poverty. so if you can then move the credit score 100 points, 120 points, over five years the liquor store comes into a convenience store through the market forces. the check cashing, the heyday loan lender turns into a credit union or bank and let me say for the record we want banks. i don't want anybody to say that banks are evil. that stupid. that's ridiculous. ..

>> so we have funded a billion $100 million in private investment. not government money, not handouts, a billion, $109 in private investment in communities that people have written a. the guy that made my suit i'm wearing today we put in business. he is paying taxes, leading a dignity rich life. and also he is a responsible homeowner. and by the way, 2 million people serve 18,000 volunteers, all the kinds do. but what you should know about me is my family lost our home to foreclosure.

i don't mean me, my father. this is person to me. the number one cause of divorce in america is money. and one cause of domestic abuse in this country is domestic abuse. how do police officers get hurt? not respond to calls of bank robbery. they get calls, get hurt respond to calls with domestic abuse to most domestic abuse calls are routed in arguments over money. kids dropping out of college. why? not academics. it's money. 50 young girls, 3.5 gpa can't get back in school last year because not because they didn't work hard, not because they can have the moral fiber but because they didn't have the tuition. we think this is an indignity. we think this is the same in the 21st century. and so my mom and dad divorced over money. my mom and dad fought over money. my brother wanted to go to college. he couldn't go to college.

the more money we made, the poor we got. so we lost everything. but we never lost our dignity. we never lost her self respect. never lost our work ethic. i'm proud to say today i take care of my father. he lives in the phone with dignity today. i m. doing well so i can also do good. because whatever goes around comes around. half a billion dollars in mortgages we have restructured and modified, operation hope is certified hud council. some declines you've already seen for here today. we have a model that works we are honored to be the place that the consumer financial protection bureau wanted to do

this important announcement. before a bring of the director, let me say one last thing. that i think is directly related. we were called in atlanta, georgia, to the home of dr. king, the king center, to build our hope financial dignity center. it's under construction right now. but the story gets even more interesting. what most of you may not know, this is what i start up listening we are not going to demonize anybody, it's important we hold up ethical vendors, ethical lenders a provider. are put out of business, it's so painfully to what to do business with those players who are preying on the poor and the underserved. and by the way, this is a middle-class crisis. poor folks don't have $23 million to lose. this is everybody's crisis. let me come at it one more time to whether you're white, black, red, brown or yellow, you want to see some more green. can i get an amen?

according to the federal reserve 70% of all americans are living paycheck to paycheck. this is everybody's crisis. everybody from and everybody's opportunity. whether directors going to be doing in his position benefits all of america. so the story is that when we pulled up to this center in atlanta, georgia, i was told the story, we are building this hope center at the martin luther king senior complex. did new daddy king was the board of the bank for four years with martin luther king senior, the father of dr. martin luther king, jr., it gets better. he cofounded a bank. it's called citizens trust bank. it's still in business today. the story gets weirder. the construction lender on the building that we are building in atlanta, georgia, today is citizens trust bank.

we didn't targeted. they just happened to be there serving the community they care so much about. profitably by the wicked our construction of this profiteer we wanted to be profitable because whatever goes round comes round. when dr. king's life opened up the king center in georgia, she didn't have to pay the company but those. daddy king gave her the land. it's dignity. homeownership. that's what daddy king preached in addition to civil rights. doing for yourself, auburn avenue used to be called the black wall street. this can thrive again. we wanted to be a common occurrence that black folks and white folks, latinos and asians and indians come here as they come to a normal way to live. so with that said, it is very appropriate that this location is a place where the director wants to make this announcement

and the agency wanted to see this good work. this man is a good man. you don't do business with companies or organizations or government. you do business with people. director cordray understands the plight of people. he was attorney general in ohio. when he was attorney general, he helped return $2 billion in retirement savings, back to the residents of ohio, to give them the dignity of being able to do for themselves and their retirement. when he was state treasurer, he helped to revitalize the small business program for minority and underserved small businesses in the state. to help give people their hand up and not just a handout. but he wasn't just at the state level he was also at the local a. he was the treasure of a small city, and he helped to get his hands around real issues in real ways. he's got a real understanding of these issues.

he understands from 10,000 feet, and also understand that 10 feet away from you. i think is really, nothing says more about his character to me that he didn't want to do this announcement in washington, d.c. it would be real easy to call a press conference in d.c. it would -- you've never been here before. i got a detour on the way here. it wasn't easy. half of you want to turn around and go over he didn't have to come here. he could have done it in the white house, done at the capitol, anyplace. but the fact that he went to this much energy and effort to place this message here in this community, detours and all, says not all he is a good man, not only is he an honorable undertaking, and, of course, we should want to do everything we can to make the effort of mortgage servicing transparent, to lift up the lenders are doing at the right way, and to make it really difficult for vendors who

are unethical. you can still make money in mortgages in america. you can still make money and banking in america. you can do it honorably. america is adequate where it's not a recession, i think it's a reset. and it's a culture of crisis and values, virtues and values. the man is trying to align virtues and values with economic prosperity and opportunity. that's going to be difficult, going to be painful. you will be criticized for it. but that's okay. most of my heroes were criticized. so today, you're not the direct of cfpb. today, you are an honored guest of operation hope because you came to skimming am also going to give you the greatest of were possible. i will make you an honorary black man. come on. [applause] >> i'll do my best.

john, i've very much want to thank you for hosting this here today. they talk all of the world about what it's like to be in paris in springtime and now we can tell the -- that's just as attracti attractive. we saw in the community today. i also want to thank everybody at operation hope, and to say that john, maybe appreciates the fact they don't have ranges. you are there branch. that's a good collaboration. and i also want to say that i would echo john's remarks. you may not know, john other to the fact that he spent i believe over six months or more homeless before the age of 18. because of the adversity his family suffered. we are not here to in part any blame around those kind of issues. we're here because we have work to do. we have problems to fix and we have progress to make. so thank you all so much for coming today.

it's not news for me to tell you that american homeowners are struggling. you know what yourselves. at the start of this year, nearly one in four mortgages in this country was under water. and four and a half million mortgages were seriously delinquent. today, some studies estimate as many as 10 million homeowners are at risk of defaulting on their mortgages in the coming years. one of the problems that is made things even harder for struggling homeowners is the state of the mortgage servicing industry which collects payments on half of the owners of the loans. this industry has never had a requirement or any strong incentive to meet the needs of consumers. even before the crisis there were already problems with bad practices and sloppy record-keeping. when the financial crisis hit, however, things got much worse. we have all seen. when millions of borrowers started to fall behind, many servicing businesses that have been built in focus primary on

the good times began to crumble under the weight of the growing crisis. to borrow a more from aesop's fable, the servicing industry proved to be all grasshopper, no antidepressants are not prepared to weather the cycle. the earlier problems of record-keeping and other systems made it hard to sort out barware problems. and instead invest in new personnel and process, which is what was needed, too many mortgage servicers took shortcuts that make things far worse for homeowners in trouble. the problems that resulted from the shortcuts are virtually unbelievable unless you experience them for yourself. i have are the same kind of stories from hundreds and hundreds of people dating from my days in office in ohio. we created dozens of county, save her home task force to work direct with homeowners as they don't these frightening and overwhelming situations. picture every bad customer service experience you've ever had, calls going unanswered,

glacially slow processes, mistakes made and not fix. a kaleidoscopic cast of characters who never seem to do with you more than once. your paperwork submitted in loss repeatedly. now, multiply the amount of frustration exponentially and you can begin to get an inkling of the scope of the problems that americans face. house by house, neighborhood by neighborhood, community by community. consider for a moment the impact of these problems on families. we are not talking here about a $10 overcharge on a utility bill. we're talking about the largest single investment people will make in their lifetime. and a matter that goes far beyond a new economic investment. we are talking specifically about people's homes. a place consecrated by a deep bond that only the passage of time and the precious enjoyment of time can create in and enduring way.

the swingset your children love, the deck you build with your own hands, the door that swung shut behind you every day that you went to work to earn the money to make the payments to keep the place you called your own. and it's not just consumers who suffer. mortgage investors do not benefit from a broken system where servicers do not fulfill their obligation or make reasonable efforts to mitigate losses. and his failed business model widened the pain of the housing crisis and destroyed an incalculable amount of consumer trust and financial businesses, perhaps in a lasting way. the severity of the problem people have experienced is further compounded by the fact that consumers often have no say in choosing their mortgage servicers. at the time they take up the mortgage, they usually know who is lending them the money, but later the servicing rights may been bought and sold, perhaps multiple times, perhaps scant notice to the consumer. if the service is shabby and the

service or is indifferent, their customers have no ability to vote with their feet and select another provider who will treat them better. abraham lincoln once said that the legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but cannot do at all a cannot do so well for themselves in the separate and individual capacities. and so today the consumer financial protection bureau is launching out effort to protect consumers where they do not have the power to protect themselves. the more good servicing rules we're considering reflect to basic commonsense standards. no surprises and no runaround. they would apply to all mortgage servicers regardless of how they're organized, including banks, credit unions and non-bank servicers. we envision a world where homeowners can expect fair and reasonable treatment in the fall behind on their payments. and genuine efforts are made to help them stay in their homes.

simply put, we intend to require mortgage servicers to put the service back in servicing. our first set of rules would address the root problem that transparency is often lacking in the mortgage servicing market. these rules are designed to arm consumers with information they need to avoid costly surprises. we want to make sure that at all times consumers know how much they owe, but their thing, and have their payments are being applied. and give consumers fall behind on their mortgage, we want them to know what the options are to make the best of a difficult situation. unfortunately, to many consumers today do not have the right information at the right time. our rules would change that by requiring servicers to send every customer clear monthly mortgage statement, summarizing the key terms like the interest rate and principal obligation, the amount of in due date of the next payment, and recent transaction activity including

itemization of fees and charges. it may seem amazing that we would have to impose such basic requirements, but in this market we do. other rules we're considering would require services to provide early warnings before interest rates change on adjustable-rate mortgages. in addition, if consumers find that their mortgage servicers are trying to force expensive engines on them, we have heard many of those stories, they would have the ability to head off this unnecessary result. we have heard horror stories about people whose foreclosures were accelerated by having force place insurance imposed on them without notice. even when this is clearly a mistake you cannot get it corrected unless you can get a live human being who is willing to work with you to rectify the error. with many of the servicers, that simply was not possible. to address is unacceptable dilemma we will be considering new rules to ensure that servicers do not unjustifiably and without notice charge consumers for property insurance purchased by the servicer. and if they do, that can be

fixed. another fundamental problem to help eliminate unpleasant surprises is to require that servicers reach up early to struggling borrowers. this requirement would ensure that servicers make a good-faith effort to inform borrowers when you first fall behind about the options that can help them avoid foreclosure. and servicers would be required to state clearly have to pursuit and exercise those options which will for the prospect of refinancing and finding available avenues for loan modifications. tools such as forbearance, interest rate modification and principal reduction also promised in particular circumstance of helping to keep people in their home while optimizing the situation for investors. all of these rules would give consumers accurate and relevant information so that they can understand what their servicers is doing, identify problems as early as possible, and take follow-up action before things start to snowball. the idea is to bring

transparency back to the day-to-day transactions between servicers and their customers. let borrowers know what is going on in to make better choices from a more informed perspective. the second set of rules would address the lack of accountability in the mortgage servicing market. the rules that we're considering are designed to ensure that servicers do not give consumers the runaround. we won a system where payments are credited immediately after they arrive, where errors are fixed when they occur, where the borrowers documents and records are maintained, and where borrowers can someone to help when they are in trouble. but fortuna consumers all of the country these things do not happen now. and when borrowers who are trying to save homes getting the runaround can turn a difficult situation into a disaster. time after time, people have told us that they submitted the information necessary to be considered for a loan modification. time after time, they've had the infuriating experience of being

told by yet another customer service representative that the information cannot be found, or they're still more documents must be sent. the rules we are considering would require all servicers to maintain records that are accessible and up-to-date, minimize errors, and make corrections quickly when errors occur. they would also require services to improve the loan modification process for consumers. servicer would have to do things like notify the bar about loan modification options, the types of documents the bar would have to provide, and how long it could take to get a modification. they would have to give their employees full access to all customer documents so they can answer questions properly and accurately about the current status of the matter at any given time. if the consumer notifies their trinity of an era, whether orally, electronically or in writing, a servicer would be required to acknowledge receipt of the notice and respond to it within specified time frames.

