having voted in the affirmative, the motion is not agreed to. mr. reid: i enter a motion to reconsider the vote by which cloture was not invoked. the presiding officer: the motion is entered. mr. reid: mr. president i move to ask -- ask i ask unanimous consent we proceed to morning business senators permitted to speak for up to five minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to

calendar number 290 and be in executive session. and that the nomination be confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made, laid on the table, no intervening action or debate and any statements appear in the record as if read. and the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: mr. president i understand there's a bill at the desk due for its first reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the bill for the first time. the clerk: h.r. 2681, an act to provide additional time for the add minimum strayer of the environmental protection agency to issue achievable standards for cement manufacturing facilities and for other purposes. mr. reid: i ask for a second reading in order to place the bill on the calendar under provisions of rule 14 but under -- because of that i object to my -- object to my

own request. the presiding officer: objection is heard. the bill will be read the second time in in the next legislative day. mr. reid: cu thank you. ask that the senate adjourn until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, october 12 of this year following the prayer and the pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved, the morning hours be deemed expired, following any leader remarks the senate begin consideration of h.r. 3080, h.r. 3079, h.r. 3078, 12 hours of debate equally divided and controlled by between the leaders or their designees senator baucus controlling 20 minutes, senator brown of ohio controlling an hour of majority time and the previous order remain in effect and the senate recess from 12:30 to 2:15 for our weekly caucus meetings. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate returns to legislative session. and without objection the request is granted.

mr. reid: mr. president we'll consider the three free trade agreements tomorrow. we expect complete action on these bills sometime tomorrow. if everyone uses their time it's quite obvious it will be a late late day but maybe people will get tired of talking and we can finish this earlier. we have work to complete on thursday. i talked to the republican leader about the path forward and i think it would be -- we can get more done this week and have a really a good next week working on appropriation bills. if there's no further business to come before the senate i ask that it adjourn under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow.

>> president obama met with his council and jobs and competitiveness in pittsburgh where he provided a meeting and opening remarks. through the president's right is the president of the jobs counsel. the com called for greater spending on infrastructure less restrictive regulations, and a more friendly business tax system. the remarks are 10 minutes. >> let me make some remarks up front, and then i want to hear from all of you. first of all i had a chance to read the bold report last night and i think it's outstanding.

i think you guys did extraordinary work. jeff, i want to thank you for your leadership on guiding this whole process. i think you have been steady and focused on how can we make sure that we're creating an economy that not only deals with the immediate problem of putting people back to work but also how do we create a foundation for a long term opportunity for all people, a -- and a growth agenda that makes sure that businesses are created here, that businesses stay here, and that they prosper here. as i look at the introduction of the report the quote that stands out, "we need a sense of urgency and a bias for action" is something that i think we all feel acute and the fact that

you have been able to organize around five key steps that, i think, you'd be the first to acknowledge isn't all that needs to be done, but are key areas where we should be able to generate some strong bipartisan agreement and get going quickly. i think it makes it really extraordinary. couple of things i'll remark on in terms of the general context. as you pointed out, i think at the beginning of this year when we started the jobs council aing all of us -- i think all of us felt fairly confident that the economy could grow quickly enough that we could start bringing the unemployment rate down even if it wasn't moving as quickly as we might like, but generally the blue tip projections were somewhere between 3% and 4% growth. we have had a very tough string

of events over the course of the last ten months. you had the arab spring which shot up oil prices far higher than any of us anticipated. you've got the tsunami in japan which affected supply lines globally you had most prominently the situation in europe which is created great uncertainty for businesses across the board, and then unfortunately, washington got involved in a self-inflicted wound with the debt ceiling fiasco, and all of those things, i think, led to both consumers and businesses taking a big step backwards and saying we are just not sure where this thing is going. as a consequence projections now in terms of growth are significantly lower than they were and the situation in europe in particular is one in

which we're spending a lot of energy talking to our counterparts across the atlantic trying to make sure that they handle this in a way that stabilizes the economic situation in the coming months so we got a string of events that have darkened the outlook and that makes the action the actions recommended by the jobs council that much more important because these are areas that we actually have control over the situation. we could do these things, and there's no doubt about the fact that had would have a significant marked impact on job growth right now. a couple of comments and then what i want to do is i think hear directly from, i think we've got people who want to remark on each of those categories. first of all, with respect to

infrastructure, the council here has quoted as saying, "if there's one thing that washington should be able to agree on, rebuilding our infrastructure should be one." i mean when you have the afl and chamber of commerce agreeing on anything, that's a sign it's a good idea. i think you document as well as anybody has the incredible opportunities at a time when contractors are begging for work meaning they are willing to come in on time under budget millions of construction workers laid off as a consequence of the housing bubble going bust, ready to go on the job, interest rates never been lower, and you have a crying need and as you point out in the report, this is a two-fer. this is one where we cannot only get immediate job growth but it also lays the foundation for

long term productivity and efficiencies that will make a difference for every company represented around this table so the american jobs act the jobs plan i put forward before congress obviously has a very significant infrastructure component. it incorporates a lot of the ideas that were contained in this bill because in the job council report -- because one of the things you mentioned was not only do we need the infrastructure; we need to streamline the approval process so we can actually get these projects moving more quickly than they have in the past so we've already identified 14 high priority projects in which the permitting process has been significantly expedited and we're doing that through administrative action. our goal is if this serves as the respective model for us being able to move those 14

quickly, that we can then replicate that across the board, and the significant investment that was made could have a much more rapid impact than what we've seen before. with respect to the next area, which is support for small business, and emphasizing high growth first. many of the recommendations that you gave we've already been trying to implement. we have a task force that along with the select usa has been looking at, for example, how can we move forward on easing the burdens and allowing ipos to move more quickly. are there regulatory constraints on small businesses as they move forward that we can start eliminating? so where we can act

administratively we try to do so. in some areas we might require additional legislation. for example, on the high scale immigration area, that's not something we can necessarily do on our own. we can expedite some of the visas already in place and try to streamline that process to make it move faster. we may need legislative help on that area. with respect to the national investment initiative, i know that we -- if i'm not mistaken some of the job council already had a chance to meet with the secretary of state to figure out how we can deal with visas and travel promotions. there are other areas where we think that bringing together an inner agency approach and making sure that we are knocking down any barriers that are out there

for direct investment here in the united states and job creation that we're going to prioritize those. .. education department as well as our department of labor and arne duncan and others are working aggressively on trying to implement many of the ideas that you've put forth. so i guess the bottom line is

this: and as you've pointed out some of the recommendations contained in the joint council require legislative action, and these things don't move as quickly through congress as we would like. but, there are certain ideas that are contained in the job council reports that historic we have received bipartisan support and the election is 14 months away or 13 months away. we can't wait until another election before we start acting on those ideas. the american jobs act in putting forward obviously contains many ideas like infrastructure investment that should be pretty straightforward, and our hope is we are able to get those passed in the next couple of months. but we are not going to wait for congress. am i of this suggestion to jeff

and gene and valleys and the advisers around the table is scour this report, identify all those areas in which we can act administratively without additional congressional authorization and just get it done. get a significant number implemented but we want to do more and we will have a very vigorous follow-up process within our authority within our of administration we start doing immediately, and we don't wait for congress because the american people can't afford to wait. they need help right now all right?

forty-eight no votes, two democrats voted with the republicans voting know. their senators ben nelson and jon tester. 50 democrats voted in favor and but was not enough of the 60 votes needed to overcome their republican filibuster. the senate to vote president obama was in pittsburgh this afternoon saying this and that doesn't oppose the hold jobs package we're going to break it up into different parts. [applause] >> thank you. >> thank you very much.

