to go away, we are not going anywhere. we can't afford to lose this fight or to stop this fight. so, everyone this year, thinking from the bottom of my heart. and diana, thank you for the

phone call 26 months ago. thank you. [applause] >> speaking of thinking by emi, i want to let you know i didn't formally introduce diana was one of my fellow national coordinators from pennsylvania, and she is helping today. thank you. [applause] [cheering] this is totally impromptu, so next we have -- i'm sorry, thank you, rob. next we have from idaho congressman labrador. [applause] [cheering] >> good afternoon. im raul labrador. [laughter] and i am one of those guys that wasn't supposed to win. i am one of those guys who was outspent five africa one and it's in my primary until that he

party decided to endorse me by 1.10 points. [cheering] i was outspent by a so-called blue dog democrat 7-1, and by 1.10%. [cheering] i was a republican legislature in the idaho house of representatives, and i was the tea partier before there was the tea party. i believe the republican party needs to remember why we got elected. we got elected because we made some promises to the american people. we told you we were going to cut spending. we were going to cut the deficit, and stop borrowing money, and we need to remember those things because that's why we are here. we are here because we told the

american people the truth, we told the american people that we are in trouble, we are broke. i am the author of five children, and i worry about their future. just like i know you were real about their future. i came from a single-parent home. i was an only child. i had no money growing up. but my mother taught me that if i worked hard, played by the rules, and i did everything that i was supposed to do, i would be successful in life. and that's exactly right. that's what america is all about. [applause] and we have too many people here who forget that there's people struggling. if you go to a restaurant in washington, d.c. on a tuesday night, it's full. if you go to a restaurant in idaho, there's empty seats because people are struggling. they are having a hard time putting food on the table, so it's about time that we remember what america is about.

america is the greatest nation on the earth. [cheering] it is the most powerful nation on the earth, and it is powerful not because of the government. it is powerful because of its people. [cheering] [applause] we have been told that we have to act like adults, we've been told we have to do the same thing that people have been doing for 40 years. if acting like an adult is going to lead to a 14 trillion-dollar debt, its acting like an adult is going to lead to $1.5 trillion of deficit spending, if acting like an adult is going to lead to $3.6 billion every single day that we are borrowing, i would rather be a child. [cheering]

because it's about time that we told the american people and the people here in washington, d.c. the we cannot continue spending. we cannot continue borrowing money, we cannot continue doing the things we are doing and taxing people out of american prosperity and out of their future. [cheering] we need your help. we need you to stand with us. we need you to go back home and elect people that are going to do the right thing. [cheering] [applause] and we need to make sure that you understand we believe in you as you believe in us and we will do everything we can to make america once again the strongest nation, the best mentioned, and may god bless you and god bless america. [cheering] ..

>> hey. [whistles blowing] [crowd cheering] >> some backbone has come to washington. [crowd cheering] >> suppose we need some backbone right now. thanks for showing up. i'm just so thankful for what you did in the last cycle, i didn't be standing next to senator rand paul if it weren't for the tea parties in kentucky and all over the country. we have some great reinforcements here in the senate that are changing things, as well as in the house. it wouldn't have happened

without you. i want to say one thing and turn it over to senator paul. our country is in trouble. 2012 could be our last chance to get it right. and we are not going to get it right unless americans rise up, stand up, speak out on every street corner across the country as you have been doing. and we need to invite you to invite many, many others to come out, let their voices be heard, because we can win this thing. there are many good freedom solutions, this is not a doomsday scenario for america. we can solve our problem, only if we get people who understand that this country runs on principals of freedom, not on the government controlling every aspect of our lives. folks, thanks for being here. come back as often as you can. [crowd cheering] [whistles blowing] >> thank you.

thank you, senator demint. they said washington would co-op the tea party. [laughter] >> two weeks before we were sworn in with the leadership of senator demint, we got rid of earmarks. [crowd cheering] >> even the president now says he's going to veto any bill with earmarks. who's co-oping whom? [crowd cheering] >> harry reid says the tea party is over. >> he's over. [crowd booing] >> anybody ever seen harry reid at a tea party? >> planning his retirement. >> love to. >> he's right over there. i kid you not i'm walking over there to sit down in his office with him. let's hear a little noise to see if he can hear us in his office.

[crowd cheering] >> 2010 was just the beginning. [crowd cheering] >> the debate has changed. instead of talking about where they are going to spend, we are talking about where we are going to cut. but it's not enough. all of the proposals on the table are for cutting the rate of increase in spending. we have to really cut spending. we have to embrace constitutional, limited government. we need to send responsibilities back to the states. [crowd cheering] >> we face serious crisis. i think we have a debt crisis looming on the horizon.

but i believe that we can surmount any problem. we can climb any hill. i believe as ronald reagan said that government is not the solution to the problem, government is the problem. [crowd cheering] >> the fight is just beginning. keep their feet to their fire. call them. e-mail them. let them know that you are prepared for america to move forward, but only by balancing the budget and making government smaller. thank you very much. keep up the fight. [crowd cheering] [whistles blowing] >> thank you, senator. next we have our grassroots activist, phil rap from richmond

tea party. >> good afternoon. thanks for coming. phil rap with the richmond tea party. boogeyman. i've been called a lot of things. i like that. we're in the 7th district. the 8,000 activist are in the same district as eric cantor. despite the overwhelming outcome, we handed it back to the majority. the lack of action has been entirely unacceptable. there have been no obvious comprehensive plan presented to address the physical catastrophe, excuse me, that our nation is facing. the national debt that we've heard the numbers over and over this morning of $14.1 trillion, annual deficit of $1.6 trillion. and all that's been proposed so

far is $61 billion in spending cuts. [crowd booing] >> that will reduce the debt by a meaningless and whopping .43 percent. making matters worse, an amendment offered by representative marsha blackmon and jim jordan, we have added $20 billion to get us to the $100 billion which we were originally promised. congressman cantor, along with 90 other house republicans voted against it. what's it going to take to get the message to these folks? while we are encouraged by leader cantor's recent new position on continuing resolution, we remain concerned with one of his earlier comments, and i quote, don't expect us to balance the budget if i time in the next decade, unquote. [crowd booing] >> we need to see a clear vision for how to save our country and

give us a reason to make 2012 another monumental election year. we don't need our leaders to continue playing politics at the margin and destroying the enthusiasm of the electorate. the fact is the country is about to go belly up. all washington has to offer is the status quo. very soon the national debt will become so large, it can't be refinanced, let alone ever be repaid. when this happens, the nation will default, the dollar will collapse, financial system as we know it will be in meltdown. simply just unbelievable. we are risking an economic collapse, and all we get is a proposal of $61 billion in cuts. so let's talk about what we're going to do about it. as kids, we all played musical chairs. do you remember that game? >> yeah.

>> the winners of the game are those who are able to find a seat and sit down when the music stops; right? the loser is the guy who is last standing. we knew up with this game. congress is still playing this game. the rules are backwards. and need to be changed. the winners, in fact, are those who are standing when the music stops. those who fight to grab a chair to sit down when the going gets tough are, in fact, the losers. we need elected officials who are willing to remain standing, make the tough decisions, take the heat, and get us physically sound again. those who fight for the safety of a chair, the status quo, must be held accountable at the polls and be replaced by those who are willing to stand up for us americans. the music has stopped. too many of our elected officials in congress are sitting down and taking the safe route.

our message to them? we are watching you. [crowd cheering] >> the republic -- the republicans may not control both houses of congress, but they own the house. they can shut the government down, they can stop raising the debt limit again. [crowd cheering] >> this is their leverage. those are the bargaining tools that they have. they should be using them. if they are not willing to do everything in their power and go to the mat for meaningful spending cuts, nothing is going to change. the financial meltdown will continue barreling forward. the 2010 elections for an edict and indictment to those elected and those who are not re-elected. stop the insane spending. we need to support those who are standing tall to make the tough decisions. and we need to hold accountable at the polls those who are choosing to sit out. my time is about up.

one more comment. if you do the math, we've heard some calculations this morning, based on the $1.6 trillion deficit for this year alone, that equates to $50,000 per second, or $3 million per minute in deficit spending. during the past three minutes, our federal government spend $9 million that it doesn't have. it's time to change the rules of the game. the music has stopped, and the question to our elected representative is very simple: are you standing or are you sitting? it's vitally important that we stand strongly and we stand together. thank you. [crowd cheering] >> okay. thank you. nec -- next up, rita grace from virginia constitutional tea

party. [crowd cheering] >> yeah, virginia! >> i'm the events chair for the virginia tea party patriots federation. we are 40,000, approximately, members strong. we commend for you. god bless you. i'm a second generation american. my family stood in line on ellis island, came over from ireland. my eldest brother coming from a poor irish family got the idea of jeffrey giraffe, the commercials, and headed up for many years toys "r" us, and my second oldest brother is sitting in the chairman seat of petco. he wanted to sit in the white house. now i wish he was. he left politics for toys and pets. that's us, the american people. we the people as americans. i gave birth to five children, and now i have nine grandchildren. and i don't want to put that debt on their shoulders. >> amen. >> what do we need from the

debt? do we want to fight them, or freedom? freedom. [crowd cheering freedom] >> okay. and i thank god for this nation. i took our children and our five children and my husband who's here today, joined hands with people in the baltics, we joined hands in three nations. there was not one break in the hands. not a break. the people lifted their hands, they sang their national hymns, paid -- patriotic songs and they cried out to god for freedom. after 50 years of communism, they got their freedom. after seven years of communism, russian got their freedom. what i'm going to ask, join hands, find someone, and lift them up. let's sing god bless america. this is our prayer for our country, elected officials, and for us, we the people.

also my brother always began every speech with never surrender and never give up. we're going to see never surrender, remember november. never surrender, remember november. [crowd chanting] >> let's sing this. lift your hand and maybe someone can join. we can reach across. and may god hear our players across the country and for our leaders. ♪ god bless america ♪ land that i love ♪ stand beside her ♪ and guide her ♪ through the night ♪ with the light from above ♪ from the mountains ♪ to the prairies ♪ to the ocean ♪ white with foam ♪ god bless america

