you know, president obama came into a pretty tough economic situation, but he's taken us in 180 degrees wrong direction, so from my staned point, if we want to get the economy growing again, the first step to take is to total repeal the agenda, repeal obamacare, dodd-frank, all harmful regulations. i want to commend senator mccain and senator paul for their leadership on this issue. ..

all of us do business brown tables. we sit down with our business community and respect his state contacted them about what is happening. a frequent question asked is how his business? how are you doing? when we asked the question to our job creators, to her business community, what is holding you back? what is there going on that is making the difference between you expanding and hiring and bringing new people into a business and just staying put and invariably? they will start working their way through the back policy that exists out there. they'll talk about the regulatory affaires. i believe this series of those that's coming up, i'll sit down with a group of small business people from nebraska to talk

about osha regulations that are just crashing then in the home building and is three. if there was ever an industry where we need to try to give them a list, that would be it. i go out and tie to small business people are farmers and ranchers and immediately they turn to the epa. i had one woman who sat in the business roundtable. she said you know, mike, at 47, 48 employees. i've studied this health care bill ever way i can and i decided i will not ever grow my business passed it be, even though i could add employees now. she said i don't want to deal with this health care bill. and that is exactly what has happened here. so what this legislation does is it takes a look at the whole breath back to issues that are job creators are facing and that provide solutions to their problems to get this economy up and going again.

we have some enormous issues with budget and debt and deficit. no question about it. a part of the solution is going to be we have to get growth back into this economy and this bill would do precisely that. >> from a republican point of view, i think this is a welcomed break through. we have to be for something. the issue asked in the reagan campaign years ago, are you better off than you were four years ago? the answer for a lot of americans is no. the question for the country -- >> senate republicans are earlier today in the jobs plan. you can watch that in their video library at c-span.org. while the u.s. senate is -- a joint meeting with the u.s. house to hear from the south korean president, lee myung-bak in the south korean president

will be at the white house this evening for the state dinner at 6:30 p.m. eastern. the senate has wrapped up most of its legislative work for the day. roll call votes anyway, as they vote and approve three judicial nominations we take you now live to the senate for here on c-span 2.

senator from ohio. mr. brown jrk mr. brown: i ask unanimous consent to vitiate the quorum. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: i ask unanimous consent to speak for up to 20 minutes as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: mr. president, this chamber considered trade measures this week for the first time in about four years. first and most importantly the bipartisan currency measure passed by an overwhelming majority, 63-35. this action on china's currency

is long overdue. this legislation, i was the prime sponsor of it, the major cosponsors, we had cosponsors in both political parties, lindsey graham of south carolina, republican, chuck schumer of new york, debbie stab know of -- stabenow, alimpia snowe from maine, susan palestinian from maine, bob casey, democrat from pennsylvania. this was a strong bipartisan bill. my junior senator, rob portman, republican are from ohio, former trade ambassador, trade representative under president bush supported the legislation and basically works this way: that we know the kind of job loss in places, in duluth, minnesota or toledo, ohio, where because china cheats, pure and simple they cheat, they depreciate or underappreciate their currency,

making it a weaker renminbi, the renminbi is the name of their currency term. what that does is this: when a company in dayton, ohio or youngstown, ohio, sells a product into the chinese market that the people of shian or wuhan might consider buying, this company is faced with a 25% to 30% to 35% currency tax or currency tariff making the product more expensive, making it much hard for the u.s. company to sell to the product to china. going the other way, the company in china or the government in some cases selling into the u.s. market gets a 25%, 30%, 35% subsidy making it so much easier to sell. i'll give you one perfect example, regrettable example, a company about 20 miles from where i live in brunswick, ohio, a company owned by the bennett brothers who i met

recently, it's called automation tool and die. the bennett brothers had a million-dollar sale order that they thought they were about to fill and at the last minute, another,,a chinese company came in and underpriced them by 20%. that's -- that was the currency subsidy that chinese company had. what's fair about that? i learned today a paper company in hamilton, ohio, smack in the middle of the home county and the home district of the speaker of the house, announced it's closing. one of the factors was low-cost imports from china. when it comes to paper here's what the chinese do. they buy their pulp in brazil, they ship it from brazil to chinese paper mills, some sense across two oceans, they mill it, ship it back to the united states yet they underprice us. even though labor is only 10% of the cost of paper production, they underprice us because apparently they subsidize water and energy and land and

capital, plus they get this 25% currency subsidy. so our trade deficit with china which has more than trip thld the last decade after china was let into the world trade organization, pledging to follow the rule of law but breaking that pledge every day of the year, our trade deficit with china now, now $275 billion for the year, has risen through the economic food chain all the way to advanced technology problems. used to be made in china ten years ago similar to the presiding officer remembers growing up in minnesota in the 1950's and 1960's, made in japan meant something was cheap and sort of badly made. well, made in china ken ten years ago usually meant the cheap ez products --, cheapest products. today they've worked their way up the technology chain so they compete with our wind turbine components and compete on all kinds of high-level kinds of

goods. in addition to paper, and steel, and aluminum and glass and paper and cement and all the things that have created the middle class in my state for decades, we're competing with china for jobs in solar, and wind and clean energy component manufacturing and in the auto supply chain. we can compete on productivity. we have skilled woashes, we have world-class infrastructure although god knows it needs renovation and modernization but how do you compete against an automatic across the board 25% to 30% subsidy? i thank my colleagues this week for voting for that legislation 63, including the presiding officer, to defend manufacturing. it clearly took us -- we need to pass that bill in the house of representatives, the speaker of the house --, has so far not said he's not inclined to bring it up. i think in the white house has so far not supported this legislation but we know the kind of brought bipartisan support it