you're considering a rule were servicers would be required to provide a direct and ongoing access to designated servicer foreclosure preventive step to the servicers when you have a system in place of a consumer can call human beings with access to all relevant documents, including records of all prior contacts with the customer. this continuity of contact would stop people from getting the runaround. talking to a dozen different representatives each time telling this story, and each time getting into financial. and it would help that the maddening situation which is all too common with the servicers' left hand would agree to a modification where the servicers writing to such a close in on your for closure by the left and right and do not seem to know what each other is doing. people need real human beings with the right information to help them deal with something as monumental and life-changing as a perspective for closure.

this is not a radical idea. it is what community banks that keep their loans in their own portfolios have done every day for decades to help troubled borrowers. it is what hud approved housing counselors have stepped into the breach to do for so many homeowners around the country because the mortgage servicers have failed them so fundamentally. it is commonsense, it is common decency, and should be the law of the land for all mortgage servicers. at the consumer bureau were considered to require mortgage servicers to put the service back in mortgage servicing but we didn't think it is too much to ask of businesses that they should not surprise their customers or give them the runner. but how exactly while riding the new rules help change things for homeowners? after all, government officials have been dealing with this problem now for many years. much has been said, much ink has been spilled, but it is not the things that need better for homeowners. at least from what we continue to hear from people at our new consumer complaint line.

i've had personal experience with this issue. when i said state treasurer in ohio in 2007 i served as the co-chair of a statewide task force that sought to address the problem of mortgage servicing which was already getting to be severe. we brought in many of the major mortgage servicers who did business in ohio and we agreed with him on a set of principles about how they would treat their customers. they met with us, they signed the papers, but they did not follow through. we were headed by fragmented and incomplete story and a poor set of tools to ensure compliance. with little power over the servicers, and they knew it. the expense was highly frustrating for us and for the people we're trying to help, and that ultimately proved largely ineffective. at psyching to learn later, the unhappy experience overthrew in ohio was reflective of the same unsatisfying struggles that occurred in many other states as well. but things are different now

that we have the new consumer financial protection bureau on the scene. although we realize that a one size fits all approach may not be appropriate, particularly for smaller institutions like committee banks and credit unions, it is significant that are rule-making jurisdiction is comprehensive over the entire mortgage servicing market, including those banks and the non-bank competitors. we will also be able to back any new rules rewrite with sharp teeth as with supervision and enforcement authority for the first time ever at the federal level over all those bank and non-bank mortgage servicers. this allows us not want to examine mortgage servicers to make sure they're following the law but also to enforce the law against them when they fail to do so. we are also building on reports from other federal-state partners that have documented the widespread and serious problems in mortgage servicing. problems that were determined not going to violate the law but to be so pervasive that they constituted unsafe and unsound practices that adversely

affected the functioning of the broader mortgage market. the of mortgage servicing settlement that was filed and has been approved in federal court was an important step forward on the road to renew. but is only a partial step and covered only certain financial institutions and only certain categories of the mortgage loans that they serviced. in particular, it did not encompass the many independent servicers that specialize in servicing subprime or delinquent loans. at the consumer bureau we are already using all of our tools to extend new protections to consumers against the kind of shabby customer service and outright lawbreaking by mortgage servicers that has been so thoroughly documented. by considering these new rules, by examining servicers compliance with the law, by investigating matters as they arrive, and by responding to individual customer complaints. as we continued to engage in this work will collaborate with her sister begged us to fashion more complete solutions. we recognize that we share a

common interest in reforming the mortgage servicing market, a standpoint of the financial institutions themselves, as was on behalf of consumers. so the rules we are considering a mortgage servicing are just the beginning of our push for a better mortgage market. what we envision is a world which consumers know what is happening, in which pairs are less frequent and more readily corrected, and to which all recent efforts are made to help enable responsible homeowners who fall behind in their payments to remain in their homes. i fixing the root causes of mortgage servicing problems, and securing transparency and accountability for borrowers, consumers would have clear information about their options to keep their home and would be any better position to servicers accountable for their decisions. if we look across the range of consumer harm that occurred before, during and after the recent financial crisis, the harm spawned by the mortgage servicing may be the greatest of them all. if we're going to make life

better for the american consumer and strengthen the future portion of the american economy, no task is more important for us right now. we simply must and we will dedicate ourselves to improving how homeowners are treated in these most vulnerable moments of their lives. that fact was heavily upon my mind. it is making a deep imprint on it didn't work at the consumer bureau, and we're determined to make a difference for so many american families who deserve better treatment at the hands of their mortgage servicers. thank you for your time, and attention today. [applause] >> good morning. i'm director -- director cordray will be taking a few questions this mostly he could raise your hand, say who your name and affiliation is an answer questions. >> good morning. i'm a realtor in washington, d.c. i have been through the

foreclosure problems. >> i can hear you. >> i've had many clients call me to say, i'm behind on my mortgage, can you help me? i'm a realtor, not a mortgage lender. at any rate my first responds to them is, call your mortgage company to let them know what's going on. i went into foreclosure. i let my mortgage company no months in advance i'm about to run into trouble. they didn't want to do that. can you pay this month mortgage? i think it's important that somehow the mortgage companies operate with the homeowner before they run into trouble, if they are made aware of it. it was a very difficult process. they really didn't care. when i did fall behind it was as if i had not warned them or let them know look, i need help here, what can you do to help me? it just did not happen.

is there anything that you can put into place to make them work with the homeowner before the homeowners actually defaulted? >> i of persia to question, and it goes to the heart of what we are beginning to accomplish today as we propose these new rules. it is the case that for homeowners in that situation they are confused, bewildered, it never happened to them before, they don't know where to turn. we spent several years when i was at the local level encouraging people to call the vendor and impressing upon them so they're typically does not want the house, they want a house payment. what we did not appreciate at that time was a difficult it is for the homeowner to even know who their lender is, when we talk about the mortgage servicer, and to get a response. so the rules that we are proposing today are all about making sure that mortgage servicers are required to do early intervention, that when the homeowner beaches out to them they have to respond quickly and provide information

about the option. that when homeowner does not reach out to them that they reach out to the homeowner and provide that kind of information. that they're required to keep the information comprehensive, correct and accurate. and to correct errors that occur, which they have often been very indifferent about in the process. and that this is not simply a debt collection a site that runs towards a foreclosure, but instead there's ample consideration given and the consumer knows what their options are for potentially avoiding foreclosure and being able to stay in on, getting a loan modification or the other processes that are often unavailable that if the consumer doesn't know about the wealthy get information about them, it increased the ability to use the process. that's exactly what we are about today. [inaudible] operation hope need you more

than i thought we did. we are about financial leaders to an financial apartment that but there's certain things that are just beyond our reach. and dealing with some lone servicers is like herding cattle. you just can't get your hands around them. i was at a mortgage workshop, what i think is a responsible lender, it's wells fargo. there was a thousand investors, a thousand investors, a thousand investors that represented the mortgage industry that had all to the court here and talk to. and if it hadn't been for the workshop all of the represented, you could negotiate a deal. and likely the company using its credibility to try to force the responsibility from the servicer, but that's one day, one event. and then it's back to the issue for the rest of the strength he

picks i guess my point is, operation hope this one in 50,000 people served with a hotlink to this is 80% the issue of just chase it around, servicers and i lost this document, please call back, or we didn't get that data, or we won't accept a payment. uneven rules, an even playing field. and i think if this is what your agency is about, it's no more important mission for which you have done. you could start right now spent and you mentioned, john, earlier that among the things that operation hope does has been standing in issues and be the housing counselor that helps people navigate. and the ground is it hasn't been any easier for housing counselors to navigate through this process and is for homeowners but at least have one advantage, which is they've done it before, they have done it several times. they have a sense of how to proceed. for the homeowner, foreclosure often is a once-in-a-lifetime

event. you know how it can change the trajectory of people's lives. and they don't, they're based -- they don't know where to go, don't know where to turn, and they need some responsibility on the mortgages. that's what we now have the power to empower and enforce. we expected to make a real difference. you and your organization have worked with thousands and thousands of people who have been through this process, and it's been immensely difficult the more difficult than it should've been. more difficult than it already is. more difficult than it will be once we get these rules in place. >> thank you very much for your time this morning. much like john was commenting on the financial literacy we believe that financial education is a key component of this, inserting the cfpb has certain resources around the can you speak to the intersection of consumer education as well as some of the resource the touch

of a federal courts is my understanding the past few weeks you launch a new consumer education website, and is there any thought to make that a required disclosure on all forms of that website at the top of the disclosure of? >> that's a good suggestion. that's part of the reason why we like to come to these events, because it's not just about me talking so much as people have ideas and suggestions to help us do our work better. let me say two things. what you're referring to is the launch of our tool on their website. as we prepared to train our folks internally to take mortgage complaints, credit card complaints, and we're into other areas as well enough, we developed a large number of questions and answers that when you are likely to encounter from people grappling with these situations. we realized that rather, as information to train our people got to make it publicly available so people can benefit by it, all across the country, i would echo something john said

in his statement earlier. 's remarks, that what we want above all is not just to a federal agency that protects consumers, but a federal agency and many other organizations like operation hope that enable consumers to protect themselves. gives them the know-how, gives them the understanding and appreciation of why things are important, things like checking their credit reports and the like, and then gives them the ability to do that. it is hoping consumers muzzle up and understand better how to be informed about financial literacy, and then especially these single one time large decisions they make that affect their future so much, a mortgage decision of student loans, made decisions about retirement plans. but we also want to bring a decisions down to where they are more accessible to people, where choices are clear, simple, expressed in straightforward language so people can really

understand what they can compare and what they are choosing between and had to go about doing a. i think a lot of consumers there's a sense of defeat as they embark on things like financial there's an financial education. they know they don't know what they should know, they know they need to know about more come without should they ever will, and also know that these decisions that are presented to them are bewildering, they're complex, very hard to penetrate. so it's a matter of bring decisions to the public and bring the public to the decision to a book and to both of those things that i think we will succeed. >> time for one last question. >> about mortgage servicing today, focus on what you are announcing today. charles lowry from the naacp. director cordray, one of the things i think mr. bryant is mentioning about the fence this point is that there's so much information that is coming down on consumers, the ag salomon, the independent foreclosure review and one of the things that i'm seeing as i do this

work is it's hard for me to keep up, let alone the average consumer. is there any effort that you may be speaking to the come with a be an effort to kind of help the homeowner, the consumer, just to know what resources are unable to them? maybe the thought of able through a housing counselor now, but even that is a lot to ask of that particular person. so just trying to get a sense of the bigger issue and how do we direct people to the places where they can get the most help? >> it's an accident point that you raise. and it's notable that in area mortgage servicing where federal and state agencies pay very little attention until maybe just a couple of years ago, and left into the own devices, and i did not work well for anyone. they are now has been a rush of activity, the servicing settlement that you mentioned, the foreclosure prevention

efforts and that the banking agencies have undertaken, and it has complicated the states further for people who are dealing as you said with the sort of waterfall information coming from different sources. state agencies attorney general's almost in charge. now here we come with comprehensive rules to address the hallmark of which i think are just badly needed. but it's incumbent upon us and build a measure of our success to work together with one another to try to put that information together and bring it together for people, and to make it accessible to the but as i said, one thing is to inform consumers so that they're better able to cope with situations. another thing is to try to make the decisions that are of able to them simply clear and more understandable so that people can have that confidence and ability to make those choices well. so we will continue to work with our federal agencies and states attorney general, take the

different choices now available that didn't exist maybe six or nine months ago and make sure that there's a clear set of information that people can access. and that's something we'll try to do via our website and other tools. but a lot of it involves social cooperation. >> okay, one more question. [inaudible] i don't work, i can't pay, i can't pay the mortgage out of my monthly check. but we are afraid if we let the lenders know that they're going to take the house away from us, because there's nobody, what would you say, read -- spent

refinance, modify. you can or you can't pay? >> i can't pay out of my disability check. it's quite a bit, but if they find out that my mother has passed away, will they take the home from us because there's nobody working that can, when they tried to refinance don't? >> here's what i would say. i would say two things. number one, you shouldn't bury your head in the sand and assume that the mortgage owner won't know. they will know if payments are not being no, they will know soon enough. opec. >> okay. if you're able to make the payments, obviously that eases the situation. if you find is a point we can no longer make the payments, there's no point in pretending that they won't find that out. they will know that. if you have trouble and cannot able to make the payments, you can contact the consumer bureau. we have a helpline now for

mortgage problems come including people who might be behind or be facing foreclosure, and we can help try to navigate is for you with who ever your lender, or servicer. john's organization, operational, sounds like it has some of the same work as well. so if you find you get to the point we are no longer making the payments, you can't keep up, you can come to us and we'll work with you, try to work with your servicer. [inaudible] >> let me address that. so, this is actually a great question to end on. what the director has said is if you get in trouble and if there's a crisis, then contact his agency because they have, there are protections in place that didn't exist before and resources that didn't exist before. and what's being announced today, you have a level playing field with rights for bar was that he met before. but you're not even there yet.

you actually are in a very good position. you are making your payments. you can afford to make your payment. i look in your eyes and see if the dignity and respect of wanting to make your payment. operation hope will stand behind you and we will do everything we can to make sure that the lender respects the fact that you can make the payment, and you decide to do the. and i can't imagine anything to in america 123 out of your house just because your mother has passed. so we will work with you. this is a great example of a great partnership. if operation hope cantor, naacp can do. just go five feet after the announcement. [laughter] >> thanks so much. this concludes our announcement is going to take you all for joining us. >> one last thing. you get to keep the designation. >> i appreciate that. [applause] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] >> starting shortly we will go live to the national press club here in washington for a look at collective bargaining in major league baseball.

