ago. but we have this goal of, you know, dramatically improving communications and the additional spectrum is a focal point of that. so we think that's something that congress really needs to address. >> host: and final question, tim starks. >> host: how do you get them to address it? is. >> guest: well, we hope that the public will realize how important this is and convey to their elected representatives that this is something they want to get done. >> host: harlin mcewen of the international association of chiefs of police, jack brown of the arlington county office of emergency management and tim starks of "congressional quarterly." gentlemen, thank you for being on "the communicators." >> guest: thank you. >> guest: thank you. >> coming up next, the u.s.

ambassador to libya talks about relations with libya's new government. then we're live at a conference of the congressional hispanic caucus institute for a discussion on economic issues impacting the latino community. and later the senate gavels back at 2 p.m. eastern for a period of general speeches followed by more debate on a measure to approve the renewal of import restrictions on products from burma. >> tonight following the cnn tea party express, republican presidential candidates debate, we'll have life coverage of the spin room where the candidates and their advisers are expected to speak with reporters. this takes place in tampa which is the host city for the 2012 republican national convention. live coverage begins at 10 p.m. eastern here on c-span2 and c-span.org. >> watch more video of the candidates, see what political reporters are saying and track the latest campaign

contributions with c-span's web site for campaign 2012. easy to use, it helps you navigate the political landscape with twitter feeds and facebook updates from the campaigns, candidate bios and the latest polling data. plus links to c-span media partners in the early primary and caucus states all at c-span.org/campaign 2012. >> now, remarks by u.s. ambassador to libya gene cretz. in a speech last week in washington, he said the u.s. fully recognizes libya's transitional national council and will take a hands-off approach concerning their efforts toward a democracy. the middle east institute hosts this half hour event. >> please join me in welcoming ambassador gene cretz. [applause] >> thank you, wendy. um, it's a pleasure to be here. it's especially a pleasure to be here after these last six months which have been, i think, for

all of us involved in this very intensive and, finally, we've achieved something, i think, that very few of us thought would happen so quickly. be this was leading from behind, i don't know, those of us who are exhausted don't really see it that way. let me, wendy mentioned the meeting in paris. let me just go back a little ways just to talk about the international community's response to this crisis and then move on to several different topics that she mentioned. you know, prior to the meeting in paris last week, i think you're all aware that there were several international meetings starting with summits in london and paris and then heading on into contact group meetings in doha, rome, the united arab emirates and istanbul and also a nato min too ministerial -- ministerial in berlin all of which secretary of state clinton

participated in and which certainly showed the commitment of the united states to this effort. i think each of the meetings, each of them built upon the other, and over a time period i think you found or we found that we had, we built a international consensus, number one, in support of the nato mandate, number two, in support of trying to aid the libyan opposition to the extent that we could, and number three, an increasing comfort with the ntc as time went on. i remember from the first days that this had started within two weeks of the crisis, the secretary asked me to go out and find out exactly who were these people. and, you know, we had had a sense a bit of who they were. i had met some of them when i was ambassador and some of them were ministers, some of them occupied other positions in the libyan government. but we really didn't have a sense beyond that of who they were.

and so i traveled to rome and cairo to meet them, and i think that, um, you know, as time went on the international community became more comfortable with them. as each meeting solidified a particular consensus leading up to the july 15th meeting in istanbul in which the contact group, basically, offered recognition to the ntc as well as the united states did and called upon the international community to support the ntc with funds and, also, congealed around the sense that gadhafi had to go. up until that time, as you know, there were several attempts at trying to find a political solution. in fact, the libyans were sending out envoys to everybody in an attempt, we think, to try to, you know, play one party off against the other. and in istanbul the contact

group kind of put it foot down and said that there'll no longer be a diffusion of envoys and that the effort of the international community with respect to trying to find a political solution if one could be found would be through the u.n. special representative, mr. hatib. so, basically, that brought us to -- so, in effect, istanbul was a turning point, i think, in the international community's view and approach to the issue. last week in paris was really quite extraordinary. the atmosphere, um, i, you know, some people said, well, this was a victory lap. i didn't get that sense at all. i think the people in that room including, you know, several prime ministers, including, you know, the president of france, the prime minister of britain and the prime minister of italy and several other high-level officials including ban ki-moon of the u.n. and the arab league,

the secretary general, there certainly was a sense of pride in what the international community had done over the past several months. but it was in no sense a victory lap as such because i think everybody recognized that while the situation had reached a more positive point than it had over these past many months, that there certainly was a lot more work to do. and there's no doubt that a muammar gadhafi along with his sons, the most dangerous of the lot, having them continue to be free anywhere in libya much less outside of libya posed a danger to whatever efforts the tnc was going to make in terms of establishing a new government and a new way forward for this new libyan country. so for their part i think at the

paris meeting some themes were common among all the different presentations made. number one, there was a further calling on nights to -- nations to recognize the tnc as a legal representative of the libyan people. and up-to-date i think we have approximately 65 nations now that have formally recognized the tnc including several african nations that just came onboard in the last few days. um, there was a, certainly, a sense of pride in talking to the leadership of the tnc, the international community was simply amazed at the courage that the libyan people had shown over these past months in taking, you know, taking to the streets and actually fighting this dictator who had, you know, suffocated them for the past 42 years.

there was a call for the, for everybody in that room to try to do what they could individually and through the u.n., of course, to unfreeze the assets which we hope now would be made available to the tnc as it copes with some very, very difficult problems in the next several days, weeks and months which mark ward and his colleague will be able to address more fully. and there was also a call in each of the presentations directed at the leadership of the tnc that the international community was very proud to have helped them through this effort and now expected them as well to uphold the commitments that they had made during the past several months from the start, basically, with respect to observing human rights, with respect to treating prisoners of war according to the geneva conventions, with respect to unifying libya because, you know, part of the problem always

was or part of the concern was that this was a very benghazi-sent rick government and that -- centric and that no government in libya could survive and unify the country if it retained that kind of perception. so there was, and also a sense, an appeal to the libyan leadership that they needed to take care of these assets, and when they get them, to be very careful with them and that the international community expected transparency and some kind of accountability so that, in effect, um, that money was used for a good purpose and would be, would be tangibly seen as time went on. for their part mustafaal ya legal, the two leaders of the tnc gave a very moving thanks to the international community for its support. they were very clear that they intended to, um, to fulfill the

obligations that they had made with respect to human rights, treatment of prisoners, etc. and that they would do everything they could, that they had heard the international community's pleas on these different issues in terms of unity in all, that they understood them, and that they really didn't need to be told what to do because they understood those particular problems. they also agreed, and they said that they would be a governing authority that would, um, you know, make sure that the way in which they handled these billions of dollars of assets that would be flowing into the country would be handled in a transparent and accountable way up to international standards. um, i think as we look forward to the next days and weeks in terms of the interests of the united states particularly and the international community writ large, i think there are a few things that we wanted to stress. number one, that we will continue the nato mission, that

there was certainly a clear sense in be paris that this is not over and that the tnc continues to face problems on the security front. and as i mentioned, especially with gadhafi and his sons still running around the country. so there was, certainly, a very strong sense that that would continue and when the circumstances were right, then a decision would be made as to what the future of nato would be, if anything, in libya. number two, um, what we would hope to promote over the next days and weeks is to welcome libya back into the community of nations for it to regain it seat at the u.n. number three, that we would support the tnc in its efforts to meet the needs of the libyan people. two key things as they begin to establish themselves, and they are making their way back into tripoli day by day.

minister tar hoonny has been there, we expect that prime minister jabril and the head will also make their way back, and that they will establish themselves in the coming days in the trip ily and -- tripoli. and the two key things are going to be, number one, establishing security and, also, making sure that the humanitarian needs of the libyan population writ whole, writ large are fulfilled because i think that there's an understanding that in order to begin to put this country back together again, and i've said it's not recreation, i've called it the creation of a new country. because what they have inherited, i think, from gadhafi is a very, very difficult and hard climb. when you think about the, um, east/west problem, when you think about the tribal problems, when you think about the minority problems, the north and south, it's really quite a challenge that they face.

and like i've said in several interviews, i think that gadhafi was one to take the concept of divide and conquer to unprecedented heights. and this is what they face. they've got to deal with these issues as well as to build new institutions as well as to, you know, deal with the issues remaining from the gadhafi regime including how to, how to deal with over hundreds of billions of dollars worth of contracts. they have said that they will honor contracts, but certainly, there's going to be a lot that needs to be, um, figured out as they go forward on the economic side and also, of course, in getting the oil resource back online. um, the international community also, i think, is committed now to a u.n. lead in helping the libyan people. ian martin is on the ground now with the u.n. assessment team. i think he's going to at some point in the next several days report back to the u.n., to

secretary ban ki-moon in terms of what the scope and size of that u.n. mission should be. um, and, um, we -- i think at the end of the day the final goal is that we are committed to helping the tnc pave a path to peaceful, inclusive democracy. none of us can predict what that democracy is going to look like. it's probably going to be messy as they try to put this country together again. they're going to have to create an ngo society, they're going to have to create new institutions. but their commitment seems to be to a democracy of some kind, and i think that we've seen from the first days of the tnc, you know, assuming authority in places like benghazi and other areas in the cub that the libyan -- in the country that the libyans seem to have an idea of what democracy is. certainly in those first several

weeks we saw, you know, debates taking place about what a constitution is, what democracy should be. we saw tens of newspapers, you know, published. we saw an ngo, ngos springing up in the hundreds. so it seems that they do have a sense of what democracy is and that the tnc leadership will have to kind of harness that and see what makes sense within the, what will be the new libyan political and economic and social fabric. let me say a few words about planning. i know that there's been a lot of questions, certainly i've received a lot and i think there's been a lot directed at just what kind of planning was done, you know, in terms of this crisis. and from the start i think that we had an advantage, in fact, in washington was i had my embassy -- because i had my embassy team basically transported back en masse, and we were able to work together out of the state department. so we kept, you know, we exploited that knowledge on the ground that we had.

we then worked with the interagency process here to, basically, lay out various scenarios that we thought would play out in libya from the worst to the best. in fact, the one that's played out is kind of the next to worst. i mean, the worst, obviously, would have been a gadhafi leaving or being, you know, being overthrown in tripoli but ending in if an apocalyptic rage of some kind and bringing down the, you know, the oil resources and really doing damage to the country's infrastructure which did not happen. the speed with which the opposition forces went into tripoli, in effect, precluded or prevented that kind of, um, apocalyptic scenario. but we did have an idea of the different issues that we would face and that the tnc would face and that the international community would face, and be i think by and large, you know, after we had done our planning within the u.s. government, we then hooked up with the u.n.,

with ian martin, and then beyond that we went to the e.u., and finally we went to the tnc planning cell which at that time several weeks ago was in doha. and i think all of us were quite pleasantly surprised that the tnc group had done an amazing amount of planning, much along the lines of what we had been doing, so we were able to compare notes on what kinds of political issues they would face, what kind of social issues, economic issues, messaging, all these different things we had taken into account in the planning phase they had also done, and we were able to fill in each other's gaps. so i'm not sure that at this point we can definitively say that the planning process that we all engaged in is, in fact, paying dividends now. but i think that there are some issues that are being brought to the fore now which were

considered previously and which are being played out now. for example, on the proliferation of weapons we all recognize that this was an issue that needed to be dealt with, and i think the tnc certainly is aware of it, and at some point over the next weeks i think you'll see efforts being made to decommission the militias and to get people to turn in their weapons and to bring those militias which have been heretofore been independent for six months, bringing them into a national security force of some kind or another. wmd, you've seen -- and the other weapons, you've seen a lot of concern, i think, in the news that's what happened to the sites that were under the supposed guard of, you know, gadhafi and some of the cw sites and the scuds, etc., etc., and we had also in our planning and in their planning as well had considered what needed to be done, and, um, right now we have people there on the ground, the tnc is working very closely with

the international community to make sure that those sites are secured. on the other question, for example, of man pads and other weapons that might be, you know, proliferated, they're taking the same attitude. so i think that all of the planing that we had done is kind of playing itself out. we also noted that the problem of african migrants in libya could be a problem because, you know, we had predicted and i think that didn't take a genius to figure this out that a lot of the wrath of libyans would be directed against black africans who were seen as having played a part in terms of mercenaries and all. and we are now working after having received, i think, fairly credible reports from international organizations that there was some, that there has been an ongoing sense of mistreatment of some of the black africans. we are now very intensively engaged with the tnc and with the international community

including the iom and the u.n. to make sure we get some protection and we figure out a solution to bring these migrants out of harm's way. we don't think that it's, obviously, a systematic approach by the tnc, but it's being done by their cadres at a lower level who just don't have a sense of, you know, of what is fair play and how do you not accuse a whole, you know, race of, of atrocities that can be attributed possibly to only a few of them. so we're working very carefully with them. i think that in talking to the tnc, i think at least some of their priorities include, number one, pursuing gadhafi. i think this is very important to them, obviously, to put him on trial. there will be a lingering problem, i think, as long as he is free. number two, i think they're very geared toward stabilization and providing security and providing a new regime of the rule of law.