has and how important it is so that we can begin to, you know, re-energize our manufacturing in this country. at the same time, mr. president, we took a step back this week after the china trade currency bill which was very are progressive, important legislation for manufacturing, we took a step back by passing trade beels with colombia and south korea and panama that will do more harm than good. it's really kind of amazing, mr. president. the probably too often used quote from einstein who said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, is exactly what's happened in trade agreements. go back 20 years. 18 years, 1993, president clinton mimicking president bush who had negotiated the agreements said the north american free trade agreement, nafta, would create 200,000 jobs in our country quickly. well, we've lost 600,000 net

jobs because of nafta. that same -- that same model of nafta with investor-state relations, investor-state provisions and other things, gave rise to the central american free trade agreement, other trade agreements that every time they cost us jobs. every time the administration, either party, doesn't matter, promised these trade agreements will create jobs, they never do. and this the body, again, korea, colombia, panama, a majority of senators, a strong majority again bought that line that hey, if this is going to create jobs, and it never does. the same promise, businesses promise jobs from increased exports. yet they only talk about half of it. they say nafta, cafta, korea, free trade agreement, panama free trade agreement, colombia free trade agreement will mean more exports. talking only about exports is like telling a baseball score and only reporting half of the sports score. for instance, you know, yesterday the season obviously

mercifully ended for the presiding officer's home team, but it's like saying yesterday the twins scored eight runs. good for them. but the indians scored 12 but they only told but the twins' runs. you don't report baseball scores that way. you report scores by twins got eight, the winds won 12-8 or the tigers won 3- . the people who support the trade agreements say they increase exports. but imports increase more dramatically. president bush once said that a billion dollars in trade surplus or trade deficit translated into 13,000 jobs. if have you a billion-dollar trade deficit, if you're selling more than you're buying, then that creates 13,000 jobs. if you're buying more than you're selling, if you have a billion-dollar trade deficit, you lose 13,000 jobs. you know what our trade deficit is, it's in the range of $600 billion. just do the math and each time we pass one of these trade

agreements, mr. president, each time and it will probably happen with korean korea and colombia and people --, and panama puck the trade deficit rises. our trade deficit has gone up more than triple. before nafta we had a trade surplus with mexico and a small deficit with canada. after nafta which was a trade agreement among the u.s., canada, and mexico, the trade deficit with canada exploded, the trade deficit with china went from a surplus to a deficit. we know this isn't working. we have a serious jobs crisis on our hands, 14 million people out of work, we hear senators talking about that all the time. another 15 million unemployed -- or underemployed or stopped searching for work. the economy must add at least 150,000 new jobs each month to keep up with population growth. what do we do? we add a korea agreement, a colombia agreement, a peru agreement, none of which will create jobs. they never do. they promise them but they never do.

that's because these trade agreements don't tell the whole story about how our trade agenda can create jobs. the right trade -- i want trade, i want more trade. the people want more trade but the american people know these agreements don't serve us as a nation. it's impossible, mr. president -- i know you hear this in duluth and rochester and minneapolis, i hear it in clurves and zanesville -- when -- in zanesville. our constituents demand that congress get folks back to work. we tried to do it on another issue, the president's jobs bill. when i heard the republican leader say -- and it's almost a direct quote -- my number-one goal in 2011 and 2012 is to make sure that barack obama doesn't get reelected. i've never heard a political party leader, a leader in the united states senate to my knowledge, in history say that

was their number-one goal. of course he's going to be for his opponent. of course the presiding officer and i will support barack obama. that's what happens in politics. but to hear the leader of one political party say, my number-one goal is to defeat the sitting president of the united states, and then he rounds his troops up to vote "no" against any job-creation bill president obama offers -- in fact, he didn't just vote "no" against this bill and get every republican to do that, he said and led his republican troops, if you will to say no, we're not even going to let it come to the floor and be debated. senator cardin was speaking earl today on the floor. and i was residing. and he was just incredulous in many ways that the leader of one party would say on the jobs bill of all things, would say we're not even going to allow it to come to the floor to debate and to offer amendments. senator cardin had several amendments i thought sounded like a good idea. a lot of us have amendments to the jobs bill and we wanted a chance to offer them, yet republicans, because of this dysfunctional rule you have to

have 60 votes to even put a bill up for debate, the republicans say, no, we're not even going to debate it. let me take one "part part of tl that's particularly important. the average school build something 40 years oasmed the average u.s. public school build something 40 years old. now, i know what i preach to my kids. i know what my neighbors preach, i know what we preach as politicians. that is, we say to the pages here, people that are 15, 16 years old, 17 years old, we say to our children, education is the most important thing for you to purr siewrks the most important thing in our country. then what do we do? we send them to crumbling old school buildings which are not easy places to learn. when the average school build something 40 years old, it is going to cost a little money to fix them up. it would cost $270 billion to renovate these schools, to maintain and repair them. yet a slowly recovering economy,

we know that too many school districts have been forced to cut budgets and lay off teachers, let aloing make improvements -- let alone make improvements to our schools. i introduced the fix america's schools today, the fast act that would help localities a make critical repairs to schools, support more than 12,000 jobs in ohio. i introduced that bill a few weeks ago, soon after the president was at fort hayes public high school in ohio, in the central part of my state. the president talked about the "fast" ablght, talked about how we should do school renovation as part of his jobs bill. i would plead with my colleagues on the republican side of the aisle, the same colleagues that worked with me bipartisanly to pass the biggest bipartisan jobs bill, the china currency bill of this session, i would plead with them to work with us -- at least if they won't go overall and let us debate the jobs bill as a whole, at least let us pass the fix america's schools today, the "fast" act. it will make the kind of repairs