♪ my home sweet home ♪ god bless america ♪ my home sweet home >> amen. never surrender, remember november. never surrender, remember november. god bless you. [crowd chanting] >> thank you, rita grace. [whistles blowing] >> thank you for being here today, george washington. and captain america, and their cohorts. jan with the white hat. they are always here and always here to represent us. i want to let you know we have dick morris on the way. he's not here yet. he's landed. next we have a speaker that you

are going to like very much. he's a former lieutenant colonel, congressman allen webb. [crowd cheering] >> airborne all the way. [crowd cheering] >> thank you. thank you so much. thank you. thank you. [crowd cheering] >> okay. look. look. look. they only gave me two minutes. come on. i got to tell you something. we had a saying back in the united states army, if it ain't raining, we ain't training. so from the bottom of my heart, hoowa. simple thought. anchors away. i don't know what they say in the air force, off they go. whatever. but thank you for being here. because this shows your commitment to your country. this shows your commitment to the principals and values upon

which the country was established. some of the things the people continue to ask me, they continue to ask me about why won't you compromise, why won't you negotiate? let me tell you something, abraham lincoln said plant your feet in the right place. then stand firm. so i'm going to be standing firm. [crowd cheering] >> when i was a young lieutenant, and i was going through airborne school, and the sergeant black hat said very simply, he said if you set the bar low, you jump low. >> that's right. >> you did not send us up here to set the bar low. >> no. >> you sent us up here for expectations and mandate and believing that we were here to do the things to turn around the great ship of state called the united states of america. because right now, this leaderless, rutterless ship is

out in the storm about to get tossed on the rocks. i'm sick and tired of hearing everyone talk about the great constitutional, conservative grassroots movement called the tea party. i'm sick and tired of them trying to blame you, castigate you in a negative manner. no one says anything about moveon.org. no one says anything about organizing for america. you are what this country was founded upon. and i am glad to be standing here with you. [crowd cheering] >> we are not here to talk about shutting down a government. but if you want to know about shutting down a government, go right over there and talk to chuck schumer, harry reid, go down to 1600 pennsylvania and talk to the president. we are here to talk about the incredible fiscal irresponsibility. i got to tell you something, why would i want to sit down and compromise with people who enhanced this problem that we

have in america? with the three years of deficit spending, $1.42, $1.92, $1.65 trillion. the debt in the last four years has gone up $5 trillion. why do you want to listen to people like that? because i don't think they are going to give me any good solutions. the bottom line is this: we have got to turn this ship around. >> amen. >> i am not going to lower my standards. i am not going to do anything but stand upon the values that you sent me up here for. for 22 years, you asked me to do one simple thing. you asked me to always protect your life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. you asked me to guard the great symbols of this country. and in november of 2010, you gave me the privilege and the honor to take off the uniform, put on a suit and tie, and continue to serve you. i will continue to protect you, i will protect your life, liberty, and pursuit of

happiness. i will not let you do. god bless you all, god bless america. and thank you to the tea party. thank you so much. [crowd cheering] [crowd cheering usa] >> thank you, congressman west. next we have phil for americans for prosperity. thank you, phil. >> all right. i'll be quick because you guys have been standing here for a long time. i know dick morris just arrived. i'm going to be quick. the left wants to pretend that we are heartless. that it's a terrible thing to cut government spending, but widows and orphans in 2008 level. i don't know about your town, we didn't have widows and orphans

in the street in 2008. we can cut spending and do it in a way that doesn't hurt people, but help people. we have to. if we do not cut spending, we believe our children and grandchildren with a crushing burden of debt that they will never dig out from. the only compassion thing to do if you care about the people of the country, cut spending now before we have a bond market crisis, like in greece, and we have to take disaster measures. we are going to have a fight next week when the budget cycle starts. and chairman ryan's budget comes out, it better be aggressive and everything they have touted it to be. and the biggest thing that we can do right now is to learn the lesson of the 1990s what we do for families with dependent children, welfare reform worked. and it worked. we cut spending and didn't throw people in the streets.

we cut spending by getting people off of welfare and into work. we got people relying on themselves instead of relying on government programs. we need to do the same thing with medicaid. we're going to get people off of the medicaid rolls by getting them to work. [crowd cheering] >> and we're going to fix state budgets and federal budget by repeating the success of welfare reform from the 1990s. thanks, everyone. cutting spending is the right thing to do. keep the heat on, keep the pressure on. you guys are the future of america. if we can turn this thing around, it's going to be because of the tea party movement and because activist from the only party, -- you know, american for prosperity is a nonpartisan organization. we are. today i am partisan. i'm tea partisan. because the tea party is the only party that can fix this country. thanks, everyone.

[crowd cheering] >> thank you, phil. next we have bishop e.w. jackson from chesapeake, virginia. [crowd cheering] >> thank you. thank you. patriotic friends, our nation stands at a critical cross roads. when our founding fathers bequeathed us this nation, they bequeathed it on the basis of freedom for the american people, and sovereign of the american people, not the power of the government. [crowd cheering] >> we are in a dangerous circumstances right now. and some pay say that's an exaggeration. that's a foundation of our freedom is not at stake, but it is. and any time that you spend, you borrow 40 cents of every dollar that government spends, you are

endangering our freedom. every time you tell us that you are racking up trillion-dollar deficits, you are endangering our freedom. and every time you make deals in the back room and you buy off people in the cloak room, and against the will of the american people, you force those policies into our living room, you are endangering the american people. get out of our doctor offices, get out of our businesses. we don't want you there. [crowd cheering] [crowd chanting usa] >> now there are those in the congress that have bought into this status arrogance, but thank god for the allen west and the michele bachmann of the world who are standing up with us and standing up to stay that our founders did not establish this nation that it might force the

people to vow to the will of the government. they established it to force the government to vow to the will of the people. [crowd cheering] >> now there are those right now who have been meeting and conspiring to what names they will call us. what they will say about us. but while they are figuring out what names to call us and how they can benefit politically from what they do, we are determined to benefit our nation for every citizen of this country. >>[crowd cheering] >> i want to thank the black americans and hispanic americans. you belong here. this is your movement. we care about you. [crowd chants we the people] >> it is time that we said to barack obama and harry reid, and

the forces that have dragged this nation into the muck of fiscal disaster, it is about time the government vow to the will of the american people and enough is enough. [crowd cheering] [whistle blowing] >> now my friends, i want to encourage you, these big spenders have their plans, we also have our plans. they have decided that maybe if they call us names, maybe if they philander us we will quilt -- quit and stop. this movement is not about black and white, it is about red, white, and blue. [crowd cheering] >> they may think think -- theyy think if they call us names, slanderous, that we will quit.

but they make a grave mistake to under estimate our resolve. we are not backing down, we are not backing up. in the words of the old spiritual, we don't feel no ways tired. come too far from where we started from. nobody told us the road would be easy. but two years ago when this movement started we knew we were going to continue all the way to victory and we knew it didn't bring us this far just to leave us. [crowd cheering] >> just one final thing. the powers that be on the capitol hill need to understand this nation was not built by government. this nation was built by the people. >> we the people. >> we sacrificed, we struggled, they bled, they died, they tried, they failed, they tried again. but they heard the spirit of

george washington say, fight on. you may be outnumbered, but fight on. it may look like victory is beyond you, but fight on. freedom is worth fighting for. freedom is worth fighting for. losing is not an option. i hear george washington say we will not quit until we bring this nation back to the founding principals that made it great. [crowd cheering] >> so fight on. fight on. [crowd chanting fight on] >> fight on. fight on. [crowd cheering] >> great job. thank you. next we have another excellent speaker, it's dick morris. [crowd cheering]

>> we forgive you, dick. [laughter] >> now y'all are in washington. some of you don't live here. so i got to give you some travel advice. don't drink the water. [laughter] >> there's something in the water that makes you liberal. makes you want to spend lots of taxpayers money. >> we bring bottled water. >> makes you want to regulate. bottled water only. [laughter] >> now you know what you do when water is contaminated. >> don't drink it. >> no, you boil it. then you toss in a tea bag. [laughter] >> that's my recipe for you. [laughter] >> thank you, robert taft. okay. so the folks that work over

there, can't find any way to possibility cut the budget. they are negotiating while the deficit is rising by $5 billion a day. and they work for three weeks on trying to cut the deficit and in those three weeks it goes higher than their cut wills ever reach. but they can't figure out how to cut the budget. and we are at $61 billion, prorated is 100. they can't think of anything other than 30. well, i have some suggestions for them. we give tenya $714 million a year. >> cut it. >> we give mozambique $450

million. we give nivia $39 million. we give 30 countries in the world more than half a billion a year. foreign aid was at $20 billion in 2000. now it is at $50 billion. so that would be a nice place to start. wouldn't it? now a lot of people are talking about a government shutdown. we don't need to shut down the government. we need to shut down the foreign aid program. we need to shut down the infrastructure stimulus package pork barrel program that obama passed. so my advice, we need to close down pbs. we need to shut down the endowment for the arts and the

humanities. so that's why i think we ought to do our shutting down. because i say you shut down what you want to end. and we don't care if it stays shut down. we're for that. don't shut down the rest of the government if the democrats want to do that to retaliate against us, that's their look out. we are going to shut down things that we want to zero fund anyway. and there's more than enough of that there. so you bet there's going to be a shut down. but it's going to be a targeted shut down at the agencies that we want to get rid of and the programs that we want to end. now that's -- that's act one. that's unfolding right now. and i think we can win that act because i think the democrats are scared to death. [crowd cheering] >> and i have a message for any republican that is thinking of

waiverring. it's spelled p-r-i-m-a-r-y. it's not primary colors either. it's primary vice. for example, i'm going up to indiana tomorrow and i'm going to speak at a rally for murdoch who is going to get rid of the rhino lugar who hangs out in the united states senate for indiana. he's going to be gone. he hasn't visited indiana in a couple of years. he's going to get to move to washington. act two is when they want to borrow more money. when they want to raise the debt limit. and would -- and what we should say to them, before you borrow more money, we want you to get control over the single program that is doing more to bankrupt

the united states than any other program. it's not social security, it's not medicare, it's medicaid. under obama's administration, medicaid has gone up by 54% in two years. it's doubling every four years. and the budget deficit we are running more than anything else is caused by medicaid. social security went up by 12%, medicare by 16%, it's medicaid that is going crazy. and half of obamacare is the increase in the medicaid program. and i say if you want that debt limit raised, you got to kill that program. cancel it. cancel the increase that obama passed, cancel that part of obamacare, the courts will take care of the rest of us for us. >> i hope. >> and i know.

actually it's problematic, i do have pledges from all five members of the supreme court that they won't die. [laughter] >> but the point is that we tell the democrats in congress, you got to roll medicaid back to the 2008 levels of spending, you got to give it to the states and let the states do whatever they want with it. you don't want to spend $750,000 per state covering viagra. you don't have to. >> no wonder the budget is high. >> you don't want to cover people who make incomes of up to $80,000 a year. you don't have to. every state makes it's undecision about how to spend that money. now as we're speaking, the governors of wisconsin and ohio

and indiana and pennsylvania and florida and tennessee and idaho are standing up to regain control of their own states. [crowd cheering] >> they are saying vote me out of office if you want to. but you are going to run your own schools. you are going to decide who gets hired and who gets fired. and no union contract is going to make us keep incompetence on our payroll. [crowd cheering] >> you know, in new york city, there are 80,000 school teachers. and 4,000 of them have got to be fired because of budget cuts. well coincidently, there are 4,000 teachers in new york go to every day what are called rubber rooms. those are rooms that they never see a student. they watch tv, read the paper,

some of them are even literate enough to read a book. if there's large print. but they are so abusive, physically, verbally, and sexually, and so incompetent that the chancellor has judged they can be exposed to students. but the union contract won't let us fire them. >> waiting for superman. >> the total number of people that have been discharged in the new york city school system with cause with 80,000 teachers is two. and they can't touch those 4,000. now layoffs are coming. which 4,000 are going to be laid off? the people who enrolled in teach america from princeton and columbia and yale? 20% of the graduating classes go to n to teach for america, motivated, articulate, brilliant young people wanting to serve

the country and help our students, they are going to be the first one laid off because they don't have the seniority. the 4,000 are still going to be inside the rubber rooms and we can't touch them. and when bloomberg asked the legislature to give him authority to lay them off, not the people lower in seniority, the unions and state assembly they control said no. you got to lay off all of the young idealistic teachers. this is ending now because of the stern, aggressive action of the new american heros. scott walker of wisconsin, john kasich of ohio, mitch daniels of indiana, corvit of pennsylvania, as much as i sometimes hate him, rick scott of florida, and the

legislative leaderships in ohio and tennessee. they are paving the way for us to the future. so between what they are doing, you get control of education, and we are going to give them control of medicaid, you know what that equals? the 10th amendment. it gives the states back their power. it's 3/4 of their budget in those two programs combined. and we're taking the power away from the unions over the schools, and the feds over the health care system and being governor of a state will now mean something. then we come to act three. that's the biggy. that's going to be the budget for the year 2012. now the debate will start now. but it'll get real serious over the summer. everybody is going to say you are going to shut down the government in order to get rid of obama's programs.