thank you. thank you everybody. please come have a seat. it's great to be back here in pittsburgh and it's wonderful to be year at ibew local no. 5 training center. i had a chance to take a tour of your facilities where your training workers with the skills they need to compete for good jobs and i see some of the guys that i met on the tour of the instructors and students who are here and it's an example of how if we get a good collaboration between business and labor and academia there is no reason we cannot continue to have the best trained workers in the world and that's got to be one of our best. [applause] i am here to talk about how we can create new jobs, particularly jobs doing what you

do best, and that's rebuilding america. i brought some folks along with me as well. we got members of my cabinet administration. we got your maker. where is luke, right here. [applause] the executive this year. [applause] and less money to your friends who live school to serve as the united states ambassador, dan rooney from the house. [applause] congratulations. you did better than the bears last night. [laughter] i also brought a group of leaders with a wide range of new ideas about how we can help companies collier and grow, and we call them our white house jobs council. they come from some of the most

successful businesses in the country. ge southwest intel. they come from labor. we've got rich trumka from the afl-cio. we've got universities and people across the board who are intimately involved in growing companies, ginger capitalists. most importantly, they come from outside washington. and i told them when we formed this council i want to hear smart forward thinking ideas and our workers adapt to changing times. together they've done some extraordinary work to make those ideas have been so i just want to personally thank every single one of those jobs council members for the work we're doing and in the jobs report today we are implementing a bunch of their ideas that is going to make a difference all across the country. so thank you very much. [applause]

>> well, one of our focus today was on the entrepreneur -- and entrepreneurship. we did this because the story of american success is written by american of jurors. men and women who took a chance on a dream and they turn that dream into a business and somehow change the world. we just lost one of our greatest entrepreneurs and a friend, steve jobs last week. and to see the outpouring of support for him and his legacy tells a story about what america is all about. we like to make things create things, new products new services that change people's lives. and that's what people strive to do every day in this country. most of the time people's dreams are simple. start-ups in store for runs on mean street that let folks early enough to support their family and make a contribution to their community. and sometimes their dreams takeoff and the startups become companies like apple or fedex or

ford, companies that end up hiring and employing hundreds of thousands of americans and giving rise to entire new industries. and the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation is how we became the world's leading economic power, and it's what constantly rejuvenates our economy. so entrepreneur should is how we are going to create new jobs in the future. and i am proud to say that just last month pittsburgh won a federal grant to promote entrepreneurship and job creation by expanding your already successful energy and health care industries and underserved parts of this city. so we are very excited about what pittsburgh is doing. [applause] today, my job council laid out new actions that we can take together, the private sector and government to help unleash a new era of entrepreneurship in america that will grow the economy and create jobs and strengthen our ability to compete with the rest of the world. but even as we helped to fuel

the next big american industry, we also understand that people are out of work right now. the need help right now. so everything that we talked about with respect to the job counsel is going to help america become more competitive, held a entrepreneurs create more jobs leave the foundation for long-term, sustainable growth. but right now our economy needs a jolt. right now. [applause] and today, the senate out of the united states has a chance to do something about jobs right now by voting for the americans jobs act. [applause] now, this is a moment of truth for the u.s. senate. in front of them is a bill come a jobs bill, but independent economists have said would grow this economy and put people back to work. this is not my opinion it's not my administration's opinion. this is people whose job it is for a living to analyze and evaluate what kind of impact certain policies would have.

they've said this could grow the economy significantly and put significant numbers of americans back to work. and no other jobs plan has that kind of support from economists, the plan from congress, no plan from anybody. is a jobs bill with the kind of proposals the democrats and republicans have traditionally supported. it's a jobs bill that is entirely paid for by asking those of us who've been more fortunate, who've been incredibly blessed here in america, to contribute a little more to the country that contributed so much to our success. today is the day when every american will find out exactly where their senators stand on the jobs bill. republicans say that one of the most important things we can do is cut taxes. then they should be for this

plan. this jobs bill would cut taxes for virtually every worker and small business in america. every single one. [applause] if you're a small-business owner that hauliers new workers or raises wages, you will get another tax cut. if you how you're a veteran, you get a tax cut. people who have served overseas should not have to fight for a job when they come home. [applause] this jobs bill encourages small business owners and entrepreneurs to expand into high gear. the senate should pass it today. hundreds of thousands of teachers and firefighters and police officers have been laid

off because of state budget cuts. i'm sure, lou you're seeing it here in pittsburgh. you're having to figure out how to make sure that we keep our teachers in the classroom. the jobs council was uniform in believing that the most important thing for our competitive and -- competitiveness and prevent a lot more from losing their jobs. so is putting teachers and police officers back to work? ask them what's wrong with having folks who have made

millions or billions of dollars to pay a little more in. nothing punitive, just going back to the kind of tax rates that used to exist under president clinton, so that our kids can get the education they deserve. there are more than a million laid-off construction workers who could be repairing our roads and bridges and modernizing our schools right now. [applause] right now. that's no surprise to you. pittsburgh has a lot of bridges. [laughter] has about 300 of them. did you know that more than a quarter of the bridges in this state are rated structurally deficient? structurally deficient -- that's a fancy way of saying the need to be fixed. there are nearly 6,000 bridges in pennsylvania alone that local construction workers could be a rebuilding right now.

the average age of bridges around pittsburgh is 54 jurors old. so we are still benefiting from the investments, the work that was done by our grandparents to make this a more successful more competitive economy. here in pittsburgh, 54-years-old, the average age of these bridges -- 13 years older than the national average. the hulton bridge over oakmont to and was built m and was built more than 100 years ago. there are pieces of it better flicking off. how much longer are we going to wait to put people back to work rebuilding bridges like that? this jobs bill will give local contractors and local construction workers the chance to get back to work rebuilding america. why would any center say no to that? in line with the recommendations of my jobs council, my administration is cutting red

tape, we are expediting several major construction projects all across the country to launch them faster and more efficiently. we want to streamline the process, the permitting process, just to get those things moving through. so we are doing our job trying to expedite the process. now it's time for congress to do their job. the senate should vote for the jobs bill today. it should not wait. it should get it done. [applause] a lot of folks in congress have said they would support any new spending that's not paid for. and i think that's important. we've got to make sure we are living within our means so we can make the vital investments in our future. that's why i signed into law $1 trillion in spending cuts over the summer. and we'll find more places to cut those things that we don't need. we can't afford everything. we've got to make choices. we've got to prioritize. programs that aren't working that aren't giving as a gooding

for the buck that aren't helping to grow the economy that aren't putting people back to work we have to trim those back. so we are willing to make tough choices. the american people, they are already tightening their belts. they understand what it's all about to make tough choices. but if we want to create jobs and close the deficit, then we can't just cut our way out of the problem. we are also going to have to ask the wealthiest americans to pay their fair share. if they don't, we only have three other choices. we can either increase the deficit, or we can ask the middle class to pay more of a time when they're just barely getting by, haven't seen their wages or incomes go above all in fact, have gone down over the last decade, or we can just sit back and do nothing. and i am not willing to accept any of those three options. [applause] whenever i talk about revenue people start complaining about it.

well, is he engaging in class warfare or why is he going after the wealthiest. look, because i've been fortunate and people bought a bunch of my books, and in that category now. [laughter] and in a perfect world with unlimited resources, nobody would have to pay any taxes. that's not the world we live in. we live in the world where we've got to make traces. so the question we have to ask ourselves as a society, as a country is would you rather keep taxes exactly as they are for those of us who benefited most from this country, tax breaks that we don't need and weren't even asking for or do we want construction workers and electrical workers to have jobs

rebuilding of roads and bridges and schools? would we rather maintain these tax breaks for the wealthiest few or should we give tax cuts to the entrepreneurs who might needed to start the business in that new idea that they got? or tax breaks to middle class families who are likely to spend this money now and get the economy moving again? this is a matter of priorities and it's a matter of shared sacrifice. and by the way, if you ask most wealthy americans, they will tell you they are willing to do more to help this country that they loved. so it's time to build an economy that creates good middle class jobs in this country. time to build an economy that honors the value of hard work and responsibility. it's time to build an economy that lasts and that is what this jobs bill will help us do.

the proposals in the americans' job act are not just a bunch of random investments that make worked jobs they are things we have to do if we want to compete with other countries for the best jobs and the newest industries.