--ful create jobs today because workers -- it will create jobs today because workers will reinknow vat and renovate the schools. it will create jobs as companies all over my state that make steel, glass, cement, that make brick will -- they'll go to work to create the -- to make these products. and it will lay the groundwork for prosperity. we know that our country in the 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, 19 80's, the united states of america built infrastructure the likes of which the world had never seen. that's why we had the kind of prosperity in this country when the presiding officer was in high school and in college, when i was in high school and college, as a young adult, we had the kind of prosperity brought about because we had the best infrastructure from the world. we've got to rebuild that infrastructure. we've got to create the opportunity for young people that that infrastructure, that modernized infrastructure will do. we need to pass the "fast" act. it will make such a dins for our country in the years ahead. mr. president, i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the

clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. reid: madam president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that at 4:00 p.m. monday, october 17, the senate proceed to the consideration of calendar number 155, h.r. 2112. that's the agriculture act for fiscal year 2012. that the committee amendment be withdrawn, the chairman of the appropriations committee for his designee be recognized to offer amendment number 738 which consists of the text of the withdrawn amendment of division a, the text of s. 1572, calendar number 170, division b, and the text of s. 1596, calendar number

177 as division c. provided further that h.r. 2596 as reported by the house and actually by the house appropriations committee and division c of amendment 738 be deemed house passed text to h.r. 2112 for purposes of rule 16. finally, that amendment number 738 for the purposes of paragraph 1, rule 16, be considered with a committee amendment. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: i'm going to give the chair a written test on what i just read in a few minutes. the presiding officer: i'll pass with flying colors. mr. reid: madam president, i ask unanimous consent the senate now proceed to consideration of s. con. res. 31. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate concurrent resolution 31, directing the secretary of the senate to make a correction in the enrollment of s. 1280. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the motion to proceed

be laid on the table. i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to consideration of s. res. 293. the clerk: celebrating the 10-year commemoration of the underground railroad memorial, and for other purposes. the presiding officer: the senate will proceed to the measure without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, there being no intervening action or debate and any related statements to this matter be printed in the record as if read. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that on monday, october october 17, at 5:15 p.m., the senate proceed to executive session to consider calendar 271. there be 15 minutes for debate equally divided in the usual

form. upon the use or yielding back of time, the senate proceed to vote with no interconvenienting action or debate on calendar number 271, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table with no intervening action or debate and any related statements be printed in the record, that the president be immediately notified of the senate's action, that the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, the senate adjourn until 2:00 p.m. on monday, october 17. following the prayer and the pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. following any leader remarks, the senate be in a period of morning business until 4:00 p.m. at 4:00 p.m., the senate proceed to h.r. 2112, a vehicle for the agriculture c.g.s. transportation appropriations bills as indicated in the previous order. further, at 5:15, the senate proceed to executive session

under the previous order. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: madam president, i appreciate the courtesy of the presiding officer, the patience of the presiding officer and all the staff for working through this afternoon. it took a while to get to where we are. it will make next week much more meaningful. the next roll call vote will be at 5:30 p.m. on the confirmation of the bassoon nomination. if there is no further business to come before the senate, ski that it adjourn under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until senate stands adjourned until

>> if you're in washington, d.c., listen to us at 90.1fm, across the country on satellite radio on 119, and on our iphone and blackberry apps. c-span radio, another public service created by the nation's television industry and now in our 15th year. >> on today's "washington journal," we talk to charles bass of new hampshire about international trade. congress approved trade deals yesterday with pan panama, colombia, and south korea. this is 40 minutes. >> host: and we continue the discussion about free trade agreements and the effect on the u.s. economy. here from new hampshire is congressman charlie bases, representing the second district of the state, the major city's district, and you support the whole idea of free trade and

these agreements; correct? >> guest: i certainly do, susan. i've been a supporter of free trade. at some point, trade issues are somewhat parochial. in the state of new hampshire, one out of every four jobs in the state is related or very cloakly indirectly related to exports. one out of every four jobs. if we didn't have the free trade agreements we have in america, our unemployment situation would be worse than the average in the u.s.. now it's around 5%, the unprelim rate, and so for -- unemployment rate, and so us to be able to export products and services is important. the passages of these free trade agreements will result in a significant increase in business for the state of new hampshire, and in my opinion, for the country. >> host: what's the -- 5.1% unemployment rate, almost really, half the national

average. ten years ago when we visited the areas around the southern tier of the state, and my timing could be off a little bit, but you saw the empty buildings of early manufacturing age. >> guest: yes. >> host: what has brought that region back economically? >> guest: well, new hampshire and northern massachusetts have gone through many evolutions over the years starting as economies and moving into the mill business where mills were on rivers and essentially grinding grain and making clothe from flax and so forth, and subsequent to that, it was more industrial, textiles, shoes, and so forth, and then new hampshire and northern new england moved into a period where the economy was not strong at all. most of the nation's economy was elsewhere. in the 1950s and 1960s, the

great industrial complexes of america moved in to the 128 corridor as it's called with defense contractors, and then we went through a period in the 1990s where new hampshire and massachusetts had very, very high unemployment rates in the high-tech industry. in new hampshire, 15 years ago, we had the second highest per capital high-tech employment force in the country. only the silicon valley beat us, so now, that's off somewhat, and the key to new hampshire and my region is a, exports, and b, diversity in the economy. we're not a car state our agriculture state or a state with any particular big piece of the economy there. we're very diverse. the average size of the employee work force is five or six people, so we tend to weather the bad times better, but we don't have big jumps in economic growth you experience elsewhere in the country when times are

good. >> host: we took about 17 or 18 calls and quite a few tweets, and the ratio is like this of the people calling in today, and this would be the people against trade deals, this would be the supporters. here's an example. here's an e-mail directed to you. representative, after 30-plus year of the "free" trade deals, why will another one turn out different than the others? how many do we have a surplus with? economic treason is committed daily because of these policies. >> guest: i'm a businessman. i was in the manufacturing business, and i always used to want to sort of hide behind the wall of a territory where we would be assured nobody could compete with us and us with nobody else. when you reach the edge of the territory, the ability to grow and become greater than we were before has ended, and we begin to sell outside of our