and i say again what do you have to shut the government down for? you don't want the individual mandate enforcement that requires everybody to buy health insurance approved by the government, written by the government, and pay full freight for it? you don't want that enforced. you don't want the employer mandate enforced that's going to cost us jobs. fine, close down the irs. zero funding until they approve of the budget with those riders in it. we could do without it for a couple of weeks. believe me. and when those guys within the drawing salaries, you bet they will begin to see the light. you don't want carbon limits that are going to destroy american manufacturing and force the jobs overseas. by the way in my book "revolt" i point out that the united states has already accomplished 60% of the goals of kyoto and

copenhagen, the way that free men and women do it, through the market and education, and voluntary action, not through coercion and taxation and regulation. you don't want the epa unilaterally approving from congress didn't approve? close them down. put that rider in their budget. if they don't like it, we don't have an epa. believe me, nobody is going to cry. [crowd cheering] >> you don't want the national labor relations board to jam down the throats of american business and labor the provisions that congress reject the for the card check bill that says you set up a union with no secret ballot and people are coerced into checking off of the cards. that's enough and they have no further role in the process. put a rider in the nlb, national

labor relations budget. sudden -- suspend, and if they don't go along, zero fund the nlrb. you don't want the fcc cracking down on talk radio? >> no. >> and telling you that every -- here's the game. every talk radio show has to locally produce 25 percent of its content. now rush limbaugh, shawn handy, they are cheap. they split the revenue for the ads, they don't pay anything. they make money. when you hire the local guy as a talk radio host, you got to pay them real money. maybe he makes a profit, maybe he doesn't. what they will do, they will close down all talk radio and just run top 40 music like they used to. you don't want the fcc to do that? >> no. >> butt -- put in a rider prohibiting it.

if the senate won't go along, close down the fcc. we don't have to close down the government. we're going to close down the parts of the government we can't stand. [crowd cheering] >> and that strategy is going to work because the only alternative obama and the senators have then is to say to spite you, we are going to close down the rest of the government. and that's not going to be very popular with the american people. so listen, i went throughout the united states during the election year of 2010, speaking at tea party gatherings, and i always quoted that wonder movie, same time next year. i said we're going to get together in the same place at the same time to hold their feet to the fire and make sure that they act as they promised to act during the election of 2010. and that's why you are here, and

that's why i'm here, and that's why together we are going to win. thank you. [crowd cheer] [crowd chanting usa] >> thank you, dick morris. i'm just pulling up a note here so i know what to tell you to do. we have a couple of things. we are about to wrap up. i want to say one last thing. if you remember nothing -- okay. give me a second. i'm sorry. some how i wound up with a lot of stuff. if you remember only one thing today, remember this, and it's important, we're only asking congress to cut $2.6 pennies out of every $1 of hours that they are spending. that's it. that's the message to remember today. it's draconian, it's not severe, and it's needed so that we will

be able to continue to have this great country that we have. >> amen. >> two quick housekeeping things. then we'll wrap it up. i appreciate all of you for being here. standing in the rain. it's pretty cool out here today. we are committed to this country, we have doing this for thousands and millions of americans who couldn't be here today. many of the people that couldn't be here, they e-mail me and say please make sure you tell the people thank you for being there for me. so you have appreciation from people all across this country. especially the people on the west coast. [crowd cheering] >> we the people. >> if you have photos that you took today, we'd love to have them and put them on our facebook page. if you will e-mail those photos to pics -- p-i-c-s, pics like pictures,

pics@teapartypatriots.org. we need this. this is the important part. the last part. we need to go into the senate, two senators, and go into the house and see our congressman. we have letters printed if you like what it says, leave it and put it with the congressman. we need to make sure they are listening to our message and tell them what we expect them to do. thank you for being here. we're going to restore our constitution together. thank you so much. [crowd cheering] >> god bless, jenny. >> thank you. >> god bless tea party. god bless america. ♪ god bless america ♪ land that i love ♪ stand beside her ♪ and guide her ♪ with the night ♪ with the light from above ♪ from the mountains ♪ to the prairies

♪ to the oceans ♪ white with foam ♪ god bless america ♪ my home, sweet, home ♪ god bless america ♪ my home, sweet, home [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

suspended. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. schumer: mr. president, i rise to speak about the current status of the ongoing bipartisan budget talks. mr. president -- madam president, we are in a much better place than we were two weeks ago. the two sides are much closer than you might be ail to tell from the public statements. after three months of back-and-forth, two short-term continuing resolution-containing cuts, and one near collapse of the talks last week, we can finally headed for the home stretch. last night we had a very good

meeting with the vice president. afterwards, he confirmed that the house republicans and we in the senate are for the first time in these negotiations working off the same number. as the vice president said last night, there has been agreement to meet in the middle, around $33 billion in cuts. the appropriations committees on both sides are now rolling up their sleeves and getting to work to figure out how to best arrive at that number. today speaker boehner said, nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to. that is a fair and reasonable position to take. he need not publicly confirm the $33 billion number, but as long as both sides keep their heads down and keep working, a deal is in sight. we are right on the doorstep. but, madam president, there are

outside forces that don't like this turn of events. owtdz capitol today there was a -- outside the capitol today there was a tea party rally staged to pressure republican leaders not to budge off of h.r. 1. they want speaker boehner to abandon these talks and hold firm, even if that means a government shortdown on april 8 -- shutdown on april 8. this is a reckless and, yes, he can extreme position to take -- extreme position to take. earlier today, the republican leader came to the floor to defend the tea partiers rallying outside this building today. let me say this clierntion i gay with some of his points. i agree that the fact that the tea party is so actively participating in our democracy is a good thing. they have strongly held views and they join the debate. this is as american as it gets. but the tea party's priorities for our government are wrong. their priorities are extreme

because they're out of step with what most americans want. every poll shows that americans want to cut spending but with a smart, short scalpel, not with meat ax. they want to eliminate the fat but not cut down into the bone. they want to focus on waste and aimbues. they want to -- and abuse. they want to cut oil and gas subsidies. they want to end tax breaks for millionaires. they don't want to cut border security or port security funding that kipes safe. they don't want to take a meat ax and cut vital education programs. they don't want to end cancer research that could produce research that saves many, many lives. and, most of all, unlike the tea party, most americans don't want the government to shut down. they want both sides to

compromise. madam president, a deal is at hand if republicans in congress will opportunity the tea party voices that are shouting down any compromise. these tea party voices will only grow louder as we get closer to a deal, and our resolve must remain strong. if the speaker will reject their calls for a shutdown, we can pass a bipartisan agreement. many conservatives, whom i would otherwise disagree with, agree with me on at least this point. it was very interesting to see on fox news yesterday three commentators autumn on the same show -- all on the same show plainly agreeing that it is time to accept a compromise with democrats to avert a shutdown. charles krauthammer was add month that a shutdown would be avoided and that if a shutdown

did occur, the republicans would be blamed. a conservative columnist said "what really should happen is if boehner could strike a deal with the blue dogs and the moderate dems and just go with the $30 billion with the senate and just move on." unquote. and bill chris stl agreed that while republicans may like to pass a budget solely on their terms with only republican votes, the reality is the speaker would need democrats to get a deal done. mr. president -- madam president, the tea party may have helped the republicans win the last election, but they're not helping the republicans govern. the tea party is a negative force in these talks. but we are close to overcoming this force and cutting a deal. as the negotiations enter the home stretch, here's how we should define success: first and foremost, a government

shutdown should be avoided. we should all agree on that. it bothers me when i hear some on the other side of the aisle or in the tea party say we should shut down the government to get what we wafnlts second, the top-line target for cuts should stay around the level described by the vice president and that both parties are working off of. this makes complete sense, since $33 billion is the midpoint between the two sides. and it's what republicans originally wanted in february before the tea party forced them to go higher. third, the makeup of the cuts, as i suggested a few weeks ago, should not come only from domestic discretionary spending. you cannot solve our deficit problem by going after only 12% of the budget. mandatory spending cuts must be part of the package, and the

higher the package goes, the more the proportion should be tilted in favor of mandatory rather than discretionary spending. and, fourth, the most extreme of the riders cannot be included. there are some riders we can probably agree on, but the e.p.a. measure is not one of them. neither is planned parenthood or the other extreme riders that have been so controversial. i believe we can settle on a few measures that both sides think are okay, but the most extreme ones do not belong in this budget bill. those are issues that should probably be debated but not as part of a budget and not holding the budget hostage to them he wil-- tothem. madam president -- sorry, madam president, if we can adhere to these tenets, we can have a deal that both sides can live with. fipple is short and we need to begin moving on to the pressing matter of the 2012 budget.

and speaking of the 2012 budget, let me say a quick word about that. i saw today that house republicans plan to unveil their blueprint next week. interestingly, the report said republicans no longer plan to cut social security benefits as part of that blueprint. they are admitting that it is not a major driver our current deficits. that is true, and this is a positive development. it comes after many of us on the democratic side, including leader reid and myself, have insisted that social security benefits not be cut as part of any deficit-reduction plan. it is good to see that republicans, including the house budget chairman, according to the reports in the paper, now agree with us. his original plan called for privatizing the program. i hope we are not going to bring up that again, because it will not pass. but if the house republicans

instead simply insist on balancing the budget on the backs of medicare recipients instead of social security recipients, we will fight them tooth and nail over that, too. there has to be give on all sides, shared sacrifice, not just in any one little area. a lot is at stake in the current year's budget, but in another sense, it is simply a prelude to the larger discussions ahead. we urge the speaker to resist the tea party rallies of today and the ones that are to come, to accept the offer on the table on this year's budget, and let us tackle the larger topics that still await us. thank you, madam president. and i yield the floor. mrmr. nelson: necessarily madam president, would the senator

yield? the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. nelson: would the senator please yield? mr. schumer: i will be happy to yield it my friend from florida. mr. nelson: just if a question. in the senator's opinion, why would the republicans, particularly from the house of representatives, want to cut social security since the social security system has little, if any, effect upon us getting our arms around the deficit and moving the budget toward balance over the next ten years? mr. schumer: we will, my friend from florida makes a good point. in fact, by law, the social security system and its pluses and minuses and the federal government's budget -- the federal government's budget, and its pluses and minuses, must be separate. so, by definition, by law, the two are separate. social security has its liabilities and assets and a big

pile of assets over here, and the federal government has its lienlts and assets -- its liabilities and assets and the twain don't meet. so one would think, particularly those that are saying "privatize" that their opposition to say include social security in large-scale budget tawrks which we need & which are good, and i commend the group of six for moving forward in this direction, but one would think that is an i had lodge can cal -- ideological agenda because they simply want to privatize it. then when you see some of them may want to extend tax breaks for millionaires to permanently, which would increase the deficit by a huge amount and yet at the same time say let's deal with social security, let's privatize it, which doesn't have anything to do with the deficit, you scratch your head and say, i don't think deficit is really what's going on here.