the new technology an entrepreneur is to the next generation of manufacturing. any one of the business leaders here today will tell you that's true. if we want to compete and win in this global economy, if we want the center to be another american center we can't just go back to an economic model that is based on how much we can borrow, how much we can wrap up and how much we can consume. our prosperity has to be built on what we make and sell around the world and on the skills of our workers and the ingenuity of our business people. [applause] we have to restore the values thing that have always made this

a great country. the idea of hard work and responsibility that is reworded. everybody from mean street to wall street when doing their fair share, pleading by the same set of rules and so pittsburg that starts now and going to need your help him. what your senators are voting today on this jobs bill. [applause] any senator who votes no should have to look you in the eye and tell you what exactly are opposed to. these are proposals that have traditionally been a bipartisan. republicans used to want to build roads and bridges. it wasn't just a democratic idea. we have all believed that education was important. if you are voting against this bill looked at a pittsburgh teacher indy 500 ausley and tell them why they don't deserve to

get a paycheck again and more importantly be able to transmit all of that knowledge to their kids. why they don't deserve their teacher backend the have of their overcrowded classrooms and with our class's or music classes or science classes have been cut back. come and work at a pittsburgh or electrical worker in the eye and tell them why they shouldn't be out there fixing her bridges or rebuilding our schools and equipping them with the latest science and explain why people should have to keep driving their kids across bridges with pieces falling off. or explain to a small-business owner or who workers in this community why he would rather defend tax breaks for the wealthiest few than fight for tax cuts for the middle class.

i think they would have a hard time explaining why they voted no on this bill of and the fact that i proposed it. [laughter] [applause] i realize some republicans in washington said that even if they agree with the idea of the americans jobs at the are weary of passing because it would give the wind. give me a win? that isn't about giving me when win. this isn't about giving anybody a win or giving democrats or republicans and when it's out giving the american people who are hurting out there a win buy giving small business is an entrepreneur said construction workers say win. [applause]

it's about giving the american people all of us together event. talking at the jobs, what everybody here is one vote it for them but they're patriots about their country and talking about how in normal times these are common sense ideas these are not radical ideas, these are things that traditionally everybody would be for particularly at a time of emergency and want to see more customers and so for folks outside of washington being against something for the sake of politics makes absolutely no sense. [applause] it makes absolutely no sense.

[applause] the next election is 13 months away. the american people don't have the luxury of waiting 13 months of lot watching washington go back and forth in the usual fashion when this economy needs to be strengthened dramatically. a lot of folks are living from a week to week paycheck to paycheck even a day to day. they need action and the need action now. they want congress to do what they were elected to do. put the country ahead. do what is right for our economy. do what is right for our people. [applause] in other words they want congress to do your job. [applause] so, i have said this to some

folks in the other party i promise we still have a lot of stuff to argue about even if we get this done about the general direction of the country and how we are going to build it and how we are going to educate, not innovate and out build other countries around the world there will be a lot of time for political debate but right now we need to act on behalf of the american people so for those of you in the audience or those of you watching i need you to call e-mail fax or you can write an old-fashioned liberal didn't know if people still do that. [applause] let congress know who they work for. remind them what is at stake when they cast their vote. tell them the time for gridlock and games is over and the time for action is now and tell them to pass this bill. if you want construction workers on the job if you want teachers back in the classroom pass the bill. if you want tax cuts for your family and small-business owners, pass this bill. if you want veterans to share

the opportunity that they have upheld and the defendant do the right thing. pass this bill. [applause] now is the time to act. [applause] i know that there is a moment a lot of folks are wondering whether america can move forward together the way it used to and i am confident that we can. we are not a people who just sit by and watch things happen to us. we shape our own destiny. that is what has always set us apart. we are americans and we are tougher than the times we are in right now before with we are bigger than the politics that has been constrained as we can write our own story we can do it again. let's meet this moment, let's

get to work and show the rest of the world just why it is america is the greatest country on earth. thank you everybody. god bless you. god bless america. [applause] ♪ ♪ñuñuñuñuñuñuñuñu

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. corker: m >> i would ask to talk about the th e conversation we just had on the state floor.ee and there's no question tennessee and all across our country i think the biggest item on anybody's mind is a the economy in e and people having jobs in each of our states wouldhing w mr. president i believe that the creat very best thing we can do to create a sound economy in this country is for the deficit thing t ha kennedy to do the things it a nd needs to do in november anderic december and for us to show the american people that we have the dwith ability to deal with the big cotry structural issues that our all m y country faces i believe thats a with all my heart and there's no for business another country to david is looking for some sugar stimulus bill that will be here and on and leaving us with lots of debt and increased taxes on the road i believe that.n i am disappointed and we are in a situation just like we were la last thursday night.proble

neither side candidly we are candi here to have some political start take place. to on both sides of the idle there o are numbers off people here thathave wor have worked hard toked get the free trade agreements in place the need to be and we expect them to pass tomorrow and those of us to agreemes that support these free tradehing agreements that have been f languishing for 995 days that includes lots of senators on both sides of the ogle i heard the leader say if we were to get b all mixed jobs bill as he's advocating we get on today theng likelihood of us actually taking up these free trade agreements and passing them tomorrow isot g almost nothing is not going tow ther e happen there are people that oppose the free trade agreement and i doubt very seriously we going are going to see unanimous a consent to move off a jobs bill

that everyone knows is for show tradagreemen ts something like the free trade agreement that some peoples oppose so i have had lots of senat conversations with senators on both sides of the bottle over the course of the last 72 hours regarding the need for us to have a debate on jobs and i hope that at some point we will actually have a real debate on aally want to real jobs bill that people really want to pass to be i t would say that to make thatlly happen that would actually mean that the republican leader andally have the democratic leader would have sit to actually sit down and craft a piece of legislation that is of cours common ground. of course that is not what is ha happening and we know that and for all of us that have things life that we've done in life that ischosen to come productive and we've chosen to conserve our country in this way abili we have the ability to be productive in other ways for all of us to come up here and to continual watch this continual charadece in

taking place in this body it's a disappointing it burns at a lotaccompli nothi of time and we accomplish nothing for the american people so candidly mr. president i want debate to have a debate on jobs i know that again moving to the jobs negate bill tonight would negate theg opportunity for the only thing that we could do recently toe actually create jobs which is passing these three free trade whic agreements which is what they will do with enhanced american manufacturers abilities to make and sell things overseas andntry enhance farms across the country and their abilityse llto sell their is a goods overseas it is a one-way positive street for us becauseave these countries already have lowers trade tariff barriers in thers country so it lowers those barriers for us into the country, so mr. president, i amtheir country going to vote against proceeding to to the jobs bill. i am disappointed that we

continue to do things. we know we have a republicanepubli house, and we know to pass something that's good for this country that requires a negotiation between all of the w playerse will sell each time we tota ll bring these bills of the virtually crafted in partisan g is ways we know that all we are doing is wasting time. i do have one glimmer of hope and that is the deficitmittee. reduction committee. the fact is that this committee six was put together with six republicans and six democrats to use of this committee has the ability to do some things thatean, w e' no one can blame the other side. we are talking about something that is totally split. tog i will say when nothing mr. president, this committee was put together conceived by leadership l in the united states senate and the house. so we have four people, the leaders in house and the senate who can conceived of the supernes

committee and they are the ones that appointed the members to this super committee.is committee wer they decided to the members of this committee were going to bealanced, six so that it's equally balancedcess six and six and so candidly the success of this committee is totall the h totally, totally in the hands of our leadership. for so it appears to me that for the first time in a long time we have within the leadership's hand as totally the ability of something this is great for our and athing country to pass, and anything short of getting to the dollar's lead out in this legislation is dollars totally a failure. thing i sur and so one thing i'm sure of was mr. president, that since this was totally set up in a bipartisan way by leadership of

the republican and democratic side in both the house and themembers senate and they chose the tha members there t is no question in going t my mind thato this is going to be successful or candidly be viewed by many as a failure. can di failure of leadership candidly.oing so i'm certain that we are going to get to 1.5 trillion, and i amns and democrats hopeful as are a number of republicans and sdemocrats withinthink we hav the senate i think we have a over list of over 40 that are actually going to get to a 3 trillion-dollar reduction in the deficit that we are going tore go big or as some have said wewe end end up with something that isatively eq to qualitatively equal to that.hat t many of us know that trying to get $3 trillion in savings over eight in your period might bet difficult.i sti i still hope it happens. i still think it can.s body t there is a number of people in m this body that has worked to make that happen, but some kno maybe people have said well maybe we