territory, and we can argue about that and so forth, and the competitors then sell inside and so. the same is true with trade. the u.s. economy is huge compared to what it was 10-15 years ago. you know, when i entered congress in the mid-90s or when the budget was balanced, revenues were less than $2 trm, and now it's above $3.5 trillion. it was -- that's not because we're selling to one another. i'm not selling to you. you're selling to somebody here, and they sell to me. that doesn't create growth. we need to, as a nation, progress beyond where we were in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, and keep expand r our ability to drive and prosper, and we can't do it by selling back and forth to each other, and so to the caller, i say, it's always

disruptive. nobody wants to lose a job because of foreign competition. i understand that, and i can't agree more with that, but a lot 6 new jobs are created, especially in my state that relate to our ability to have good trade agreements with foreign nations. >> host: let's get calls in. virginia, charles, republican there. good morning. >> caller: hi, good morning. wow, stunning comments. we're a manufacturer, and everything i hear from this fellow is it may be benefiting new hampshire, but when you step back and look at the big picture, it's not benefiting the united states. we travel a lot to korea, and if you think you're going to see even one out of 100 cars, u.s. and korea compared to korean cars in the u.s., you're just absolutely not -- you're not looking at this with an open eye, period. we, the previous caller just said that every single country we have an agreement with, we have a negative trade balance, and nobody addresses that. when you add up 95 billion to

this country and a few billion to that country, that's where the jobs are going. i mean, manufacturing is the key to this country, and when -- i'd like the gentleman to answer this question. how do you expect us to compete when i have minimum wage, i have osha, i have epa, i have health care, all the other costs that make the country great that pay our people livable wages, how do i compete with korea and china and clommians? tell me how to do that. >> host: charles, what do you manufacture? >> caller: we manufacture productses for law enforcement, and 85% of our products go overseas, but the reason why is because we hold u.s. patents, our products are very good, and nobody in these countries make that product. we have been rippedded off. our intellectual property was stolen by the chinese. >> host: help me understand what would benefit your business. you are already selling

overseas, you have pa tents, -- patents, you talk about the fact our regulations and policies here help the american public. i can't put together what would benefit you. >> caller: i'm sorry, it's not benefiting me. i'm not calling -- this call is not to benefit our company. our company does well because we have unique products, stuff nobody else makes, knock on wood, and our clients are high. the reputation carries us. >> host: if you argue on behalf of other manufacturers, what policies most benefit americans? >> caller: well, the negative t-word, which i don't understand why it's negative. the tariffs. there's just one way to make the balance. say a manufacturer in korea, his total cost is 28 cents, and here in the united states because of the issues like osha, money r

-- minimum wage, my cost is 35 cents. that's the reality. i can't compete with the largest economy in the world, which is the united states, and, yes, sir, we can sell to each other and make this thing work. >> host: okay. jump in. >> guest: first of all, charles, i think what i hear you saying is that you're in favor of trade, but you want that trade to be on a level playing field, to be fair, and you made reference two or three times to osha, minimum wage, and burdensome regulation. i agree with you. i think -- although i don't recommend abolishing regulations, i think regulations are regulatory schemes that are put forth by the federal and state authorities that are not necessary, that don't compute well on a cost benefit ratio to society. it should be reviewed, and we've gone overboard in areas on overregulation, but your company, and, again, i don't want to just focus on your

company, depends on exports for 85% of your business. in the case of the free trade agreement, tariffs on our products are four times higher than ours on theirs. what that means is there's a potential, at least, that your products will sell cheaper in south korea if you have distributers over there, and there's a lot of other people that will benefit in the same way. the underlying question, however, of competitiveness is not as simple as regulation only. i am a manufacturer. that's been my business now since the early 80s, and i'd learned at a pretty early point that we tend, in america, at least i do, to look for the real deal. you know, for example, i'd see a press break for sale down in massachusetts, only $15,000, it works like the day it was made, and so on. the problem with it is if you compare it with what's made today around the world, you have to make everything twice. rather than spend $15,000 on it,

you spend $150,000 on a press break that's connected to an auto cad, and you don't make any mistakes, you don't make it twice, and the manufacturing concerns i've been involved with are second to none in terms of competes with those across the world despite the fact we pay higher salaries and benefits and so forth. >> host: green bay, wisconsin, and this is paul, an independent there. good morning, paul, you're on. >> caller: good morning. the only figures -- the only numbers that matter is we have, we go between 300 billion and a half trillion dollars per year in a trade deficit. that's what matters. this is for the audience. the only way to get rid of the people voting for the trading agreements is kick out the incumbent representatives, senator, and president every time we vote, and that's all i got to say to this gentleman. thank you. >> guest: well, paul, i

appreciate your position. needless to say, i have a small disagreement with it. i think that if every single person were to be thrown out of office and replaced by somebody else, that the voters who support these people are, at least in my neck of the woods need to have representatives who will support their businesses. if their businesses are to survive, they have to sell the products. i travel from one manufacturer it's and by the way, it's not just manufacturers, but providers of services as well. i ask people, well, how much of your businesses here versus outside the u.s.? it's amazing. the last caller, 85% of his business is export. now, imagine what would happen to his business if we had a trade war with his customers in other countries. his place would be shuddered. i don't think his employees would vote for people to go to washington who will create a situation in which the company or wherever they were working

was going to close its doors. >> host: mr. bass built and managed architectural products in new hampshire and was on the board of managers on a organization called new england wood -- [inaudible] and he's on the congress of the trade committee. that caller brought up politics before we get too far into this, we want to talk about this in the near times, warning of a december primary. will the 2012 elections start in 2011? a long time secretary of state and defender of the first of the nation primary status westerns that the states primary could be as early as december 6 or 13. if nevada republicans do not move it back by at least three days. if you are a betting man, is there a december primary? >> guest: absolutely. i wouldn't say absolutely because you never know -- well, pretty soon, there's ballots, a filing period, and it's not easy

to put mechanics together, but new hampshire has a law setting its primaries seven days before a like event in any other state. it's not a specific date. it gives the secretary of state the latitude to set that day at whatever point he thinks, you know, it meets the letter of the law. currently, nevada has primaries set for mid-january at this point, and we're going 20 have to -- we will set it back at such a point that it complies with new hampshire law. the secretary of state will, and this isn't about condemning any other state for moving their primary back. they have the right to do it just as much as new hampshire does, but what it's about is allowing candidates the opportunity or the people of this nation, rather, the opportunity to seek candidates in their real skin so to speak, and not in an environment where may are all dressed up, supported by staff and money.