um, they have postsitted the possibility -- posited the possibility of establishing special courts for those who have committed crimes, demilitarizing the militias, as i've mentioned, and to work with some members of the gadhafi regime, if possible, if they're proven not to have blood on their hands. i think the tnc is also looking for a way to compensate those, the families of martyrs who played a role in this revolution. and also to come up with a budget process that will prioritize the public services, public salaries and rebuilding and upgrading infrastructure, housing and utilities. so they have a massive challenge ahead of them. the united states, certainly, along with it allies will do what we can. um, we're not going to be engaged in the kind of nation building that we were either in iraq or afghanistan. i mean, it's clear that we don't

have the resources to do that, and this situation doesn't really lend itself to that. the tnc by its own statements have said that they are not looking for a massive handouts or massive, you know, financial infusions from the international community. they're looking for training, and they're looking for help in helping to set up the institutions that they know are necessary in order for them to build their new countriment so -- country. so with that i think that we're, we've got a lot of work ahead of us. i think we're all looking forward to going back at some point. this has been a tremendous opportunity for us to watch this brave people, i think, who are going to serve as a model for historians for hundreds of years to come who took the courage and actually, you know, overthrew this dictator. we now have a very important role to play, i think, in

helping them according to the kind of needs that they will lay out for us in trying to help build this new society. and i think at the end of the day that certainly the international community and certainly we as americans can be very proud of the role that we have played in this. i think we stand, our reputation in libya is very well thought of. i look forward to, hopefully, helping american companies get back into libya because i think they have the expertise that the libyans will need. but we will take this. the key to this is that it's going to be libyan-led, and we're not going to dictate the terms of how they should proceed. but we'll be there should they need our help. and at the end of the day, you know, maybe five or ten years from now or maybe even sooner we may have a conversation, and we may be able to say that there is a democracy in libya and that the united states had a role to play in it. and i think that we're all very

proud of that, and i think that certainly having worked for the last six months with the president and secretary of state can say that we took the right path on this one, and i think the concept of smart power has been a good one. and, um, we look forward to going back to libya and helping them build their new nation. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you very much, ambassador cretz, for that clear, candid and comprehensive account. ambassador cretz has agreed to take a few questions from the audience. again, let me remind you this is on the record and, please, come to the microphone here at the center. and state your name and your affiliation. and then after he, after a very few questions, then we'll continue with the rest of our panel on the humanitarian

situation in libya. thank you. >> hi, i'm leah from the public international law and policy groupment i was -- group. i was just wondering if you had any particular concerns regarding how the international response and international backing of the tnc might affect its legitimacy going forward. >> well, i think that by saying, number one, that this will be a libyan-led process, that we recognize that we have to be very sensitive about the position of the tnc. i mean, it's clear that the no go boots on the ground was not only a rose out of a domestic imperative -- arose out of a domestic imperative here in the united states, but in a sense that that would be a very difficult issue for the tnc. so we've been very careful, and i think our allied partners have been as well. so i don't -- we understand the sensitivities. they're in a very difficult position because they have to

really establish legitimacy and credibility with the whole population, parts of which don't know who they are, parts of which are very skeptical of them. and for us to be seen as a quote-unquote western imperialist attempting to, you know, reimpose ourselves or to intervene would be a very dangerous thing for them. so i don't think it's going to be a problem, quite honestly. >> thank you. we already have quite a long line, so we're going to cut the line off there. so if i could just ask you not to join the line after we complete this. thank you. >> ken meyer, world docs. you have echoed secretary clinton's statement that the libyans should be allowed to decide their fate on their own, but your belief that nato will continue its involvement implies that without nato, the rebels would lose. doesn't letting the libyans fight it out amongst themselves come closer to letting the libyans decide than having nato continue its devastation of the country? >> what i meant by the fact that

nato would continue its mission, would continue its mission to protect civilians. that's it. >> but it is continuing to bomb. >> well, i think that it's being, i think as has been the case throughout the six months, throughout the five months that nato's been involved in this, they've been very careful in terms of the targeting, and i don't think that there's been many instances where one could argue that the nato mission has veered much from, number one, making sure that there was a no-fly zone and, number two, that it main mandate of protecting civilians was honored most of that time or all of that time. >> jeff with al-jazeera. you mentioned during your remarks you hope to be going back soon. can you put a finer point on that? because other countries have begun to set up their dip plomatic -- diplomatic

establishments. >> right now we have a very small team on the ground that is assessing the situation. as you know, our mission was torched along with the british, french and italians that night that, um, gadhafi's son was killed in a fit of rage by gadhafi and his goons. so we're taking, you know, we've had chris stevens who's been in benghazi all this time, we're taking a very measured approach to our return. i expect us to be there, as the days go on, i think you'll see an increased american presence assuming that the security situation is stabilized even further and that we can find facilities in which to house our people. >> thank you. >> my name is -- [inaudible] i'm a libyan-american, and i'm proud of being libyan and being american. and i would like to state here for the fact that without the interference of the alliance and then of nato, we would not have

achieved getting rid of gadhafi. for the sake of the whole world. my question is twofold. libya in 1949 and '51, the united nations played a great role in building it. a great scholar and a great politician who every libyan loves until today and adores. today it's the remaking of second libya, second independence of libya. i think united nations and by, i'm asking you as a messenger of the united states, is to bush that the united nations played the same role of rebuilding libya politically and seeing that the program of political rebuilding would be there for sure. and it is very much respected because of the 1970, 1973 revolutions. my questions to you, ambassador cretz, i was in libya, i just came last week. ..

>> certainly in the secretary-general, in this representative of jordan and certainly now with dean martin who is on the ground in libya as we speak. the question of paying for new expenses, this has.

several congress that have asked me, when we asked for reimbursement? this is a question very complex so it will have to be dealt with at a later time. this is a recognition that let's let the tmc get established before issues like this and others will come up in the bilateral relationship. civil society and wrote role the united states will play, we certainly intend to do that. mark ward will be able to address that as well. that is the area i think would be most effective and that we have the most comparative advantage with respect to other potential donors as well. >> dave from the woodrow wilson center, former "washington post" middle east correspondent. i'm curious how you would explain the amazing roll over, over role in overthrowing gadhafi. what do you think motives were for the royal family to become so involved, so many different ways in overthrowing another

arab leader, which generally speaking is not part of the way arabs treat each other? >> well, look, there's no doubt that the qatar and the emirates played a very up front role in this, including in the military campaign, which is unprecedented. but don't forget that the main reasons that we were able to intervene, and this is because we had arab backing not only from the gcc but from the arab league from the start. so i think there was a consensus, certainly a strong consensus in the arab world, that had to exist in order for them to overtly approach us and the nato group to take action. so i can't speak to the motivations i don't think of the transit or the emirates. obviously, they have their own national interest as well as other interests at stake.

but i think those will probably come out as history, the history is written of the crisis. but it's clear that they played an important role along with the emirates and along with our nato colleagues. >> obviously transportation infrastructure is the lifeblood of the country, and even before the regime fell there has been some project started to improve the transportation infrastructure in the country. can you elaborate just a bit as to what should we be expecting, for instance, the international airport in tripoli was already contracted out for improvement and expansion, and a number of roads. if you do any knowledge about that situation it would be very welcomed. >> year after the right. i mean, look, libya in the pre-february 16, under gadhafi

was a place that was, you know, boom with contracts. they needed everything from a-z. from roads to airport, which tells you in a sense the deprivation under which this country suffered with all that oil wealth, and yet all these, all this is being done in a very much helter-skelter way. i think, as i recall, the last big i.t. approximate $150 billion worth of contracts that were underway in one form or another on the eve of the crisis. and so this is going to be one of the issues that the tmc will have to be very diligent about, to go back and resume, see which ones are still operative, which ones need to be redone, see which ones need to be discarded completely. so i think it's going to be a tremendous amount of work for the whole international community in this. and that's why i said the european companies are already

knocking on the door to get back into libya. and i think american companies should be in a position, too. but i think we have to give tnc a bit of some breathing space, number one, political space to get themselves established. and number two, to begin to rationalize how they want to proceed on the development course. they said they will honor a lot of the contracts that they have signed, especially with oil companies which is a positive step. but i'm not sure the extent to which they have really completed their thinking about how to go and take that massive amount of projects that were underway on the other crises, and to bring them either back online or whatever. i think it would be a very very intensive undertaking. but at the end of the day i think companies from around the world will have a fairly good opportunity to contribute to the rebuilding of this new libya. >> thank you very much, ambassador cretz. we very much appreciate you sharing your time.

i know this is a very easy target for you. please join me in -- [applause] [inaudible conversations] >> we are live this morning from the washington convention center here in the nation's capital for a discussion on how the hispanic population impacts the economy. we are expecting remarks and housing secretary shaun donovan, and texas congressman charles gonzalez. as part of the congressional hispanic caucus institute's annual conference, moderated by ray suarez of the "newshour" on pbs. it should get underway in just a moment. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] >> welcome to the 2011 chci public policy conference. keeping the promise, unity, strength, leadership. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ >> with your scholarships, fellowships and career programs, you are moving. chci has been the quality of the programming, quality of the curriculum, the quality of the network. >> we've got to make sure we create leaders and have leaders that can speak and represent the interest and help with policy issues that will impact that

important and graphic new order. >> its students and alumni. >> the opportunity chci has granted me is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. >> to be part of the incoming class, it is a blessing to be able a part of the legacy. >> because of what it does for young, enthusiastic latinos, helping them to find a place and what they can do to make a difference. >> it's always a great benefit, privilege but also a great responsibility. >> i'm positive. >> it's given me an opportunity to give back. >> twenty-first century leaders. that will impact the nation and the world is what chci is about. >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the chci's president and

ceo, one of washington's top strategic thinkers, she is widely recognized as one of the 100 most influential hispanics in washington, d.c., under her leadership, chci has aggressively expanded national programs and services to hispanic high schools, college, and graduate students. she is passionate about education and is a frequent contributor to the national discussion. this january, she was appointed to th the new u.s. office of personnel management council on removing barriers to the hiring, retaining and advancing hispanics in the federal workforce. in february, she was named one of the nation's top 90 female mentor and leaders. please welcome esther aguilera. [applause] >> thank you. good morning and welcome to the

2011 chci public policy conference. a different joining us to kick off hispanic heritage month in our nations capital, to celebrate keeping the promise, unity, strength and leadership. as you have come to expect from chci we have gathered powerful speakers, powerful panels, and powerful events. from the conference and arts and culture to a free movie screening, comedy night and the awards gala. the awards gala and a post-gala concert that you don't want to miss. this morning, we will hear the opening address from our chairman, our board chairman, congressman charles gonzalez, from the great state of texas. i want to recognize him for his stewardship and guidance that he has provided the organization, and me personally. at this time, it gives me great

pleasure to recognize those partners who make our work possible. these partners are not only investing in our youth, they lend their talents personally to the organization and to mentor students. i like to thank our conference host, toyota. thank you for stepping up, and for your investment. [applause] our gala host, exxon mobil. [applause] your investment is making an impact in young people's lives are we also have outstanding partners including our premier partner, comcast, who also supports the internship program. our innovator partners, anheuser-busch, the u.s.a., and our champion partners, the american petroleum institute,

chevron, general motors, morgan lewis, nielsen, pepsico, and southwest airlines. on behalf of chci, our conference participants, and those who benefit from our program, we thank you, we think all of our generous supporters. [applause] we are also proud to partner with lots of media partners, including telemundo, and we're partnering with local policy solutions to videotape our distinguished panelists. you'll be able to view some of these exclusive interviews on global policy tv .tv. and the link on chci website. akin, let's thank our media partners and all of our partners for making today and this conference so special. [applause]

today's opening session is sponsored by society for human resource management, at&t and unitedhealthcare. at this time i would like to welcome at&t, chci board member jerry for when test who is the president of the at&t arizona new mexico. jerry. i also wanted to acknowledge the at&t foundation for partnering with chci on a very important program on our ready to lead program through a grant with at&t, jerry, thank you for being with us. at&t not only lends its support of our high school programs, but jerry is on our board so that we can build a strong organization. please welcome jerry for when test.

>> good morning. buenos dias. as the chci board member i couldn't be more honored by the warm welcome as i look out on this most important conference yet. on behalf of at&t and our over 260,000 employees, i'm happy to be here with you today. at&t has been a long-standing partner with chci, and i'd like to thank our chair, the honorable charles gonzalez. president, and the chci board of directors and staff for their dedication and commitment to promoting leadership in all corners of the country. we firmly believe that the people in this room are some of the most dynamic leaders focused on returning our country and our economy back to a place of opportunity and possibility for all. i was inspired this morning by

the energy of the young participants in the chci ready to lead program, a program that reaches over 1300 students from across the country helping them prepare for college and motivating them to become leaders in our community. at at&t we believe in building the strongest workforce of tomorrow by inspiring and by supporting the youth of today. that is why we continue to sponsor this important program. president obama has challenged us to win the future, quote unquote, and with that challenge he set for the goal of connecting 98% of the population in the digital area. we know in order to meet this challenge and to ensure america remains strong, we have to make the right investments and to support policies and initiatives that will spur job creation and economic growth. at at&t we stand committed to

making sure that the u.s. remains a leader in the global, digital economy. today we are investing billions of dollars annually in the u.s. to go the digital infrastructure of the 21st century. with the recent announcement, we stand ready to build on that commitment to private sector investment and to deliver the most advanced wireless broadband technology to over 97% of americans, unlocking and endless possibilities for our communities. at at&t post merger commitment, we have committed to invest 8 billion expanding high speed mobile broadband which will provide access to an additional 55 million americans, covering over 1 million additional square miles, many in rural america. a recent study showed that it carries invest between 25 billion, and 53 billion, that would generate between 371,000,

and 771,000 jobs. so the bottom line is investment in broadband infrastructure is an engine for job creation. we also stand ready to create 10,000, thousands of quality union jobs by bringing 5000 back from overseas. moreover, at&t commits call-center employees on our payroll post merger will keep their jobs. that translates to nearly 20,000 workers whose employment is secured well into the future. so i'm excited to be part of this great american company that stands with chci to deliver on the promise of looking to our future. we know that as the latino community grows, so grows our country, our economy, and our ability to leverage innovation to pave the way to brighter days. brighter days led by the leaders here today. [applause]