can get some major reforms to medicare and other kinds of programs in the second ten and maybe qualitatively that's equally as good and mr. president and certainly willing toly look as one senator look had all those things but inn spite of the fact i think it is a waste of time to be bringing a total totally partisan bills in this to bec body knowing that to become law if got to pass the house of representatives which means thathing anybody that brings up something that is totally partisan knows that in advance that is discouraging to me discouraging to waste time talking about isever something that we know is never going to become law for and the campaigns, for house members,t senate and to campaign on but at least i'm hopeful that in november and december we are going to have something bighe

happen because again this is totally in the hands of the bipartisan leadership who totally appointed the members this g who totally are working withpresident, this group and again mr. president, to me that is the best stimulus we can possibly co create for this country if for small businesses and big democrats businesses republicans and democrats all across this country to see that this body something actually has the ability to do something that creates some cotr stability in this country and mber-o actually tackle the number one t issue that cano continue to dissipate our country's standard at is of living, and that is our inability to deal with that. so to me that is the greatest greates job stimulus we can deal with. there's all kinds of regulatoryegulat issues and american energymerica issues and other kinds of things me that that to me we can take up in a true jobs bill and it is my hopee'll

that we will do that soon.o all i have to hear today in addition to knowing that thiswh really is a partisan effort see which again i hate to see ever thi taking place on the floor of the a fact is that for any senator who wants to see the three free trade agreements any senator onlican the republican side that wants three f to see the three free trade agreement passed into law tomorrow as has been planned anybody that wants to see that happen must vote no on the jobs bill being debated because as to the majority leader stated today the jobs if we began to debate the jobs we bill that means we cannot without unanimous consent which we know will not happen in this and

body we cannot give it and go to mr. predent i the free trade agreement so mr. president in addition to the n ot fact that i know this is not a to d serious effort although i would love to debate jobs the fact o that i know that if we get on in this bill we cannot pass the free trade agreement i some time to we certainly plan to pass tooceedi vote no on the proceeding to them and hope a date when we really want to take up a true vigor jobs bill we will have a this b vigorous debate in this body and have the ability to pass jobs. something that will create jobs and i yield the floor.record speed republican leaders can't afford to talk about the vote we are going to haveli thiso the afternoon. about it's a good which is historicn. we all and important. we know the state of our economy are in a position now with 14 million americans out of work 9.1% unemployment. jobs private sector jobs are growing up so slowly it isn't getting us kind back into the kind of economic we

progress that we need. as the unemployment statistics come out and we have remindedweakness of the weakness of our economy we d have too do something. the traces are to allow this economyo to languish for top decline or to step up and dot obama h something president obama has decided that he needs to lead on bring this issue and bring togetherblicansor tha democrats and republicans for that purpose. he spoke to the session of congress we attended it was said i' widely reported. put my he said i'm going to put my best ideas on the table and inviteable the republicans to do the same we cannot stand idly by and do nothing the president put histhe president p ut proposal forward. it was clear he wanted to do andhe reminded the republicans many of things he things to proposed p were actually endorsed in the past and we wai waitedte and we waited and at thete end of the day i'm afraid when the vote is taken you will find the few if any republican

senators will support any effort to try to create jobs in thet obama h united states as president obamaas has proposed. pre si those of us in support of the president's plan have made our position is clear it's becoming increasingly clear as well and it comes down to three things.ill first, the republicans will not approve or even consider 1 dollar more in texas for the wealthiest people in america. for them that is unacceptable. it is better to do nothing than to impose 1 dollar more in taxes on people making over a million dollars a year they said that consistently. every levf t anybody on the republican party doe't ref that doesn't reflect the feelingcans in of republicans in america 59% ofis them believe the president is right it is not unfair to ask m those making over a million dollars a year to share the burden and sacrifice of moving

the economy forward.bout independence feel strong about it and democrats as well.on't the republicans who don't share states that belief serve in the united1 states senate so 1 dollar more in taxes to pay for the jobs program if it came from theounts accounts of people making over a million dollars a year is on here so we know they are clear in that position.ion but there is a second position the republicans have taken that cle isar equally clear. a they are prepared tnyo oppose many ideasro coming from the obama a administration even ideas they have conceived and voted for in the past. to ta i asked my staff to take a lookroposals at some of the proposals of president obama in this jobs jobs bill which will come up later come this afternoon to see what theee what record was and what the republicans say. it's interesting. and senator mcconnell and 42 republican colleagues supported president bush's economic stimulus act of 2008. it included tax rebates forax individuals which we will find in the obama plan, tax cuts for we

small business which we find indy 500 obama plan and no it offset incidentally. p it isn't paid for. the it added to the deficit. senator mcconnell and 32 colleagues voted for thatt had because president bush's name was associated with it. mos i'm afraid most if not all ofl of them them will vote against this it proposal because president obama s has put forward. republicans support olthe people the tax consistently in the past.said on here's what senator mcconnellanuary said on fox news in january ofould 2009. if you want a quick answer to what i do i would have a cable tax holiday, senator mcconnell said, for a year or two they would put taxes in the hands of two t everybody that has a job whether they pay income taxes or not and of course businesses pay the payroll tax too so it would be both a business tax cut and an individual tax cut immediately. that is the piece of president plan obama's jobs plan. it's a plan criticized on the

floor this morning by senatornt is mcconnell. the approach the president is taking is exactly what senator whe was mcconnell said when he was speaking in a of knowledge fox news in january 2009. republicans that support the federal help to states i won't go through the list but they have inth the past, and incidentally it used dogmatic dog that when it came to buildingn ameri r infrastructure in america roads and bridges and highways andand airnghts ports and airports it was ait in bipartisan issue.his jobs b when the president puts it in this jobs bill is rejected.republicsay a and you know what thet's jobs republicans say about the president's jobs bill?his we've tried all this before and it didn't work so let's not trty so t it again. so they are similarly rejecting payroll tax cuts for families the have supported in the pastejec and rejecting titax cuts forhe businesses to hide the une unemployed come even unemployed the veterans which they give supported in the past. we nee they are rejecting the notion we need to build america'suture o infrastructure for the future ofy

have our economy and the fact basically set when it comes to trying to make this economy move forward the only thing they want to do is to pass a trade agreement will consider three ofments those tomorrow at least two media all of them are likely to pass.at least how quickly do the republicans think they will turnaround in the economy if we start increasing our trade with korea with korea and panel? it may increase trade but term an certainly not in the near term and certainly not to the benefit -- of the 14 million americansurrent 40 ly umillion americans who are currently unemployed. so mr. president, it comes downo-this: re g to this. we are going to have a votelater later this afternoon it's goingrnoon. it w to be a vote on president obama'obs obama's jobs proposal. and he has spoken to it clearly in a joint session of congress and has taken hiers case to thed p american people and has includednse provisions which the republicans suppo havert historically supported, and i am afraid you're going to walk away from this. the republican approach to this is to do nothing.rom

absolutely nothing. protect billionaires' from tax a increases and don't give president obama a victory. will i tell you this is not a victory for president obama. across am it's a victory for unemployed would people across america that wehing but to something specific come h something directav something theurable impt in would have a measurable impact in creating jobs.ubled i am troubled that theth republican approach as senator mcconnell described it is one of just say no to bid that is the republican answer to the one weakness of our economy. h hee talks about the tax hike is included in our bill. that that tax hike is a surtax on tax those making over a millionllion o dollars of income of 5.6%. it is not too much of a sacrifice to ask for those who are the most well-off in america. when the the senator from the kentucky comes and tells us thattimulu the earlier stimulus bill field i would say to him, remembert bill over 40% of that bill consists

with tax cuts, something that most republicans usuallyd support. in it also invested in america in to ways that would pay off forl years to come flexible the stimulus bill paid for and build a new terminal at the peoria international airport. it created jobs today and would wil serve the community for decadesecades t to come.s bil l the stimulus bill is also led to an the creation of an intermodal center and a man in downstate job illinois the proposal that would create jobs for construction and transrtation in build for transportation in that come. community for decades to come. be so for that stimulus to be dismissed is not creatingen at results i'm afraid senator mcconnell needs to join and we show will show him results inllinois illinois and all across thehe united united states. mr. president, i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a court of. >> the clerk will call the roll.