people in new hampshire get to meet every single candidate. when you watch c-span covering events up there, they're in an environment where they can make mistakes or you find out about their real personalities, and as the secretary of state said in the paper yesterday, it's the only chance for little people to have access to the future leaders of this nation, and i think it's a really -- whether it's new hampshire or somewhere else, there needs to be a focus on that process, otherwise we'll never know who we're electing. >> host: the hometown newspaper for you, congressman, has a front page story, "debate raises cane." they have him in first place along with the contenders and the debate performance, and the "washington post" says they view romney as an inevitable nominee. >> guest: i said for a long

time the history of the primary system in the united states has favored the candidate, republican or democratic, who steps outs and has the courage to establish the principles of his or her party, that foundation, and step out and demonstrate that individual is willing not to say, me too, many many -- me too. look at others who ran, dwight d. eisenhower, john mccain, all candidates that broke the mold, and what herman did in the debate the other night with his 9-9-9 plan. i refute what the 9-9-9 plan, i would have had to think for a minute, but he persuaded people that he had, that he was willing to think on his own and nobody disputes his credentials, but they believe that he's willing to step out and come up with

thoughts and ideas that are not the same ones being considered by everybody else. i would have -- i would expect that herman cane will continue to be a factor in this election, but in the end, in the end before the election, people kind of come home and say, all right, now, who do we want to have as the president? i think at that point, you know, it'll be a different outcome, and i believe that the washington post article is probably closer to where we'll end up than the "wall street journal". >> host: as a neighbor, you had an opportunity to see governor romney and his executive role. are you comfortable with him as a potential president? >> guest: i think governors generally make better president than senators, you know, without taking anybody to text, because the presidency is the equivalent of the governorship at the federal level. people who are governors know how to run states and know better how to run, i believe,

nations. look back in history, and that's generally been born. >> live to the white house now for the state dinner, the beginning of the guest arrivals for the state dinner. we just missed the supreme court coming through in the book sellers area of the white house. the dinner tonight for south korea president. this is the first time in 13 years earlier today that the leader from south cree ya spoke before a joint meeting of congress, and the dinner today with president lee and his wife mrs. kim. watching the guest arrivals live from the white house. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

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[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> this is the book sellers area of the white house. tonight's state dinner caps a full day of activities for both the south korean president and president obama. the south korean president, president lee, was welcomed to the white house earlier today. the two presidents held a joint news conference midday, and

president lee also spoke to a joint meeting of congress late this afternoon. this following the passage of the south korea free trade agreement late yesterday, so the state dinner this evening, and we'll show you the arrival, too, of president lee and his wife. it should be shortly on the north side of the white house, but the activities don't end this evening. both president lee and president obama traveling tomorrow to detroit to tour a general motors plant then, and then he'll return to seoul on sunday. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> here at the white house waiting for guests to arrive for this evening's state dinner for south korea's president, lee myung-bak. we'll show you that live when that happens. again, today, a day capping a

full day of activities for both the president and the first lady. first lady, michelle obama, was at a high school in northern virginia, one of the areas with the largest korea populations in the washington, d.c. area. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

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[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> guest arrival area, the book sellers area, waiting for more to arrive as the obamas host the president of south korea and his wife, president lee of south korea, earlier today spoke before a joint meeting of the house and senate. the house and senate yesterday both passed the u.s. free trade agreement. there's a number of congressmen and senators invieted. they may be a moment or two late as the house is still wrapping up legislative work. there are votes underway in the u.s. house. the senate is done for the day. [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> the honorable paul shing and donna shing.

[inaudible conversations] >> the honorable jim leech and mrs. elizabeth leech. [inaudible conversations] >> former congressman jim leech there and his wife. he's now chairman of the national endowment for the humanities. >> [inaudible] [inaudible conversations] >> mr. devin horac and

mrs. horac. [inaudible conversations] >> mr. lee rosenberg and mrs. nancy rosenberg. [inaudible conversations] mr. rhone gibbson and mrs. margaret dunkin-gibbson. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

>> mr. dalywong and mrs. wong. [inaudible conversations] ms. sheryl shamberg and michelle francis shamberg. [inaudible conversations] >> sheryl shamberg is the chief operating officer for facebook.

>> thomas c. hubbard and mrs. joan magnusson-hubbard. [inaudible conversations] >> general james d. sherman and mrs. thelia lee therman. >> mrs. chang and mr. neil shapiro.

[inaudible conversations] >> [inaudible] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> mr. and mrs. martilla. [inaudible conversations]

>> secretary general ban ki-moon and mrs. ban su. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] ..

khan zad khan zad. >> mr. lee wound sonia and mr. lee kuan jacques. mr. raymond meier.

the honorable ann brown and mr. don browne. mr. steve choi and mrs. lina joy. [inaudible conversations] mr. william hiatt and mrs. patricia heights. [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> thank you so much. >> the honorable tom -- tom vilsack. mr. tom feldman.

dr. peter rhee and mrs. emily rhee. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] mr. burzyk onn mr. gabriel put tone.

general martin dempsey and mrs. dempsey. >> the new chairman of the joint chiefs of staff general martin dempsey, his birthday dinner as chairman. also attending this evening defense secretary leon panetta. >> the honorable mike atkins. mr. harrell poe. >> we are going to be the booksellers area and take you to the front to the north portico

where president of obama and michelle obama will be welcoming the south korean president and his wife momentarily. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] ♪ ♪ >> the arrival at the north portico, president lee myung-bak and his wife mrs. kim yong bok at the white house at the state dinner about to get underway as a return to the booksellers area.