>> thank you. our next speaker is doctor rhonda meadows, who is with unitedhealth group, she joined unitedhealth group in april 2010 as the chief medical officer and executive vice president for all of united's comments sector programs, including medicare, medicaid and the schip. she recently begun dating the unitedhealthcare's quality management and quality improvement program abiding leadership and oversight of the initiative to improve both clinical quality and operational quality. i'd like to welcome doctor meadows, and think united health, not only for being with us and supporting this important dialogue, but also united health foundation has been providing scholarships, and those scholars do internships back home, paid

internships, and that's a result of a very powerful partnership. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. good morning to you all. we want at unitedhealth group thank you very much for allowing us to continue our partnership. i wanted to let you know how much we really do appreciate that. today, together we been able to provide 77 scholars. the support they need to exceed and to become professional. in their chosen field. in addition i wanted to talk to you a little bit about how i see we have common goals and common areas of wanting to exceed. be successful. and those common areas would include the development of our community, the strengthening of our families, investment of our youth, and the building of our work force. we need all of these pipelines to ask we sustain our industries as well as our companies and our communities going forward. the unitedhealthcare chairs with you those common goals, those common areas of achievement.

going forward. when i stop to think about how unitedhealth group could actually type in and try to explain how important this is to us, i can think of probably three key areas to share with you today. one is as as an employer itself unitedhealth group employs 70,000 people across the nation. we are in every state, every community, every county, every city. we have a responsibility were workforce. we have a responsibility to the community to make sure that that community to strengthen and able to sustain the workforce that we need answers that community. second is our interest in the committee ourselves. we are 78,000 people strong. it's not just the corporate entity that is actually responsible for the community. it's individual people. we are involved. we are in the same committees you are. we are sitting beside you in church and in school, in pta, you name it, we are there. we also have that responsibility to make sure our family and

children receive the education, training and support that they need to achieve and succeed in life. and then thirdly we are health and well being company. we provide through three of our companies, health care coverage and insurance for medicare, medicaid populations across the nation as well as commercial plans that serve us at this .75 million people. in addition to the unitedhealthcare brand with those three health plan industries, are the optimum health services. and i say all of this to you not to display what unitedhealthcare does but to also remind you, hopefully, that the health care industry is one of the few industries that still has growth. it is still the center for opportunity for up-and-coming youngsters for our youth and for our young professionals. the health care industry is one of the few that actually has increased the number of jobs available to i think the tune of 30,000 new jobs in august alone.

that is followed closely been by information technology and data systems. folks who have increase i think about 3000 in august. the reason i tell you this again is because despite the gloom, despite the sobering numbers, the national unemployment rate of 9.1, a disproportionate share that attacks the hispanic committee with the unemployment rate nicely of 11 and the geographic disparities that occur with nevada and california having an opponent rates of about 12 or more, despite all of that there's still sectors within our economy that actually can grow. where youngsters and professionals can succeed, and what we can we would like to help you. we would like to partner with you. for all the reasons i should with you earlier as being an employer, as being a part of your communities, as being an individual company that is very concerned and committed to improving the health and well being of our population. thank you. [applause]

>> thank you, dr. meadows. and for all of our sponsors this morning. next, i am delighted to thank our conference host. it is toyota. toyota have stepped up not on supporting our conference but supporting our young programs, our young people's programs. and has been a strong partner of chci for many years. our next guest is one of the hardest working chci board members. please welcome group vice president national philanthropy and the toyota u.s.a. foundati foundation, who also introduced our chair.

pat, thank you for investing in latino youth, and thank you for serving on our board and guiding this organization. [applause] >> mucho gracias, esther. welcome to the opening plenary of chci's 2011 public policy conference. i'm so thrilled that toyota is able to join chci as this years conference host. i'd like to take a moment to recognize chci share, congressman charlie gonzalez, president and ceo of chci, and the chci for an advisory council members who are here with us this week. thank you for your leadership and tireless efforts to make the mission of chci a reality.

[applause] >> chci is very special to toyota. not only has toyota been a supporter for nearly 20 years, and contributed over $1.5 billion, but i've also been on the board of directors now for for nearly five years. toyota is committed to supporting the tremendous role plan one is playing in developing a next generation of latino leaders. we share than once believed that education and leadership development are essential to a better quality of life for latinos in this country. and are the building blocks for an even more energized engaged and influential latino community. if you are not already a supporter of chci, i'd like to encourage you and your company to get involved, and support chci so they can stand -- expand

its program. i'm very proud today that toyota is actively engaged in working with latinos and a variety of ways, both in the community and in our business. but today i want to put the spotlight on a new and important program called buckle up for life. and innovative safety initiative toyota has launched, along with the cincinnati children's hospital and faith-based institutions to address these unfortunate statistics. vehicle crashes are the number one cause of death among hispanics ages one to 44. and hispanic children are three times more likely to die in a vehicle crash than caucasian children. toyota is committed to doing something about this, because everyone's safety is important to us.

over the next year we are expanding the program with a $1 million grant which will allow the program to reach even more people across the country. and we hope to continue expanding the program even further over the coming years, so we can eliminate preventable injuries and death amongst hispanic children. before i close i want to thank all of you, all of you for supporting toyota. the hispanic community has been very, very good to us. toyota has ranked number one among latinos since 2004. on behalf of toyota's 300,000 workers and partners in the u.s., gracias. now i have the distinct honor of introducing chci's chair. representative charles gonzalez is in his seventh term in the u.s. house, representing the

20th congressional district of texas. he was elected by his peers as chair of the congressional hispanic caucus for the 112th congress, where he serves on the house committees on energy and commerce, and house administration, and is also a member of the new democrats coalition. he's a major force in fighting for the best interests of the latino community, and is passionate in his efforts to help develop the next generation of latino leaders. please join me in welcoming chci and chci share represented charlie gonzalez. [applause] >> thank you very much.

i appreciate it very much. good morning and welcome to our 2011 public policy conference. i'm honored to be joined this week by my colleagues, leaders, experts in every field, to cover the major issues that are facing this country. i know at this time i have one of my colleagues in the audience, and i'd like to introduce him at this time, and that is congressman from the state of texas. [applause] >> thank you, ruben. this entire week's events are due to the hard work of this year's planning committee. our chair represented in ray lujan, the ever reliable lucille, and frank ross from the coca-cola company. thank you all for your dedication commitment to chci. they are all here to support chci, keeping the promise with

unity, strength, leadership and the next generation of latino youth. today we stand on the shoulders of many great leaders that came before us, including cesar chavez and dr. martin luther king, jr. it was a proud day here in washington when dr. king's memorial was completed on the national mall. many people don't know that there was a strong bond that was shared between dr. king and cesar chavez. a month before his death, dr. king sent a telegram to cesar chavez in support of his efforts in the foreign worker movement and to expand his hand in fellowship year dr. king said, we are together with you in spirit and determination that our dreams for a better tomorrow will be realized. the work of these two great men laid the groundwork for what chc does to the young latinos realize their own american dreams. i'm very proud to be chair of

this great organization, and the powerful work that it does day in and day out. chci has special meaning for me, as my father, was one of the founding members more than 30 years ago. 10 years before dr. king's death. now, my father witnessed many great struggles to achieve civil rights in this country. and had a great need for more latinos on capitol hill and in the public policy area. when i first took office in 1999, chci served by 50 fellows and interns to go along with its educational clean house. 10 years later, chci provides direct services to more than 1300 students annually. [applause] plus we reach more than 1 billion young people and parents for online education services and social media

platforms. this is an amazing growth. the chci founders and my dad would be extremely proud. now, let's take a moment to honor them and their vision. so in addition to my father, they would include congressman edward r. roy bark from california, lucille's bed. [applause] >> the wonderful -- [applause] from puerto rico. [applause] from the great state of new york. [applause] and our dear friend who will be among us throughout the conference unsure, and that is chci second chair, former congressman bob garcia of new york. [applause] now, i credit them all and all the previous chairs, and dedicated board of directors for

the bounties that we share and enjoy today. but our work is far from being done. i am worried when latinos are hardest hit by the current recession. the numbers are astounding. according to the pew hispanic center, latino households, their wealth fell by 66% from the years 2005-2009, the largest drop of any racial or ethnic group. i'm worried that latinos continue to lag behind in education attainment. we have seen some growth recently and we are proud of that. but we need not only to sustain that growth but to make dramatic gains, especially when it comes to the science, technology, engineering and math and math fields. and at all levels, whether it be two years, four years or advanced degrees. the bottom line is we are in this together. and we do have a shared responsibility to open doors for our young people. given the changing demographics,

chci's programs are more critical than ever to our community and to the future of our nation. we can't do it alone though and we must rely on your support to meet the rapidly growing demand and to overcome the many challenges and obstacles. your presence here is crucial to keep the dream alive. to venture voice to the policy debates, to support education and to mentor youth. one of those strong mentors have traveled here from texas, and we're going to acknowledge and recognize his contributions that he has done individually in his capacity with the federal government. and i'm speaking about mr. pedro garcia, regional director of the nazis economic developments association for the southwestern region. in his capacity, he has made a profound impact on the economic development, the landscape, and is made time to mentor youth as he has done all of this. chci would like to recognize him for his dedication and contributions. at this one i would like to call mr. garcia and my colleague,

congressman, to join me for a special presentation. [applause] >> this is a plaque of course assess the development the next generation of latino leaders, the chci presents the certificate of appreciation to federal garza. for your economic development to the hispanic community and the nation. [applause] >> chairman towns those, thank you very much for recognizing one of my constituents, from deep south texas. a gentleman who was born in santa rosa texas, a little community of 2000 people.

this young man went on to become the valedictorian and went and graduated from texas a. in them, and did so well they gave him a scholarship to go to princeton university. and from there he just kept going and going and helping the latino community. he has done great things in organizations, including loopback and many other organizations. but more especially he has served under three presidents. president bill clinton, president bush, and president obama. and he has as the regional director invested in many communities since five states that he is responsible for. but being that he is from santa rosa, which is in my home district, he has always listened every time that i have asked him, can you help us with seed

money to start the driscoll children's hospital. and yes, he did. i said will you help us with seed money to be able to start the nurse training center, and he did. would you help us with just some seed money to start the premium outlet mall down in mercedes, texas, which has now opened, big success after three years, and employs 1300 employees. yes, he did. and the list goes on and on and on. and that's why -- [applause] that's why we have been able to improve quality of life in education, and health care, infrastructure and all of the things that he, what i call him, the godfather deep south texas. and for that we want to present

him also with something very special. pedro, if you would please join here at the podium, we would like to present to you a flag that was flown over the nation's capital. and with it comes the certificate that certifies that this flag was flown over the nation's capital. the flag of the united states of america, and the certificate is to certify the accompanying flag was flown over the united states capitol on september the ninth, 2011, at the request of the honorable member of congress, this flag was flown in recognition of pedro garza and his service to the hispanic

community and the people of arkansas, louisiana, new mexico, oklahoma and texas, and it is signed by the architect of the capital. pedro, thank you very much. [applause] >> thanks to chci. i was there, i worked with your dad. i worked with lucille's father. bobby garcia i saw passed earlier. senator montoya. i remembered there were six regional members of the conference. and i know i was there for the founding. one of your presidents, her mother worked with us. and actually the second award that i received from chci.

i think the last one was back in 1981 or 82. having been must ever be. gracias. [applause] >> thank you very much. >> and it is fitting to go to recognize his great contribution, but what may also be unique is that he is an aggie. i'm a longhorn. [laughter] and i just presented him a plaque. i hope it doesn't get back to austin, texas. [laughter] i want to recognize someone, you know, i'm getting older that i can still see folks in the background, and i see that congresswoman napolitano has joined us. grace, thank you so much. [applause] we are going to get on with the

program, but again, thank you for everything you've done. that's a whole lot of siege of out there. you have seeds to plant and i'm sure your crops growing. but today we face a real national imperative. as one of our panelists, ron brownstein put, the rights of the latino youth population is one of the most important demographic trends we can figure in every facet of our economy and our society. it is not just about latinas getting ahead. it's about the nation getting ahead of the education curve, the job curve and preserving the american dream. there's an incredible need to increase opportunities and to continue to keep the promise to the next generation of the kenya leaders. this morning's session from the u.s. economy, the impact of changing demographics and how they will impact this entire nation as we refer to the critical imperative. the 2010 u.s. census documented that we all expected these

numbers, that the hispanic population had grown nearly four times as fast as the population at large during the last decade. the team does accounted for more than half of the entire u.s. county election growth for the very. and this growth not only occurred in the border states, it happened all over this country. [applause] in fact we were a majority of the growth in 21 states. but not all the use for our community is a positive recent studies have reinforce what many of us already knew. the economic downturn has hit the teen is harder than anyone else. we have lost our jobs, lost our homes, and lost most of the little wealth in savings that we had accumulated. if you -- pew hispanic center recent study showed wealth fell by 66% from the years 2005-2009. about a third of hispanic households, 31%, had zero or

negative net worth in 2009. compared with 15% of white households, a significant drop from just four years earlier. plummeting home fires had the greatest effect on the wealth of all groups. however, hispanics were disproportionately affected because we drive nearly two-thirds of our wealth. we derive two-thirds of our wealth from home equity. about a order of all hispanic households, 24% to be exact, in 2009 had no access of any vehicle compared to just 6% of white house with. these are just a sample of some of the sobering data on the impact of the recession on our latino community. before i take mice eat on the panel, it is with great pleasure that i'm going to be introducing our moderator, ray suarez. now, ray is a senior correspondent on the award-winning any dominating pbs "newshour," seen five nights a

week, he's also host of the international and analysis public radio program, america abroad and public radio international. and he may tell you that he travels at least two months out of the year internationally. and he hosted a national public radio program talk of the nation from 1993-1999. in his more than 30 year career in the news business, he has also worked as a radio reporter in london and rome, as well as los angeles correspondent for cnn. please welcome our good friend, and i'm a big fan, ray suarez. [applause] >> congressman, good to see. and thank you for having me with you to be a part of this