mr. nelson: i thank the senator mr. nelson: i thank the senator [inaudible conversations] >> good afternoon everyone.

i'm not sure this is working. isn't working? i think we know joblessness is one of the biggest issues in this country today. all 47 republican senators have come together to sign a constitutional amendment in order to give us the fiscal discipline to do the job that we need to do. the same job at every family in america does. we all leone being -- within our means. finishers had taken the lead on this issue. [inaudible] i want to call on senator hatch first, and those up in the

leaders on this issue and actually everybody has played a role in this. this particular constitutional amendment would be the right thing for our country. [inaudible] the total national debt was around $5 billion into data is over $14 trillion headed towards $20 trillion. the spending was a reasonable area spending against the gdp. today we are at about 69% and according to the cbo, the president's budget has followed, we are going to hit up a fully 90% of gdp, which would make us

similar to -- and that is that the president budget figures are right. we simply cannot live without. now can you imagine if they pass that amendment when we left one vote. at that we had 67 at the time and when person didn't leave that very morning. when we lost by one vote that but have a past that, we wouldn't be in the terrible fiscal distress we are in today. and we would have had to make very tough choices just like every family has to make and in balancing their budget and living within their means, and i think most of us would agree that this government is incapable of living within its means, and we have to go to this extended order to get angst on. so we are filing this a balanced budget amendment. all 47 republicans are bored. we will work with their her colleagues on the other side to

see what we can do to get them on board and hopefully we can pass this bill and such an amendment and get our country into a fiscal situation that really works. we have a lot more i could say that i'm going to stop at that and call on senator leahy and then after senator leahy, senator cornyn, senator cornyn and then senator -- and i will call on others. >> at the end of the day this is an issue that is neither democratic nor republican, neither dog liberal nor conservative. this issue, our mounting debt potentially threatens every federal program, every federal expenditure known to man. by the end of this decade, if we continue to spend at our current rate, it is likely we will be spending about a trillion dollars a year just on interest on national debt and to put that in perspective of course this is substantially more than we spend on social security and an entire year. is more than we spend on medicare and medicaid combined

in an entire year. is substantially more than we spend on national defense in an entire year. so regardless of whether you most concerned about protecting our ability to defend ourselves against foreign aggressors, or on the other hand you are most concerned about protecting entitlement spending, you should be concerned about perpetual reckless runaway deficit spending, and that is what this amendment would put an end to once and for all. thereby protecting all of those programs. again, programs that are important both to liberals and conservatives alike. this is a time when we have to address the difficult questions that arise from the fact that perpetual deficit spending brings about a particularly pernicious form of taxation without representation. one group of elected legislators spends money, and then people who are not yet worn or not get a voting age someday have to pay off the debt left by the roof of legislators. we fight a war over taxation without representation and we

won that war and we need to abandon this pernicious practice once and for all and that is what this does. i'm please pleased to support it i'm very grateful to my colleagues and senator hatch, senator cornyn, senator kyl, senator -- and some of you is who have helped us us with this and to our minority leader mitch mcconnell who is shown so much leadership in getting our party in the senate behind us. >> on november the second lesser the last year the mayor can people send a very clear message to all of us, whether get as mike said, whether we are republicans democrats or independents, that they are sick and tired of the reckless spending and the unsustainable debt and they wanted us to act together hopefully on a bipartisan basis. is the only way this going to get done. to address that problem, and we can do it, and this constitutional amendment is one way to do that. in 1997, senator had said when they came within one vote there

were 11 democrats but joined republicans then, and i hope now that we have gotten an amendment that 47 of us agreed to, we will be reaching out to her democratic colleagues to see if they got the message that we got loud and clear on november the second. we are accountable. we are responsible to the american people for what we do. we usually have those determinations whether we have been good stewards or whether we have done what they expect of us. we find out in an election, so i think this is a great opportunity for us to work together. i hope both sets of data will come together, pass this amendment and that will go to the states were 38 states would have to ratify it, and then within five years, this balanced budget amendment would be implemented. >> thank you. i would like to start by saying a quick thank you to senators hatch and cornyn.

on the one hand and senators lee and kyle. these two groups, these true centers that produce thoughtful alternative ideas on how many might reach a balance budget amendment and through a lot of hard work we all came to an agreement on a consensus product that i think is a great product, and importantly has the universal support of the republican conference into that and i want to tangle leader mcconnell for having the wisdom to seize the opportunity to unite this conference by this very very important idea. it is important for many reasons. i want to touch on just one, and that is i am absolutely convinced that i think many economists are, that we cannot have the economic recovery we need and we cannot have that job the job growth that we badly need as long as we have this disastrous fiscal deficit looming over our economy. getting our fiscal house in order, getting a balanced budget is an absolutely necessary precondition for the strong

economic growth and job creation that frankly we were sent here to accomplish. so i share the hope that some of my colleagues have alluded to, the hope that there will be a large number of democratic colleagues who will join with ue republican and pass an amendment to the constitution that we badly need that will provide the fiscal straitjacket that we need to get our fiscal house in order. >> thank you. i was a freshman congressman back in 1997 when the senate had it this vote the last time and it failed by one vote. senator hatch mentioned. it would have passed in the house of representatives and i can't help but thinking how much better our country would be today 14 years later if we had enacted a balanced budget amendment that then. because since that time we have seen dramatic growth in government, dramatic increase in spending and debt, and today, today it threatens the country on a level like we have never

seen before, so much so that the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, echo mike mullen, called our national debt the greatest threat to america's national security. i think that speaks volumes. i think that is why this exercise is so important and we worked together as republicans to come up with a proposal that we would like to put before the senate and before the american people, and hopefully rally them around and get the democrats on board with this because it is high time that washington did what so many states and what every family in this country is to do and that is balance the budget. south dakota was at first it in the union this year to balance its budget and it took some hard decisions. they cut $127 million which is a lot of money. doesn't sound like a lot of here, but they did it the hard way. they made the hard decisions, and because we got a balanced budget within our state constitute their required to do it. we do it every year and lots of states to their beer. is high time the federal government did it. is long overdue if we are going to get this country back on the right track, growing, creating

jobs in dealing with this massive problem of spending and debt. >> thank you orrin and thank you all of you. does work so hard to make this a reality. having examined the amendment i do think it is solid and we will do the job it reopened to do and i congratulate those of you who have worked so hard to have unanimous support for it. we have demonstrated that systemically, it seems, congress is in a bill to its means. and 97, when the amendment failed by one vote, i was one of the first key votes i cast is in a senator. people were saying we were getting our house in order and maybe we didn't do need a balanced budget amendment. now we have deficits 10 times that rate. it threatens our financial future. it threatens their jobs. erskine bowles and alan simpson, the cochairman of prison obama's

budget debt commission signed a joint statement before the budget committee, and they said this is the most predictable economic crisis this nation has ever faced. the debt is growing out of control. so, i would say that the greatest thing we could do for our economy, the greatest thing we could do to put this country on a path to financial success and growth and vigorous strength in the future is to get our financial house in order. this will do it. i think those who have worked for it so much, and i do believe it is not a hopeless task. one vote short in 97. i believe we can pass at this time. i thank all of you who have worked so hard. >> like my colleagues i want to thank senator hatch for his leadership and everybody else for their leadership. this is a team effort, all 47.

i know that you all like to write about the times we had 45 and maybe not 44. all 47-cent above most amendment. they think this is one thing to consider. the second thing, i know some of the people in the poli-sci goober department say wait a minute, this is not going to work. somebody talks about is the budget has to be, you have to have -- they don't have a printing press. that to be a balance but they don't have the protection in regards to national security. in a declared war, which might be helpful this time around, you can overcome that with 51 votes, so national security is protected. the other thing i would say is that some people that are critical of this, how long will it take for 38 states to ratify it? i think that is the proper number. i want to tell you something. you talk to any state-led that's -- legislator and a

governor today and say is there some way that you can reign in federal spending in part that goes for the funding of all the speculation on all these mandates that they have to put up with? they are going to say a man and i think it would be gratification. read it up appear, long-term, long-term. that is exactly what we are after here. while we may not be successful i don't want to put a wet blanket on this. ivan see much leadership in the white house. we can't kick the scan down the road to an even numbered year and go until 2013 and bob up against what could be real economic chaos. none of us know when that tip of the spear is going to hit but if we send a message like this i think it will signal to the american people we are serious and most especially to the world and most especially to the financial community. thank you. >> thank you.

spending has been an addiction for congress for many years, and i'm very proud of our public and conference for standing together to break that addiction. and if anyone questions the need for a balanced budget amendment, all we have to do is look at this current debate on funding the government for this year. at a time when the whole world recognizes that american is on an economic cliff, the democratic party is yet to even agree to cut this year but we borrow every week. they are not going to join us. they're not going to show the leadership until the constitution requires that we do it. that is why this balanced budget is so important, and that is why we need to have a vote on this balanced budget amendment before there is any debate or vote on the debt ceiling. >> if america, as we know today, is going to be saved, it is imperative that this balanced budget amendment to the united d states constitution pass.