we will stay live here at c-span3. writing about the relationship between president obama and the south korean president mark lander writes today that the two men have also built a personal bond with mr. lee become among a small number of leaders who seem to have pierced the presidents reserve. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] dr. douglas goldman and mrs. goldman. mr. bobby signed and mrs. polly stein. the honorable stephen j. green and ms. dorothea green. mr. scott davis.

and pastor stephen fosler and mrs. christine h. fosler. [inaudible conversations] >> mr. allen malawi and mrs. nikki malawi. speier allen malawi as the chairman and ceo of ford motor company and his wife there are. tomorrow president oh -- obama and lee will be in detroit and they will be touring the general motors plant. >> mrs. alene shuster and mr. gerald shuster.

[inaudible conversations] mr. david cam and mrs. mente. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] mr. scott a. nathan and ms. laura dibona's. mr. mark nichols and ms. jane keonna.

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] mr. peter kwan and ms. jeannie kwon. ms. candy crowley and mr. michael roselli. dr. robert marchant.

senator richard lugar and ms. deb lugar. senator lugar is the ranking republican on the foreign affairs, foreign relations committee. mr. chris courts and mr. andrew courts. mr. peter krause and mrs. lisa krause.

senator max baucus and miss melody haynes. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] ambassador armalon revere and philip revere.

the honorable timothy geithner and mrs. geithner. ms. carla a. robinson mr. guy -- [inaudible conversations] mr. henry h. kang and ms. cassie

hearn mihalik. [inaudible conversations] the honorable ann stock and mr. stewart c. stolt. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] ms. janelle monet and mr. nathaniel irvin. janelle monet is one of the performers this evening at the white house, following the white house state dinner. the other performers will be be on trio from seoul korea who were educated at juilliard in new york.

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] mrs. janet berman. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

mr. spencer arthur overton and mrs. leslie collins overton. ms. linda nathan and mr. roger h. browne. mr. james biden and ms. sarah biden. [inaudible conversations]

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[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] ambassador kathleen stevens stevens and mr. william c. harwood.

kathleen stevens is the u.s. ambassador to south korea. [inaudible conversations] the honorable tina tune. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] mr. charles b. adams and mrs. berra adams. [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] the honorable kurt campbell and the honorable -- boehner. song young cam.

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[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] as guests continue to arrive for the state dinner tonight in the east room for the president of south korea, we want to let you know we will be covering a couple of other events this evening at the white house, the toast later on tonight. we will have all of that in just a bit here on c-span2. the dinner this evening a four course meal and some of the

vegetables will come from the white house kitchen garden that mrs. obama planted with local elementary school kids. but up until then until we get a chance to show you the toast this evening and some of the photo opportunities later we are going to take you to earlier today. things got underway at the white house at 10:00 eastern with the arrival ceremony. we will show you to the speeches from president lee and president obama. [inaudible conversations] >> good morning everybody. i hope everybody is enjoying the weather. [cheers and applause] i am told there is a korean proverb which says, words have

no wings but they can fly a thousand miles. president lee, first lady kim, i hope my words today will be felt in the hearts of all south koreans when i say to our allies, our partners, hard dear friends, please accept our warmest welcome. [speaking in native tongue] >> today we welcome a leader

whose remarkable life embodies the rise of this nation. from an impoverished child who drank water to fill his hungry stomach to the students who clean the streets to pay his tuition to the activist sent to jail for protesting dictatorship, to the leader guiding his country to new heights. my good friend and partner, president lee. [speaking in native tongue] today we celebrate an alliance rooted in the shared values of our people. our servicemembers who have fought and bled and died together for our freedom, our

students and workers and entrepreneurs who work together to create opportunity and prosperity and our families bound by generations including many who are here today, proud and patriotic korean-americans. [speaking in native tongue] [speaking in native tongue] >> president lee, our two nations have stood together for more than 60 years. over the past two years we have deepened our cooperation. today i'm proud to say the

alliance between the united states and the republic of korea is stronger than it has ever been. [speaking in native tongue] >> our alliance reflects a broader truth. the united states is a pacific nation, and america is leading once more in the asia-pacific. and with their landmark trade agreement, we will bring our nations even closer, creating new jobs for both our people and preserving our edge as two of the most dynamic economies in the world. [speaking in native tongue]

>> mr. president your visit marks the new chapter in our lives because of south korea the united states has a global partner that is embracing the responsibilities of leadership and the 21st century. as we go forward let us draw strength from the same sense of solidarity that i have seen during my visit to korea. and our brave, are our very brave armed forces. we go together.

[speaking in native tongue] >> we will go together investing in our societies and the education and skills of our people. we will go together, referring that an alliance between the united states and the republic of korea as unbreakable, and we will go together as we partner to meet our global responsibilities so that our citizens and the people around the world may live in security and prosperity. [speaking in native tongue] >> president lee, first lady kim, members of the korean delegation, on behalf of michelle and myself, on behalf of the american people, welcome to the united states.

[applause] [speaking in korean] >> good morning everybody. [speaking korean]

[speaking korean] >> translator: mr. president whom i consider one of my closest friends and madam first lady, ladies and gentlemen, first of all thank you for your warm welcome extended to me, my wife and my delegation. it is always a great pleasure to visit this great country. i would also like to convey the warm greetings from your friends back in korea mr. president and adam first lady. the journey of our alliance began 60 years ago come a journey that brought together to peoples from different sides of the pacific. what brought us together more than anything was the value that all of us here hold so dear, freedom.