important conversation. it has been in some ways as was just mentioned, the perfect storm for latinos in america. the best of news and some of the worst of news. in just a short space of months, the result of the 2010 census confirming what many of us knew all along, right? strong growth, not only in the traditional longtime centers of our life in this country, but double and triple digit rates of growth far away from los angeles and new york. nowhere near chicago and san antonio and miami. with the american south, significantly becoming a part of immigrant america in a way that it sat out during the huge immigrant flows of the ellis island generation from 1870-1920. but that stunning number for the 2010 census, over 50 million didn't arrive in isolation. and let's remember, not all

americans thought it was such great news either. in the same month we learned that latino families lost a larger percentage of their accumulated family wealth than any other americans. all that struggle, all that saving, scrounging up a down payment, squeezing into overpriced housing, or hundreds of thousands of families, it's all down the drain. erased, vaporized. a big part of that loss has been in home-equity, with houses dropping in value, plunging mortgages underwater, leading to breathtaking foreclosure rates. now that home equity can be leveraged to help the kid pay for college, can't be used as collateral to fight under finance a business startup or an expansion of an existing small business. it can't be used to create what millions of other families accept as a given,

intergenerational transfer of wealth. i think most of you in this room don't expect to inherit much from your parents, right? either americans, go through life assuming that this is going to happen for them. but the destruction of the housing crisis for latino families didn't stop there and doesn't stop there. our workers were heavily exposed to construction employment. when times were good so were paychecks. as latino workers became a common feature on residential and commercial construction sites nationwide. our unemployment shot up higher and faster than the countries as a whole. and now stands several percentage points ahead. projection for the later decades of this century show our kids pouring into public schools. our young people representing a larger and larger share of the overall workforce. and in their productive and high earning middle years, paying the

bills in the municipalities where they live, financing the pensions and social security checks of tens of millions of white retirees. we have come to a place economically, demographically, where our country is depending on hispanic americans for the security of their own future. you can truly say today but it will be even more true in 2030 and beyond, if we are not doing well, america is not doing well. and yet -- [applause] and yet it's an open question, whether those excited, optimistic five year olds entering kindergarten in washington heights in manhattan, in merced, california, one of the foreclosure of the centers of the country, in north carolina, in miami-dade florida, whether those five year olds to

get the kind of educations that will bring economic success and security that will allow them to do better than their own hard-working parents, that will allow them to break out of the cycle of low-wage employment in need of assets that has become the reality for so many today. what does america have to do? what do we have to do to get past a decade of loss and family setbacks? to get past the decade of skyrocketing costs in higher education, even as family finances are stretched to the breaking point. to stop being the most underinsured and uninsured of all working americans, all working americans. and what do our fellow americans no? do they even care that our economic future is better economic future? now to the rest of our distinguished panel. the 15th u.s. secretary of housing and urban development

has devoted his entire career to ensuring safe, decent and affordable housing. before coming to hud the service housing commission for the city of new york. during that time he understood the rapid demographic changes that were occurring in different areas of the city and worked hard in neighborhoods like a south bronx to ensure that programs and policies were responsive to those changes. in the obama administration he has worked to stabilize the housing markets and keep responsible families in their homes as he solidified the financial position of the federal housing administration. he also launched the choice neighborhood initiatives to help stabilize distressed communities and neighborhoods around them. his agency sustainable communities partnership is challenging communities in regions to develop comprehensive housing strategies and housing and transportation plans that will create jobs and help make american business more competitive globally. please welcome hud secretary,

the honorable shaun donovan. [applause] >> our next palace was named one of the top 25 women business builders in the country by fast company magazine. in 1996, she founded pinnacle, and information technology service provider to the fortune 500. under her leadership the company has become the fastest growing firm in a $20 billion industry. and now has revenues of $200 million, with 3000 consultants across the united states in canada. she currently serves on the board of several large corporations and is chairman of the u.s. hispanic chamber of commerce. please welcome nina vica. [applause] >> our next panelist is dedicated his career to

diversity in the workplace. he's the president and owner of a diversity consulting and search firm, and he's also the board chairman of the society for human resource management. it is the largest organization devoted to the effective and inclusive people strategies with nearly 260,000 members around the world. before starting his own firm he was that can as president of leadership development, he was responsible for a national recognize diversity strategy for more than 90 daily newspapers including "usa today" and 20 television stations. easter with some of the largest and most aggressive corporations and federal agencies including time, nbc, the department of justice and the department of transportation, and he's a founding member of the national hispanic corporate council. please welcome jose berrios, president of berrios talent group and chairman of shrm. [applause]

>> a two-time finalist for the pulitzer prize for his coverage of presidential campaigns, he currently serves as the "national journal" group's editorial director. he also writes a weekly column and contributes pieces for both the "national journal" and atlantic magazine. his book, second civil war, how extreme partisanship has paralyzed washington and polarized america, was published in 2007. he also served as in national affairs columnist for the "los angeles times" and is a political analyst for the 2012 election for both abc and cnn. and how much in demand he is, competitors both hire him. please welcome ron brownstein. [applause] >> and before we begin the conversation, let me mention one member of the caucus, one longtime number of the caucus, and as we say in spanish, that's

yiddish. from the bronx, representative josé serrano. [applause] >> i think we could have one of the more distressing and depressing panel of the entire annual meeting if we dwelt at length on the stats coming out of hispanic households across the country. but i can't sugarcoat the situation. it's frightening. it's distressing, and those losses mean real hardship and setback for millions of people. ron, you and i were talking about this before we came up. help me set the table here. what are we looking at both in terms of growth numbers, where that growth is, and the state of play for latino families in the

country. >> i think the reason for optimism, amid a very challenging environment, is simply as a society we have no choice. to do better than we have been doing at moving minority kids to the middle class. you know, we have thought about access to economic opportunity as being primarily an issue of fairness over the last, you know, certainly to the civil rights era. it is now primary and issue of economic fairness for the country itself. we have faced serious challenges. we're living through it. my bill at brookings calls it a cultural generation get. 47% of americans under 18 are now nonwhite. and yet 80% of our seniors are still white. there is a big political gap between what i've called the brown and the great. there's this growing minority population that believes in public investment, to move its gaze into the middle class in

education and health care, and an aging baby boom predominate white population that is growing more resistant to government activism in their voting and in their political behavior. but ultimately, as is often the case in american life i think we have more interdependent than we realize. because this minority generation is the workforce that is going come as you suggested, going to have to pay the payroll taxes to fund social security and medicare for the aging by generation get all the projections i've seen is that the number of whites in the workforce is not as a share but in absolute numbers, is going to decline over the next couple of decades. and less we're planning on pulling the best 2% around the world, we have no choice but to educate this growing minority population. i will close with one final statistic, too kind to underscore this. the best projections by demographers are, given the dominance of this minority

population, particularly hispanics, in its youth generation, 2011 will be the tipping point where a majority of newborns, first time would be nonwhite in the u.s. and less we do a better job of educating this emerging generation, the absolute level of society overall will begin declined by the end of the decade which i think is a really kind of frightening prospect of global economy that is based on information. so as is often the case i think in american life we have more independent and we have acknowledged and maybe more independent and we realized. ..

the problem with trying to fill those three million jobs we don't have the people with the special skills and education levels required to hire them into the jobs. the data shows also if we were to fill those three million jobs. the unemployment rate would go from 9.1% to 8%. three million jobs that are out there and we can't find skilled, fill those problems. focus needs to be on grade

schoolkids, latinos in grade schools. that is absolutely consider critical. trying to reduce dropout rates of our kids in schools. provide more educational opportunities for kids to go into college. if we don't do that. we will con continue to have our kids coming out school and dropping out and staying. keeping kids at school, elevating the educational attainment of hispanic kids around the country so they can compete for those jobs. right now. we could turn that around if we had that kind of skilled workforce, individuals coming into the workforce. we could turn this around. the unemployment rate would change but the, what we're being told by our hr professionals in the field is, they're not really ready for those jobs.

that's why we have such a large, unemployment rate. >> well, i was in high school a really, really, really, really long time ago, so when i was in high school, and a member of an chapter at my new york city public high school, there wasn't one of us in the room who didn't know that we had to go to high school, finish, and then go to college to do better than our parents did. and not one of our parents didn't know that. it is not a lack of knowing. it is a at this point, a lack of, what is standing between those kids i talked about entering kindergartens around the country and 16 years later, and someone handing them a diploma, a 4-year diploma, why is it not happening? >> well that is the critical issue i think, we have to look at our entire communities around the

country and, figure out a way to get kids in school, focused on them staying in looking for opportunities to get the scholarships to be able to get into school. give them opportunity to work and also go to college and finish college. and that, to me is, that is the real critical issue that we face in the hispanic community. we have to have more focus on that. now it is very difficult because our kids are struggling to help the household. working a couple of jobs just to maintain the household. so it is a vicious cycle. but we need to constantly focus on it and figure out ways to do it, to break that cycle that we have within our communities around the country,. >> when demographer and at u.s. census bureau count the level of education they use the term, some college. they don't mean it like ex-chramation, some college. they mean you only have some,

not enough. and tragically there are millions of our kids who have some college and no degree and even, worse, they borrowed money to get those credits and not finish a credential so they're paying debt and getting son of none of the acceleration that the degree would provide. it is a disaster. it is a disaster. how do we get out of it? >> i don't know that i have all the answers but, i was one of those students, not long ago, when i was in college who had to make the decision, do i, drop out, and join my workforce, five kids in my family, one parent, or do i stay in school? and so i have first-hand information on the feeling that, and the overwhelming responsibility that one feels to their family. but i think that we can do to help these kids is two-fold at least in my mind, is information and inspiration. you have to give emthis information. they have to understand the

importance of education in our country. you have to continue to create the information over and over again. grade school, at every level. and the other is quite frankly inspiration. you have to, one of the things we try to do as u.s. hcc. talk to kids around the country. create programs and services where people sankey role models. when you see someone looks like you, sound like you, you tend to say to yourself, i can do that. when you have inspiration and you have hope, there is nothing that you can't do. >> i'm sorry, i cut you off. >> the secretary. >> oh the secretary. i'm going to get to you, secretary. go ahead. >> look. education is a fees of the puzzle and i want to come back and talk about housing and the, congressman talked about, the pugh study and the devastating numbers there in terms of household wealth. but, look, first,

organizations have to lead. i think we have to talk about the incredible role that chci has played in providing the example of what organizations should be doing. i want to thank the congressman here for his leadership. we have to create role models. this week you're honoring hilda solis and ken salazar with this conference, two phenomenal role models. you also have a fellows program. we have three fellows at hud right now that are building the skills in public service because the work that chci is doing. first we have to recognize chci has been a leader in this area but to go beyond that, to a broader level, the president's speech last week, he recognizes first and foremost we have to stop the bleeding in some of our schools around the country. the american jobs act would fund 280,000 teaching positions. we can't educate our kids if we're losing teachers in the

hundreds of thousands like we've been doing over the last year. [applause] we have to fund that investment. he is also fought to expand pell grants, to make sure that you can have your pell grants forgiven and your debt forgiven if you serve as a teacher for example. if you go back into serving our kids in schools. but we also have to do more, i agree, that the early years are absolutely critical. the race to the stop and so many other areas have been critical from the president's perspective but we also have to connect young people to jobs. right now in the hispanic community we have almost a 20% youth unemployment rate. completely unacceptable. and so what we have to do, we have to build community colleges. last week the president, as part of the american jobs act announced $5 billion investment into the community colleges that would be absolutely critical. and, we have to do better, better job of job training,

of connecting, those community colleges, other training opportunities, directly, to jobs. and that's why, even in the, long-term unemployed. take the million hispanics around the country part of the long-term unemployed, more than six months, we have to extend unemployment insurance. absolutely. it is a critical part of the american jobs act but we also have to turn that program, unemployment insurance program into a training program for the long-term unemployed and a $4,000 tax credit that the president proposed which would go to businesses that higher the long-term unemployed will give added incentive to find those folks, connect them to the training and to the jobs that they need longer term. so there are a whole set of pieces we have to today. first and foremost, we have support you will after congressman here, we have to pass the american jobs act to get folks back to work [applause] >> let's talk about housing. at least your last four predecessors, because i interviewed them all, but probably going back much

further, set minority homeownership as a central goal of their agency and went around the country encouraging black and brown buyers. and sometimes matured, oversold, high-value markets. we were, as a country, encouraging people to do whatever it took, save the down, a lowdown, at a time of cheap money. squeeze through the front doors of that house and now that house has become a millstone around their family's neck, if they have been able to hold onto it at all. can we dig out of this, in a time frame, that means something to families? >> ray, it is an absolutely critical question. again these pew statistics, latinos had the largest drop of any group in this country, 2/3, on the day that the president worked, walked into office in the prior

four years. and so this is absolutely central. i think just to go where you started, i don't think that the lesson we should learn from what we've seen is that, latinos shouldn't aspire to homeownership and at the federal level, we shouldn't be working to provide them access to homeownership. we need to make sure, is it sustainable homeownership. we were way too focused on getting folks into homeownership and not weather with something that would last the right price and right loan product. i'm very proud of fha, which is part of hub, 2/3 of latinos who bought homes last year us used an fha loan. it says something about the lack of access in the broader mortgage market and the importance of the right federal role to assist them. recognize, 2/3 of our growth in this country will come from latinos going forward. 2/3 of that growth. if they can't access

homeownership they will not be able to build wealth in the way we traditionally have in this country. one, we can't pull up the drawbridge behind us once we've been through this crisis. but we also have to help communities, families that have been hurt. we have made progress there but not enough progress. there are about five million families had their mortgages modified. a large share of them latino because the crisis was concentrated in latino communities but we have to do more. that's why the president as part of the american jobs act would invest $15 billion building on efforts of neighborhood stabilization. for those of you who don't know, we put $7 billion into neighborhoods particularly hard-hit by foreclosures. it creates about 100,000 jobs because we put construction workers back to work buying these homes, rebuilding them, and the critical part of that it helped to stablize home values in those communities, reduced vacancis. it has been highlyly-targeted

to hispanic neighborhoods. if you look at just the congressional hispanic caucus neighborhoods, it has been 12% of the all the investment. when those districts represent 4 or 5% of the overall population. so another $15 billion invested in neighborhood stabilization activities through what we call project rebuild would be enormously important first continuing to stablize values and increasing values in those neighborhoods for those homeowners that have been hurt and rebuilding wealth while we're doing that. second of all, it would create local jobs in those communities as we know. those renovating homes aren't international companies coming from overseas. they're local, small businesses, many of them owned by hispanic leaders in their community. and we need to make sure that those jobs are available locally. there are almost three million hispanics who work in construction around this country. they have been hardest hit in terms of an industry harder than anybody else.