this institution is not capable of living within its means. this is not a partisan issue. it is an american issue, and it is imperative that we do in the federal government but virtually every state has and that is a requirement that the balance the budget. it works very well and stay. we need it at the federal level. >> senator graham. >> this is a historic day for the republican party. we all agree on something, and it is a big deal. every end of our party has come to believe that the budget in the constitution is probably not going to happen and what would it mean? it would mean the political record -- reiter gives way to constitutional mandate. i've come to believe since being here since 1995 that all the rhetoric in the world is never going to lead to a balanced the

budget in less than bing changes pretty soon. in a balanced budget would make us do what everybody has to do it home. you can't leave town until you get the budget balance. you have to say no to people. may be your friend who would make mad and he would have to title your belt and -- tighten your belt. you have to do things that people in the real world do every day, so i hope and pray that we can get some momentum to one day have the constitutional balanced budget amendment to change the way the congress works, not just for now but forever. it is sad to say. >> thank you senator hatch. before being elected to the senate last year i actually have the distinction of being the longest-serving governor in the united states. i served as a governor for 10 years for the state of north dakota. and one thing that we have to do each and every year was balance our budget. families have to balance their budgets. businesses have to balance their

budgets. cities have to balance their budgets. states have to balance their budgets. our country needs to balance its budget. i am pleased that all 47 republican senators are together on this balanced budget amendment. it provides the right kind of safeguards. it provides safeguards in time of war. at divides transition to get to that balanced budget so we can address social security, medicare, all the programs are important to people. i'm very hopeful that with all of the republicans on this balanced budget amendment now, we can join with their counterparts across the aisle and get past. there was a sense in the senate vote not too long ago you will recall and we picked up 13 democratic votes. so if you do the math, we are getting close, and i'm hopeful now that we can get enough votes to pass this balanced budget amendment. again i want to thank senator hatch, senator lee and certainly

there leader senator mcconnell for their leadership on this incredibly important issue for our country. >> thank you. i want to thank senator hatch and all those that have been involved in drafting a constitutional amendment. one of the things that you all have not seen happening but has been happening every week, most of the time two times a week, is republicans have been gathering in this room and in another room to talk through those things we need to do over the long-haul to make sure that our country becomes fiscally sound. it has really been a three-step approach. one is to make sure that we negotiate. the deepest cuts that we possibly can in the continuing resolution is underway right now. a second piece is to have a statutory solution. one that can go into place right now, because we have had financial analysts on both sides of the aisle coming and talking about the fact that something

has to occur right now. and the third piece is to make sure that over time, after the focus on why natural discipline goes away, that we have something to her then and there is a constitutional amendment. we have had lot of people working on all three phases of this. i think it is shown tremendous leadership by mitch mcconnell and their leadership team to pull us all together around all three of these concepts. i believe it is the number one issue in america. i really do and i don't want a message. i want is to solve the problem in all of us want to work together to see that happen. i really appreciate again with the leadership of our party has come together to try to do that and we are reaching out to the other side to try to make sure that this happens. thank you. >> thank you senator hatch for your leadership on this and

senator mcconnell and gathering all 47 republicans which i think is for important. the number one problem we face in our country is our debt. we will never ever balance or budget until we amend our constitution. it is the single most important vote we will cast. republicans need this as well as democrats. we all need a rule that we must obey. this is the single most important vote we will cast this year and i hope the other side will come and embrace the idea of fiscal sanity again. thank you. >> i get home every begin to wyoming and sit around and asked people questions, sit around and discuss things and i did leslie. set with a group of people and said who here believes they have a better life right now than their parents had and every hand goes up. in and i asked the question, how many of you believe that your kids will have a better life then you have right now? the hands all came down. we talked about why that is and the reason fundamentally is the

debt. the debt is the threat to our future. and wyoming i said in the senate for five years. we had a balanced budget amendment to our own constitution. we have to balance a budget and wyoming. her family stayed to do it in their businesses need to do it and if we are going to have the secured future of this country, the one that we know, that we need there is only one didn't do it and that is by making sure i constitutional amendment that we balance the budget every year in this country and that is why i'm so bad that 47 of us have come together to unanimously signed onto this approach for a balanced budget amendment to the constitution. thank you. >> last but not least,. >> thank you so much senator hatch and senator mcconnell for your terminus leadership. i think it says so much that we are all together in what in my view is the single most important piece of legislation that we can pass in the united states senate. and this is about what i heard

from a hoosier voters as they campaigned up and down our state. why can't you live within your means and congress? white why do some pushing think get it like we do at home? and congress has not been able to live with its -- within its means and that is why this is the single most important legislation that we can pass. for me it this letter children. i have two small children at home, and we owe it to our children to make sure that they can live their lives free from being indebted to china, that we are passing on to them our failure to make the tough decisions today. so i'm so proud to join with my colleagues to make sure pasturing rosebushes and management and i look forward to working with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle so that we can pass this and make sure that we live within our means and address the fiscal crisis in this country. thank you. >> i want to pay personal tribute to senator mcconnell and senator kyl for their leadership on this. they have both benjamin's

leaders and having us all together is a very important step in the right direction. we will turn it over to you pretty questions and we would be happy to colin anybody. >> can you give us a sense -- [inaudible] >> spending is around 25.3%. aven had that much spending since world war ii. since the height of world war ii so it is clear that we are off the charts and not standpoint. the 18% is the average revenue that we have had over the last 50 years. and we decided that as an appropriate figure to try to shoot for and that is why the 18%. >> if i could just add one thing to that. as recently as 2007, total federal spending was just barely over 90% of gdp.

that was at a time when i would argue congress was not at all trying to exercise any fiscal discipline and yet virtually by accident, here they were just barely over 90%. wouldn't take a big lift to go from that level down to 18. [inaudible] >> number one, we won't have a vote on this. we will have to let leadership determined that at least it seems to me. if we are smart we will do that. number two with regard to the senator you voted for the balanced budget in 1997, and i suspect that, i suspect he would vote for this one if you were here. [inaudible] i heard it, but i think you

would vote for it. he is and talk to me. we chatted together very carefully the last time, and if he wins in florida he is a different constituency now i suppose. >> let me add just one more point of context. under article v of the constitution they are two ways to amend the constitution. one is by joint resolution of congress. the second is by constitutional convention. at an earlier time in our history were actually within two states and triggering a constitutional convention responsibility by congress, so i will tell you that this is such such -- has such power across the country, people simply don't understand the proper ways of the congress and why we can't do what states and families and businesses do. so there is going to continue to be, i would suggest, significant pressure from the states that we do this as well, and i think that is an important part of this context. we need to do it anyway, but

that is senate and a port and additional pressure. i am sorry, i can't hear. >> my preferences we would pass the senate would move the whole issue of the constitutional convention. i'm just saying that is an article v of the constitution, that would be an alternative if we don't do our job. i hope we do our job and that would move the point. >> one point i want to emphasize relative to some of the questions asked earlier there are safeguard provisions in this balanced budget amendment you should take a look at. the dressings that time of war, transition to get to the point where the budget in balance and other issues. we do provide safeguards in this package. [inaudible]

[inaudible] >> let me put it this way. this is a version that all 47 republicans have agreed on. i personally believe this is step one. the house is going to pass this. we will have to see how close they come to ours, and we will certainly work it out, but i would work for this version and let's hope we can get it through. [inaudible] right now we are dedicated to this ounce budget amendment and i do believe we will have democratic support on this. now, time will tell.

[inaudible] i expected number of democrats to vote for this. if they don't they're going to have to face their citizens, and that is not going to be easy because everybody in this country knows we are in trouble. everybody knows that we may lose the greatest country in the world, and so we are going to do everything in our power to get the democrats on board and i hope we can. >> i do think that it is going to be imperative for anyone of are there house or are there political party who stands for fiscal responsibility and fiscal restraint to vote for this. and for those who voted for the predecessor version of it years ago, think would be difficult to

articulate an adequate justification why they would vote for that imposed against this. this simply has safeguards built into to make sure it is not circumvented so if you are for the principle of balancing the budget there is no reason why you shouldn't be in support of this. well, anytime you are talking about passing an act of congress there is a reason why people describe something that they want to characterize as a herculean effort. is not -- like getting an act of congress. when you are trying to get a constitutional amendment passed out of congress it requires two-thirds and it is difficult. i'm not going to stand here and tell you i'm absolutely certain that we will have two-thirds of those houses locke up by tomorrow. i am telling you that the mood in the country is right, and it is sufficient i believe so that people are listening to their constituents. they will vote for this the senate will vote for it by a requisite margin. [inaudible]

well, we have 11 or 12, maybe 13 webb indicated that they would vote for a balanced budget amendment. as for this proposal we live and we have been working on getting republicans on board in establishing republican unanimity. [inaudible] sorry? [inaudible] well, look. it is not my inclination. i doubt is the inclination of any of my college to signal what would or wouldn't be on the table in terms of negotiations if this were not to pass. right now we are focused on getting this passed and we believe anyone who believes in a balanced budget amendment idea should get behind this, and if they have some rational persuasive explanation as to why they should and then we will talk. as of right now i don't see any reason to make changes. [inaudible]

>> remember one of the aspects of this balanced budget amendment is that after ratification meant to balance it within five years. whatever. we will have to see, but i think republicans are committed to passing this amendment in the senate. and i believe we have republicans and democrats that are committed in the house to pass their amendment, which will mirror this to a degree. [inaudible] >> i think over time all of us have to be because the can't live the way we are doing right now. no question about it. thank so much. great to be with all of you. [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]naudib] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations]

>> good morning. thank you all for being here. the attacks on america by islamist terrorists on 9/11 took place almost a decade ago, but the memories of that day are still searing. the attacks and did thousands of lives, changed families forever and forced the country into another world wide war. we all remember that morning. i know we will want to the moment we leave earth. the nation watched on television as those extraordinary might be the twin towers of the world trade center collapsed into a pile of smoking rebel taking so

many innocent lives with them. american airlines, 70,000 smashed into the pentagon and set it ablaze and in the fields near shanks bill pennsylvania we solve the smoldering crash of united flight 93 whose brief passengers fought to retake the plan from the terrorists who had targeted washington, d.c., probably targeted this very place where we are, capitol hill, and by their heroism saved hundreds if not thousands of additional lives. but even as we mourn, we began to ask -- when i say we i mean not just those of us privileged to serve your but people throughout the country and particularly the families of those who were lost on 9/11. we began to ask how those attacks could have happened and what could we do to make sure to

the best of our ability that nothing like that ever happened again. and so we have created the 9/11 commission to investigate did happen on 9/11. what were the flaws in the homeland security and what could we do to protect the nation against another such attack from islamist terrorists or anyone else who would want to carry out such a dreadful act. coming to the leadership of that commission were to extraordinary americans, gifted, able and extremely patriotic, governor tom kean and congressman lee hamilton. we are privileged to have them with us as our witnesses today. the commission they lead and the staff would you two and a half pages -- to end a half-million pages and individuals in countries including every relevant senior officials of

both the clinton and bush administration held 19 days of public hearings across the country with 160 witnesses testifying. the commission's recommendations were sweeping and they were definitive, they were not just a general conclusions, but they were specific recommendations for both immediate actions venetian needed to take to defend our selves against further attack but also long-term actions we could take to blunt the terrorist message and dry up the recruitment. in response to the commission's recommendations, this committee author -- and i am honored to see not only senator collins is here but senator mccain and three of the four original sponsors of the legislation, the intelligence reform and terrorism prevention act of 2004

that adopted most common of all, but most of the recommendations of the 9/11 commission and putting the director of national intelligence and the national counterterrorism center, which i fought and i believe the commission thought were the two most substantial and significant recommendations for the change that was making. that act was the most sweeping reform of our government's intelligence apparatus and together with the adoption of homeland security act a couple of years before represented the most significant changes in our national security framework, governmental framework since the end of the second world war. this committee was privileged to be deeply involved in drafting these and other pieces of counterterrorism legislation to implement the commission's

recommendations and further strengthen our security against. but a lot of hard work in identifying, recommending and then adopting the specific reform was done by the two gentlemen who were testifying before us today. the vice chairman of the 9/11 commission now the co-chair of its successor, the bipartisan policy center's national security preparedness group. i thank, and we today for being here for their hard work and dedication to public service throughout their lives and for providing our nation with the most compelling reminder of how much we can accomplish in public life when we put party labels aside and work together for the national good. today in the exercise of the committee's responsibility to

constantly evaluate and investigate our homeland defenses and also mindful of the approaching tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, we are beginning a series of oversight hearings all that we have attempted to accomplish after 9/11. today we are privileged to have governor kean and thomas hamilton to help begin the review with their opinion of the state of america's homeland security. we've already scheduled for more subject matter hearings for may, june and july will work among other things that the office of the director of national intelligence, the effectiveness of the aviation security reforms, what we've done to keep terrorists out of the united states and how we are progressing on the goal that we all said we have to improved emergency communications among

law enforcement and associated personnel. i do want to say how grateful i am for the prepared testimony that the two of you submitted to the committee which will be included in the record. you've touched on some of the concerns that the committee has and will deal with in the coming hearings. one of the most significant is with regard to the director of national intelligence and how that office has done and whether it needs further support to help achieve the goals that you have to have a strong deck of national intelligence who can marshal the full capabilities of the intelligence committee. i'm encouraged by some of the recent changes that the current dni general jim has carried out

for further integration but i must say i am also concerned about some of the continuing bureaucratic resistance from other components of the intelligence community which under our vision and i believe yours were supposed to be under the supervision of the dni and i know from your testimony to you both share some of those concerns and i'm interested in hearing your comments on those and i note with appreciation that he also talked about the importance of moving rapidly towards better interoperable communications systems and that one of your recommendations is the we set aside the so-called deep lot of the spectrum for the funding of the public safety improvements. senator mccain and i sponsored legislation to accomplish that in the last session and we are working to introduce it a similar bill in this session.