[speaking korean] [speaking korean] [speaking korean] >> translator: yesterday i paid tribute at the korean war memorial just a short distance away from here. there, and was able to pay my respect to the 37,000 american soldiers who fought and died defending this value. it is written on a wall at that memorial that these american

soldiers quote, answer the call to defend a country they never knew and the people they never met, unquote. the simple yet poignant words describe how brave and good they were. mr. president, madam first lady, ladies and gentlemen, the korean people have never forgotten what these fallen soldiers and their families gave up. we will always remain grateful to all of them. [speaking korean] >> translator: our alliance is the bedrock of stability, peace and progress, and our relationship is evolving.

our two countries are working together to fight disease and poverty, climate change and natural disasters. we are addressing the issues of energy security and eradicating terrorism and extremism and stopping the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. we are working together to promote universal values such as democracy and human rights. we face these challenges both as a nation and as a partner. we will prevail and that we overcome these challenges and we will come out stronger. our two countries will ensure peace and stability of the peninsula and beyond. [speaking korean] [speaking korean]

[speaking korean] >> translator: last night the united states congress ratified the korea u.s. free-trade agreement. this historic achievement and will open up a new chapter in our relationship and i would like to take this opportunity to thank president obama for his steadfast leadership. this agreement will create more jobs. it will expand mutual investments into both of our countries. it will become a new engine of growth that will propel our economies forward. ladies and gentlemen, it will be a win for both of our countries. [speaking korean]

[speaking korean] [speaking korean] >> translator: our two peoples walked alongside together, armed with common values, pursuing the same ideals and achieving common goals. and this is making our security and economic alliance stronger. it is bringing our people closer together and we are true partners and close friends, and we will remain as such in the 21st century. our lions that was born out of the trenches of war will

continue to blossom. it will become stronger. [speaking korean] [speaking korean] >> translator: mr. president, madam first lady, ladies and gentlemen korea and the united states our global partners now. we are a force for good. i look forward to a constructive, as well as an enjoyable time here in washington d.c. with president obama and the first lady. my aim is to further shrink than our common values and our partnership.

once again, thank you mr. president, madam first lady and people of america for this warm reception. [applause] [inaudible conversations] >> the comments from south korean president lee myung-bak and president obama earlier today as they welcomed the president and his wife to the white house. the state dinner is underway inside the white house and just a bit later on we will have more video from inside the white house including the official dinner toast this evening. as the obamas welcome president lee and his wife. a full day of activities for the south korean president including a speech before a joint meeting of congress late this afternoon, but ahead of that the two presidents held a joint news conference midday at the white house with president obama

calling the free trade agreement with south korea a quote win for both countries and president lee saying that he has been assured that the agreement will pass in south korea's national assembly. from earlier today at the white house, this is 20 minutes. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. >> please everybody, have a seat. good afternoon. [speaking korean]

>> the this state visit reflects the fact that the republic of korea is one of our allies. from the ruins of war we were able to build an economic miracle that became one of our largest trading partners creating jobs and opportunity for both of our countries. because we stood together, south koreans were able to build a strong and thriving democracy and become a steady partner in preserving security and freedom, not only on the korean peninsula but beyond. as i said this morning, this visit recognizes south korea's emergence as one of our key global partners. south koreans have served bravely with us in afghanistan and iraq. south korean forces have partnered with us to prevent piracy off the shores of africa and stem the spread of weapons of mass destruction. once a recipient of aid, south

korea has become a donor nation, supporting development from asia to africa. and under presidents personal leadership, seoul served as host to the g20 summit last year and will host the next nuclear security summit next year. south korea's success is a tribute to the sacrifices and tenacity of the korean people. it's also a tribute to the vision and commitment of president lee. mr. president, you have shown how the intertionmuni should work in the 21st century. more nations bearing the responsibility of meeting the global challenges. in the face of unprovoked attacks on your citizens, you and the south korean people have shown extraordinary strength, restraint and resolve. and i would add that in all of their dealings president lee has shared my focus on what debtors most, the security and prosperity of our citizens. and that again has been our focus today. we agree to move ahead quickly

with the landmark trade agreement that congress passed last night, and which i will sign in the coming days. it's a win for both our countries. for our farmers and ranchers here in the united states it will increase exports of agricultural products. from aerospace to electronics it will increase american manufacturing exports including those produced by our small businesses. it will open korea's lucrative services market and i'm very pleased that it will help level the playing field for american automakers. as a former executive, president lee will understand when i say that just as americans by hyundai's and key is, i hope that south koreans will buy more fords, chryslers and chevys. and tomorrow president lee and i will be visiting the auto workers in michigan. some of the many americans who will benefit from this agreement. in short this agreement will boost american exports by up to $11 billion in support some 70,000 american jobs. it has groundbreaking protections for labor rights,

the m. bar meant and intellectual property so that trade is free and fair. it will promote green jobs and clean energy and another area where we are deepening our cooperation. and he keeps us on track to achieve my goals of doubling american exports. so president lee i thank you for your partnership in getting this deal done, deal that will also be good for korean businesses and korean jobs. i look forward to working with you to bring it into force as quickly as possible. as we expand our economic cooperation we are also deepening our security cooperation. guided by our joint vision for the alliance, we agreed to continue strengthening our capabilities to deter any threat. i can never say it enough. the commitment of the united states to the defense and security of the republic of korea will never waiver and as we have for decades, the united states will maintain our strong presence in the asia-pacific,

which is a foundation for security and prosperity in asia in the 21st century. in this regard, we discussed north korea which continues to pose a direct threat to the security of both nations. on this, president lee and i are entirely united. together we have succeeded in changing the equation with the north by showing that its provocations will be met not with rewards but with even stronger sanctions and isolation. so the choice is clear for north korea. if pyongyang continues to ignore its international obligations, it will invite even more pressure and isolation. if the north abandons its quest for nuclear weapons and move towards denuclearization, will enjoy greater security and opportunity for its people. that's the choice that north korea faces. given the global nature of alliances, president lee and i discuss the full range of challenges to our security and