we need to put them back to work. >> congressman, bankers have been reluctant to admit that some of the $240,000 houses they sold are actually worth $140,000 and there is is a disconnects and gulf in that valuation that all the programs in the world have not been able to massage. because they carry those houses on their books, they're not willing to say, well, yeah, it is $140,000 house. but because they won't, the family also can't change how they're paying for that house. so they either lose it or somebody admits it is not worth 240,000 grand anymore. but so far that rigidity, that lack of give has been devastating to fam is are. how do you work around that? >> that is probably, what you just pointed out is really the essence of the problem and that is until somehow you reduce the principal amount that is due,

you're not going to have that kind of relief. we've had this discussion. and i know the secretary, i'm sure there has been a discussion about it but it was never going to get done. maybe it was too ambitious. maybe this country wouldn't have even done a year or two years ago, what we did in the '30s, create a corporation that bought the paper, reduce the principal. that can corporation lasted until 1959. you actually had 85% of i think of all mortgages performed and paid out. that is the kind of ambition i think it will take. the secretary may say, that charlie, that is impossibility given the political climate, and he is probably right. but i don't see that the lender, holder of the paper is willing to do something like that. my own opinion is would be a prudent thing to do to renegotiate on the principal. is a foreclosure really good, does it serve anybody's interest? if i'm your next door neighbor, last thing i want to see is house foreclosed

because it reduces my value, right? and i don't have an understanding to the deyee -- degree that the secretary has, ray, on that, but it is something you have to be looking at the principle. until we figure that out i don't know where it is all going to go. i don't mean to sound hopeless or whatever. i'm just saying that is the reality of a transaction and you have something that is way overvalued and you can't afford the payment based on that overvaluation. >> ray, if i could just, i think the congressman is absolutely right. we have made progress making loans affordable for families. foreclosures are down about 40% from where they were a year ago. we have reached in total with all the programs about five million families, more than twice as many who actually lost their homes to foreclosure but what remains the single largest problem is that overhang of debt. those who are underwater, it is particularly concentrated

in california in arizona, in nevada, in states that have been the traditional homes to so many latino families so we have to go farther. we came very close in the early days of the administration to getting a bankruptcy reform bill that would force lenders to reduce those balances. i think the biggest single opportunity we have now is all of the lawsuits and efforts that have been brought against banks are now, our biggest lever, our biggest tool to force them to start to reduce these balances. that's why we're working closely with all 50 state attorneys general. we'll get significant principal reduction out of that. unfortunately given the divide we have in congress, as hard as charlie may tight and others that are here it will be difficult to get movement in congress and we have to find other ways to do this and that's what we're doing. >> nina? >> homeownership, hispanic homeownership is at 49.1%,

versus things that average of almost 70. so that is what we have to look at. homeownership where we are, 49%. national average at almost 70. at 13.4 million hispanic households this is the chicken and the egg problem. 13%, only 13% make over $100,000 a year. households, think about that, 57% make less than $50,000 a year. that is 25,000 per mom and dad, per couple. the statistics are daunting. if you're at the 50 to 100, you're at the mere 29%. so it is the chicken and egg. can you afford it. we can't afford it unless we grow education. so it is a downward spiral. homeownership in the entrepreneur community is important because often times entrepreneurs are leveraging equity in their homes to start their is about. this is why we track this information. this is why creating wealth in the community is important, particularly in

homeownership. this is when entrepreneurship becomes a viable option. in the past five years during our recession, hispanic-owned business has grown over 114%. the 2007 study shows and number we used today, 3.1 million hispanic-owned business. according to the pew study in 2012 that will be 4.1 hispanic-owned businesses. hispanic-owned businesses are starting at faster rate four times more than any other minority group. they figured out entrepreneurship is viable option for feeding their family and creating wealth in their community. this is why the u.s. hcc plays important role in our community. educating entrepreneurs at a young age that they can. by the way out of seven, out of 10 hispanic-owned businesses happen to be latinas. any latinas in the house? [applause] >> go ahead. >> interesting, worth noting

that the tea party, which is preponderancely white, political phenomenon, is powerful force represents significant part of the country, grew immediately out of the reaction, one was efforts on relieving people who were kind of over their head on, home debt. so i mean there is that. but actually homeownership is another example along with social security and medicare and the future funding of that where we are more interdependent than we realize. we have all of these aging, predominantly white baby boomers will look -- states like california, people that studied this, looking to get out of their homes at some point in the coming years. the households that are emerging in those home-buying years will be increasingly minority. the i mean the number of whites in their child bearing years declined in the last decade 10% weill increases 20% for minorities.

demographic changes like compound interest that kind of feeds on itself. same kind of thing. if you don't bring more of the kids into the middle class. help them finish high school, much less college. we should briefly mention the responsibility of colleges and community colleges to improve their completion rates. they have not faced anywhere near the pressure k-12 he had cratetores to perform. you describe people end be up in the world of all worlds debt and no degree. unless you move more of those kids to the middle class you will have trouble funding social security and medicare through the payroll tax to who will buy the houses, aging predominantly white population will be looking to get out of? i think when you look at this from every angle as is often the case we're more interdependent than we acknowledge. there is a need for investments that will help the kids move into the middle class and help with their education. that is not where the politics is now but ultimately it does become more inescapable. >> how do you create policy

not based at its core on the idea that i'm asking you for a gift, that i need a favor, that you're giving me something but instead, create policy that takes that ron brown steen formation, that has the core mutual self-interest? not that you're doing something nice for me and i've got my hand out, but it is because you need me and we need each other for this economy to work? a basic law of housing physics, every seller need as buyer or else the house doesn't sell. >> let me give you another one ray. if you live next door to somebody's house that is foreclosed on you made every single mortgage payment, your house goes down in value about $10,000 on average, that debt. you talk about interrelated? everybody's home values, everybody's wealth, latino wealth in this country, for

folks who have, been able to keep their jobs, been able to pay, intimately connected those being foreclosed on. this is why an investment like the president talked about last week is so critically important. and so, doing this project rebuild, $15 billion investment in those communities is absolutely critical. the other thing, you talk about education? one of the myths that has come out of this crisis is that lower and moderate income families can't be successful homeowners. when i was in new york city, in many latino neighborhoods we created 17,000 units of homeownership. you know how many foreclosures there were? five, by the time i left. why? because we educated families to be prepared for homeownership. here we have the tea party, in the house budget passed last week, or introduced last week, cut 100% of our funding for housing counseling. 100%. eliminating housing counseling funding that is counseling we do with the

national council of la raza. so many other latino organizations that help create the right platform to build wealth in the future by creating homeownership that is stable. it is so shortsighted we have to wake up and see, as ron said, we are interdependent on these areas. >> ray, you're saying how do we do that appearing that is just as a handout? when is public education a handout? it has always been part of the government's whole purpose and goal to educate a skilled workforce and so on. since when is making access to capital to purchase a home or start a business a handout? and so that is the way it needs to be presented. the way i look at it is, it is a government and private sector pap. participation. the participation works we assist as government policymakers with providing the private sector with a consumer base. when you have that going with the private sector and government i assure you we

will have a meeting of the minds and we will have legislation that come mow dates the goals because they're the same. >> let's take some questions from the floor. i know, you're very excited because of the very upbeat and optimistic stuff we've been talking about. let's see where are the mics? hold up, ah, there we go. anybody have a question? >> somebody must have a question. >> charlie ericson. >> yeah. hopefully a little more upbeat is the role that hispanics can play in the global economy and, particularly hispanics and people, the language that is so necessary or the, multiple languages that need to be spoken. what is being done in your knowledge to take advantage of the bilingual child who is hispanic?

and in the public education system. that is question. >> for those who don't know charlie ericson, head of hispanic link news agency, member of the national association of hispanic journalists hall of fame and a great gift to our community. why don't you take that one, jose? >> that is a great question, charlie. >> [inaudible]. >> good to see you by the way. >> thank you. >> it's a great question. the unfortunate thing i think that is not a valued skill in this country yet. everywhere else, except the united states, the skill of bilingual education and bilingual system very valuable except in this country. there are fears about, as in some countries, there is fear associated with creating a bilingual society, a society that adopts your native language and also learns english. that is unfortunate thing

but i think that is reality. everywhere else around the world that is valued. again, without being pessimistic, i see that as a real challenge within the united states in the educational system, public school system especially. it is getting a little better, in some pockets and some regions around the country and even some colleges that promote it but i think it is still a big problem. and i think you're absolutely right, i think that could be a competitive edge for us in a global economy, understanding the value of an individual who is bilingual and who understands the languages and could be more effective representing our organizations worldwide. i don't see that happening here yet but we're getting there slowly. >> ray, if i could jump in here. one of the things i think is an enormous opportunity is around trade. the president set a goal to double exports and we're actually ahead of our goal on that. last month was the largest export month in the in the

history of the nights. and we're actually going exports in a number of areas that surprising. our agricultural exports are now at the highest level that they have ever been. and, to me. this is it one area we can take advantage of bilingual education. the natural advantage latinos have in this country. mexico is already a large trading partner. there are several opportunities in central and south america, spain and others. i think that opportunity is one we really ought to focus on and take advantage of going forward. >> secretary, you've been very kind with your time. i know you're running on a tight schedule. i've been instructed that i may dismiss you. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. >> yes?

>> good morning. i'm the ceo of the society of hispanic professional engineers. for us, education is really the key. when you look at this country, we graduate 70,000 engineers. china graduates 500,000. india 200,000. when you talk about corporations going overseas and looking for talent and not here, i think that is phenomenal. i think we need to do something to encourage corporations to fund a lot of organizations like the one i represent and many in this room because education is really the key. the other part of it, as i sit here, a lot of our community was devastated by the housing crisis. one of the big issues that also see and we have, 318 chapters, 10,000 latinos throughout the united states, i venture to ask how many of those really have financial literacy as really critical in their ability. so, it is about educating,

it is about getting corporations to really see that they need to invest in this country. but it is about educating our community about financial literacy. investing more. investing in education. i would like to see what all of you have to say with regards to the policies we begin to create to really encourage corporations to see that those two areas are really critical for the success of our community because we are the future. look at the demographics of the young kids in school today. it is latinos. if we're not educating them we'll lose the mark and we're losing it already. we're losing to other countries bringing talent here. thank you. >> yeah. i really wonder, i think one of our central questions and, it will never be framed this way politically whether we'll conclude over the next 20 years or so it is simply too hard. it is just too difficult for us to raise the kids that we have into position where they can not only complete high school, complete

college, obtain advanced degrees and become that skilled workforce obviously we need. or we'll try to cull the top couple percent around the world by changing i am my craig policies where we locate factories. the daunting statistic, the demography and education trends are such that i think there are plausible projections that the overall level of college attainment for america, societiwide will beginning declining by end of this decade. which is incredible prospect when so much more economic growth is based on information economy. i bet that has not been true since 19880 and 1900 when we had the place influx in the melting pot era. will we try to up lift the workforce we have or simply find it easier to bring in the skills we need from around the world or go to those skills and, i just think that is basic

question. right now, if i had a bet i don't know where i would bet. i think i would lean slightly we will not make the effort because of this political polarization we're in. look what happened in the state of texas where this year, the majority of k through 12 system became hispanic, 50.1%. 70% overall the state legislator and governor chose to cut education by unprecedented amount rather than raise taxes a nickel on anybody. you look at that polarization, 90% of their votes are from whites today, for the governor in texas. so you look at those kind of trends you say, maybe we will choose to go the other way. >> ray, real quick, ron mentioned the texas experience which i don't wish on anyone because it is interesting, here in that debate, ron, the business community was silent. >> silent. >> the chambers of commerce were silent. they didn't come on board

until the very end when it was way too late. we have more kids in public schools than we ever had. we're not financing increasing numbers over the next two years. we're spending almost $600 less per student now than we have. and we have these challenges. now the answer i think to your question, again, the direction has to come from the private sector. where are the businessmen and women of america going to invest in? what as far as the skills that are going to be required, right, for their employees, that they're going to have to hire as a result of their investment? this corporate america, does the private sector, even have a sense of direction on where the future lies for america? i think that is a really serious question. have you heard anyone tell us, this is the road map? these are the relevant jobs in a global economy? i haven't heard anything. and when we start in the schools, that private sector has to be engaged at those cool boards. they have to be -- school

boards. they have to be given a direction. say we'll open a factor or a business and this is the product or service and this is what we need in the way of a job description. that is not going on. even on education, which ray, you started the conversation on education, my frustration? is that we don't even take into account the diversity of what a, of the student population that the public schools have today. you said we went to school years ago. when i went to high school we didn't even have a ramp for any child that was in a wheelchair because we didn't have kids in wheelchairs. did we have kids with dyslexia? sure. did we have autistic kids? sure. did we car. no? they dropped out. there were jobs for them though. that is the difference. i think you in your capacity is you give direction to the government, to the educators, what you need and how we put that into motion given the

challenges of the modern class room. >> but for all this bad news, but for all this bad news there are still countervailing bits of date that that give you hope. just a couple of weeks ago, the pew center said that driven by a single year surge of 24% in hispanic enrollment, the number of 18 to 24-year-olds attending college in the united states hit an all-time of 12.2 million in october 2010. his fannick young adult enrollment in higher education grew by 349,000 in one year. it is, emblematic of the fact that our kids know they need this education and emblematic of the way, just the sheer size of the population is going to drive the whole countries performance when it comes to these numbers. go ahead, quickly. >> now my comment is, there are so many statistics to keep track of.

we talked about a lot of them today, but just to have a little fun with the question that was asked earlier about the importance of bilingualism, we could rattle off statistics all day. the statistic i find gets everyone's attention, hispanics and non-hispanics is very simplistic. and that is, if you are not related to a hispanic today, you soon will be. [laughter] if you don't believe me, ask my german husband. >> that's true. yes, sir. >> good morning, teacher from california. i appreciate the discussion on education but i believe there is a disenfranchisement of free public education that is a tactic that our kids will be the victims of. one of the, one of these tactics includes race to the top. punitive, whatever you have a race, there are kids that lose. what are the feelings of the panel in regards to fully funding all mandates?