chris christine gave his endorsement today at an event in lebanon new hampshire we will watch live coverage from the spin room. [applause] [cheering] con >> thank you. good to see so many friends here today. thank you. it's an honor to be joined today by governor chris christi. i have behind me a man who is an american hero who has been battling to rein in the excessive government and new

jersey he is a hero in the republican circles because he's a man who has been forthright and in his desire to rein in the excessive spending to hold down debt and to do his best to get new jersey working again. he is a man who has a following of a lot of folks across the country and i couldn't have been more pleased or happy. he came at a time when new jersey was facing extraordinarily high deficits and calls for higher taxes. a lot of folks middle class wondering if the could make it new jersey by virtue of his leadership people in that stage of a different view of the future and i am pleased and proud to announce that my friend, chris trustees treynor team and i'm delighted to have him here today. thanks, chris. [applause] >> i'm here in new hampshire for one simple reason. america cannot survive another

four years of barack obama, and mitt romney is the man we need to lead america, and we need him now. that's why i'm here. [applause] [cheering] if you look at governor mitt romney's experience and experience in the private sector running businesses, turning them around, going in there, telling the people the truth about what needed to be done and coming up with a plan to get it done and look at his experience as an elected official, we know that he brings the best of both to what we need for america right now. he brings a great private sector experience and he brings the experience is the governor of massachusetts knowing how the government works. not a legislator trying to figure out how to use it as a kid power but an executive using the power will use it to make the american lives better that's why i'm endorsing mitt romney for president of the united states. [applause] [cheering]

as republicans and were number one goal has to be to preserve our american way of life and the american way of life was killed by entrepreneurship was -- was built by entrepreneur japan by unleashing the american spirit and the american advantages of the economy growing a bigger and bigger pie. tell you the biggest difference between mitt romney and the president of the united states. the president of the united states has unleashed his campaign strategy already and that is to divide america. to tell americans who are not doing well right now and who are scared she wants to tell them the policy of america is only so big and that if you want more we have to take it from others i know that mitt romney believes the american pa can be grown bigger. it can be an infinite supply is because of the infinite measure of american ingenuity and effort

and character. that is what this election is going to be about and the american people are going to decide that the one to believe in american optimism over american position. they want to believe in somebody that the leaves and america's future can be greater, not someone who is trying to divide the pie along the american people. so it has been in the indian easy decision for me. i know that america needs a new course, and i want it to be with the person who i believe will be the best person to lead america on that course and that is governor mitt romney. thank you very much. [applause] been >> thank you. >> thank you. let me turn to questions you have. mark? >> governor peery was introduced at an event at the mormon faith in the past and the campaign

approved that. what do you think of the religion as part of a campaign and governor, you've been silent until now what do you think about what happened on friday? >> my attitude about this is the same as my attitude has been about those folks in new jersey in both parties my decision to appoint a muslim judge. these type of religious matters have nothing to do with the quality of somebody's ability to leave. you have to evaluate their record and their character and integrity not based upon their religious beliefs but based upon whom they are coming and i think that any campaign that associates itself with that type of conduct is beneath the office of president of the united states in my view. >> governor peery select an individual to then use religion on the basis for which he said he would endorse governor perry. and in a reason to not support me. governor peery then said that introduction just hit it all of

the park. i don't believe that kind of device based on religion has a place in this country and i believe in the spirit of the founders when they suggested and crafting in this country we would be a nation that all the greed of the people of different faiths it would be a place of religious diversity, and in that respect, they embodied in the constitution itself an article 6 of the constitution saying a religious test would not become a part of selecting a candidate in the united states. i believe in the spirit of that embodiment, and in the nature of the nation that has been crafted, and i would call upon governor peery to repudiate the sentiment and the remarks made by the pastor. >> would you like him with someone who would see to speak i don't know what governor perry new or when. any of your questions? if not, thank you. no -- [laughter] >> governor christie, you spoke of the library about leadership and compromise.

can you talk about the compromise [inaudible] >> what i have seen is that governor mitt romney over the course of his entire career in the private sector or in the public sector has had to bring people together to get things done. the private sector he brought folks together turning around businesses creating jobs coming and you don't do that just by dictating. new to it by forming a consensus, giving a clear vision about where you need to go and then forming the consensus and on the political side of things i think the governor understands come and we certainly discussed this that in a country like ours you never compromise your principles, but you do understand that you can't get everything you want. and so there is i think a usually pretty good space between getting everything you want and compromising your principles. that's the space of operated in new jersey and that is the same space that governor romney would operate and when he is president romney. >> the vote on legislation not

your proposals on the china and trade, would you support the bill that would impose sanctions on china if they do not expose their currency? >> and will have to look at the specific piece of legislation to see which portions i agree with and what we do not agree with but i can tell you that if i am president of the united states on the one i will designate china as a manipulator opening the door for us to be able to apply tariffs to their products that have been brought into this country on an unfair basis as a result of either having stolen intellectual property or as a result -- >> you can see all of governor christie's and was that of mitt romney on our website c-span.org. eight republican candidates just concluded a debate at dartmouth college in new hampshire on the economy. here are some of the candidates and their advisers speaking to reporters known as the spin room. you can see live coverage year to date to hear from the dartmouth center.

.. >> he takes every one of his competitors seriously. certainly governor perry as governor of the second-largest date someone who has the ability to raise money a formidable candidate. we don't dismiss them or anybody at that table. as i said of we don't take anything for granted.

we think every vote here in new hampshire and in the other release dates and in every state where there will be a contest has to be fought and won. [inaudible question] >> christie in george bush. >> i don't think there is a person who is more recognized as a leader in the efforts to reform government and cut spending than governor chris christie of new jersey, and i know that mitt was personally thrilled to receive this endorsement. >> in the agreement to give governor christie? >> with each other ever since mid entered the race back in spring. conversations are leon in new jersey. met with governor christie. they have stayed in touch over

the phone since that time. after the governor determined that he would not be candid for the presidency they renewed contact. governor romney and his wife visited with governor christie and his wife in new jersey at their private home on saturday. it was at that meeting that governor christie told governor romney that he was going to endorse him. >> after the governor answered governor perry's question about health care was there some sort of conversation backstage? >> well, he beat him over the head and shoulders with the tough question. i think it's important to point out that one of the highest in this country 25 percent of the population is uninsured, and that includes over 1 million children out there. so mitt romney faced a problem when he was governor of

massachusetts. he addressed it with a state solution. it was in a solution that was meant for the entire country. it was meant for massachusetts. he did not get care for seniors like obamacare. put in place a plan that works for massachusetts. when it comes to obamacare every candid on the stage is united in that they believe that it should be repealed, and that is his position. [inaudible question] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> and he is focused on becoming a very focused person who recognizes that job creation and wealth creation really occurs. people out there creating jobs

day in and day out. the focus is also on reducing the regulatory burden on small business, and that is really across the state struggling with the ever-growing red tape and bureaucratic entanglement that has taken place. >> seems to be struggling. >> not at all. i thought it was a strong debate for governor perry. the economy as i said, is a strong suit for and given his background as governors of texas, creating jobs and understanding it is the private sector and not government that creates jobs for the economy. i thought he did very well. >> when will he rollout is planned? >> he rolled up the first place -- phase of the plan this evening and will be over the course of the next several weeks of rolling out additional parts of his economic plan. the governor has only been in the race since the middle of august or so. the past year. it took several months for other candidates to get their plan out.

the governor is absolutely focused on jobs, jobs, jobs. that is priority number one and he will be aggressively rolling out its economic plan. >> on friday? >> don't know. i can check. >> a reassuring message to voters to say have my plan together. >> the reality is the plan is in the process of being developed. he rolled out the first phase of that plan, and that is getting americans independent. as i said, he has only been in the race for up several weeks and months to put together a plan that focuses on job creation reducing the regulatory burden on americans reducing the tax burden on americans and putting americans back to work. [inaudible question] [inaudible] [inaudible question]