prosperity. i think the president for south korea's continued support for reconstruction in afghanistan and they updated him on the transition that is underway towards full afghan responsibility for security. we agreed to continue our support for democratic transitions in the middle east and north africa, including libya. we have agreed to coordinates more closely on the development that can lift people and nations out of poverty. i appreciated hearing the president's plan for next year's nuclear security summit which i look forward to attending and as we approach the g20 and apex summit next month. we agreed on the need for coordinated global action that focuses on growth and creates jobs for our workers. finally we are strengthening the ties between our people. south korea's one of the top sources of international students studying in the united states. and the number of american students who are studying in korea has been soaring. so we have directed our teams to sustain this moment a man expand

educational exchanges between our people. not unlike the one that once brought a visiting scholar named lee myung-bak to an american university just blocks from here. so, get mr. president i thank you for your partnership and your friendship, and because of the progress we have made today i'm confident that your visit will mark a turning point in the enduring alliance between our two nations. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> translator: thank you mr. president. first of all, i thank president obama again for inviting me to make a state visit to the united states. my thanks go out to the madam first lady as well. i'm pleased to have had the chance to reaffirm what's again the strong partnership and friendship between our two countries. i met with president obama six times over the last three years.

our meetings were always constructive, allowing us to reaffirm the strength of our alliance, an alliance that is firmly based upon shared values and mutual trust. this alliance guarantees peace, stability and prosperity on the korean peninsula, the asia-pacific region and beyond. we will continue to strengthen what is already a powerful and far-reaching alliance. i was privileged to have spent many hours with president obama during my visit to washington d.c. this time, discussing and sharing views on a wide range of issues, such as security on the korean peninsula and the north east asia region, trade and economic cooperation between our two countries the situation in middle east including what is unfolding in libya and various and national security issues and the challenges that we face today. and particularly we welcome the

ratification of the korea u.s. free-trade agreement by the united states congress. i am confident that the korean national assembly will soon ratify this very important agreement in the near future. i take this opportunity to sincerely thank president obama, the congressional leadership and members of congress for their support and commitment. the korea u.s. free trade agreement is a historic achievement that will become a significant milestone in our 130 year relationship. it is a win-win agreement that will benefit those of our countries and countless ways. this agreement will create more jobs, generate more trade, and stimulate our economy's. this free trade agreement will bring numerous benefits to our workers, companies, our small businesses and our consumers alike. furthermore, mutual investments will increase and our economic partnership will become

stronger. and the korus fta will bring benefits beyond korea and the united states. it will be a gateway to enhancing ties between north america and asia. it will allow us to get ahead and stay ahead in the global markets. as we all know, the global economy is undergoing many challenges. the korea u.s. free trade agreement will demonstrate to the world that we can create good quality jobs and stimulate growth through open and fair trade. this is a good example. the passage of the fda has opened up a new chapter in our partnership in our alliance. for the last 60 years we have maintained a strong political, military alliance. now the korus fta signals the beginning of an economic alliance. this alliance will strengthen and elevate our military and political alliance to a whole new level.

our alliance is evolving into a future oriented partnership and it will become stronger. when president obama and i adopted a joint vision for the future of the alliance in 2000 we agreed to expand the depth and scope of our strategic alliance. today, we have reaffirmed our common commitment to a common future, a future of ensuring peace and stability on the korean peninsula and beyond, including the northeast asian region, our alliance will continue to play a pivotal role in overcoming the many global challenges that we face today. recently, we were deeply shocked when we read the reports on the attempts to harm the saudi envoy here in washington d.c.. i and the korean people strongly condemned all forms of terrorism

and, as you can see already, aren't you countries are working to bring peace and ensure stability around the world. we are partners in iraq and afghanistan. we are safeguarding our vital sea lanes off the coast of somalia. today we also talked about the rebuilding of libya and bringing democracy and economic disparity into a region wracked by violence and instability. we also agreed to continue our work towards promoting universal values such as human rights, democracy and freedom across the world. in particular, we agreed that korea and the united states will contribute to the economic development and administrative capacity building in libya, provide vocational training for its young people, provide medical care and rebuild and reinvest in its infrastructure. we will coordinate our joint efforts with the united nations support mission in libya and the

friends of libya meetings and our international partners. we also talked about the warring state of the global economy and how to overcome the perils that emanated from the eurozone. the situation in europe is a source of great concern. we agreed to strengthen international cooperation through the g20 so that the fiscal situation does not endanger the recovery of our real economies. in particular, our two countries agreed to work together to bring back stability to our financial markets similar to what we did back in 2008. as we have done for the past three years, president obama and i will remain in complete agreement with dealing with north korea. our principled approach will remain steadfast. we agreed that north korea's continued receipt of nuclear weapons poses a serious threat to peace and stability of the korean peninsula and the world.

we will continue to work towards denuclearization of the peninsula. the second nuclear security summit will be held next march in seoul. during this summit, we will review the progress made since the first summit in 2010, which was convened under the initiative of president obama. the leaders will have one goal and that is to achieve our collective vision of a world free of nuclear weapons. by thank president obama and his able team for giving us their full support in the preparations of this summit, and of course we will continue to work with them. and i look forward to welcoming president obama and mrs. obama in seoul next year. thank you very much. >> alright, we are going to start off with ed henry. where is ed?

>> thank you mr. president. president lee i wanted to start with you, one question each verse. when you mentioned north korea what concrete steps do you think the obama administration has helped to contain kim jong-il? and president obama wanted to get your first reaction to the iranian terror plot. her secretary of state called it a dangerous escalation. what specific steps will you take to hold iran accountable especially what mitt romney charged last week. quote if you do not want america to be the strongest nation on earth, i am not your president. you have the president today. >> well i didn't know you were the spokesperson for mitt romney. [laughter] but, let me just talk about the plot in particular. we have a situation here where the attorney general has laid out a very specific set of facts. what we know is