>> for this your student cam competition we asked students to create a video explaining what part of the constitution was important to them and why. today we're going to wisconsin to meet with third prize winnero tyler johnson, a seventh grader from kettle moraine middle school. high, tyler. >> hi. spent your documentary was on women's suffrage in the 19th minute. why did you choose this topic? >> it was always very important to my grandmother's mother that she could go, and that was passed down to my grandmother it does she was able to live through that amendment, even though she wasn't old enough to vote at that point. it was still very much there in the family, and in a household that the lib dem. >> you covered some of the history of the suffrage movement

leading up tok the 19thokkkkogok amendment. what did that help you understand about this movement? >> well, it helped me to see what the women had to go through, to be able to get to where they were, and to be able to earn the rights that they did your it just showed me that it was that important to them back then. and that they didn't want that to go unnoticed. that they want all the same rights, they wanted to be as equal as men and everybody, really spent what do you learn about some of the early leaders such as elizabeth katie stam and susan b. anthony? >> well, i learned that they actually are part of this amendment, and that they never really wanted to give up on that. they always kept going after their dreams, which was to be able to create a world, or a

country where men and women were as equal as each other.k >> earlier you mentioned yourkok grandmother.oooo how did your interview with her deepen your understanding on the issue? >> well, it made me feel a little more like i can relate come i can help relate to her a little more. it made me feel like, that i was asked what part of she was from. like, that she could really though, that her mother really couldn't vote. but it just made me feel a little more like i was actually there and how i was comply, what action had to go through and have important to her and her mother it was to be able to have this right to vote. >> what was your favorite part of this entire process? >> i think it was very interesting to learn about this amendment to the united states constitution, and i think is also very fun to see how all my

information that i put all together, and i created this video. it was fun to see how it actually came together into just an eight minute video ofkkkgokoo probably more than an hour worto of videoo that it probably had.g >> what would you like those people who see your documentary to learn? >> well, i think i would like people to learn that voting isn't just a privilege, that it's almost a responsibility. like my grandmother did say, and i agree with that strongly. i also think that people should learn that what the women had to go through to be able to get this right isn't just like some point as somebody what does allow them to the. they actually had to go through many, many years of suffering+kk and hard work tko be able to gek to where they got to. >> tyler, thank you for talking with us today.

>> yep, thank you. >> here's a brief portion of tyler's documentary, trenton. >> i am a citizen of this country and its culture, and the only way i participate fully is by voting. i feel it's my right and also my responsibility to vote. >> susan b. anthony and elizabeth katie stam drafted the amendment and the first introduced in 1878. it was 41 years later in 1919 when the congressman of the amendment to the states for ratification. a year later it was ratified after with tennessee's ratification being the final vote needed to add the amendment to the constitution. >> the 19th amendment ratified with a perfect 36 states which happened to be tennessee, the last date, there were 48 at the time to 35 had done it with the rest said they wouldn't

tennessee was on the spot became the perfect 36 that gave women the right to vote. >> you can watch the entire document along wit with a winnig bid at student kim.org. and continue the conversation at our facebook and twitter pages. >> again will be going live to your remarks on collective bargaining and baseball with executive director of the players association. coverage from the national press club coming up at 1 p.m. eastern. until then, your phone calls "u todayay's "washington journal." story. >> host: the headline is just like that it's obama versus rome romney. game on, rick santorum elect by turducken presidential race in january's iowa caucuses with those words but tuesday he declared his race over it w

to get more on this story, let's go to chris moody with yahoo! news, he is a reporter there. >> good morning. great to be. >> thanks for joining us. tell us how things evolve yesterday. when did we get a sense rick santorum was planning to suspend his campaign? >> we had an idea last week. it was based on a number of scenarios. we knew that he was going into his home state of pennsylvania? that is served in congress 16 years. it was a state that he could not lose. and so, he had made it this far after he was at the back of the polls in 2011.

that was in an eyesight. if he had lost, it would a been a big embarrassment. romney was gaining momentum in the state of pennsylvania. on tuesday morning, rumors began to swirl that he had decided to drop out and that he had called mitt romney and conceded the race. surely before he made the announcement on tuesday afternoon, we found out about it. >> host: you start your story by saying that he called mitt romney and conceded in a phone call. he did not mention romney by name yesterday. guest: it was curious. he does not use notes or teleprompter, so it may have been an oversight. i think what they would like to have is another conversation

where romney specifically asks for his endorsement and looked to have a public event where he publicly endorses romney. are not sure that is going to happen, but we are pretty confident he will do whatever if the can to help the republicans beat obama in november. we also have to remember that tensions are high between the two camps and there was a lot of rhetoric over the past couple months. it may take a couple days for things to cool off. i am pretty confident that centaur will be an ally of romney going into november. host: what is the significance of the phone call that he may to romney? guest: mitt romney will be the nominee. gingrich and ron paul are still in the race. until romney reaches 1144 delegates, gingrich will still be in there and i'm sure ron paul will be traveling around.

romney is the nominee and it will be obama vs romney in november. host: you have been traveling with central's campaign. what have the last couple weeks? been weeks guest: quite a lot of fun. he went up to wisconsin and he went bowling every day. he played montee ball -- botchi ball. and he went around to breweries. it was a light-hearted rick santorum. he gave one speech in milwaukee a couple days ago where reporters had been traveling with him for months said they had never seen rick santorum so relaxed. it almost seemed like a bit of relief. he might have seen the light at the end of the tunnel. he really enjoyed himself. host: others are speculating as to what this sets up rick santorum for the future. he did mention looking ahead. we are talking about a

suspension of a campaign rather than quitting, so he can continue to raise funds. guest: the reason they say they are suspending their campaign is because they have to close their debts with the federal election commission. he is obviously not. going to be campaigning not. right after he said he was suspending its campaign, he sent out a fund-raising letter saying that i still need your financial help and we still have to pay for the debts we incurred during the campaign. you will still see him out there. it will be mostly in the background. if he will be making a lot of phone calls an. i think that he has a bright future. this presidential campaign for him was positive. it raised his image with the republican party. a lot more people know who rick santorum is now. he may go back to fox news where he had a contract. he may go back to a think tank where he was as well.

he has a lot more options now. it will be interesting to see where he ends. host: chris moody has been traveling with the central campaign. thanks so much. guest: thanks for having me. host: we're talking about santorum announcing yesterday that he is suspending his campaign and what you think this means as far as mitt romney gathering support and where you think conservatives werwill go and what this means for the rest of the field and is the race over for the other nominees? a santorum supporter is joining us on the phone from kansas. good morning. caller: >> i actually met rick santorum when he came to kansas. i am kind of disappointed. i am a strong conservative. i am disappointed that he would drop out of the race or suspend the race. i am not going to vote for romney. i don't see there's any difference between him and

barack obama, so i think is going to lose a lot of conservatives. he will have a hard time trying to get the. conservative the that is where i am. host: patrick, what will it take for one of the other candidates to win your support? caller: newt gingrich would have a better chance than mitt romney. he is too moderate. there's no difference between him and barack obama. i think a lot of conservatives are going to feel the same way. host: an newt gingrich supporter from oklahoma, pat. good morning. caller: >> good morning. i really did like rick santorum, but my main backing was for newt gingrich. i do think he is a very intelligent individual.

i also think that he has had experience in the troubles and trials we are going through right now in our country. and i am basically praying that the delegates for rick santorum and his supporters will get behind newt, because, basically, the votes for rick santorum were against mitt romney. host: let's look at what newt gingrich had to say after the news of santorum suspending his campaign. he says, "i humbly ask -- mr. gingrich restated his commitment to staying in the race all the way to florida. let's hear from bobby in brooklyn, new york. caller: good morning. it is disgraceful, these choices

we have. nobody in the press is saying anything about this. it is disgraceful. host: you called on the romney line. it does not like you are a supporter of anyone in the field. caller: >> they are all crap. the sound bite entertainments thing. host: let's hear from a ron paul supporter, brian in eagle, missouri. caller: hi, i was just wondering, because we have seen it is going to be romney versus obama, i really want to know, what does this mean for the future of the drug war? we have seen a pretty stale policy that involves billions of dollars spent on this and people are going to keep smoking. . i don't i feel completely defeated on

this. -- i don't know. host: ron paul said yesterday congratulations to the senator on running such a spirited campaign -- here are comments coming into us on facebook regarding rick santorum's decision. gina joins us from mississippi. you are an newt gingrich supporter? caller: yes, i am. host: what happens next for your candid it? caller: i hope a miracle will

occur and all romney supporters will take a second look at gingrich, because i feel like he is the best debater of all of them. i feel like he has the knowledge and he is a very smart man. i feel like he would be the best debater against obama. i am hoping that all of the a african-americans will take a second look at the candidates. i would just like to say to the african americans that if you are truly a patriot, if you are truly american, you will drop the african part of your name, because either you are an american or you are an african. i think they need to make up their mind which one they are. host: let's look at the question a couple of folks have raised, what happens to rick santorum's delegates? this is from the washington post.

he is releasing them required to vote at the tampa convention. notably, he did not state in his remarks that he was releasing his delegates the former massachusetts governor mitt romney the front runner of the gop and does not mention from me at all. we will be watching that as we floriatampa florida this summer.his summe alexandria virginia. georgia joins us as a rick santorum supporter.ntorum what's next from you, george? iu >> caller: really, really reallt romney's position on many of the

fronts. i think he lacks integrity. it is going to be hard as a republican to vote for mitt romney. i am hoping that there's another alternative out there. i just cannot see voting for him. host: what does that mean for the presidential contest overall? caller: that is a tough one. i really think the beauty of the party system is we do have two sides of the equation. whereas it the candidates tried to get as many votes as they can and they mold their character or their position based upon votes, it is really sad to see a guy like rick santorum with all the integrity to say this is what i stand for, to leave the race. with not much

options. host: the contrast between santorum and romney -- one you can catch the washington journal segment of its entirety and a website, c-span.org. the green light to the national press corps to hear from the arctic from the baseball players association talking about collective bargaining issues. >> field of dreams, the natural coming and one of my favorites, a league of their own. but behind america's pastime, there is a business, a big business. baseball is like many other

sports has had a rough labor history. there's pinstripes and works. even a strike in 1994 that canceled the world series. but mao's 2012 season gets under way, players, owners and fans can breathe easy. baseball's collective bargaining agreement guarantees on interrupted play until the 2016 season. it is equal to the largest agreement in baseball history. some say it should be a model for other professional sports league is. today we will hear from the man behind the agreement. the executive director of major league baseball players association, michael weiner. as the head of baseball's labor union, she is responsible for representing the players' interests when it comes to contracts, player safety and one of the most controversial issues, drug use and drug testing. that issue will be making headlines next week as of roger clemens stroy the trial gets underway. michael weiner joined the association in 1988, served as general counsel since 2004 and

was named executive director in 2009 and of course, he was right in the middle of the tug of war getting the nationals to d.c.. in the midst of all this, weiner draws inspiration from one of his favorite performers, not on the baseball diamond on the concert stage, bruce springsteen. with apologies to the boss and mr. weiner, we ask if it's true that you were coming working on a dream during the contract negotiations and look forward to hearing from you today about what is ahead this year for the sport that was born in the usa. welcome, michael weiner. [applause] >> thank you, theresa for the introduction and for the privilege of speaking here today. before i get started i would like to acknowledge a few people that were kind enough to come today. first, a longtime friend and a committed union leader during his distinguished career, b.j..