>> all what? >> all mandates. >> we lost our spokesman for the administration on race to the top but go ahead. >> i don't think anybody can look at the trajectory of the public spending in last 40 years and say this system does not need and demand significant reform. whether or not, whether you believe the investment is sufficient or not, and i think many ways you could argue that it is not, there is no question that the k-12 system could do much better job than it's done. in too many places it is seen as jobs program for adults rather than an education program for kids. i think the other part we have we only briefly touched on goes to your point a moment ago, the post-secondary education system needs to face more pressure to improve out comes they're producing particularly for first-time students. that nightmare scenario that ray talked about. people who scrimp and save and their parents work their whole life to get them into

college, end up being unable to complete for variety of reasons and ending up with more debt and no degree. i think that you can argue that we underinvest in education but i think that even, even with that perspective i think everybody has to be mill -- millie tant and demanding the entire system produce more results for dollar it gets. >> quick final comments? >> i think how to address your question and how to get the corporate community involved. one of the things, one of my favorite words is the word of accountability. you know and like to leave you with that thought. i think that one of the best measures of accountability that i have seen is senator bob menendez's survey he sent to the corporate, to the fortune 500 asking them for accountability on a variety of areas as it pertains to hispanics. not only hispanics hired in their ranks but at the c level and also the who they

are doing business with. who sits on their board. so hispanics as area of procurement, as representation of their board and representation of their workforce. so i think that if we find, and you will see the corporate community respond when you hold them accountable. so i think we could do a better job or continue to do a good job, like, the, like what senator bob menendez has done. but, you know, as i close, the word accountability is two-fold. it goes both ways. as hispanics we can not be a self-fulfilling prophecy. you can't be hispanic for a living. we have to hold ourselves accountable it to be the best that we can be and not be measured by the color of our skin but by our human potential. in the entrepreneur world, that is all i have ever done. i ask we also hold ourselves accountable it be part of the solution. 50% of the leadership is just showing up. it is really why i'm here today. easy from easy on texas.

i flew in from dallas. i want to leave you the thought of accountability on both sides. i want to thank you all for being here because it speaks to your passion and the growth in our community. >> thank you. >> hello. thank you, mr. ray. i want, let me ask it. i want to, i want to compliment the people who ask the questions because i think they were very timely and very important. my name is renee and i serve on the education committee and i think race to the top and all of the new programs that have been introduced by secretary of education arne duncan at the request of the president obama is thinking out of the box. i have served in education for nearly 40 years. i serve on the education committee now for 15 years and, serve on committee of

higher ed. i've been to china three to five times, each of the three to five years i've gone i asked ministers of education and the professors and students what is the secret to your success of 97% the kindergarteners graduating from high school? in india, in china, in finland, and all those countries, 97% graduate compared to our miserable graduation rate. the answer is very simple. they said. this is the formula. early reading, plus writing, equals success in school. by the time those children are three years old, they can read. and if you say they can't, you're wrong. they can. by the time they're 4 years old, they're pecking on a computer to write what they read. and that's why they can proceed and graduate from high school and go on to college. listen to these statistics.

in china, 80% the high school graduates go to college. in south korea, 90% go to college. why? because they can read and write. so the question about literacy, education, literacy is part of that. they save 20% of their disposable income. here in, i'm on banking committee, five years ago in 2007, just before the recession, our average american had a negative 2% savings compared to them at 20%. financial literacy education is part of the banking reform bill of chris dodd and barney frank. it has consumer financial protection and it says that there shall be an office for financial literacy education.

but the people in the majority right now are blocking it and blocking it and blocking it. folks, there are solutions by this new administration thinking out of the box. whatever we had for the last 30 years before wasn't worth a darn because we have gone down and down and down in graduating minorities. lastly, i want to say this, the reason you gave the statistics in pew that we have made this great increase in students going to community colleges and universities is because obama allowed us our committee i was chairman of, to make the biggest investment ever in the history of the united states, bigger and better than the g.i. bill of 1945. it has $2.55 billion for minority-serving institutions including the three big ones, hsies, hbcus

and asian-american colleges. it is spread out over 10 years. that means that hsies get an extra 100 million dollars a year on top of what we had which is $117 million to recruit latinos and latinas to go to colleges. we added to that the pell grant under my leadership, we got it up from 3400 to $5500 and making, in the last part and i will hush, is that you can make a direct federal government loan at 5%. and if you ran into bad times because of your health, your family's health, or you lost your home, you can borrow that money at 3.4%, for a student college loan. so now combine a pell grant, a student college loan, you can go to college and that is what is happening right now, ray.

that they are going to college because it is easier, more affordable and accessible than we have ever had in our lives. thanks to the congressional hispanic caucus we put together a coalition of black, hispanic and asian and we put together 77 votes to make sure that this happened and it was signed, the bill was signed into law a year ago, or a year and a half ago. that is making a big, big difference. >> thank you, congressman. [applause] for all of you who want to ask a question, wondering gee if i want to ask a question, why is he wrapping up now, can you put that screen i see up on that screen? i've got two big screens here that say, please wrap up. and i can't turn them around to show you that i'm telling the truth but you have to believe me. so approach the person you would like to ask a question after the panel. thank you all for having me. good to see you all.

[applause] thank you so much. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] >> as this latino community and the economy forum wraps up we'll let you know that this afternoon we'll be carrying a session of the congressional hispanic caucus on immigration. that will be headed up by congressman bob menendez of

new jersey and you can watch that live streaming on c-span.org. you can also listen in on c-span radio this afternoon at 3:00 p.m. eastern. [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> you're watching the latino community and economy discussion wrap up. folks in the room here. let you know there will be an afternoon session of the congressional hispanic caucus forum on immigration. and you can tune into that live streaming on c-span.org.

you can also listen in on c-span radio. that will be at 3:00 eastern, eastern time. and congressman bob menendez of new jersey will be headings up that afternoon session. in just a few minutes we're keeping an eye on the white house where we hope to take you soon to president obama. and he will be talking about jobs.

>> this rose garden event is where he will call on carver is to pass the bill that he announced thursday, which contained the kind of proposals to grow the economy and create jobs that have been supported by both parties in the past. that's a quote from the obama white house. he will be joined at the rose garden from people across the country who the officials said would benefit from the american jobs act, including teachers, police officers, firefighters. we will see some construction workers here in the rose garden as well as small business owners and veterans. that some of the news from the hill newspaper. we are waiting just shortly here. expect the president to come out at any moment. you are watching live coverage on c-span2.

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[inaudible conversations] >> we are watching the rose garden at the white house, waiting for president obama to appear and talk about, talk more about his jobs plan. he will be on the road this week. he will be heading to ohio and then to north carolina. while we wait for the president, coming up after his comments we will be taking you to the british house of commons for a recent phone hacking investigation, when two former news international executives said james murdoch had knowledge that phone hacking was widespread in the company, and again that phone hacking hearing as soon as we hear from the white house and from president

obama. later tonight, oppose republican debate reaction from tampa, florida, with the eight candidates taking part in the debate. and also their campaign advisers. live coverage from the spin room. that will be at 10 p.m. tonight. looks like this activities here at the white house. let's see what president obama has to say. he will be meeting with a number of people whose administration said would benefit from his recent jobs proposal announced thursday. >> [background sounds]

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>> ladies and gentlemen, the president and vice president of the united states. [applause] >> please everybody have a seat on this beautiful morning. it's wonderful to see all of you here. on thursday, i told congress that i will be sending them a bill called the american jobs act. well, here it is. this is -- [applause] this is a bill that will put people back to work all across the country. this is the bill that will help our economy in a moment of

national crisis. this is a bill that is based on ideas from both democrats and republicans. and this is a bill that congress needs to pass. no games, no politics, no delays. i'm sending this bill to congress today. and they ought to pass it immediately. now -- [applause] standing with me this morning our men and women who will be helped why the american jobs act. i'm standing with teachers, all across america, teachers are being laid off in droves. which is unfair to our kids. it undermines our future. and it is exactly what we shouldn't be doing if we want our kids to be college ready and then prepared for the job of the 21st century. we've got to get our teachers back to work. let's pass this bill and put

them in the classroom where they belong. [applause] i'm standing here with veterans. we have hundreds of thousands of brave, skilled americans who fought for this country. the last thing they should have to do is to fight for a job when they come home. so let's pass this bill and put the men and women who have served this nation back to work. [applause] we are standing here with cops, firefighters, their jobs are threatened because states and communities are cutting back. this bill will keep cops on the beat and firefighters on call. let's pass this bill so that these men and women can continue to protecting our neighborhoods, like they do every single day. [applause] i'm standing with construction workers. we've got roads that need work all over the country. our highways are backed up with

traffic. our airports are clogged, and our millions of unemployed construction workers who can rebuild them. so let's pass this bill so road crews and diggers and papers, workers, they can all head back to the jobsite. there's plenty of work to do. this job, this jobs bill will help them do it. let's put them back to work and pass this bill and help build america. [applause] and our schools are out the country that desperately need renovating. we cannot, got in a man over there. [applause] we can't expect our kids to do their best in places that are literally falling apart. this is america. every kid deserves a great school. we can get it to them. pass this bill and with the construction crews back to work across the country repairing and modernizing at least 35,000 schools. i'm standing here with small

business owners. they know that while corporate profits have come roaring back, a lot of small businesses have an. they are still struggling getting the capital they need, getting the support they need in order to grow. so this bill cuts taxes for small businesses that hire new employees, and for small businesses that raise salaries for current employees. it cuts your payroll tax in half, and all businesses can write off investments they make this year and next year. instead of just talking about america's job creators, let's actually do something for america's job creators. we can do that by passing this bill. [applause] there are a lot of other ways that this jobs bill, the american jobs act will help this economy. there's a 4000-dollar tax credit for companies that hire anybody who spent more than six months looking for joe. we have to do more. our folks have been hitting the pavement every single day looking for work, but haven't found employment yet. that's why we need to extend

unemployment insurance to connect people to temporary work and to upgrade their skills. this bill will help hundreds of thousands of disadvantaged young people to find jobs next summer, jobs that will help set the direction for their entire lives. and the american jobs act would prevent taxes from going up for middle-class families. if congress does not act, just about every family in america will pay more taxes next year. that would be a self-inflicted wound that our economy just can't afford right now. so let's pass this bill and give the typical working family of $1500 tax cut instead. [applause] and the american jobs act is not going to add to the debt. it's fully paid for. i want to repeat that. it is fully paid for. it's not going to add a dime to the deficit. next week i'm laying out my plan, not only to pay for this

jobs bill but also to bring down the deficit further. i plan that live by the same rules that families do. we've got to cut out the things we can't afford to do in order to afford the things that we really need. a plan that says everybody, including the wealthiest americans in biggest corporations have to pay their fair share. [applause] bottom line is when it comes to strengthening the economy and balancing our books, we've got to decide what our priorities are. if we keep tax loopholes for oil companies or do we put teachers back to work? do we keep tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, or should we invest in education and techno to in infrastructure, all the things that will help us out-innovate, out-educate and out build other countries in the future. we know what is right. we know what will help businesses start right here and stay here and higher here.

we know that if we take the steps outlined in this jobs plan, that there's no reason why we can't be selling more goods all around the world that are stand with those three words, made in america. that's what we need to do, create jobs right now. [applause] i have to repeat something i said in my speech on thursday. there are some in washington who would rather settle our differences through politics and the election, than try to resolve them know. joe and i as we're walking out there, we were looking at one of the washington newspapers, was going to republican a thing i don't know why we want to cooperate with obama right now. it's not good for our politics. that's very explicit. i mean, that's the attitude in this town. yeah, we've been for these things before but i don't know why we would be for them right now. the fact of the matter is the

next election is 14 months away. the american people don't have the luxury of waiting 14 months for congress to take action. [applause] folks are living week to week, paycheck to paycheck. they need action. and the notion that there are folks who would say we're not going to try to do what's right for the american people because we don't think it's convenient for politics. we've been seeing that too much around here. and that's exactly what folks are tired of. and that's okay when things are going well, it's not okay at a time of great urgency and need all across the country. these are not games were playing out here. folks are out of work. businesses are having trouble staying open.

you've got a world economy that is full of uncertainty right now. in europe, in the middle east. some events may be beyond our control, but this is something we can control. whether or not we pass this bill, whether or not we get this done, that's something that we can control. that is in our hands. you hear a lot of folks talking about uncertainty in the economy. this is a bit of uncertainty that we could avoid. by going ahead and taking action to make sure that we are helping the american people. so, if you agree with me, if you want congress to take action, then i'm going to need everybody here and everybody watching, you've got to make sure that your voices are heard.