>> i am a volunteer for governor perry. [inaudible question] [inaudible] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> is extremely knowledgeable about the economy the tax code. very text oriented. why we are in this economic mess that we are and. a good point. the indication, but also progress on plans that he would implement as president. >> we don't have to wait 14 months for the next president. right now whether it is repatriation bringing in over a trillion dollars, raise the

value of the dollar, lower the price of oil to get things moving immediately. put out a plan today saying we don't have to wait 14 months, let the next president of the united states. there are things we can do right now. repeal obamacare. repeal. these things can happen right now. you heard the speaker say they can't believe that the congress has not acted on this. hopefully one of the main areas of our plan is to keep the free trade agreement. she would go back and vote those out of the house. we need to get moving now. >> things you very much. [inaudible question] [inaudible] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> ultimately addressing the needs of our country but in the meantime we have to have some

products to take us from where we are today into that future that we all know we're going to see eventually. i like natural-gas. natural gas and such an abundance. accessible, affordable, much better for the year. when you looked at what it does in terms of replacing imported oil, it carries with it some critically important national security implications. i want to see this country get away from 60% in portable oil. the $300 billion transfer that we see the unpredictable part of the world. [inaudible question] >> what's that? [inaudible question] >> well, some of the polls have had us. i believe that we are actually moving up. every poll that has come not have shown movement. we started this zero. we were the margin of error candid it's. we can no longer call ourselves the margin of error candid. we are moving in the right direction and combine the work we're doing in the street, the grass roots approach with some

ads on the air. you will see is move in the right direction. >> governor, your economic plan. were you satisfied with what you heard of governor perry's plan, focusing mostly on domestic energy? >> i am not enthralled by any of the plans really, that i have heard. you have a lot of half steps and half measures. there was a lot of talk about how you deal with debt, for example. for governor romney to talk about the defense department being off the table and talking about social security being off the table, how on earth you going to close the debt- hell honors a you going to address a realistically? everything has to be on the table. salomon's have to be on the table. we have to look stem to stern. >> revenue has to be on the table? >> here's what i'm doing with revenue. phasing out all the loopholes on both the individual side and the

corporate side, and i am reinvesting it back into the tax code. that is leading this country. i think that is exactly what we need to focus on long-term. >> governor, your strength clearly has a lot to do with foreign policy. people are asking congressman bachmann if she would consider a vice-presidential spot if by some strange chance you would be elected president would you ever consider? >> i don't to hypothetical spirited. >> no comment? >> we are ready for the presidency and looking nowhere else. de. [inaudible question] >> too big to fail is too big to exist. >> the notion.

pat introduced. look at the late 1990's. i think the financial institutions were appropriate. we ought to return to those things. moreover, they carry a federal guarantee. >> we ought to return to this spirit of glass stiegel. that is where the -- >> how do we do that in the modern age? >> well, you have to fundamentally look at downsizing some of our banks some sort of plan. >> when you have financial institutions which are sick, and any one of them collapsing could cause such a dire reverberations in the global economy that could be catastrophic, it becomes too big to fail. >> you would be in favor? >> the 1930's. nothing in this spirit. >> something that would ultimately right size banks.

[inaudible] i think the size of the institutions we have, 1995 and 1998. liggett goldman. 210 billion. $1 trillion. >> steel was about not having -- >> it had to do with commercial and investment banker enterprise. >> right. how would that -- downsizing banks. >> well, the devil in the details. i do believe we are just beginning to have the kind of conversations. >> okay. [inaudible question] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> i was wondering how you would prepare yours? >> well, i was. >> my plan is broader than that. focus on the sector of the economy which will have the greatest multiplier effect.

it is a plan that can -- as i said before, help people rice. no offense coming out of darkness, but people who are coming out of technical schools community colleges, high schools, levels of training skills that right now are not getting a whole lot of kind of concession and a whole lot. we want to create that opportunity for folks to become more skilled did better training, be able to have the same families. part of the reason this economic problem. it's the fact that that tremendous stress on the american people, as i said before. but better paying jobs. remove that from the very families that i know being broken because of the economy.

>> rebuilding american family. what can the policies? >> well, that is really the interesting thing. there is a legislative policy. then there is what i consider even more course. the legislative side has to make sure that families who are raising children are not unduly penalized for having children. the standard deduction. deductions for children in the tax cut right now. what it was in 1952 what it was now is a fraction. we have not kept up with inflation. the tax burden on families has grown and made it harder to raise children because it's not going down. it's going up. the result is the burden being placed on american families.

that's one thing that causes financial problems throughout this nation. so that's one. there are other things we can do from a policy perspective to get fathers more involved in their children's lives, at the have other types of programs, but the biggest thing i use as an example. [inaudible] they also have one of the highest birthrates. what they did was get educated together, governors together businesses. they put together a plan to help families educate the school system. the importance, not just the of universal relationships, but economic. they talk about it has a responsibility to their children. the paradigm. that is when a leader can do. the last two or three weeks of

class warfare the rich versus the port. the president is talking about. we actually put together ideas and programs to try to foster this. changeover. is the first economy. >> your idea. [inaudible] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible] >> some commentators think it would be unreeled. is that an indication a major figure, the liberal media. [inaudible] >> guliani. a strong organization. the organizations in the early primary states. raise $17 million. a good plan. the put this economic plan back. >> says he decided how he will strategically negotiate? >> well, he is going to do it

like the way he governs texas. [inaudible] [inaudible question] >> no. economics. plainly, i think that's what most americans are concerned about, unemployment and a lot of people who are just holding on economically. i think there has been a lot of vacillation that has been coming out. really for voters. concerned about their jobs their level of income. the economy overall. [inaudible question] [inaudible] >> a lot of the recent polls. i think it's safe to say that. >> within the next couple of weeks.

>> twenty-four times. for going back. no question about. >> one at a time. [inaudible question] >> 999 won't affect your college debt. what 999 will do it is a row this economy so that you can get a job. that is the main thing. we have already added. it is going to generate about 6 million jobs. as the biggest thing you can do to help students, and that's why they're pushing that. it will make the united states one of the most business friendly nations in the world. get a chance to make that point tonight, but that is one of the advantages. >> fair to say that the 999 plan just by looking at the number of microphones.

>> driven the debate. not only this debate but the debate on what to do. >> that is absolutely right. in other words the cost of the candidates could not come up with a compelling proposal to count on 999. the attack it or try to make fun of it. yes. the 999 economic growth and jobs plan drove a lot of the economic discussion tonight. [inaudible question] ron paul kind of kiddy pretty hard. >> the thing is alan greenspan the early part of his career, he did do a good job because he had another governor by the name of wayne angell who was sort of like his other voice that kept him and steered his ship. greenspan did a number of job -- a great job for a number of years.

overall i disagree with congressman ron paul. he doesn't like anybody that has been at the federal reserve. that is his opinion. i have a different opinion. [inaudible question] >> the biggest difference between myself and governor romney, he is the wall street executive. i'm a mainstream executive. i have run small businesses. i have managed a restaurant, you know, clean up the dining room, sweet the parking lot. i have had hands-on. i don't think he's had that experience. [inaudible question] >> he has dealt with a lot of big business deals and getting things started and that sort of thing. turnaround companies so i just see him more as wall street versus main street. main street hands on. i have actually made hamburgers and pizzas and had to sell them. balance of the inventory at night. [inaudible question]