[applause] they had to leave apparently to handle a new orleans saint matter but the executive director of the nfl players association richard one burleson longtime counsel is here. want to thank bob fouse the major soccer league this season and his counsel john newman, judy space, general counsel to the sciu, general counsel of change to win. i'm also honored to acknowledge your the presence of marketeers, the chairman of the national labor relations board, sharon ploch and richard griffin and members, the nlrb executive sitting over here, patricia smith, solicitor of labor and john lund, assistant secretary of labor. i probably welcome as well longtime colleague and friend, virginia assistant attorney general for the office of legal

counsel. thanks to all of them and all of you for attending this afternoon. >> for going on 24 years, i've worked for the union that represents major league baseball players coming and for going on 24 years, i've heard that's great, mike, but it's not like to work for a real union. come on, you get to hang out with derek jeeter or josé but he stuck or brian zimmerman. it's part of your job you have to go to the all-star series every year. i will concede there are benefits to working for this union. [laughter] but i will insist that at the same time the mlbta has always been and remains today a real labor union. members make more money than most. our guys have a higher public profile. but at bottom, the mlbpa does it every union does, we attempt to further our members interest and to protect our members' rights through the process of collective bargaining.

collective bargaining as an institution to somebody shots over the past year. in wisconsin, most notably among other places, the right of public sector employees to bargain was blamed for the state's fiscal discipline. in indiana the so-called right-to-work legislation was passed with supporters contending that collective bargaining actually hamper job growth. the national labor relations board has been vilified for fulfilling its statutory mandate to end the minister the federal labor statute. in the sports world, nfl players abandoned the right to bargain collectively in the face of aggressive demand from their owners. fortunately for all, the dispute was resolved without the loss of regular-season games. nba fans were not as fortunate as the nba owners lockout resulted in a truncated season. the mlbpa and the baseball clubs by contrast announced a new

five-year labor contract last november, a month before the previous deal in debt. we had no lockout, no-strike, no threat of the work stopped. widely collective bargaining succeed in baseball last year? how did baseball, the sport whose labor history is most contentious avoid strikes in the 2011? some suggest a smith negotiation was inevitable given the economic circumstances under which we bargained. but neither revenue more profitability explain our results. coming into 2011, the nfl's annual revenue exceeded major league baseball's. and the nda annual revenue lagged hours. but both leagues kicked protracted fights with their players. and it's millionaires versus billionaires' line was also set of baseball in the 80's and 90's when every labor negotiation include a work stoppage.

profitability is not the driver either. both profitable league in the nfl and the reportedly unprofitable one in the nba had work stoppages in 2011. baseball profitability fell in between the two. moreover, each of the last three labor contracts in baseball were reached without a stoppage. one negotiate when they've suffered losses in 2002. one when they were joined in substantial profits in 2006, and last year when the truth lead in between. there was nothing preordained about bargaining during this round. as always, the union was prepared for a worst-case scenario. we had sufficient reserves in the bank and counseled players to save their money. we told players that while no one wanted a stoppage, they had to be ready as if one were coming to read we have been applauded for having achieved colleague for peace but i will

let you ran on a little secret. labor peace was not our goal when we started bargaining. nitze hauer list of players included improved health care and pensions, claire minimum salary, better treatment of injured players, better salary arbitration and free agency rules and a host of other demands. but the labor peace wasn't on the list, neither was the leader war. we set out in this negotiation to achieve a fair deal for players, i believe a good deal for players. the preference just as it was under marvin miller's leadership was to get the deal without a work stoppage. but the goal was a good deal, not a quick, easy or painless one. collective bargaining by design is an adversarial process. our negotiations in 2011 with major league baseball corev fer serial, at times intensely so.

controversial even provocative positions were advanced. conversations were heated and frustrations expressed. meetings ended abruptly. people, players and owners, negotiators for both sides got angry. we didn't air arguments publicly as we've done in the past, but that doesn't mean we didn't argue. collective bargaining in the end is about power. federal law governing the bargaining let's the exercise of the power but not very much. there's plenty of room under the national labor relations act to beat counterpart into submission even to mutually destroy your industry. for years in baseball the power struggle that is collective bargaining was defined by the owners attempt to force the demand down the players throats sometimes through distasteful means such as long gilts, hard bargaining and replacement players, sometimes not through collusion and unfair labor

practices. in 2011, and in the more recent bargaining rounds, that power struggle had manifested itself differently. it's still a power struggle. baseball owners desires have not changed. they want to pay little as possible and control their services as long as possible and that's understandable from the owner's perspective. what has changed is that baseball owners, led by commissioner bud selig have come to respect the collective power of their bargaining adversary for players. that respect was earned through the solidarity of players in the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's. the solidarity culminated in the real sense in the spring of 1995 when the owners use replacement players throughout spring training to try to break the union and force acceptance of the salary cap, and not a single union member, not a single 40 man roster player crossed the

line. that was then. the union turns over very quickly. only a handful of players acted in 2011 for professional strength in 1994, 95 strike. the mlbpa understands each generation of players must justify the respect their predecessors around. we must remind the owners of the players' collective power every time we come to the bargaining table. that is why starting with the days of marvin miller the union has insisted on direct player participation bargaining process. players formulate proposals and strategies that might come as no surprise. players attended bargaining sessions we will schedule such sessions unless players can be there and actively participate in the sessions. any given meeting of the mlbpa negotiators are as likely to hear from the curtis gander some

or nuevo as they are to hear from me. plater participation in the bargaining in 2011 was extraordinary coming and even for our union, unprecedented. as for the leadership, we had a remarkably dedicated negotiating committee of 25 active players. week after week of conference calls they were responsible for developing and approving all of our major bargaining proposals, and the negotiating committee members attended bargaining session after session but the player participation extended to the full union membership. we had 238 different major league players attend the negotiating sessions in 2011. 238 players. players in the first week in the majors and players with 20 years of major-league service. players whose tickets to cooperstown already have been punched and players whose major

league careers may not extend into 2012. players making the minimum salary and the players making $20 million per year. players from virtually every country represented in the bargaining union. it is a tremendous show of force as. in the power struggle that is collective bargaining, it is natural to gauge the strength of the counterpart. the 238 players by their presence provided an unmistakable answer to any owner who might have questions whether in 2011 the collective power of the players remain deserving of respect to the collective bargaining changes with each side respect we have to try something else if you can't just push her counterparts around. if you to change either got to persuade them to give it to you or fashion some compromise in which you trade for. the likely result of bargaining in that situation is the troops.

the deal at or very close to the status quo it might not be what's best for the party or in the industry but which you're left with. our new collective bargaining agreement amounts to far more than a truce. it contains meaningful changes in the rules governing the free agency some of the arbitration and the ashraf, a significant revisions in the revenue sharing, competitive balance at and debt service rules, a new structure for the league and efficiency and format for the postseason enhanced health care coverage for international players and their families, improved benefits and other payments flowing to the former players and their widows, important changes in the joint agreement and dozens of other improvements in the working conditions of players. this negotiation touched more parts of the labor contract and any other which i've been involved in 24 years. none of the changes were made at

gunpoint. some resulted from persuasion. there were times when one side recognized the validity of the other's position and acquiesce to a proposal. many changes resulted from compromise and frequently from creative compromise. one side or the other often expanded the scope of matters under the discussion to create more flexibility, more moving parts to fashion a compromise. other changes resulted from the party's identifying areas of natural benefits. i can't say this has never happened before in our bargaining, but only in the s&p says. in 2011, we made agreements that were unimaginable in our past. and revenue sharing and health care and drug testing and most notably perhaps in our new 1515 alignment and additional wild card team. that happened only because each side was prepared to recognize a good idea when it appeared, no matter who presented it, and no

matter if that idea historical the was associated with the other side. more than ever before, our bargaining was not just over how to resolve our differences, but how we could identify and further our common objectives. how did that happen? we avoided a work stoppage because of mutual respect for each side's collective strength. but why didn't we just default to the status quo deal? the answer again lies in respect, but respect here for the players' ideas, not just their muscle. i credit bud selig and the mlb negotiators with recognizing the players are not just a force to be reckoned with, but that in the area after area the players, the two entered for the guys that show that the meetings had good ideas about how to improve the game and the industry. it may seem obvious that the best players in the world and

the representatives would have those ideas. it just hasn't been obvious before to baseball owners and certainly didn't seem obvious in the approach adopted last year by the nfl and the nba toward the players. the real success in baseball last year wasn't just that we made a deal without a stoppage but we made agreements in the scope and content that should benefit players, owners, fans and all connected with the game for years to come. i am now torn between prudence and opportunity. prevoyance tells of a guy that's worked his entire professional career in baseball to limit his remarks to baseball. but on my other shoulder, opportunity tells me that i should least try to relate baseball bargaining success to the broad world. this is the national press club after all. it's not the mike and mike show. [laughter]

sewers here goes. the economic downturn has placed a tremendous stress on the already adversarial relationship between workers and their bosses. private sector employees in the u.s. faced increased global competition. public-sector labor relations have been caught in the device of the budgetary crisis. in both areas a handy response has been to attack workers' rights to organize and to bargain collectively, to attempt to strip bargaining rights from public employees and handicapped private sector workers that seek to organize. that is unfair. in part because our current economic difficulties were not caused by america's working men and women. such may be evitable but that doesn't make it fair. it's just not true that municipal and state employees making $40,000 per year caused the present fiscal crisis.

it's also unfair because depriving workers of the rights to organize and bargain deprives them of the only realistic leverage they have. it's okay and even laudable in this country for political candidates or for companies to have leverage because of their financial assets. it's okay in this country to obtain leverage through a successful push for the legislative or the regulatory advantage. but why is it not acceptable for workers to exercise the only leverage to act collectively? if you take bargaining rights away from wisconsin school teachers or indiana factory workers, it leaves one side in the contest with no ability to compete. it's long been the public policy of this country that labor relations should be a fight but never a one-sided fight. it's fundamentally unfair particularly in this economic environment to pass legislation that still allows that fight but

bridget against working men and women. all the collective bargaining allows workers is a voice in the ongoing argument over their working conditions to the bargaining does not guarantee any result. it doesn't guarantee that pensions will be preserved or that wages won't be reduced. under federal legislation on our books for over 70 years company workers to organize and bargain collectively has been seen as a natural component of our competitive economy. what is a natural and counterproductive for the recent legislative efforts to strip workers of those rights. the economic health of our country will not be revitalized by depriving workers of their voice. in 2011, baseball demonstrated a collective bargaining can produce a progressive and a productive agreement both the power and the ideas of its counterpart.

even in an economic environment as challenging as today, better results will flow from the bargaining process and from the unilateral position by management. better ideas will be generated with employee input. we've proven in the slot through collectively -- we've proven that in baseball through collectively bargained innovations such as the world baseball classic are jointly run international tournament to be placed and first time next march. the agreements reached with employees as part can be implemented more effectively and efficiently as shown by our jointly administered drug program. unions can effectively and productively represent workers even in struggling industries. collective bargaining in times such as these may be difficult, and adversarial and contentious. but as demonstrated in baseball, of all places it is the surest path to the mutually advantageous and potentially bearing solutions.

thank you, enjoy the season. it should be a great one. [applause] >> thank you, michael. >> since you believe that baseball some collective bargaining agreement is the boldest and have you been approached by other union leaders asking for advice? >> the leaders of the sports unions cooperate all kinds of matters and the unions do as well as evidenced by the presence of soccer players' representatives and football players representatives here. i am more than occasionally will talk with the head of the hockey players association who happen to be my boss for 20 some odd years. [laughter] the industries are different and the sports are different, but we collaborate as you might expect. estimate to mention the labor struggles in wisconsin. have you ever read feist public-sector union leaders and people to see key route?