help make the case. there's no reason not to pass this bill. it's ideas are bipartisan. it's ideas are common sense. it will make a difference. that's not just my opinion. independent economists have said this could add a significant amount to our gross domestic product and could put people back to work all across the country. so the only thing that's stopping it is politics. [applause] we can't afford the same political games, not know. i want you to pick up the folder i want want you to send an e-mail to one of those airplane sky writers, dust off the fax machine, or you can just write a letter. so long as you get the message to congress. seen me the american jobs act so

i can sign it into law. get something done. but this country back to work. thank you very much, everybody. god bless you. [applause] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [applause]

>> president obama talking about the american jobs act. he says the bill has ideas from both democrats and republicans, and he says he is calling on congress to pass the bill immediately. he will send it right to capitol hill before heading to ohio and north carolina, where he will talk to the public more about the jobs bill. just to let you know on capitol hill today the house is in at 2:00 dealing with some suspension bills. and also the senate is in at 2:00. you can catch the house live with coverage on our companion network c-span, and the senate right here on c-span2. recognizes the

gentleman from which is currently numbers, >> next a british hearing on the

phone hacking investigation. during this event to former news international executives said that james murdoch, news corp. chairman and chief executive, had knowledge that phone hacking was widespread in the company. mr. murdoch testified in july, and has denied those claims, and he stands by his testimony he had no knowledge the hacking extended beyond one reporter. members of the culture, media and sport committee questioned the former legal manager and former editor of the news of the work on their 50 minute meeting with james murdoch. this event is about two hours. >> can i start with asking you about the e-mails which is essentially the main reason why we first ask you to come. you made a statement you had a

conversation with james and rupert murdoch. you gave a different account of what has occurred. can't i first of all established, that both of you, certainly in your mind, you told james murdoch about that e-mail when you came to discuss those terms. >> it was never -- i was quite significant. spent and me, too. i'm quite certain. >> can i just explore that. i think essentially -- >> that's correct. >> so in your mind, this changes the picture entirely. and tell you made aware of this e-mail, it wasn't recent come and this e-mail was produced as you said, we will have to

settle. >> yes. that was the decision. the advice that was formulated in consultation with the outside lawyers after suspects involved e-mail transcript, yes. >> therefore this was a pretty devastating piece of evidence. and a great deal more. >> it was a piece of evidence, how much was effectively offer grants to negotiation. >> when you appear before the committee in 2009 when we examine this and we discovered this e-mail that you said that others didn't mention it,. [inaudible] from the service is operated by the newspaper, and, therefore,

it didn't seem to be that important. >> i don't think i ever said it wasn't important. you say that. >> and the person speed is absolutely shared with this committee on board that e-mail was. mr. myler said those points need to be discussed. be effectively -- one was irrelevant. the other was the essence given to the committee previously by ms. hinson and mr. myler made it clear he thought that was his account that he knew. he said that leaves only one issue to be dealt with here today. that is the documents that originally one of them was the e-mail, and he says that's the reason we're here to answer questions about that. the reason not, we did not underestimate this procedure, so

-- >> do you regard them existence of the e-mail as evidence that phone hacking was taking place? >> i said that to the committee on the last occasion. that was the first piece of evidence we have seen that it went beyond. >> right. given that it was so significant and, clearly it must have been large in conversation with james murdoch. >> it was the reason that we had settled the case together to settle the case we had to explain the case to mr. murdoch and get his authority to settle. so essentially it was discussed by, i cannot remember the details of the confirmation, and there is a note on a. conversation lasted quite a short predict everything probably less than 15 minutes or about 15 minutes. it was discussed but exactly what was said i cannot recall. >> but given it was such a significant piece of informati

information, surely he would have shown it -- >> not necessarily. actually i've been reminded since there was a very good reason for that, which i have forgotten. and that is when we were given copies, when a copy of the e-mail came into our building to me, i think just to me, i had to sign -- [inaudible] possibly by both, that i could not make any copy of that document. and that is very restricted about what i could say it. and i think that was probably insisted upon by gordon taylor because of the document contained personal information of gordon taylor. and he was very, very, he saw it was very, very since it about where that information went. >> this committee was given a redacted version. >> by the government. >> presumably you could have

shared sufficient to demonstrate how important this was. >> i can't remember whether i showed it to him or not. i certainly didn't make a copy of it but i do know that i discussed it with him. >> what was your election -- recollection. >> he came to me and explained the situation regarding the evidence that presented to us by mr. taylor's legal team. and clearly it was something that we would need to take to the chief executive. i said to him that i didn't know whether james murdoch was available. it turned out he was in the country and he was in the office that day. i called my secretary called his office, and i think in the afternoon, mid or late afternoon, we went to see him.

and mr. crone game, swung by my office and we went to see him in the afternoon. >> all right. can i turn to the letter, which clark goodman sent off in marc march 2007. in that letter, he suggested that the grounds on which -- [inaudible] were you aware of of that, that was going to be his argument? >> i didn't know anything about his letter. until quite recently. i think he came and asked me questions about .2 is making in his dismissal but i certainly wasn't aware it was all contained in a letter, nor did i have sight of the letter.

>> but one of the key points he makes in the letter, they shouldn't come as a shock, because. [inaudible] sticky certainly makes that suggestion but that's not true. >> and not to? >> not true. i attended one legal conference he had, the first one. and then on the second occasion he said he didn't want me there. the entire meeting. that was relayed through his attorney. but the assistant said i could come in at some stage and, indeed, i was sitting outside and getting quite a long time, and i came in for the last 20 minutes. >> so virtually attended virtually every meeting? >> yes. it's also wrong i heard him in the one and have meetings i attended, say anything about doing that it's common practice. that wasn't mentioned at all. >> presumably though when --

>> it wasn't part of his defen defense. >> mr. cloak on receiving your letter which you all came to having been involved in all these discussions, did mr. cloak not come and say i had this letter, which he says -- >> i can't remember if i had this letter but we did have a conversation some stage about clive raising an allegation in case a period of dismissal. and i can't remember the exact, there were two allegations in that letter. one is i'm supposed to know he was saying everyone was doing it. and the other is i'm supposed to accept him, keep your mouth shut and keep her job. i think, i can remember whether, i don't know whether both of us mention or which one was

mentioned. but he came and talked to me about at least one of those allegation. and i said i didn't agree that was true. >> the second suggestion which you just referred to, i quote tom crone and others promise on many occasions that i could come back to a job to the newspaper if i did not implicate the newspaper or any of them. is that true? >> it's not true. >> mr. myler, is that to? >> i wasn't here at the time, to the conversations that allegedly took place. i arrived at the newspaper the end of january 2007. i think after almost days after the trial had finished, and mr. goodman and -- >> but nobody ever said to you, well, actually we said he could have his job back to? >> not at all. >> there was never any suggestion that you would rehire

him at any point? >> no, no. >> i don't think -- [inaudible] >> i realized that. >> and how this might have a rose was through the conflation of, is that i had no idea what he said to mr. goodman along the way. but mr. carson had conversations with me on at least three occasions, two or three locations, where he said that, if client was guilty and sentenced, when he served his sentence, pages fine, it is committee service, whatever it was, he was hoping that he could persuade the company that clive goodman can come back and work for the company, perhaps as a sub editor or a book editor or in such a capacity.

now, when i spoke to clive,. [inaudible] while we were hanging around, i relayed that to him. that andy coulson is open, working, excusing, clive goodman he foresaw the worst and he foresaw, that was by no means the outstanding opinion of his legal team. they thought they might be able to avoid a. but he was quite pessimistic, quite depressed, worrying about family and his future. now, i was able to say to them, andy coulson is hoping that he can find a way you can come back to the company. it's not actually certain you will catch her job back. >> but the chairman -- >> once he had served, one should serve what ever since. >> the chairman sent him a letter saying he was some of the

early -- summarily dismissed. >> after the sense. what i said and stewart covered show to drive, i was very annoyed. >> so these conversations took place before sentencing clive goodman? >> all the way through from a rest and all the way through sentencing, generally. >> and this was entirely andy coulson feeling sorry for clive goodman and wanting to help? >> the conversation was entirely andy coulson. >> did you have any knowledge as to whether not andy coulson agreed? >> no, i didn't. >> do you think he did. [inaudible] >> did you say to andy coulson that he thought that was something he might succeed him, or did you say speed i didn't express any opinion at all. >> right. [inaudible] >> but you did, you did, that you mentioned it to clive goodman, saying you were aware that andy coulson had that view, that leads suggestion you thought it was not impossible

to? >> no, i said it was possible. >> so you said the company might take you back? >> once he serves his sentence. or pay whatever penalties or fines. >> but did you tell the editor that hard goodman was guilty? >> i'm not sure i came away from the first leg of being knowing any decision as whether you be guilty be guilty or not. and the second legal meeting, yes, which was quite some time afterwards. yes, i think india that he was going to plead guilty. and it would've been after that meeting i think i would have relayed that. >> what about, when did you think he was guilty? >> probably the second he said is going to plead guilty. >> what day was that? >> i can't remember. >> but that would've been early

-- >> i think it was before he pleaded guilty, probably in november. probably november before the hearing. [inaudible] >> yes. >> and that involves the complainant, if he does not accept the offer and subsequently, he pays all the cost of both sides and then on, even if he wins, is that right? >> after not taking it, i think that's right. >> so to review that also means a company taking the risk of being possibly hundreds of thousands of pounds in costs, even if he wins the case? >> well, you take the risk of paying the cost, whatever it is. >> when you met with james murdoch and june 2008, the highest ever reward of privacy was two and half a thousand pounds. and when you settle with taylor, the highest award ever made in a british court for breach of privacy was 60,000 in july 2008.

so that's on, it was on that basis that they advise you to offer tater 50,000 pounds, did they not? >> i can't, i can't remember. may be. spent that's what they told us it was a. so the offer was rejected and you therefore had 150,000 plus cost, is that right? >> i can't remember. >> does that sound right to? >> i can't say it sounds right. i don't remember, i'm sorry. >> you not aware of making an offer? >> i think we would have at some stage? >> you are not somebody with a? >> apart from talking about it with you, july 2009, the last action involved i had with dinner was when it was in june 2007. ..

>> that's what affects us today. >> let me take you back to the offer that company lawyers assure you did make and you can't remember. given the record damages at the time, you afforded news group of

protection and as a result taylor's lawyers would have advised him that if he didn't accept he would be at risk of both sides costing many of hundreds of thousands of pounds. >> i assume they would. >> if you settled, the details of the case wouldn't have been kept secret necessarily, would they? >> can you repeat that, sir. >> can you settled with par 36 the details of the case would not necessarily have been left secret? >> it depends on whatever happened with whatever negotiations happened. >> so the same would obviously be true if it came to trial and the documents became public it wouldn't have been secret, would it? >> as i said last time i think it was on the other side first.

>> did you require confidentiality. >> we were quite happy with that. >> did you discuss that with anyone? >> the terms of settlement would have been discussed internally and with our outside lawyers, yes. >> was it not the case that taylor solicitors would want -- >> i would assume -- >> let me ask the question which is why they asked for an unprecedented 1 million pounds plus costs? >> well, i don't know -- >> well, from ferris. you didn't know they asked for a million pounds. >> i didn't know you got it from ferris. [laughter] >> did you not know -- [laughter] >> yes. normally i would say that's part of the whole confidentiality -- >> so it would be reasonable for taylor's lawyers to assume that you would want confidentiality and ask like an astronomical sum of a million pounds from you? >> i would assume they would want confidentiality and i would

assume they would want confidentiality. >> having this demand and having advice from leading counsel that the amount mr. taylor could recover was 250 pounds you agreed to pay mr. taylor 425,000 pounds in damages plus the costs? >> i don't think so. 45 or was it 415? >> i was told 45 but it could have been 415. >> i thought it was 415 is what i'm saying. >> despite the fact that leading counsel told you -- that the maximum they could get is a quarter of a million, you settled at nearly double that? >> well, leading counsel in advice about that had a huge range, you know, potential damages. there's nothing written in stone of it. >> is he not concerned about the advertisement or the publicity that came from the results have the case i.e. the phone hacking of "news of the world" extended beyond a rogue reporter.

you wouldn't have increased it to 415 would you? >> the effects of the taylor case during the prosecution sentencing of a good number in our care, five more charges were leveled against them. and taylor was one of those charged. he pled guilty to "news of the world" employees. in the aftermath of the sentencing hearing and one of the five civil proceedings came from the newspapers and that was mr. taylor. now, my job is was to imagine --

mr. taylor was one case. if we all went public with mr. taylor we were at risk of others coming on straight and on top of us. so if we have to pay way over for mr. taylor especially if there's a confidentiality clause, which was also by him and agreed by us, mutually asked for. you manage by four other people you might have similarly hawaii demands and huge legal costs going with it and that is the right decision to take from my point of view. >> you did accept the confidentiality was part of the deal to settle -- >> i've never -- if you read the efforts from last time you will see. >> hold on. hold on in 2009 question 133 you

assert confidentiality in the last time you gave evidence to this committee. >> i have to see the consequence. >> would you accept that you mislead the committee in 2009. [inaudible] >> isn't it a fact that the reason you paid>> was -- what basis was it decided to keep the proceedings secret? secret is not the word i would use. secret. secret is not the word i would

use. this is actually a breach of confidence. we have a lot of those now since the privacy laws expanded in the last five years. every single case against us is a breach of privacy unless the information is already out there and it's a very strict confidentiality. there's no one to sue us to stop the breach pretrial conference being revealed and tack on an absolutely strict binding confidentiality terms and that's what happened in this was it at gordon taylor's request. actually i think you mentioned it first. he mentioned it first it was raised by him before it was raised before us. privacy because of the goes guilty of of -- >> that's enough mr. crone. that's enough. so we now accept that the facts that you gave was in 2009 differ from the facts you gave today. are you misleading us today or are you misleading us in 2009. >> i gave evidence that

confidentiality was a clause in the settlement. >> you said it had absolutely no part of your judgment in making -- >> secrecy. secrecy. well, i think there's a difference between secrecy and confidentiality. there's no -- well -- the fact that we have -- what -- what we were keen to avoid certainly from my point of view trying to avoid were four other actions coming in from the other four victims identified. >> isn't the reason you paid many of hundreds of thousands more to the taylor settlement is because you were trying to conceal widespread criminality at "news of the world." >> no. >> this is the reason that they agreed to a confidentiality clause 'cause they could get a higher payment from you, isn't it? taylor's lawyers? >> they agreed to the confidentiality clause in order to -- in order to keep quiet -- for everyone to keep quiet about surprised spread --