so, to summarize an awful lot very briefly i would say since the 9/11 commission reforms were adopted we've seen a very significant improvement in our homeland security. we had many victories in our battles with terrorists, many plots broken and attacks planned against america thwarted. we've also had close calls that is the case of the christmas the bomber and the other case of the times square bomber and some tragic failures like the home run radical islamist major speech of who murdered 13 americans at fort hood. so, we want to continue to learn from our success and our failures and that is the intention of the hearings the we are beginning today. let me say finally that we are

very proud and grateful to be joined this morning by some family members of 9/11 victims who went on to become leading advocates for the creation of the 9/11 commission, the implementation of its recommendations and have continued to play a wonderful oversight role in that work. they are two of the most likable tests we have around capitol hill. [laughter] really i would say lovable and committed. the commission would not have been created without their advocacy. we wouldn't have passed its legislative recommendations without the most effective lobbying and its implementation would not be as good as all of us want it to be if they had not stayed on duty as they have.

so why can't think you enough to read i know i can't speak for anybody on the committee when i express my gratitude for an admiration for your personal strength, for your skill and continuing commitment to america's homeland security. senator collins. >> thank you, mr. chairman. this year we will commemorate the worst attack ever on the united states. in doing so, we must ask ourselves are we safer or are we just safer from the tactics that terrorists already have tried. is our intelligence community better at fitting together these complex pieces or have we just been lucky? are we anticipating the next threat such as the cyberattack

or the use of poison? or are we just looking backwards reacting to previous plots? undoubtably, compared to where we were on 9/10, 2001, we have greatly improved the framework for information sharing among our intelligence and law enforcement agencies. but sometimes, it has been and in that bond maker or faulty fuse this spirit american life. once again, the to extraordinary leaders of the landmark 9/11 commission lee hamilton and tom kean are appearing before the committee as we evaluate our progress in securing the nation. in september of last year, they

were assessing the terrorist threat reports warned of an increasingly wide range of u.s. based militants who do not fit any particular ethnic, economic, educational or social profile. the american melting pot reports that it has not provided a fire wall against the radicalization and recruitment of american citizens and residents though it has arguably more bus into a sense of complacency that homegrown terrorism couldn't have been in the united states. this report correctly called 2009 a watershed year in u.s. based terrorist plots with 43 american citizens residence aligned with violent islamic

extremists charged or convicted of terrorist crimes in that year alone. this committee first sounded the alarm about home-based to order the some five years ago and has held 15 hearings on this topic. we found the individuals within our country and with our prison system and in our communities are being inspired by al qaeda's violent ideology to plan and execute a tax often acting as the lone wolf without direct orders or ties to al qaeda. as senator lieberman has indicated, the intelligence reform and terrorism prevention act of 2004, which we offered, did do much to improve the management and performance of our intelligence homeland security and law enforcement

agency. this most sweeping reform of the nation's intelligence community suggests after world war ii would not have happened without the leadership of our witnesses and the efficacy of the families of victims. the resulting increased collaboration and information sharing has helped our nation prevent numerous attacks, and there have been on told successes, and many cases the intelligence community and law enforcement have quietly connected the botts and thwarted plots. in other cases, alert citizens have reported suspicious behavior to the authorities just in time. challenges still remain, however.

we continue to see troubling examples of the pre-september 11 stovepiped combined set from some of our intelligence and law and for some officers. for example, as documented in the kennedy's recent report, on the fort hood attacked, the army and the fbi collectively had ample information to major hasan's connection to a radical lawyer extremism but they failed to act on the red flags signaling that he had become a potential threat. major hasan and others seemed to find motivation and ideas on the line. technology is transforming the culture, the economy and our world in many beneficial ways. yet we must also be alert to the

fact that terrorists are seeking to exploit the internet's potential as well. we have witnessed recently that the internet can serve as a platform for extremist propaganda on the one hand and peaceful revolution on the other. other commission recommendations have not yet come to fruition. and of course the most obvious example of that is, chris's failure to reform itself. but there are others as well we must make more progress as the chairman has indicated in enhancing first responders communications. gap also remain at the borders and in our inspection system. as the news today indicates the potential to plant an explosive somewhere within the millions of

pieces ship around the world to each day is a real vulnerability. it is also troubling that the border patrol does not have the ability to detect illegal activity across approximately three-quarters of our northern border we must continue to work to find a balance that opens the border to our friends while closing to those who would do less harm. nevertheless, they're has been real accomplishments. the biometric system for screening foreign nationals seeking to enter the united states, the creation of a consolidated terrorist watch list, the dedicated dhs and steve and local law enforcement employees all to surf recognition. but even in these areas of progress, improvements are

needed. biometric screening must be expanded to include foreign nationals leaving the the united states. screening technology must be improved to keep up with changing threats and to ensure that the safest possible effective screening equipment is deployed. i hope this year we can expand protection against lawsuits for citizens to report suspicious behavior indicating potential terrorist activities. we must also pass legislation to ensure that the key u.s. intelligence officials are consulted falling a foreign interest detention in the united states that did not happen in the case of farruca of tumult followed. finally, i continue to have deep concern that this administration refuses to acknowledge that

violent islamists ideologies is the ideologies that fuels' these attacks. the administration should have an overarching national strategy to counter this growing threat within our own country. ten years ago, nearly 3,000 lives were lost on that terrible day. we cannot become complacent or let our guard down when every single intelligence briefing that i have ever had always warns that the enemy remains determined to attack our country. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you for the excellent statement. normally we limit opening statements to the chairman and ranking member on the committee

but senator mccain, as you know, the original sponsor of the legislation that created the 9/11 commission senator mccain, i would invite you to make an opening statement if you like. >> i would like to thank the witnesses. i think what they did was one of the reasons why this country hasn't been intact since 9/11. the dedicated public servants in example of bipartisan shipment -- by partisanship and it's appropriate on the ten year anniversary we get their continued input. thank you again for your service to the country. >> thank you, senator mccain. before we go to the witnesses i want to introduce charles doud who is here, deputy chief of the new york police department for communications. he's been a very strong proponent of allocating the d-block public safety and we appreciate the fact that he's committed enough that he's in the room today. governor kean, welcome and we

look forward to your testimony now. >> mr. chairman, ranking members of the committee, we are pleased to have the opportunity to be here with you once again today. nobody -- nobody has been more important than you all have been at the center of defending this country from the terrorist threat that we face. we are deeply grateful we've made in support of the 9/11 commission recommendations and your leadership continuing to reform the national security institutions. over the last decade we've done much to ensure we are taking a difficult step necessary to confront this enemy, protect americans from our allies and for that matter people throughout the world. today, we are appearing in the capacity as the co-chairman of the bipartisan center is national security preparedness

group. now it's a successor organization to the 9/11 commission. a growing and a strong roster of national security professionals who work as an independent bipartisan group to monitor the implementation of the 9/11 commission recommendations and to address the emerging national security issues. let me begin by describing the changes of the governments since 9/11, the current threat and perhaps updating you and some of the commission recommendations. lee hamilton will continue assessing the status of the implementation with a number of the recommendations. so now nearly ten years after the tragic 9/11 attacks and seven years since we finished our report, it really is as the committee decided a very appropriate time to see just where we are on the national security and how we are doing. the terrorist attack as everybody knows, have a profoundly dramatic impact on

our government and private-sector. for that matter on our daily lives. the suddenness of that attack on american soil and the loss of so many lives i think made a lot of us feel vulnerable in our homes and caused us to question whether or not our government is properly organized to protect us from this kind of lethal threat. the economic damage resulting from the attack was severe. businesses in all sectors have adapted in one way or another to this new reality. over the past ten years the government response for the challenge of the transnational terrorism has been equally dramatic. we've created a major new institutions from the department of homeland security, cyber command and the 2004 leadership of senator collins and lieberman, congress created the office of the director of intelligence, national counterterrorism center, what to make sure we had a unity of

effort among the intelligence community. now despite all this progress, some major 9/11 commission recommendations still remain unfulfilled. and we would suggest today that these require urgent action because the threat from al qaeda and related terrorist groups and individual tenants to violent islamist extremism assists to this day. al qaeda and related terrorist groups continue to pose a serious threat to all of us. al qaeda central has been diminished with its leadership, osama bin laden and al-zawahiri are at large. it would leave us less likely the threat is more complex and it's more diverse than any time in the last decade. al qaeda and its allies continue to have the intent and the reach to kill dozens of americans and

do so in a single attack. there is a high risk of attacks we believe they will likely be small. the change in recent years is the increasing role of the number of u.s. citizens and residents have taken and the leadership of al qaeda and allied groups. another development is increasing diversification of the types of u.s.-based jihadists militants. some individuals inspired to engage in a tax on their own weigel others have been actively recruited by overseas terrorist groups. indeed these would be the do not fit any progress toward ethnic, economic, educational or social profile. the questions the amount or attempt range from shootings to car bombs, suicide attacks through in-flight bombings of passenger aircraft.