>> i haven't been presumptuous to give advice to somebody representing a public-sector union and the nature of bargaining is very different. but we frequently are contacted by unions and their members for letters of support, for assistance. our players, our members politically are all across the spectrum but when it comes to labor matters, the understand the importance of unions and we try to support the public sector unions every chance we could. >> you are heading into the years of labor peace. but do you think that people are more willing to negotiate because what happened with the strike of '94 and '95? >> i don't know about more willing to negotiate, but you can't understand our success and bargaining without understanding that history. as i said before, we move to a world there was respect by both sides for the bargaining power of the adversary is the cause of what happens leading up to but

perhaps most principally in '94, '95. so i don't think you have the agreement that we have that we made in o2, 06 or in 2011 if they didn't take the stand they did back then. stomach a couple questions during the negotiations either in internal meetings our collective bargaining on persons at a cost the average american family for $300 or more to go to a baseball game. is this direct result of some of the players huge salaries? >> is a few questions smuggled in there. [laughter] >> we didn't have any fans on our negotiating committee called unless you count the players themselves. but i can tell you that the players coming and we had representatives here come all of the players that are sitting up here as well as b.j. mur negotiating committee members themselves when they were active. players are constantly thinking about the stance the lead defense and public acceptance of the games that shows itself in the negotiations for the like

the schedule, things like the post-season, the drug-testing program throughout our negotiations. for all the potential link between the ticket prices and player salaries and economists in the room today but to get prices are set based on supply and demand for the product. the owners set the price as high as they can based on the demand for those tickets. they really don't have anything to do with how much the players can get paid. >> do you think the players union would never agree to eliminate the designated hitter and restore the game to the way that was meant to be played? [laughter] >> i don't know if there are names on that one. that could have come from my wife. who is a national league fan known to parade around the house and dumped the dh. i've got an injury and if the

question quite frequently. neither the colliers came to the bargaining table looking to change the rules regarding the designated hitter reason that we change the alignment of the league and the post-season play. i don't think anybody would design an industry where, you know, one set of rules and the other had a matter. but i think that that compromise, if you will, is here to stay for a long time. >> safety and sports have become an issue of the professional and amateur levels. what is the mlbpa doing to address this issue in baseball? >> health and safety was as much a part of our negotiation as it has ever been. in addition to what we did in our joint java program, and to address the substance abuse and substance use by players, we negotiated over batting helmets and negotiated recently in the protocols for retreating, the ehud nursing, concussions and return to play.

we negotiated over safer bets. there was a tremendous amount of negotiation over health and safety and this kind of bargaining and the thing that is the kind of reflection that we have said before. but bargaining can do when you talk to the christoff trying to knock the stuffing of one another is allow people to put their heads together and try to solve problems in a way you can't do when it is a death match. >> why can the players only be required to take a blood test for human growth hormones for reasonable cause they don't have anything to highlight one of conduct random tests like any other sport? >> again, there's a few questions smuggled in there. i will work from the back. the drug testing and blood testing we agree to stand up with that in any other sport including olympic sports. what we have agreed to as well it's not only the players can be tested for the reasonable cause. that's true. all were tested for blood during the spring training of 2012.

i dare to say that we had more blood collections in the spring training of 2012 than any other sports has had in any single year alone just as with a spring training testing and we also have the random testing to all players starting this off-season every player in baseball this subject to testing for blood once the season is over. >> what is the difference between of smoking on the ball field, and not using smokeless tobacco? in other words why should players be allowed to choose tobacco in front of the camera and the kids? >> there's a few differences. one is you can't play baseball while you're smoking. and there are secondary -- it interferes with ford and there are secondary health risks associated with smoking. the position of the union on the smokeless tobacco was clear we along a size our players of the serious health risks of the product and we have long provided resources for the

players to try to cease using. the discussion that we had in bargaining this time shows the players understand that they can have an impact on the use of the product by younger people and through education and other efforts. we are going to do our best to be role models. >> how can a small market teams like the pirates ever hope to win without a salary cap? >> i could say the same way the small-market teams like the twins and the marlins and the rockies have. major league baseball has shown that we could have extraordinary competitive balance without a salary cap. since the collective bargaining agreement reached in 1996 has been unprecedented through revenue-sharing through the

reserved for the players in the first six years of their career and other measures including the competitive balance tax we think come and i think as well the representative of the owners think that we are at a place where each team has a fair opportunity to win the world series. >> how can you encourage small market teams to spend money on payroll instead of profiting at? >> that is a subject that we focus as much on in vardaman over the last 20 years as any other three we do it through a few different ways, we have an enforcement mechanism in our contract, clubs are required to spend revenue sharing proceeds to put in more competitive team on the field. if they don't, there's an arbitration process that we can go through and we've used that effectively in the past to

monitor the position and we beef up in this last round of bargaining but more importantly we try to create incentives in the program so that each team to the maximum to increase their local revenue to put a competitive team on the field. the most creative bargaining that we've done goes back to chuck o'connor involved in the initial bargaining over the revenue sharing agreement some of the most creative bargaining they've done in baseball isn't revenue-sharing in fashioning a system every team no matter where they fall on the revenue specter has an incentive to try to win. >> the had tables populate to buy players were active in union leadership the web of what role they played that other members do not? >> there's a lot of people in the country that think they know a lot about baseball and then there are the guys that have played the game. the guy that played the game knows what it means to play the game and they know what it means on the field. they know the stresses that

being a professional baseball player bring into the joy of being a professional baseball player brings. it's always been our view that to effectively represent baseball players you have to have the input of those players. we get the input of current players of the time and it's incredibly useful. it's an essential to have the deep group of the former players that we have on staff. we have people without giving away ages, we have people on the staff who is careers spanned the entire history of the association and part of our success is having that resource anytime i need to send an e-mail and make a phone call. >> with 2020 hindsight how do you think for drug testing in the mlb should be handled? >> i don't have 2020 hindsight and no one else does.

a bomb has been asked that question and said in retrospect would have been better if everybody associated in the game had moved a little more quickly but let me say this without getting into too much history, the bargaining history of baseball suggests that there would have been very difficult to get the history in baseball explains we got to random drug-testing about as quickly as we could. like with everything else in baseball it was very contentious the drug-testing histories. in the mid-80s we had a joint drug program, and the owner terminated. the drugs that were involved were cocaine and drugs of abuse, not performance enhancing drugs but they chose to terminate the program. who knows what the world would have been like if we had a joint program continuously operating but through the 80's. we had a very contentious legal fights about the drug testing. the owners did make a proposal one drug-testing in 1994, but i think it is fair to say that it was not seriously pushed by the owners at that point to get the

first time the owners proposed random drug testing is in 2002 when the players agreed to it. the same place on the retrospective think from the kentucky hard look at what they did but when they understand the history of the bargaining in baseball i don't know that we could have reached an agreement much sooner to an estimate from the players association perspectives is there any concern held down baseball players are being treated and developed in high schools and college that you care to address? >> sure. we want the best athletes playing baseball, and we want all young people who are playing a game and playing athletics to do so safely. we are very much involved in the union and this is another area of greater cooperation with management in trying to provide resources, equipment, playing fields for more players to play the game particularly urban areas in this country and other places around the world where the resources going to exist

through the baseball tomorrow fund, something jointly trusteed by the management and union officials we've provided millions of dollars to try to get more players on the field and get more kids a chance to play baseball and softball. step with so many kids choosing soccer what are you doing to encourage them to play baseball instead? [laughter] >> so, sitting over here i have the head of the soccer players union general counsel, one of my dearest friends who would be very upset with me if he thought i was actually discouraging people from fleeing soccer. there's a lot of people in this country and a lot of people in this world and a lot of great games. i don't think we need to discourage any younger kids from playing any sport. we want kids to be active. there's plenty of kids playing baseball and more girls playing softball than ever before. as long as everybody is active, there's plenty to go around.

>> what will be the impact of the deal being renegotiated now since the owner peter angelos got the mlb to get more profits as a sweetener for another team in his backyard. [laughter] do you want to take this one? local tv revenue is a crucial part of our game and of our industry. you have seen the rights the local broadcasting rights to go through the roof team after team and that really only makes sense when you think about baseball is 152 new reality shows a year, very cheap to produce tremendous content. part of what has been in baseball since then the media very, very carefully. very, very closely. i'm not going to try to predict how the negotiations involving

the orioles and massing is going to play out to be all i will say this is going to be an important association for both franchises. >> players have benefited financially from the rise in regional sports networks and payments to the teams. dca potential bubble bursting eventually? >> as i said in the last question, i am not a media consultant, and i understand that all ratings for national defense, not just athletics are facing a challenge. when it comes to baseball locally the power of baseball as program the local market is extremely high for the reasons i said. it's a tremendous amount of content with a that is for satellite radio, television, whether that's for the internet and the other way that baseball is transmitted. i give people a lot of credit for recognizing the change in technology and seeing different ways to bring the game to people

not only in their local markets, but people would want to follow the tigers were the red sox even though they may live here in washington. i don't think there's a bubble. i think the value of that content, well, the value is there. >> could the new smart from application never fully replace baseball cards? [laughter] >> that maybe the hardest question i've been asked. it requires me to know what a smart phone application is. [laughter] i'm not to the most technologically savvy person. i think that -- as a kid that grew up collecting baseball cards and even swapping baseball cards as late as college including with some people in this room i think that you can marry the technology with the joy of card collecting, and i think that our licensees with

major league baseball in this area in order for the cards to continue to be vital are going to have to continue to find a way to use any technology in that area. >> will mlbpa ever endorse other cards aside from topps? >> copps i know. the mlbpa and mlb have had agreements with other card companies. topps hasn't been or is now the exclusive licensee of the players association. so, while topps historical for reasons i won't bore you with has been making cards for the longest period what time we have licensed lager. islamic what is the position on the hall of fame induction for players to use steroids? >> i can't speak necessarily for the union on that one. when you ask the union position i have to talk with the current members but i will give you my

position. i'm not afraid to do that. the hall of fame as for the best players that ever played. pete rose belongs in the hall of fame and has more hits than anybody else and a hall of fame. but the best baseball player should be in the hall of fame it's a museum. if you want to have some attention on a plaque indicates that they were either a judge has used performance enhancing substances or accused of having done that soviet. there are people in the hall of fame and there will be people in all hall of fame who have been judged by several arbitragers to have engaged in a massive conspiracy called collusion to be for all the fans of the competition does people belong in the hall of fame as well, so from my perspective polyphemus for the best baseball players and most influential executives that have been involved and they should all be in. >> do you think that the drug scandal has jaded young fans and

make them more suspicious of the players achievements? >> mabey but i think that young fans are young people are just more jaded than they used to become a period. athletes and celebrities are covered in the way now that they were not covered certainly when i was a kid and you would be impossible whoever your hero is to see them as the larger-than-life figure that we might have seen when we were kids. i will tell you baseball is as popular as it's ever been and it's shown by ratings and the people fall in the game it's extremely popular among today's youth so even if they are jaded i think the understand both the beauty and the power of the game and the incredible talent of the players who are playing. this connection to the union had a role in selecting? >> absolutely not.

>> one of the problems i've seen since 1988 is a recognition by everybody the commissioner of baseball is a top representatives of the owners and a time when the commissioner was viewed as being representative of the sands, representative of the game or the institution and i'm not saying that bugs selig and people in the office don't think about the game and the institution and the fans just like players deutsch but as i said in my main remarks it is an adversarial process. that's how it worked. but is unabashedly the head of the owners went, to pardon her and to represent baseball against third-party is that's how we should be. we will obviously which with interest 20, 30, 40 years from now when he actually step down. [laughter] but we should have no role in selecting his successor. estimate should financially strapped cities be subsidizing stadiums for millionaire owners?

>> i have to decide whether to answer that one is the head of the baseball players association or as a citizen of this country. i will answer as the head of the baseball players association. anybody in any industry who wants to get as much support from the municipal authorities as they can i think it is the subject of some economic summit can be the subject of economic debates in particular cities whether subsidizing sports arenas or entertainment facilities with the best use of public funds but in many places, baltimore been one for sure, it was critically important to the survival of the city there. baseball is an important institution as you said, and we welcome the assistance of any man as poverty that is willing to provide that. >> what impact will the sale of the dodgers and the brahimi of lawsuit have on baseball considering these are two of the largest markets.