>> when you raised this to murdoch did you explain a relatively modest par 36 offer could settle the case. >> not to my recognition. >> would mr. murdoch know what a par 36 is? >> i have no idea. >> would you have told him that you could have settled but for less but you couldn't provide secrecy or confidentiality? >> at the time we spoke to him the figure -- the settlement figure had not been arrived at. the demand from him was relayed to mr. murdoch, i believe. and what we were seeking was authority to begin negotiations to reach whatever best -- whatever best figure we could achieve from the taylor lawyers. and then i can't remember whether he said he wanted to know what that figure was before -- before absolutely

authorizeing it. i think he certainly authorized to settle at the best figure we could reach. >> isn't it true you would have to figure at a much larger sum to keep phone hacking secret. >> no. >> but at the time you knew goodman wasn't a rogue reporter didn't you? >> correct. >> did you ever raise that with mr. murdoch? >> well, i explained the phone -- >> to prove others are involved of criminal wrongdoing on the paper? >> the context -- what i explained to him -- and i can't give it in clear accurate detail because i can't remember but there was on him one reason we settled the taylor case and there was one reason, therefore, we went to him to settle the taylor litigation and was that the emergence of a document which consisted of an email, a transcript being sent by one of our junior reporters and that transcript consisted of voicemail -- apparently

consisted from looking at it voicemail messages left to and by gordon taylor. >> so he would have been aware that another member of staff had transcribed an intercepted voicemail messages. that's what you told him? >> i explained what the document was, yes. >> how was that? did he then apply the company's zero tolerance to wrongdoing policy and suspend that staff member? >> nope. >> what did you do about that? >> well, it was left with the lawyers to continue the negotiations for a settlement and that's what happened. >> so he's someone that you know has intercepted the transcript message legally hacked phone while a private investigator and you want to settle the case for hundreds of thousands have pounds you could have government from a par 36 offer and none of you do anything about it including james murdoch.

>> it wasn't evidence that he had transcribed -- transcribed presumably from a tape or a disk a number of voicemail messages. therefore, the -- what the mulcaire, evidence of that had passed through our office. so therefore -- >> the ours new that. >> "news of the world" was implicated certainly at least of knowledge that lord glenn mulcaire had done that. >> and nobody did anything? what did james murdoch -- >> i can't remember. we settled. we settled the case. >> you remember telling him but you can't remember what his reply was? >> i would have explained the background of the litigation. i would have explained what had happened to the emergence of this document and i would have explained what it mean.

>> what did james murdoch agree to settle? >> sir? >> why did he agree to settle? >> that was the advice he was certainly getting from me and from the outside lawyers. >> which outside lawyers were those. >> farrows and counsel. i discussed in great detail with him and i passed on their advice to mr. myler and to mr. murdoch. >> why did he agree to settle for so much money? >> to get out of the case. >> isn't it the case that he was well aware that you would buy the silence of gordon taylor if you settled for 425,000 pounds? >> we -- well, as i said, i think the -- the imperative or the priority at that time was to settle this case, get rid of it and contain the situation as far as four others are concerned and

get on with our business. >> he knew full well to settle for that amount of money would conceal the email, didn't it? >> we couldn't -- we couldn't reveal the email because it had been given to us under very, very strict under confidentiality imposed almost certainly by mr. taylor. and there's nothing covering up -- >> could i make it clear -- >> mr. taylor -- >> let me make something clear which seems to be missed very, very clearly, possibly by this committee and that is the providence of this document was the metropolitan police. there was a metropolitan police document coming out of their files. how can we -- how can we be accused of covering up something that is reached us from the police? >> are you aware the previous legal guy from the company, mr. chapman said in any case, a confidentiality clause wouldn't stand up to a row of beings when it comes to a criminal investigation? so how could taylor's lawyers

enforce you to confidentiality on an email that suggested more criminal wrongdoing? you must have known that. you're a lawyer yourself. >> well, i'm just telling you there's very strict -- what confuse me here is that you simply be missing what i just said. this document came from the police. it's not as if it isn't -- hasn't been looked at, considered, experts, you know, paying close attention to it in the appropriate area which is the, you know, the police forces of this country. >> the police will have questions to answer as well but it's the case that you knew that if there was a criminal -- if a crime had been committed, taylor's lawyers could not hold you to a confidentiality clause? you knew that, didn't you? you're a media lawyer. you're a barrister? >> well, there's a confidentiality clause agreed by both size in the case of civil litigation, normally that would be to stick to the confidentiality clause.

that's what's called straight dealing. >> what -- did james murdoch give you any amount that you could settle. >> i can't recall that. i think we came away i think the authority with the best figure we could get to. >> so it was an open-ended figure. >> yeah, and i can't recall if there had already been some talk that he would take half a million and we managed to get it down from there to 4 -- i thought 15. >> was there any other civil cases where james murdoch gave you an open-ended agreement where you could settle for any figure? >> i think i met james murdoch twice in my life. taylor was one of them and another one that i can't remember about. it wasn't about this series of cases, no. >> you can't remember what the second meeting was. could it have been max clifford? >> no, absolutely not. >> did you keep him in the loop? did you email him or phone him or send him memos? >> no. i don't remember doing so. >> but you don't remember but

they might exist? >> i can't remember. >> given that there was no apparent investigation into phone hacking, do you accept that you lied to us when you told us you've investigated this and was satisfied with the explanations you received? >> no. >> at the time you told us that there was a lewis inquiry -- >> what i do -- actually, but the chairman has suggested this as well in the last occasion you step out on frequent occasions and you do it when a new development's occurred and you see a new piece of paper that's evidence that's put before this committee and you say this is devastating evidence of a cover-up and mr. chairman said that this means that they clearly misstate it the last time or it's clearly contradictory of the efforts of the last occasion.

now, it wasn't contradiction any way, shape or form which i explain in my letter to you. i don't know why you will accept that. i hope you will. it was not contradictory. we did not contradict ourselves when we put out that statement in terms of the evidence we gave the committee on the last occasion. now, mr. chairman, i invite you to tell me whether you agree with that. >> i believe what you told us that there's no question in my mind that the evidence which you and the other witnesses that we have at "news of the world" that there's no real evidence to suggest anybody other than clive was involved -- >> but it's a possible answer that i gave you early in the proceedings, that there was me email that went beyond goodwin. that evidence existed. from what i did as a result i said we settled the case. >> yeah, but you also said that you could find no record of it being forwarded to anybody.

you said the reporter didn't remember -- >> that's true. that's true. >> i mean, the impression you sought to give to us was that actually this really didn't amount to very much. >> well, on the record, publicly i'll challenge anyone to read the transcript because i don't agree that is the case. >> well, the transcript remains on the record. >> it was your job to see that endemic criminal phone hacking at "news of the world" was concealed. >> no >> you did this by making goodman's expensive lawyers and you continued to pay him even when he was -- even when he pleaded guilty. >> it's not remotely surprising that we paid for clive goodman. at the time he was arrested and it was whether he was guilty or plead guilty or not plead guilty. you're certainly going to start off by supplying that representation. that is the proper decent and correct thing to do. now, at some stage he then indicated that he would plead guilty. the financing of his representation continued to be

paid by "news of the world." i don't think that's a bad thing. >> was it right to pay him even when he was in prison, when he had been found guilty by a court? >> paid what? >> pay a salary in prison. >> i have nothing to do how his salary was paid. >> in all this despite gross misconduct, hacking into the voicemails of the royal family. it was right to pay him then? >> pay him a salary? >> was it right to pay the 240,000 pounds payoff? >> i have nothing to do with -- >> what's your view of that. >> my view is -- >> the truth is you didn't see it as gross misconduct, did you? you thought it was a reporter's job at "news of the world." >> that is absolutely nonsense. >> as far as you're concerned the only problem was he got caught? >> that is nonsense. >> and so now you had to conceal the crime. >> that is nonsense. >> you are concerned that hacking was standard practice at "news of the world." >> that's not true. >> and that's why you told goodman that you could have his job back. that if he did not implicate the

paper or any of its staff? >> mr. watson, confidentiality in these legal discussions has been -- seems to have waived by a ferret at least, it may be if you ask the other lawyers who were present during the legal meetings they will tell you that's the allegation you've just made and it was originally made by clive goodman has no truth at all. >> you promised him his job in order to suppress evidence of criminality at "news of the world"? >> that is not true. >> and that's why james murdoch agreed to pay the taylor settlement, wasn't it? >> that is not true. >> it's for the same reason that you sanctioned the payment of glenn mulcaire's legal fees, wasn't it? >> i don't know if i did actually. he was getting representation with a civil -- he wasn't -- his legal fees weren't paid in his criminal representation but when the civil cases started, he wasn't cooperating with us in any way, shape or form.

he had to have lawyers and it was agreed, i think, that his lawyers would be financed in the hope that we would actually get from him the one person who could tell us the full story we could get the full picture. >> who agreed to it? >> i can't remember. >> do you now accept that it's false to say you did not review articles where it was clear that information can only have been obtained from phone hacking? >> yes. >> did you arrange for the lawyers of phone hacking victims to be monitored by private detectives? >> no. >> did you arrange for a dossier to be kept on him and follow up on their private lives? >> no. >> how much have you received in your package terminating your employment. >> nothing. >> nothing? >> i haven't had a package of termination. >> are you still in negotiations? >> well, there haven't really been any negotiations but i'm hoping there will be shortly. >> you're expecting a package, are you? >> i would have thought so. >> why haven't you settled already? >> well, i think most people

haven't settled already. >> could it be -- >> there's something called a consultation period it's supposed to be for 90 days. that is still going on. >> so while the provisions about what you can say and can't say to this committee? >> no. provisions where? >> have you discussed with news international's lawyers giving evidence to this committee? >> no. >> have you ever been in contact with jonathan rees. >> i don't think i had any discussions with him since i left. >> have you ever been in contact with jonathan rees? >> i met jonathan rees many, many years ago. >> when was that? >> many, many years ago. i think probably 10 years ago. >> what was that to do with? >> he was doing occasional work for "news of the world" supplying sometimes on the investigations, there would be a need to pay a chauffeur, undercover bodyguard and he and his partner were used by the then news desk to perform those

roles. >> were you aware of his surveillance of dc dave cook? >> no. >> were you that he was contracted with "news of the world" in 2004 and '5? >> no, i wasn't. >> are you aware now that he worked -- >> i assumed what was on the -- >> have you ever been in contact with philip campbell smith? >> no. >> were you aware of any civil claims against the sun as a result of phone hacking? >> no. >> have you any occasion that the sun are implicated in the glenn mulcaire evidence? >> no i have no occasion of that at all. >> is it your understanding that the sun -- >> no i have no idea. >> why did you tell the committee why that their agreement was to go through everything and find out everything that had gone on? when burton copeland had told us that they carried no

investigation into phone hacking, whatsoever? >> when i came back -- clive goodman was arrested in august, i think, of 2006. when i came back the following tuesday, which would have been exactly seven days after the arrests, the first one i went to, burton copeland was sitting there and they were clearly instructed by news group to work with the police to deal with whatever inquiries, requests that the police put forward. and they were actively involved in that role throughout the period until -- i would probably think late autumn. >> how many times have you met glenn mulcaire?

>> never. >> how much contact did you have with his lawyers while you were -- when you were negotiating the clifford proceedings? >> with his lawyers? >> yeah. >> i doubt if any contact. that would deal with our outside solicitors. >> would they have kept you abreast of his legal team. >> i'm not sure there's much in negotiations. >> did you consult with glenn mulcaire and his legal team on the -- >> yor. >> with farrows have done that. >> the disclosure strategy. >> yeah the disclosure strategy. >> disclosure is disclosure. you don't have to disclose whatever is rest. >> when justice foss wanted him to instruct with him did glenn mulcaire and tell you and farrows who the people were? >> i'm not aware that he told

farrows. you aware in the company who was told at any time who instructed him? >> no. >> did you ever order surveillance -- did you ever order a commission private investigations to do any surveillance at all? >> no. >> have you ever received or commissioned reports on the civil case lawyers that involved private investigators? >> well, sorry, let me just think about that last question. i may have in litigation. certainly not in the last few years but a long time ago maybe. i probably did, in fact, use private investigators on farrows things like tracing maybe a little surveillance, maybe something else i can't remember. it's not unusual for lawyers to use private investigators.

>> did you sanction "news of the world" journalists to have clients to settle their claims. >> no. >> are you aware of any of your former colleagues who may have done that? >> no, i'm not aware of that. >> are you aware that rebekah brooks might have contacted civil claimants and ask them to standown their claims? >> no. no, i'm not aware of that. >> did you advise clive goodman to plead guilty? >> no. >> thank you. >> just a couple of other things you mentioned in relation to that after clive goodman pleaded guilty of illegal interceptions, mr. coulson was looking for ways for him to come back when he completed his sentence. >> mr. coulson's theme was he felt the company had a duty of

care to clive goodman. that was used in all of our conversations which i think about three in all. and he felt that clive goodman -- once he had -- if he was guilty and he was sentenced -- once he had paid his penalties, served his sentence, that he hoped that he could persuade that clive goodman could come back so he wasn't effectively thrown on the scrap heap in a different role. >> he believed in a second chance? >> yes. >> that's quite a bit of the policy. >> in that context, because we heard evidence before you came in that it was les hinton who felt a duty of care in order to ensure that he was