we've seen a pattern of increasing terrorist recruitment of american citizens. in 2000 mine there were two actual terrorist attacks on our soil. you're referenced the fort hood shootings and explained the lives of the 15 people and one u.s. military recruiter killed, another wounded in little rock arkansas. many counterterrorism experts talk about 2010 and named it the year of the homegrown terrorist. self radicalization is an alarming development. our group issued a report as you mentioned last fall and radicalization and we are going to follow up this spring with a set of recommendations to deal with this important and very, very sensitive problem. we also face new threats like the discovery in october, 2010 of explosives in toner

cartridges addressed and synagogues in chicago and shipped on fedex and ups cargo flights. the cyber threat is also increasingly severe. they pose a danger to our critical infrastructure. defending the u.s. against such attacks would be an urgent priority. so we would like to offer our assessment today where the government is implementing a 9/11 commission recommendations. an emergency preparedness we have made some progress to establishing the unity of command in other words, one person responsible for coordinating efforts and disasters. but having said that, our recommendations are still a long way from being fully implemented. we found too many community leaders and first responders have mentioned to us that many metropolitan areas still haven't solved the problem of having unified command structure. moreover, an acceptable that the government still is not

allocated additional 10 megahertz of radio spectrum, d-block as you mentioned to public safety, so that the first responders can communicate the disaster. now, i recognize that the efforts and the leadership as you have shown through your bill and i believe the president supports such a recommendation and congress needs to act. there's been improvements in the transportation security but technology still lags for the weapons concealed in their bodies and for detecting explosives contained in bags. the gao continues to find holtz and virtually every single security later that we establish. for the security remains the top national security priority. as the terrorists continue to exploit the vulnerability is to get entry into the united states several let him the tax over the past two years have been by

terrorists who could have been detected by the u.s. immigration system. we require a more streamlined harvest watchlist capability and better sharing of information between intelligence agencies and immigration authorities. one area of progress is the deployment of the bi letcher gentry system known as the u.s. visit. we still lack of water in a comprehensive exit system we don't know in other words when people leave the country. the commission recommends the government standardize the secure ratification and federal government should set standards for the issuance of this difference and drivers' licenses. the real on the act established these standards by statute about one-third of the states complete with this first tier benchmark. the deadlines for compliance have been pushed back now twice. they lay in compliance creates vulnerability and makes us less

safe. i would ask no further delays should be authorized right now i ask my friend and partner who i admire almost anybody in this country, lee hamilton, to continue. >> thank you, tom, good morning. am i to begin by endorsing what tom has said with regard to the leadership. not only has this committee but specifically of the three centers in front of me i can remember coming to your offices shortly after the 9/11 commission was made tom and i spoke to each one of you and you were very courteous and receptive, but beyond that, you acted with a genuine political leadership, and the country is very grateful to you. i think there are a lot of reasons why the 9/11 commission had a favorable response, but two of them come first the

families who gave sustained sophisticated support for our recommendations but suddenly specifically the political leadership embodied by the three of you just really quite extraordinary, and tom and i are the very grateful to you for what you have done and when the chairman and moment ago outlined your continuing hearings and investigations i was immensely pleased to hear that because i think having been on the inside and on the outside, you have the powers that we don't have in terms of getting people before you to provide tough oversight, and that continuing effort by this committee is just a hugely important. because people say often this morning how much more needs to be done.

with respect to intelligence reform, the dni has made progress in several areas, increased information sharing, the improvement of cooperation among agencies and of analysis of intelligence and sharpening the collection genuine progress, no doubt about it. still it isn't clear to us that the dni is the driving force for intelligence community integration and the commission envisioned. some ambiguity probably remains with respect to the dni's authority over budget and personnel although that can be disputed i guess. strengthening the dni position would advance the unity of intelligence effort that we think is still a very much needed. i don't anticipate new legislation. you would know more about that than on this subject in the near future. so we have to live with that statute we have for an extended period of time.

it might very well be that in the future some legislation can fortify the offers. repeated in the kitchen from the president of the dni is the unequivocal leader in the intelligence community i think would be greatly helpful. the fbi has gone through a dramatic change. i think it is moving in a positive direction but in some sense in complete. it's that i believe strong leadership from the director mueller to collect and analyze intelligence to prevent terrorism. that's an enormous cultural change as you all know away from its former focus strictly on a law enforcement. it's progress has been significant but uneven. the fort hood shootings highlight the lingering problems your report which i looked over quickly has spelled that out in

a very persuasive and compelling way. analysts do not appear in the fbi to be driving intelligence within the organization. nor have they achieved status on the cover with the special agents who traditionally a rise to the management of the bureau. fbi headquarters components didn't play the role in analyzing the threat posed by the person who leader allegedly did the shootings. there were miscommunications as senator collins indicated in her opening statement that in the field offices so the shift taking place within the fbi is still very much a work in progress and the congress needs to keep up to help the fbi with its difficult transformation. the cia has improved its intelligence analysis and remove barriers between its analysts and operations offices. our sense is that there has been

more talk than action with respect to improvement in the cia's human operations. it is very difficult business particularly in closed societies and among close-knit terrorist cells. more money and more personnel do not necessarily result in better agents. while the cia has attempted to recruit officers qualified in the languages of the greatest interest that too is very hard part of the problem is that young people in our country with some exceptions of course don't gain proficiency in foreign languages. congress can help on that. they then must continue to rebuild the will require strong support from congress and the excessive branch. we want the agency to take calculated risks to protect the country, congressional oversight must be the politicized so that when the agency fails as it

occasionally well it is not an appropriately to blame for taking the necessary risks. in pershing information sharing across the federal government and the state and local authorities was a major recommendation. in some ways i think the government is doing better. the joint terrorism task force's infusion centers across the country have improved information sharing, the national counterterrorism center as analysts and other officers from all agencies of the intelligence community working side by side sharing information with their home organizations. there have been some failures as there's already been indicated. there is no question that wikileaks, a novelist publication of sensitive documents, is very sentiment and real concern. those are legitimate. but the need to share information we think is still remains highly important, and we should not backslide on that.

congress has to stop the government strike the right balance between the need to protect unauthorized disclosures and the need to share information to defend ourselves against the threats we face. among our major disappointment has been the administration has not in paneled the privacy and civil liberties oversight board. this is a major recommendation very strongly supported by all of the commissioners. i am informed and i'm not sure that i'm quite up-to-date on this, that the administration is nominated to individuals for the panel. i know one of them personally and as far as we know they have not yet been confirmed and the panel certainly hasn't met the administration i believe needs to push this on a priority basis because the board has a lot to do and i think this committee can be helpful in pushing the administration. we are equally disappointed the congress hasn't reformed itself

along the lines we recommended. we recommended that congress create a joint committee for intelligence or create house and senate committees with combined authorizing appropriation powers those recommendations may be a bridge too far. last week the chairman of the house intelligence committee announced the decision to include three members of the house appropriations committee to participate in the house intelligence committee hearings and briefings. that appears to us to be a positive step will obviously there is more to do. oversight of the department of homeland security is fractured. the massive department will be better integrated if there's better integrated oversight. i know the concerns expressed about that. it is in our country's security interest that congress make security reform a priority. preventing the spread of nuclear

weapons must be a national priority. the administration hosted a major nonproliferation summit last year announced the new initiative to secure all nuclear materials by 2013. it plans to spend $14.2 billion over the next five years to secure the nuclear and radiological materials. may i say outside of my statement that i -- because of other responsibilities that i have dealing with nuclear power, that i have recently had the occasion to listen to some highly qualified people within our government, and i believe the access to nuclear materials and the ability to use those materials and explode them is much greater than people generally think. and so, i hope the congress will

keep a hard and too sharp focus on the proliferation and i know there's some suggestions they want to cut some of these important programs. money is not everything here, but we must not weaken or underfunded one of what president bush and president obama both said is the highest priority security need. at the outset of his administration president obama issued executive orders that brought the united states into line with international norms for the treatment of detainees. that fulfilled part of our recommendations. we believe there is a conflict between the role of law and holding detainees indefinitely without resolving their cases. both presidents bush and obama have wrestled with this problem. it's a tough one. president obama took the step forward by requiring periodic reviews in the status of detainees there is an awful lot more to do. the congress and the executive

branch simply have to agree on a statutory base to give us a comprehensive approach to dealing with the detainees. the congress and the executive branch need to agree on the rules of evidence and the procedures that should be applied in determining how to deal with these detainees. i don't think this is a problem that can simply go on and on and on. you need a statutory base and i don't suggest it's easy to reach it to how to deal with these potentially very dangerous detainees. we had a number of foreign policy recommendations in the report, the events today in the middle east and north africa are clearly indicate the region is in a state of the people and it's quite unclear to many of us how it will emerge. we will address the role the

u.s. policy plays on counterterrorism, but we didn't come to be honest about it with considerable modesty. we believe that although the countries share a common religion people have many cultural national ethnic and tribal differences, and therefore we have to deal with them on a country by country basis. we want our country ways to advance its core values but a pragmatic approach for each country, one that supports the agenda of opportunity for the islamic world we think is necessary. sukkah to conclude, significant progress has been made since 9/11 and the country is undoubtedly more secure. yet important 9/11 commission recommendations remain to be implemented. and over the next two years a lot of heavy lifting still needs to be done. as tom mentioned a moment ago the fact we have resolved the radio spectrum problem and have not resolved the unity of the demand is just really distressing to us. it is a no-brainer with regard

to the safety and security of the country. some progress lead in both areas but not nearly enough. congress has resisted reorganizing its own institutions and streamlining the oversight of the intelligence and the department of homeland security would go far towards advancing unity of effort in at the intelligence community and within the dhs. always the dni needs a clear eye appraisal. i think it is functional functioning reasonably well and likewise the fbi but i think they both need -- we have concerns about each and the goal should be to strengthen both the dni and the fbi. the terrorist threat will be with us far into the future demanding that we be ever vigilant. our national security department require strong leadership, management at every level to ensure that all parts are working well together and that

there's innovation and imagination. our agencies and their dedicated work forces have gone through much change and we commend them for their achievements in protecting the american people but there's a tendency towards all bureaucracies and vigorous congressional oversight is just imperative to ensure that the remain vigilant and continue to pursue the needed reforms. so our task is challenging and difficult we constantly have to assess our work will the devotees and anticipate new and evolving lines of attack. we've done a lot and we can look back with some satisfaction that there is an awful lot more to do. we are very grateful to you for the opportunity to testify before this committee on which has had longstanding leadership on these issues and we will do our best now to respond to your questions. >> thank you for those fought for opening statements. i think that you've really helped us get some perspective on where we have come in the

last several years certainly since 2004 when the 9/11 commission act was enacted. you've also given us a clear statement of unfinished business and priorities for the future and i appreciate that. before i begin my question i want to note that since we began with abraham space who is with was taken at the pentagon on 9/11 and is another one of those family members who have continued in the battle to everything they can to make sure nothing like this happens again. i thought both of you summarized well where we have come and also noted the steps we've taken to improve our homeland security including those very significant steps to work part of your recommendations that we adopted

have strengthened our security but the the nature of the threat has changed and that we can never say never but certainly in our defense is against the sophisticated 9/11 type of attack but there for the presence of that happening are down, thank god, but there is a higher risk right now what smaller attacks than 9/11 and particularly of attacks that come from within the country because that has become the focus of al qaeda and all the other international islamist terrorist groups. i wanted to begin by asking you, governor, just to talk a little bit more about the inadequacy of the unity of command at this point and what you think we can do about.