>> large impact. the dodgers and the mets are not only the franchises in the sport who and whether you are a mets were dodgers fan or not you want to see those kind of franchises for five friars. the doctors sale and prevent the group that's involved, a group that not only has the financial wherewithal that has the excitement for the game and the acceptance in that community is great for the dodgers fans and to forbid the in baseball and not just saying this because my wife as a mets fan but it's great for everybody in baseball and they can focus on trying to put the best team on the field. for the treasure of the history of the game and it can only be better if they have an opportunity to be as competitive as possible. estimate there's been a lot of

talk about paying athletes. do you think student athletes should be paid or unionized? >> that's a little bit different for baseball players than it is for the questions usually come up with respect football and basketball players. baseball players in college really are a little bit different because when a baseball player goes to college, he must remain or he can't come out and play professionally for three years baseball players are much closer to the model of the athletes than many people would like to see and they don't generate the kind of revenue in college that football and basketball players to sit there are reforms that could benefit the owners. one of the things done really pushed for in the union has stood for is giving more baseball players a chance to use their talent to get an education before they try to play professionally. and along with the commissioner's office that we

are working to try to make that more of a reality there's a debate that can be had with respect football and basketball players given the revenue they produce i don't think that those concerns apply to college baseball players? >> would you advise players in terms of their use of social media such as twittered? >> i do know twittered. [laughter] the advise players on the one hand part of why baseball is as popular as it is is the fans of occurs all connection that may be different than their connection with any other athlete they live with baseball players on their favorite teams every single day from the beginning of the spring training until the season is over and the social media allows them to connect with those players in a very intimate way. in national fans think every single guy in the national 25 roster what celebrity doesn't have to be wrong and seminar stevan strous-berg so it's great

for you to use the social media if you're comfortable doing it to establish that connection with fans. on the of your hand, you've got to think before you do that and we've been fortunate our players i'm not saying we haven't had any difficulties but compared to some of the athletes and other sports are please have used the media irresponsibly and i hope they continue to do it it's a great way to cement and further the connections between the fans and players. >> what advice can you give players took to become professional baseball players >> learn to throw left-handed. [laughter] >> another possibility and bg can help me out on this is learning to catch and hit left-handed. those are two things that can keep the game for a long time. i think that i go back to the day kids play sports when it's fun to play sports not

necessarily thinking when you were 8-years-old you can get a college scholarship or your going to get a chance to play professionally i would advise any kid to play sports, the active can't play as many sforza's you enjoy rather than just focusing on one particular game and play a he but year round. if you have the talent and the competitive drive two years or athletic skills to get an education that's great and then if you happen to be some of the minute percentage is that have the ability to make a living professional you can try but you can't do anything about that when you're younger kid. >> i was wondering when will this will have its first on ponnuru general manager? >> general manager could have been really at any point in time. there are several baseball executives right now working for clubs, working for the

commissioner's office who are eminently qualified to be the general manager, so that is just a matter of time and opportunity. that's their. on players are no less about the possibilities of a woman becoming the umpire at the major league level. i generally considered a don't want a stereotype, but women generally is being smarter than men so why would want to be in on ponder might be another question. [laughter] is a very, very difficult job, and a thankless job, but we are ready for a female general manager and there are a number of great candidates out there right now. >> will forever be a true world series in which the top team plays the top foreign team? >> i'm not sure that we will get a stage the world series champion in north america plays a team in japan. we've got about that. there is a lot of challenges there. but the world baseball classic

in the tournament site described really get to that. the world baseball classic has the best players in the world many of them playing major league baseball the national team, japanese that play professionally competing against one another in a jury how little competition, and we really hope that the wbc is already a great tournament and this is the first time that we are going to plea in 2012 and 2013 in the qualified rounds and i think that the world baseball classic has within it the potential to be a kind of true world series the fans have been looking for. >> you said the job is tough and thankless. will the ever utilize instant replay to assess the umpires? >> i think as many of you know, we already do use instant replay to some extent on what we call the boundary recalls for the home runs ford's been interfered with by the san.

in our collective bargaining we are the owners and we did reach an agreement to expand to other calls and whether a player caught the ball and whether it hits the ground that agreement was subject to further bargaining and it hasn't been concluded between the owners and the umpires union and the subject where the owners have an obligation of borrowing of the union, so when the bargaining is concluded you may see the expanded use of replacing the game. >> in your experience to baseball players consider themselves part of the one per cent or 99%? [laughter] >> if given that choice most would say 99%. the best part about this job there's a lot of challenges. the best part about this job is working for the players and the reason for that is that the players recognize just how fortunate they are to get to

make a living and to make an unbelievable living playing the game of baseball. the are incredibly humble, they are regular guys, they don't take for granted that all of what they have. they get back to the committee to read part of what makes them great union members - while the economics many of them are placed on the 1%, the outlook towards life is such that these are regular guys. some attributed for the best baseball players of all time and why? [laughter] >> steve rogers, bobby -- [laughter] [applause] ronnie clark and b.j.. i'm going to be held it politics and not name any names. i could say that everybody thinks the best baseball players are those playing the game when they were seven, eight or 9-years-old. but i think i can say with

confidence the best baseball players of all time are those playing the game right now. the quality of the training, of their fitness, of the skill of the competition has gotten to the point where the players and the fact that we are more inclusive than we've ever been a few back to the history of the game before african-americans could play before we had the best international players, i'm not going to name any names. depravity has their own opinions but i can say with confidence the quality of the game today is as high as it has ever been. >> if you're trapped on a desert island, which mlb owners would you prefer to be with? [laughter] >> so, the challenge here is does the owner wants to be on that list is what i have to

figure out. well, maybe tom warner would be responsible having triet to all these wonderful television shows and all this great entertainment, so he would be an interesting guy to have as well. let's see. i guess magic johnson because who wouldn't want to be on a island with magic johnson. [laughter] >> we are almost all of time that before the last question we have a couple housekeeping matters to take care of. first i would like to remind you of the upcoming luncheon speakers on monday april 16th we as alec baldwin actor and spokesperson america for the arts, it's sold out but tune in to c-span or log on to npc.org to watch it like to read me fourth we will continue our base will stream with mike, general manager of the washington nationals, and on may 9th, we have billie jean king tennis legend. next i would like to present the traditional mug.

[laughter] spinnaker will be handy for drinking coffee on the desert island. i have one last question. who do you think will window world series next year? >> someone predicted fi would get this question and the answer i gave is every player has to say amount of dos and they would pay the salaries here. in seriousness, i think even the most ardent baseball writer would say this is wallsten possible year to pick that if six or seven teams in the american league that are just as good as any other to make the to the broad series and the national league of his to be wide open so that's the one question i'm going to duck. i answered the other question that out when i'm going to duck. >> about a round of applause for the speaker today. [applause] i want to thank all of you for coming today. and i would also like to thank the national press club staff

including journalism institute and broadcast center for organizing today's event triet falcon here's a reminder that you can find more information about the national press club on our website, and if you would like to get a copy of today's program, please check out our website at www.press.org. thank you all for coming. we are adjourned. [applause] [inaudible conversations]

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

.. >> [inaudible conversations]

>> if you missed any of this program you can see it in its entirety. go to our website at c-span.org. joined us later for more from our q&a program. today we will examine a recent film called the ron jones story. it begins at 5 p.m. eastern here on c-span2.

>> the bipartisan policy center recently hosted a tribute to former senators bob dole and howard baker honoring the two leaders for the century of service and bipartisanship efforts in congress. the two-hour tribute included remarks by bill clinton, joe biden and former senators tom daschle, bill frist, trent lott, and others. after a video tribute, both bob dole and howard baker shared their brief remarks. this is about two hours. [inaudible conversations] >> ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the playing of our national anthem.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

>> ladies and gentlemen, former senate majority leader and vpc founders, howard baker and bob dole. [applause] ♪

♪ ♪ >> [background sounds] ♪

♪ >> please welcome former senate majority leader and bipartisan policy center founder tom daschle. [applause] ♪ >> trent lott, bill frist, along with the president of the bipartisan policy center, jason. it is my pleasure to welcome each of you here tonight. tonight, we're here to honor two

distinct and different republicans. and no, i'm not talking about mitt romney. [laughter] i'm talking about two great men. in every sense of the word. howard baker, and the senator from kansas he didn't marry, bob dole. [applause] it is a real tribute to both of them, to this amazing crowd to be gathered in this extraordinary venue tonight. it's always exciting for me when i can speak to more people than the entire state of south dakota. [laughter] but it is truly an honor to pay tribute to two men, whom i admired, and from whom i have learned. it's been a long -- [applause] it's long been my view that it is easy to be brave from a

distance, on the battlefield and the need of political battles the two men we honored tonight have demonstrated bravery at the front, consistently putting country ahead of self, and often strengthening their party by putting country ahead of party. i would like to recognize some very special guests we have here tonight. two outstanding members of the cabinet whom i'm very proud to call friends, leon panetta and kathleen sebelius who are here and we're grateful for them for their presence, we thank them for their leadership and their service to the country. [applause] >> we have many former members of congress as well as members of congress and is sent here tonight, and i'm grateful, we are all grateful that you're taking time out of your busy schedules to be here, especially our majority and minority leaders of the senate.

i want to thank especially the men and women at walter reed medical center joined us here tonight. we thank them for being here especially. [applause] >> and most importantly, perhaps our gratitude to senators elizabeth dole and nancy kassebaum and their families. how special it is they are here as well. [applause] >> almost exactly five years ago our to on ariza, along with senator mitchell and i founded the bipartisan policy center. we did so with the belief that the vision need not be destiny. we felt that if democrats and republicans who had been in the arena, could speak with one voice on issues of policy, it would help still those in the arena do the same.

we wanted an organization that would combine real scholarship, with effective advocacy. there are plenty of great studies produced in the city that are being used as doorstops. we wanted the bbc to undertake projects with purpose. we have been gratified to see the work the bpc reflected in the national conversations on health or energy, the national debt, national security. our core tenant is that collaboration is actually a form of strength. we reject the idea that pursuing shared solutions require sacrificing values. in fact we would argue that there's no greater achievement than building a lasting consensus among disparate voices and views. tonight, we celebrate two men who embody these ideals of

principled leadership. for more than 50 years of peace, senators baker and dole did more than just help lead this country. they define what's best about it. before he became harry truman's vice president, alvin barkley was faced with the prospect of leading the majority in the senate. his outlook was grim. no one can lead the senate, he said. i have nothing to threaten it with. howard baker succeeded in leading the senate precisely because he did not threaten. and if he promised anything to his colleagues, it would be that he would listen. that he would keep an open mind. and if he could find some common ground, well, that was enough. as the story goes, a reporter

once said to a democratic senator, you know, if the democrats had to elect one of their colleagues president, howard baker would probably win a plurality of the votes. you're wrong, the democratic senator said. he would win a majority. whether it was representing tennessee in the senate, are american in japan, or student the reagan white house, howard baker was able to help everyone find common ground. [applause] >> without anyone feeling they were sacrificing sacred ground, because he is a true conciliate. bob dole served kansas and united states senate for 27 years. but the truth is, had he stopped serving as country at age 21,

that would have been enough. more than enough. we'll know the story, fighting in northern italy in 1945. bob was wounded severely. in fact, near fatally. for nine hours he was left unattended, and willed himself to survive. maybe that's why the enormous challenges he faced in the senate were always ones he faced with such inner confidence. but it also should give you a sense, as it gives me, the quiet courage that bob has always demonstrated. during the 18 months we served together as leader, i have to say i was always impressed but he insisted on coming to my office for a meeting.

the seasoned leader coming to the newcomer, the majority leader coming to the minority leader's office. only later did i realize that there was a strategic move on his part. when you want to meeting over he could just get up and leave. [laughter] of course, that didn't stop me from following him. [laughter] as i did after leaving the senate to join him in private life. bob dole is one of my heroes. a mentor, and a very special friend. [applause] >> our country, republicans, democrats and independents have been richly blessed by his extraordinary leadership now for half a century. so let me say, bob and howard, in a country where there are so many positions of leadership and too few leaders, in a world where there's so much

polarization and so little conciliation, we all, all of us are tonight, this will proud mama thank you for your wisdom, for your courage, for the extraordinary leadership you have shown all of us for over 50 years. as modern statesmen, you are models to us all. and tonight, we thank you. [applause] >> it is now my pleasure to introduce another very special guest. when joe biden left the senate after 36 years to continue his service as our nation's vice president, he went to the floor, as we all do, to give his farewell address. that day he told a story of hubert humphrey's last days.

his cancer was wasting him away. and the moment barry goldwater, the man who humphrey, as his party's vice president in 1964, successfully tried to keep him from the presidency, came over and embraced him. senator biden said, friendship and death are great equalizers. death will seek us all at some point, but we must choose to seek friendship. part of what makes the men we are tonight such great leaders is that they have constantly sought friendship. and part of what makes joe biden such a national treasure is his boundless capacity for friendship. please join me in welcoming my friend, and our vice president, joe biden.