>> it was just too simple a concept. easy for people to understand, but not something that was actually -- >> right. >> what do you have to say to people who were listening to that? >> what governor romney doesn't understand is that that is my strategy. it is to develop some telling solutions that the people can understand. that is where governor romney basically dips his hand into politics. he wants to put together big complicated bills that people can't understand. i will have an energy independence strategy, a strategy for restructuring social security. i've already talked about those ideas, but he put puts too much in there, and we will be right back to the deal that the public doesn't understand. one of the keys to my success as getting a lot of my ideas past is to make sure that they are simple. says that the people can understand it and then they will

support it. >> experience, something that you a pushing. >> well, what separates it, he has been more of a wall street executive and i have been a main street executive. i have a lot of experience with individual businesses, franchise businesses the national restaurant association turned businesses around. i've been more of a hands-on executive in my business experience. >> a single issue candid. >> no. i'm not a single issue candid. i have laid out in many of my speeches, an economic crisis, lots of solutions. we have to reform entitlements spending seven with social security. my solution, we have terror -- the energy crisis maximize the resources that we have. we have an illegal immigration problem in this country. my solution is that it's not one problem, as for. go right down the list. that format, you don't get a

chance. all of your solutions. not a single person because i have solutions that approach for every one of the major crises. >> ideas. that economic rising. >> i say it does. i just don't want to compromise the identity of some of the people that are helping me in terms of their existing. as a result i'm not calling to break that confidence. i have all lot of people that help me to be so if people want to be me at because and spilling my gets about who it is that is helping me put these ideas together, beat me up because i not gone to compromise the confidentiality of the people that have worked with me. [inaudible question] >> the foreign policy challenge facing america is lack of

clarity. my foreign-policy philosophy is an extension of the reagan philosophy strength. my slauson -- my philosophy is peace through strength and clarity. we have to clarify who our friends are common enemies, stop giving to our enemies and let the world know you'll stand by. >> do you think you have anything to learn from the other candid it's? >> oh, i think of one the lot. i happen to think we have a very good field. let's start with speaker gingrich more experience than anybody up there. i would definitely hang on him in a lot of ways. china, i did not get a chance to say this tonight. i happen to think that governor romney, my strategy for china is outgrow china. if we outgrow china then we won't have to worry about china

and the way we do that i know this is going to surprise you 999. what it does, it takes -- 999 takes indebted taxes out of our goods that we produce. it's going to make our goods more competitive around the world. and so, as a result, it levels the playing field. right now the field is not level. one of the other day if pantages of 999 an order for a company to apply the 9% to their profit they deduct purchases that they make to produce their product. but the purchases from foreign countries, like china you cannot. it levels the playing field. [inaudible question] one at a time. [inaudible question] >> i don't think that china currency bill works on the right problem. it was a band-aid. i happen to think that it's going to create more confusion

and more unintended consequences. the right problem, the right solution is an outgrowth china. that's another reason i keep promoting it. so a single issue no. that's a very powerful concept. >> one last question. >> what do you say to people who say you're giving the federal government another source of tax revenue that there will abuse like crazy? >> well, first of all when i am president i'm not worried about it being abused and i plan to be president, and as the only way. the other thing i would say is tell me how many of these secret taxes in that car rental car familiar with. we did this every time. if you just look at president obama proposal as an example the so-called jobs bill. there are 84 taxes in that bill. i'm not worried about adding sales tax in order to broaden the base.

i'm more worried about the taxes that they continue to hit as with. my response to people is and so you can tell me about all the ones don't criticize the sales tax. that is where you need -- >> who's going to cater the state dinner at the white house? >> my aunt bessie. [laughter] [inaudible] >> i have been here. the last seven weeks. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] i have to spend time and attention. don't worry. i'll be back. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

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

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[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> i like than 999 plan.

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[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> on c-span2 tonight homeland security secretary janet napolitano discusses the future

of her department. and then filed against the u.s. government. later, president obama visits pittsburgh to talk about his jobs plan. on tomorrow's washington journal, democratic congresswoman >> of course i am delighted. i'm not surprised by the primary field of the 18th amendment. when this was submitted to the rank-and-file of our people they would readily see that it has no place in our constitution. >> he served as governor of new york four times, though he never attended high school or college and in 1928 al smith became the first catholic nominated by a

major party to run for president.wc although he lost the election, he is still remembered to this date by the alfred e. smith memorial dinner, an annual fund-raiser for various catholic charities, and then stop for the two main presidential candidates every election year. one of the 14 men featured in the new weekly series, the contenders, live from the state assembly friday at 8:00 p.m. eastern. >> it has been almost 30 years since a small group from the alpha phi alpha fraternity proposed building a memorial to honor dr. king. this sunday, watch the official dedication of the martin luther king jr. national memorial. live coverage begins at 9:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> homeland security secretary janet napolitano and joins predecessors to discuss the department and its future. former coast guard commandant moderates the event.

hosted by george washington university. this is an hour-and-a-half. [applause] [applause] [laughter] [applause] [applause] >> good afternoon. the university and welcome this afternoon's important discussion of the future of homeland security. also a particular honor to welcome secretary john napolitano and former secretaries teenine and tom ridge back. we have a unique opportunity to engage the world from this nation's capital and to enable our students to witness the power of knowledge and action. one of the ways we do so is by convening discussions at the urgent issues of our time and our ability to do that depends on in many ways, our

partnerships with the institutions and agencies that surround us. very glad to have as one of those partners, the united states department of homeland security which has long supported a range of policy, research, and educational efforts across our university. george washington's homeland security policy institute leaves much of our work in this critical area. we offer training programs for first responders and graduate programs in the fields of cyber security, emergency management, and security policy. in fact the university hosts an array of initiatives spearheaded by entities as diverse as the school of affairs and the the school of engineering and applied science. today we will have the opportunity to learn firsthand what an exceptionally distinguished panel. i look forward to hearing their insights into the homeland security environment looking forward. i am also delighted to note that admiral thad allen former

national incident commander for the deep water horizon oil spill and know it professor in our school of public policy and administration who will moderate this afternoon's discussion. before hearing from secretaries napolitano chertoff, rich, and admiral allen we will first hear from our host director of our homeland security institute and president and ceo of homeland security and defense business council ladies and gentlemen please join me in welcoming frank so the flow. [applause] [applause] >> thank you. let me echo you're welcome to everyone today. it is a distinct and a distinct privilege to be able to co-host today's session. as i was in the room outback and literally saw a decade of my life to live simultaneously. i mean, you don't get better public servants than the three

that are joining us today and i have had the privilege to work with all of them. we have had the privilege to host all of them in the past, but never simultaneously. so i certainly am excited to hear what they all have to say. thank you all for joining us today, and let me also think our co-host. mark perot has done a yeoman's work trying to translate the nouns and verbs in terms of public-private partnerships. delighted to work with him and of course, our friend admiral allen. thank you all and i look forward to this. thank you. [applause] [applause] >> i want to thank everyone for joining us today. particularly the homeland security policy institute. everyone in did gw family for helping us put together an important and what we think will be an exciting program. this is the second in the homeland security defense

business council national conversation series that is trying to look forward to how we can continue together to build the structures, processes systems needed to have the smartest, most successful homeland security possible. while the phrase, this is the most critical time in our nation's history is overly used, this truly is a pivotal time in our nation's history. we are at the crossroads of a perfect, not necessarily welcome influence of a global economic social and political dynamism that will not only have an impact on the infrastructure of our nation, but will test how we proactively rather than reactive we tackle the issues that bring us together today. we need to look closely at what the government's role and responsibility can be in preventing preparing for responding to, and being resilience in the face of a major catastrophic event whether by terrorism or by nature. while what we do and what has been created and nurtured since

september 11th including katrina, h1 in one times square, fort hood, printer cartridges, tsunamis, oil spills, and the decimation of the outcry that in just the past ten years still an evolving work in progress. industry, particularly those that provide the homeland security technology, services, and product solutions ready willing, and able to work even more collaborative league with government going forward. our goal is to enter into a free-fall, substantive and ongoing dialogue focusing on working together to achieve miss and success. the council's march national conversation at the american red cross which featured the fema administrator and the head of the american red cross focused on prepared this and resilience. today on this gw campus in front of an audience of experts in their own right we have asked

for individuals who have long since graduated from the hms 101 to help us tackle the issues surrounding the evolving homeland security, homeland defense landscape under a new normal of politics and policy. what will and what should be the framework going forward. the council calls it a 2020 homeland security vision combining the need for clarity and exploring what the world must look like in homeland security in the year 2020. one housekeeping announcement. we have provided you with cards that you can write down questions with when we open up the floor to questions. i urge you to pass them to the outside. if you think of a question during our conversation be will pick them up and get into our moderator. speaking of our moderator, there are few individuals in our nation who understands as much as admiral thad allen the true meaning of how to successfully operation allies homeland security and what better person