>> well, this is one of the problems of 9/11. the question is who was in charge. so our recommendation is strongly to all communities there's got to be one leader, new york city made a lot of progress in that regard by putting everything on to the police department. other cities some of which follow the pattern and some haven't. and so there is still a member of communities some of them fairly sizable and people tell us there is still that question if something really happens who is in charge? businesses have made more progress. i think almost all major businesses i know have somebody who's in charge of something happens they know what to do and all that is in place. but communities not yet, and we think it's a very, very serious problem and one that we have to address make the best we can requirement that somebody be in

charge. >> i'm really interested that you focus on the local or metropolitan level and i think we've got to do some thinking about to see whether we can create some requirement or incentive to bring about that unity of command at the local level perhaps by making it a condition of some of the homeland security or other grants. let me take you to the national level. of the commission report on the unity of effort across before in domestic divided and the section of the report notes specifically that during the commission's hearings members of the commission often ask and i quote who is the quarterback. the other players are in their positions doing their jobs but who is calling the play that

assigns the role to help them execute as a team to respond to this need my interpretation of the commission's report recommended creating a national counterterrorism center with the responsibility to develop counterterrorism plans to integrate all the instruments of national power and i think that is one of the most significant recommendations and one of the most significant components of our legislation. so as you look back nationally now are you satisfied that there is clarity and unity of command at the national level and we have a quarterback and is it the national counterterrorism center? as committed as the national counterterrorism center and of course the dni. >> right. >> a combination.

now whether they are being implemented as a quarterback, whether or not they really have the power that you intended when he rode the law and we intend to the we have recommendations i don't know because the signals sometimes are mixed, and we have to have unity of effort in that regard, we have to have the quarterback. and i would suggest that you would approach the that area. whether one of the quarterback is in place and whether or not the quarterback has the power that you intended it to have in the legislation. >> there is no question the national counterterrorism center has created unprecedented cooperation between components of our security intelligence community's. in that sense they are all on the same board now and one of the problems i say in passing we ordered some of our earlier hearings and was a cause of some

of the cases the we've study that were not as we would want is that there is -- the problem now is there are so many dhaka on the same board that it's hard in real time to separate out from handan to connect the ones that ought to be connected, but they are not on separate boards anymore. >> mr. chairman may i say a word about this? you got two problems here. one is the scene of the disaster and there it is a no-brainer for me any way that someone has to be in charge. now that creates difficult political problems because the government wants to be in charge, the mayor wants to be in charge, the county officials want to be in charge, and there's a reason that it hasn't been resolved because the politicians are unwilling to address the question because it's a tough one to say who's in

charge. now i don't know whether that barrier can be overcome or not, but in terms of saving lives it is an easy question to answer. you've got to have one person making decisions with regard to sanitation, public health, food, housing, transportation -- they have to make thousands of decisions within a matter of a few hours really at the seams, and if you have confusion of command at that locale, you lose additional lives. so that's why we think it's an important matter. i really don't know about different metropolitan areas around the country and how well they have addressed this problem, but i'm very uneasy about it, and i don't really think it's been solved. ..

>> he is an extremely dedicated and important, capable man. but he is right in the center of the policy world at the white house. he is not removed from it, like i want generally intelligence officials to be. so am not sure whether he is the right person to do it, but if he is then it seems to me there ought to be a very clear designation that he is in charge of homeland security and counter terrorism. today, quite frankly, from where i said it looks to me like a number of different people are

involved in it, including mr. brennan, the director of national intelligence and several others, d.h. as secretary and others. i don't know who the quarterback is. i can identify the commissioners that raise that question. >> that's right. >> my guess is the same commissioners would be raising the same questions today. >> that is very helpful commentary. i agree with you that we have got the combination, and i'm simplifying your the, the critical role of intelligence and counter terrorism and, and security, but also then the other roles which are different of preparedness and prevention and response. i agree with you the that the top person today in our

government is john burnett. assistant to the national security adviser for counter-terrorism. and, again, i have great respect for him. whether that is the right place for that to be, that will to the is an important question or whether -- >> presidents have the right to organize the white house of the want to. >> right. >> they should have. maybe the president is comfortable with this. as an outsider who looks at it fairly carefully it's not clear the lines of authority a precise. >> yakima and i think you have quite accurately identify the key players. it is the secretary of homeland security, the director of national intelligence, the national counter-terrorism center. others at the fbi, but more than anyone else john brennan seems to be coordinating that effort.

there are different roles, although you could pick one of the other players and make that person the coordinator. might be the secretary of homeland security who has both operating and intelligence authority. you have given us a good charge for our review during this. my time is up. thank you. >> thank you, mr. chairman. let me pick up on this very issue of who is in charge. to me it was very clear when we passed the reform act in 2004 that we wanted the deal and i to be in charge. that is why we created this new quarterback position. yet i completely agree with congressman hamilton that in this particular administration the person who is in charge is john brennan at the white house.

putting aside his enormous debilities, which we all agree to, one of the problems with that is there is no accountability to congress. it is a member of the president's staff. there is no, we cannot call john brennan to testify before us. we cannot hold him accountable for a decision. i think that is another very big problem. the other area of confusion of command as the congressman has said, when disaster strikes and we saw this with of two but allowed. there was tremendous confusion over who was in charge and who should make decisions. in that case it ended up being

the attorney general who made the decision on how to treat abdul battelle up without any consultation whatsoever with the p and i, the head of the counter-terrorism center, the secretary of homeland security or any top intelligence official on whether or not of bill michelob should be questioned about whether to -- there were for the plots and information gotten from him. my questions are these, however, i these problems that we can fix through legislation? on their problems that depend on an individual president setting that up who is truly

going to be in power? the reason ask this question is when i go back and review the language creating the dni, it is pretty strong language. now, we tried to get it to be even stronger in the area of personnel, but, in fact, the dni has strong the party to set priorities for the intelligence community to oversee the budget, formulation, make some personnel decisions. my point is, is this really a case where we need to strengthen the law? is it a case where the president needs to empower the person we intended to be in power? and i would like to hear from both of you in either order on this question. >> i think the latter, the

president has to step in here. in the law as we all the can be strengthened. as i suggested, this law is not going to be changed in the immediate future. it took us several years to get this on the statute books. they be down the future it will be clarified, but center collins, i basically agree with your comment that there is sufficient authority than present law we envisioned, of course, that the dni would be the central powerful driver of the intelligence community. i don't think he has been. now, i want to say here, as you know, i've known all of these men that have held that position. a very tough position. we've had good men in that position. they have been quite strong. that line of authority is not as clear as it should be, and so i

think given the circumstances that you now have your second choice, that is the president has to step in and make it very clear with regard to its authority in the intelligence community over budget and over personnel and over transfer of funds within the budget, and so far as i can see that really has not been done. now having said that the dni deals with some pretty powerful players. the secretary of defense, cia director. if they get a decision within the bureaucracy that they don't like they will go directly to the president. there enough. so the dni may have authority, and he may try to exercise it, but he is going to -- he has to exercise that authority with extraordinary skill and discretion these are all major

players within the administration. so that power has to be very skillfully exercised. but i personally think the system is going to work out a lot better if you have someone at the top of it who is the driving force who is recognized as the center of power who has the authority and obviously has to have the support of the president to do the things that need to be done to give unity of effort. >> i remember when the bill was going through. that is weakened a bit in the house. i remember talking to lee about it at the time. don't worry. in the end it's the president. if the president gives the dni the authority did the and i will use it the way you want it. if not the law isn't going to help. that is where we are. my own belief is the law says

that the and i ought to be the top intelligence operative. at think a lot better that way. this president wants somebody else. my only recommendation would be that he make that clear both publicly within the public and within the administration. everyone knows. if somebody else will be in full charge let's say who that person is. that way everybody knows. the worst thing of all is a vacuum or confusion warrant lines that are not clear. the president is the only one who can make those lines clear, and the president is the only one who can make that happen. >> i agree that the president's response is absolutely clear and needs to be clear. if the president is not in powering the dni weekend by it all the language in the world. the dni is not pulling to truly be in charge. i also remain very concerned about the lack of accountability

to congress and the public when it is a member of the president's staff who is running the intelligence community. >> i just want to support what you said. a think that is terribly important. >> right. >> very, very important to be the person who is in charge, leverage is hot to be accountable to you people at all times. that is just fundamental, it seems to me, in the way that this place ought to operate. >> thank you. >> thank you very much, senator collins. of course i agree with you. it strikes me about both the importance of presidential and support your belts merely have the dni have ample authority, not as much as any of us wanted, but ample authority requiring the president to make clear that dni is the person in charge of

the intelligence community. we all expected that coming and as a new position to oversee existing agencies which have a real life of their own and a constituency of their own would be difficult. it is interesting to really just amplify what i said in my opening statement. i think because of his background in the military and credibility at the pentagon he is actually negotiating an agreement with secretary gates which will enable the dni to have much more authority with regard to a intelligence budgeting appropriations then was the case at the beginning of the office. that is dead. the question of who is on top over all and the counter-terrorism, it's a

complicated one. there is not only the intelligence community, but all the others, operators, printers, responders. i, again, i agree that it has to be somebody at the top. nothing-about john brennan is accountable to congress. we have to think about whether, how to deal with the problem. very important. when we first talked about the position what we envisioned was a man of woman stepping into that position to stay five or six years and developed a position, strengthen it and all of that. that has been one of the problems. hopefully we have one now that will stay for awhile. >> i hope. thank you. next in order of arrival senator akaka and then senator carper. >> thank you very much.

hal, would like to welcome governor came and congressman lee hamilton. thank you for being here today. although many of the information sharing and intelligence shortfalls at the 9/11 commission and identified have been addressed, critical work remains to ensure that we have an agile and well coordinated response to various threats. you have been discussing this. starting off federal workers will be addressing the intelligence community and other agencies in make daily sacrifices to keep a safe. it's essential to this effort. additionally we must never lose sight of the privacy and civil liberties, implications of our

efforts to protect the nation and particularly i agree with you and your witnesses, comments that the privacy and civil liberties, oversight board must be set up immediately. congressman hamilton, as you know, i believe that the gao could assist our efforts to strengthen oversight of the intelligence community. in response to my questioning in 2007 he stated that gm should have the same authorities within the intelligence community as it has in other agencies a key principle of my intelligence community audit act were included in the intelligence authorization act

last year. under this legislation the director of national intelligence must issue a directive to facility, facilitate g.a.o. audits and evaluations of the intelligence community. my question to you is, what element should be included in the de in i directive to promote the effective oversight? >> senator, i'm not sure i'd understand the question. what elements should the deal and i insist upon? >> include in the directive to promote effective oversight. >> the dni oversight of the intelligence community or your

oversight? >> well, either one. yap. >> well, i'm not sure. i am deeply impressed that only you folks in the congress can effectively oversee the intelligence community. the press does not know what is going on. those of us outside the congress don't have the information that you have in your staff to what is calling on. unlike most other areas of our government the only really effective oversight of the intelligence community and upended can come from the congress. now, you don't have another it -- you have other agencies.

you have the president's advisory board. they are all appointed by the president and are not an independent group. and all of the recommendations that we made we thought that the strengthening and persistence of the congressional oversight were just absolutely critical. but his i know that there is off internal of shiny within each agency. i think within the dni office as well. that can be important to oversee. that is not an independent oversight. that can only come from the congress. i do want to pick up on your observations about the privacy and civil liberties