[applause] ♪ >> tom, thank you very much. it's good to see so many of my former colleagues. believe it or not, i'm issue and i expect you to miss me, but i miss you. you know, both bob and howard's life bear witness to the greek philosopher who said in the fifth century, character is destiny. character is destiny. you know, there's a lot of incredible leadership qualities that bob dole has come in many of you in this room have served like me, with bob longtime. bob, the thing i like about you

most, has been your absolute sense of decency. i've never witnessed a single time that we spent many times together, we travel together, and i'd say to the senate, the other senator dole, and to senator kassebaum, both good friends, that when we traveled together, no matter where we were i watched. eyewitness every single time all the years we worked together that well you did one thing always, you always afford the other man or woman, whether a political foe or friend, an ordinary citizen, the dignity they deserve. the first speech bob made in united states senate, on the senate floors april 14, 1969. and it was about disabled american veterans. he championed their cause and

ultimately the result was americans with disabilities act, 43 million americans were granted the dignity, the dignity they deserve. the examples abound of bob's group, the social security act, the social security commission with pat moynihan, 37 million americans without having to worry about whether they would lose their dignity because they couldn't afford to maintain themselves. 1992, off, you are the voice in the united states and around the world to stop the butchery of slobodan milosevic, and restore the dignity of so many tens of thousands of people who had it stripped from them. in 1983, you manage the martin luther king holiday bill, and you said, and i was there as you managed that bill, and you said

something very straightforward. you looked out at everyone and you said, no first class democracy can treat people like second class citizens. no first -- it was simple for him. it was about decency. when that bill passed i remember what else you said. you said, i was proud, it was a proud day for me. it's now a national holiday. i think i speak for everyone here who served with you. it was a proud day for me when i made your acquaintance. it was a proud day for me to be able to work with you. and i genuinely, genuinely appreciate the way you treated me when we worked together, and i admired the way you treated every single solitary person you don't with. howard, you know, i've said this

before. i've never served with any man or woman who possess more wisdom and integrity than you. i've never known anybody that possessed more wisdom and integrity than you. you heard me say it many times, howard. and i can look back in retrospect, and i realized i probably hurt you back home, literally at the time, but i said there's no one i would rather work with or enjoy working with in my entire career than they did with you. it was one of the best experiences in the 36 years i served in the united states senate. i think you made such an exceptional leader, howard, because of your ability to put yourself in the other guys are other women's shoes. i watched you when we traveled abroad because of it i watched you on the senate floor. it was always from the perspective of the other guy, the other woman, and how could

you work out an honorable compromise. my dad you'd have been especially he said never back another man in a corner with his only way out is over you. you never did that. and what an incredible talent you had. even though you were around at the time harry truman said what i'm about to say, i think he could've been talking about you, in his different context when he said, it's understanding that gives us the ability to have peace. when you understand the other fellow's viewpoint, and he understands ours, then you can sit down and you work out your differences. i watched you do it time and time and time and time again. when you saw a problem, your initial instinct at least from my perspective was how do we fix it? 1970, you teamed up with ed muskie to pass the clean air

act, the clean act of 70 but the clean water act in the city to come to you and muskie. 1973 when you're in the watergate committee, with danny in a way, one of the most honorable men i've ever known in my whole life, you did something really critical. you restored for the american people the confidence and integrity of the system at no small price to you. 1978 i watched you risk your career. i watched him risk his career as he made sure the panama canal treaty passed. 1987 i watched you with admiration. you change your career leaving the private sector after having let the senate, coming back to become the chief of staff for ronald reagan. as we used to say in the senate, forgive me for a personal point of privilege, i'd like to share a story. you may remove her this, howard. robert bork had been defeated in the senate.

the president had set up another nominee which he subsequently pulled out. and i'm confident it's because howard told, you ought to pull biden down to the united states, or to the white house. and ask his opinion and give him the 10 names you think, that you are considering. so the president, god love him, called me down. i sat there in a chair. you were sitting on the couch. and president reagan, one of the most charming guys, pulled out these cards, and he said, joe, tell me what you think the prospects of these people are. i said look, i said, howard knows this and better than 90. he said i want to know from your perspective. so he started reading down the list. and he started off with a very conservative judge from the fifth circuit and i said no, i don't think that would fly, mr. president and he went down the list, and he came up with wade and the critic he would go

to like a hot knife through butter. he goes down the list and he got, he said tony kennedy. and i said california? appeals court? yet. i said well, mr. president i know he is a straight conservative but i said, i think he would pass. he said you are for him then, aren't you? [laughter] and i said no, i didn't say that, mr. president. i said based on what i know, i think he would pass and i would probably vote for him. he said you are for him been. he said can i tell him you are porting? and i said no, no. mr. president i don't know enough about him. i got down that road once before. and i said, i turned to you i said howard, tell him, tell him. and howard said something accommodating, and without, president reagan said to me, joe, do you have an extra minute? i said i should do, mr. president. we stood up and he grabbed me under the arm, walked around the

county to the side of the goes into the private dining room. opened the door into a standing there tony kennedy. [laughter] he said dona, joe is for you. [laughter] remember that, howard? i would like to howard and i said oh, man. this was good. and i don't think with all the presidents idea is. [laughter] but you picked a good one, and i was for him. look, the fact of the matter is that i can say without fear of contradiction by the press, by historians, and i presume to speak for every man and woman you spoke, you ever served with, that it was a great honor and a genuine privilege to serve with each of you, to learn from each of you. i know you wish i had learned more, bob, but to learn from you. [laughter] and quite frankly, just simply to know you both.

it's an honor to be here tonight. thank you. [applause] [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, former senate majority leader and bpc senior fellow, trent lott. [applause] ♪

>> well, first let me say thank you to vice president biden. i was told that he had 20 minutes, that i could have all the time that he yielded back. [laughter] and he yielded back sometime, so i really do appreciate that. howard, bob, nancy and elizabeth, so great to be here with you. and i'm so thrilled that you are being honored like this. to all the friends of the doles and the biggest, thank you for being here tonight. i want to thank the bipartisan policy center for making this event possible, and to providing the leadership, to recognize these outstanding former senate majority leaders. i felt like they deserved it, and in a way they even needed it because they have been so overshadowed all these years by nancy and elizabeth. [laughter] they needed this recognition. the thing that many of us remember about bob dole, and there are many great things, the

vice president and tom daschle have already enumerated so many wonderful and serious things, one of the things that made bob dole so special, and made the senate so much fun to be in, was his wit and his human. he always found a way to see the funny side of the series of things we were dealing with. we have offered some of his stories and laughed with him. i remember i think he spoke at howard baker's retirement party. i don't know, they get some viagra jokes, i don't remember that part last by a dinner one tiny at elizabeth confirmation today cabinet secretary, and, of course, he quoted on that occasion nathan hale when he said, i regret that i don't have one wife to give to my country's infrastructure. but bob's best stories were on bob. there were a lot of them. of course, jay leno always had a lot of fun with bob. one of my fave once he don't on cell phones about how he was a young congressman and he was on

the campaign trail and he wound up somehow or another in ohio. and, of course, nobody really knew him better, and this was one of those lincoln day dinners and to want to try to get the crowd up little bit. so they got it on a local radio program, and when they started to introducing bob, it was quite an expense because they said we want you to get to know our special guest who will be speaking at the dinner tonight. and i like to take a look at mark about bob doyle. [laughter] first of all the tickets have been cut from $3 to 1 dollar. we wanted to have a good crowd, vision congress for our are going to give away a free tv set. but that won't occur until our speaker quit speaking and you have to be present to get the tv. now about his background. he is from kansas. he was in premed before he served in world war ii. there he suffered a head wound and went into politics.

[laughter] that was what bob dole told on cell. and many other stories like that. so i could tell stories about howard baker and bob dole and the inspiration that they have been to so many of us here in this room, as friends and colleagues, as former staff members. i'm just so thrilled we are recognizing thing here tonight. but in the true spirit, the bipartisan nature of this event, i have been given the opportunity to introduce the next speaker, and that is the current majority leader, harry reid, the 21st senate majority leader. i've known harry for 30 years. we served in the house together. we served in the senate together. when i had the honor and pleasure being majority leader, harry was the whip on the democratic side of the minority. he and tom had a great relationship and tom quite often would be busy and he would have harry on the floor. every time i would call up a bill, they would be 100 amendments.

not 79, 100. and it was always quite often the same administered so i would mosey over to harry and said harry, we've got to clear the deck although here. and he said well, we will work on. he would go off and get rid of about seven and we would accept 20 of them and they would vote on three of four and the day was done. we had a great relationship. one of the things i did in keeping with what you're supposed to do as the leaders, find out what really matters to the leaders on the other side of an issue, the other side of the aisle in this case but it didn't take me long to find a what really mattered to harry reid. it was his family, his faith, and a nuclear free nevada. [laughter] not necessarily in any [laughter] not necessarily in any particular order. [laughter] once i realized that how much he cared about his family and his faith and a nuclear waste free nevada, everything else worked out fine. most of you know that harry act was an amateur boxer, and then,

of course, turned into senate majority leader, which is appropriate training for that position. and i can tell you that harry would come on the floor, and after touching gloves, he then would try to float like a butterfly and sting like a bee for the rest of the day. he is soft-spoken, but with a powerful punch. ladies and gentlemen, found for on the the best democratic leader round is my friend, senator harry reid. [applause] ♪ >> first of all, i'm happy to be

here today. we had are usually easy time in the office today. [laughter] first of all, senator daschle, thank you very much for doing this, asking me to come. you and george asked me to be here. i was disappointed he's not your, so that should tell us everything, shouldn't it? no, actually he told he wouldn't be there because they are making a movie of george mitchell about his work in northern ireland, and i'm sure it would be an excellent document and ensure it would be terrific. i admired george so much when he was the leader. he sent senator daschle on a couple of fools errands. we were a couple young senators there, and we were trying to pass a budget deficit reduction act, i think it was 1993, and he looked around the senate and he couldn't find to bigger dopes and daschle and reid. so he said, here's your job.

go get bob kerrey's vote. so we looked at each other, and bob kerrey new we were coming. he went to a movie that afternoon. [laughter] so tom will remember that. he agreed to come and vote with us on a couple of conditions, one of which he got to speak first. and he wasn't really complementary of our chief executive officer at the time, and he voted the right way. so we fulfilled our obligations to senator mitchell. i also want to just take a word to express to everyone who publicly about my affection for senator daschle. those of us who have been around the capitol for a long time and the senate know that when he was a majority leader, he trusted me, and i always did things i thought that would fulfill his trust in me.