to moderate this distinguished assemblage of public servants and expertise. the capstone of his career in being the commandant of the coast guard that started in june when he started in the coast guard in june of 1971 was as everyone well knows, being the principal federal officer in the gulf in 2005 and being called down to that region again in 2010 to become the national incident commander of the deep water horizon spill. time's article referred to his appointment to lead the we'll spill response because simple and to the point. his candor and competence brought an aura of called to the crisis. long before his face was splashed across our tv sets on a daily basis or twice over the past six years he had already given some much to our nation. he led the modernization, the first modernization of the coast guard since world war two. while he has multiple honorary degrees, he also got his

bachelor's in science and engineering from the coast guard academy, his m.b.a. from this very school, the george washington university for and his master's of science. in order to bring some order and called in to help us and our mission today to lay out the next decade, rather than just look back, i am excited to turn the proceedings over to an individual who has worked closely with and under all three of our d.h. as secretaries admiral thad allen. [applause] [applause] >> thank you for that very interesting introduction. [laughter] the panel here needs no introduction. i told them backstage i would read the bias, but i would like to make a couple of comments because i have had a great fortune and honor to work personally with these great leaders, and i think a couple of comments probably are appropriate before we start our discussion today. i will start with secretary rage to give up the economy of being

a chief executive in the state of pennsylvania to come forward when the present aston to be the first, and security adviser. i remember when the president signed the legislation on the 25th of november 2002 to establish the department. that was done between sessions of congress and midterm elections, the 60 day mandate which had to be placed into effect on the 24th of january with the new agency's coming over on the first of march. i remember seeing secretary rage for the first time. we walked over to the coast guard warrant officer and given a travel card, and he was the department. [laughter] >> army of one. >> secretary chertoff left the state, fines of being a federal judge and rested of like coming back to washington, and we are glad he did. prior to my intimate relationship with him during hurricane katrina he launched a

major review of the department based on the feedback he got from secretary ridge. we looked at the border transportation security to see if that was the right format. take a look at border security, and he watched the second stage revue, which was an attempt to take a look at what i would call the department. in dealing with the significant challenges associated with the legislation legislated mandates following hurricane katrina especially with the revised rule of fema and national prepared this. somebody i dealt with on a daily basis and with the president during hurricane katrina. thank you. [applause] [applause] in december of 2008 after the elections and before the inauguration, i was home visiting my parents in tucson, arizona. i thought it would behoove me to get to phoenix in need by governor. at the time.

♪ we had the opportunity to get to know each other and a very good conversation about a lot of the distractions around that paved the way for our relationship that extended past the inauguration and into her first years as secretary of homeland security. we have experienced some of the same types of external pressures related to events that you don't always predict. i always appreciated her forthrightness. it was always -- i was always grateful she was my governor and i was proud to server as secretary of state. [applause] [applause] the general goal of tonight's discussion, and we wanted to be a discussion, encourage the interchange between our secretaries that are here. start off with a couple of comments about where the department is right now. there have been a lot of retrospectives on the department since it was formed in the agency's came over in march of 2003. we have been through the first quadrant of the homeland

security review and had certainly sufficient oversight by congress i think we would all agree. >> of would concur. >> what i would like each of the secretaries to do is common on what i would call the vhs and to price, it turned the has taken form over the last 24 months, partially as a result of the first quarter and of homeland security review the trust to take a look at not only the department's role in terms of function, where it's at, and mission related to the original mandate contained in the homeland security act and some of the follow policies such as homeland security president's right. take a look at the broader issues that are confronting the homeland right now in relation to not only what the department does, but the roles of individuals, communities and the private sector academia, our national lab and the gulf from that starting point after we had that initial discussion to walk through some current issues including the current and developing threat environment. some of the challenges are laid

out in governing incidents right now relating to coordination and cooperation and more specifically how the department and homeland security enterprise and tracks of the department of the defense particularly the civilian authority, significant action that has taken place and i hope we can talk about that. then i think we would like to have the secretaries give us their thoughts on the evolving threat environment. we moved away from a monolithic al qaeda condo with homegrown terror plot, looking at all hazards and threats coming under the purview of the departments including whether oil whenever across state boundaries and a creative challenge is pretty much on the plight of the security enterprise before it. following that i would like to focus on the relation between the department and our private sector partners. the homeland security and defense business council has done a great job in laying out

the central elements of where we were at and what has happened not only to the nation, but the homeland security enterprise. at think the questions that are left open, we would like to zero in on the end of this, the things that we can do together. not only because the private sector own so much critical infrastructure such a lead role to play in cyber security and having the means of production to solve a lot of problems that we find inside the government, but also how we solve the complex problems the general requirements that will be on the capacity of one individual organization and government to solve. we have had some very sensitive oversight activities. regarding the role of system integrators. i think some conversation about how we need to collectively move forward the heart and complex problems worthy of discussion. finally to some comments on public-private partnerships, and i think that term is probably over used as much as some of the

others we talked about today. we probably need to move away from general euphemisms like that and talk about what is really important to do with the private sector. we look forward to your comments on that. with that as a general overview of our way ford, let me first ask the secretary to make a couple of comments about the day on the 24th of january when you walked into your office. a couple of thoughts you have moving forward. >> well, as you know, we grew from one individual to i hundred and 80,000. see 25. 240. i'm glad we got that. congratulations real quickly, if i might be able to set the stage for my colleagues, i think in support for the discussion for the potential frame of reference for all of you to view d.h. s as a holding company. on that day that we were assigned responsibility to integrate people from 20 plus different agencies and 100,000 at the time, mergers

acquisitions start-ups and divestitures, all going on at the same time. unlike the private sector we did not have a year-and-a-half to do it. i was sworn in on the 24th. the national security council showed up a couple of days before and so we're going to go into iraq and a couple of days. you ought to try to build an infrastructure in case there is blow back. okay. not a problem. so if you take that frame of reference and think about the following things first of all a couple principles that we tried to in bed and my colleagues have basically done the same thing and built upon it because the first thing we know is that initial structure is going to have changes and i think one thing that the three of us have demonstrated is that the openness to change and just like the private sector continuous improvement. the first iteration the second-generation, the third iteration. a great example. initially started with ashcroft.

be alert be aware have a good day. we went to the color-coded system. were going to downsize differently because public messaging is a critical, critical feature of homeland security. the second iteration secretary chair across took a look at the structure that was created and supported by the administration, took a look at past experience and said, i think there are other ways we need to integrate some of these resources. a couple quick thoughts. homeland security is a national mission. it is a federal agency. one of its biggest jobs is to integrate its capability was states locals, academic, and the private sector. we all agree on that. one of the principles we all agree, he pushed it out as far as you can. you want to make sure the goods are secure, get as much information about people will come into the states, whether getting on a boat, flying on an

airplane. you push your border out as far as you can. one of the biggest challenges we have and my colleagues can comment on this a new culture because if america is the battleground culture of information sharing, the cold war culture with the need to know. for homeland security, it needs to share, not only share within the federal government, but down to the states and locals and police chiefs and the like. that was a challenge for us and i presume it has gotten better, but frankly as i take a look at the couple of things that happened, i still think there is plenty of room for improvement. but you're dealing with business line integration, everybody has their own i tea procurement, a different budget localities, h.r. differences. we have proven pretty well that we can execute the game plan in terms of policy. remember this agency is subjected to more political scrutiny and pressure. the incident of the moment sometimes drive change, not

necessarily the change we would necessarily agree to. finally, our challenge was at that time, and i believe my colleagues to follow up. you do all the stains consistent with the american brand. you do it consistent with the rule of law and you do it consistent with the constitution. we start off with the big holding company and you in bed in your mind then needs to be continuous improvement every step along the way and that think my colleagues have demonstrated not only their desire to do so, but their ability to execute. >> i was really lucky. when i stepped into the job after two years after the birth of the department. a framework in the foundation from scratch. completed the mature and still probably not completely by way of reference. if you go back the department of defense, i think most people would argue that between the department of defense being

established in 1947 and cold water nichols that can considerably after words was a tremendous amount of maturation that took place which most recently gave us the tremendous success against osama bin laden in may of this year. we understood there was a lot of work to be done. i would say that, you know, from a high altitude standpoint, there were three basic challenges. one was to get within the department of a culture of join this, shared understanding which is part of any organization. particularly important when you are bringing in constituents from all lot of different agencies some of which had varying degrees of enthusiasm about being put into a large agency. ..