as senator lott has said, he basically turned the floor over to me, and he was doing a lot of other things, and we worked together. and i have said to him personally on a number of occasions, i will say to everyone here publicly tonight, tom daschle is like a brother to me, and i so appreciate all he's done for me, including helping me become the whip and now the leader. so thank you very much, tom. [applause] >> trent lott introduced income and i appreciate them very much. trent was a terrific leader. he was as conservative as anyone has ever been. he came to washington, mississippi, but i admire trent so much because he was conservative but pragmatic. he worked to get things done. we would have lots of

amendments. he would ask me what i could do to get rid of some of them. daschle told me to get rid of some of them, so between the two of them wake up a lot of amendments disposed of very quickly. and finished our legislation. so trent, thank you very much for that nice introduction. i have great respect and admiration for you. i was happy to see bill frist here. bill frist and i have some extremely difficult times in the senate. not personally come because there isn't a nicer person in the world than bill frist. times were difficult, and i remember a lot of things about dr. frist it and i said dr. frist because he did everything he could to make the senate run as smoothly as he could. and sometimes as we all know that sometimes not very smoothly. but the one thing that i've always member of how bill frist, whenever problem came up related to medicine, he had a glint in his eye that you could see for mile away. he loved medicine. and, of course, his career

before he came to the senate was one of significance. so bill, thank you very much for your friendship and all you've done for tennessee and our country. [applause] enjoyed senator biden's remarks but he of course is always a synagogue and we all understand that. [laughter] mitch mcconnell. i know that people talk about mitch mcconnell and harry reid. they always are out there fighting with each other, but senator mcconnell and i have a very warm personal relationship. we are friends and we do things for each other, as much as we can which is more often than people think. and i've had so many people come to me and say you know, the send is dysfunctional, it's just not working, it's the worst it's ever been, and if i have time, i tell them the following comment

the senate is the way it is not because of mcconnell and read, it's because of the founding fathers. that's the way they set up this country. you know, the great compromise in july of 1787 came about because the founding fathers had tried the articles of confederation. there were a flop, they didn't work. they were trying to work through a new constitution. they couldn't get it done. one of the delegates from connecticut came to philadelphia and he said i have an idea. it was a revolutionary idea for some revolutionaries. he said, here's how we should handle the problems of rhode island and new york, which were big stumbling blocks, little tiny rhode island, very small and very, know people. in new york, huge in area, lots and lots of people. he's the one who came up with the idea of a bicameral legislature. and remember, in doing that it

was really, really a radical move. because whoever heard of a legislature composed of two separate bodies? you had separate but equal branches of government, and that's true. but remember, this it quality of the congress comes pretty hard. when we were in the majority, and pelosi was speaker, you -- that's the way things are. the house is always buying to have more power than us and. this is always find out more power than house. we have two bodies, one run by republicans when democrats come its get -- it gets more difficult. so you look back over the history of this country, because the way the constitution is set up, we have had some difficult times. henry clay, the great compromise, he worked for 30 years to try to solve the problems of slavery. he had a number of compromises he worked, but ultimately it didn't work anymore. prior to that as we know, congressman came over, southern

congressmen come he didn't like what a congressman from massachusetts and. he came over with his cane and nearly beaten to death on the senate for. he missed work for two years but he was always, he was permanently disabled as a result of the beating they took. so we know of the battles during world war i. we know the battles that took place trying to get our military together in world war ii. we had the civil rights difficulties. so, mitch mcconnell and i are working in a situation that the founding fathers set up for us. and times are difficult now, but it's all going to be fun. the glass is really half-full. it's not have him to. we'll work our way through all these issues. of course, that's the reason for this event, we need more bipartisan cooperation, and less

partisan competition. and we are working that in our own way. [applause] i've had the good fortune of serving with both senator dole's wife and senator baker's wife. when i came to the senate, there were two women in the senate. senator of course nancy kassebaum and barbara mikulski. who come by the, today we honor her on the senate floor by noting that she has served longer in deny states congress than any person in history of this country as a woman. [applause] >> she came, she beat a record of the woman from massachusetts who came here in 1925 and left in 1960. and barbara mikulski has broken that record.

so, and i of course served with bob dole also. i heard very closely what senator biden said about bob dole. i was a relatively, relative newcomer during most of the days of senator dole, because you're always a newcomer and the shipping 25 years. senator dole, just like senator biden said, never ever tried to do anything to embarrass a new member. in fact, he went out of his way if there is a problem he saw that he could alleviate, he would take care of that. i have such admiration for him. for a number of reasons. not the least of which is the friendship that is unsurpassed between him and dan inouye. these two men were both badly injured in northern italy. face been used together in a hospital in minnesota or michigan, someplace like that.

[laughter] they both start with m. [laughter] ..

>> i was happy to have done that one small thing for bob dole. senator baker, most of the things i know about him, come from people from nevada. paul axel cared a great deal about howard baker. they have the same kind of personalities. they were very soft-spoken, they were very good at what they did, they were not bullies, howard baker, popkin and, paul axel. i'm so grateful to have the opportunity to recognize the purpose of this. the purpose is to do whatever can be done to establish bipartisan cooperation of the senate, and i'm going to continue to do everything i can to establish that. thank you very much. [applause]

>> ladies and gentlemen, former senate majority leader and bipartisan senator beltran for. >> on behalf of the epc, i'm pleased to be here tonight. especially after eating away from the senate. working here every week. as a coleader of the bpc health project with senator tom daschle, we strive to fulfill that principle -- to fill that example of what senator baker and senator dole were hoping to achieve when they first envisioned this organization of the bpc. i'm here tonight with my good

friend mitch mcconnell. first, to tell you my howard baker story. it was 1993. the place, below the tendency. a cold, wintry night. i drove from four hours from nashville to huntsville, his beloved home. the purpose was to seek advice. the doctor, to seek advice from the dean of public service in tennessee. senator baker, i am considering one running for the senate. senator baker, you're not a politician. senator baker, i have to be honest, i have never put out very many yard signs. senator baker, you have not paid your political d. was?

along the four hour drive over. senator vitter, i have never run for political office. senator, you are a doctor with no political experience. as i understand, and i really just want to ask you your device, senator baker, no, bill frist, come back here. you are going to run for the united states senate. and i said, senator baker, but why? because this senate should be the seat of citizens legislators. i know that story because it was ingrained. senator baker is the enemy of -- he is the enemy of a legislator.

from a humble background, coming back to huntsville, tennessee. hearing the call and going to his home -- coming back home, envisioning the bpc with senator daschle, george mitchell, the idea of the citizen's legislature. thank you, for your embodiment of what makes this country great. [applause] >> it is my honor to introduce my friend and confident in many ways in the four years i served in the united states senate as majority leader. my closest friend, the longest serving senator in kentucky, the second kentucky and to lead his party in the united states

senate. my friend and your friend, republican leader mitch mcconnell. [applause] [music playing] ♪ ♪ >> good evening. bob and howard, what a wonderful honor for both of you tonight. i am happy to be a part of it. the presence of so many distinguished guests from across the political spectrum testifies not only to the high esteem that we all have for bob and howard, but also for the growing reputation and influence of the bipartisan policy center. which of course, leads to help

create. it is also a powerful validation of the senator's mission. it is a genuine honor and a humbling one to be able to participate in the celebration of two truly remarkable men. to reflect on this century of service between them, and to draw lessons from that service as we inched towards the bipartisan solutions that we know will be needed, if we are ever to address a looming crisis that casts a longer shadow over the work we do in congress, these days. at some point, we have to come together. we all know that. bob and howard have helped show us the way. let me just add this. congress always appears to be broken right up until the moment it isn't. what matters is that we all acknowledge the problems we

face, which we all do. and that we keep talking and listening to each other, which we are. it might surprise some people to hear it, but harry and i actually get along very well. we've got a good working relationship and i dare say the strength of that relationship is one reason i believe that if our partisan solution to some our most pressing problems is within reach. the sense of urgency is there. the relationships are there. the desire is there. but as bob and howard will tell you, timing is everything in this job. so we will keep at it. as i say, we have much to learn as we do from the example and leadership of bob dole and howard baker. it is fitting that we are

marking this year as a century of service of senator dole and senator baker, since next year marks the 100th anniversary of the formal creation of the office of senate majority leaders. with a privy of us in the room, the office majority leader would have to wait another four years. [laughter] >> is a party leader myself, i have to agree with those who say you cannot appreciate the challenges of the job unless he patted yourself. but i will take a shot at it anyway. one way to think of a party senator leader is to think by some mysterious process you have been chosen to lead this group. they are all class types, big egos and sharp elbows. on a daily basis, they all think they can do the job better than

you. imagine that leadership challenge. it is the challenge of leading a body whose animating principle is individuality, where everyone has equal power and where none of the people who belong to it are either accustomed to or eager to be led. bob dole once put it this way. he said if you are hanging around with nothing to do and the zoo is closed, come on over to the senate. [laughter] >> you look at the same kind of feelings, and you won't even have to pay. [laughter] >> howard described the senate as polite anarchy. it is from him that we got the image of hurting cats. all of this is said with a deep love and affection, of course, for colleagues and the institution. the same way that people from big families talk about each other, it might look like

dysfunction from the outside, but it is our dysfunction. somehow, by some history of design in human nature, it not only works, but it is the glory of the republic. none of us would change a thing about it. but i do think we have an obligation to explain it a little better to people, so let me make a couple of observations. first of all, as trent likes to point out, there is no rulebook for leading the senate. this means every leader has to interpret the job on his own. and in slightly different ways. some may view the role as being the president's enforcer, and they focus all of their energies on ramming his agenda through congress as quickly as possible. joe robinson perfected this role so well in the early days of the new deal, will rogers could say congress doesn't pass legislature anymore.

it just waves to the bills as it goes by. others have been a little more judicious. alvin barkley started out in the mold of robinson, but seven years in, he was so enraged by roosevelt's veto of the tax bill, that he gave and impassioned speech urging his colleagues to override the president's veto. and they did it. after which barkley promptly resigned as majority leader. interestingly, barclay's colleagues were so impressed, they reelected him unanimously it the same day. [laughter] >> from that point on, barkley was dean is speaking not to the senate or the president, or to the other way around. howard baker is the vice president candidate earlier who showed similar interest in

watergate and getting the panel can now treaties approved while he was leader. to isolate similar moments in obscure, since his entire life has been one of continuous courage. there were many. let me just say that they are one of the last lasting impressions is that politics is the greatest profession. this also brought different personalities to the job. it is something that the times have sometimes called for. in every case, it is something that the institution has accommodated in the joe robinson ruled by fear, then charles. [inaudible] will buy maddest. >> to him, every senator was equal and they loved him for it.

alan barclay, evidently, never shut up. one of his contemporaries put it politely. he said art we -- barkley had no -- he had a genius for bringing people together, a trade that his son-in-law picked up. one journalist said howard baker is able legal and cotton planter. bob was famed for his preparation and conviction. robert byrd for his command of history in senate rules. and bob dole for his timing and matchless wit. lbj, of course, transcends that categorization. he was every personality rolled into one. here is my point. every one of the men who has held this job has been very different, just as their times have been.

what unites the great ones, including the man we honor tonight, isn't crude power or charm or affability, it is a devotion to the institution, and ability to listen, the character to defer or two others and share the credit, and ability to see opportunity where others only see chaos and confusion could when the moment requires it, the willingness to put the country and the national interest ahead of party interest alone. humor doesn't hurt either. if you look back over the writings of the great leaders of the past, something else stands out. they all married very well. that is certainly true of howard and bob. if the founders had wanted an efficient government, if the founders had wanted an efficient government, they certainly never would have created the senate did they would have shuddered at the thought of deficiency.

they would never have given a senator as much power on the day he or she is sworn in as it takes house members decades to acquire. and america would not be america. the genius of the senate if that it was designed to be slow and painful, so legislation would reflect the national consensus and does have the durability to last. the men we are honoring tonight understood that. it is not an easy job. but as bob has observed before, once you're out of office, people start to like you again. [laughter] >> after a few years go by, they entirely forget while they were mad at you. >> in bob and howard's case, it did require a cooling off period they have had the public's respect, and all of ours. as we search for solutions in the years ahead, we would all do

very well to look at every step along the way to the extraordinary example of principled leadership that both of them have said. and he very much. [applause] thank you very much. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, bipartisan policy center president, jason jermaine. >> good evening, everybody. quoting the bipartisan solutions can be a lonely pursuit. we are surrounded tonight by several hundred national leaders, public servants, and proud of pragmatic partisans. it is my pleasure to introduce a

video of a special guest that could not be with us this evening. >> good evening. [inaudible] [inaudible] it's been a real are and -- honor. i'm always impressed by their leadership and dedication to getting things done, even when they disagree. i never once doubted our common desire. [inaudible]

we are willing to work together to build a stronger america. [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] congratulations to howard and to bob. [applause] [music playing] [applause] >> good evening, my job tonight is to introduce a short film.

i believe the very last time that i appeared with senator baker and senator dole was exactly 16 years ago. it was just before the tennessee republican caucus. [inaudible] i presented bob dole with one of my. [inaudible] [laughter] howard especially love the story about. [inaudible] the senator looked down and

said, howard, perhaps you shouldn't -- [inaudible] [laughter] [laughter] [inaudible] [inaudible] >> i won't surprise you if you won't surprise me. senator frist said, let me take it back. they worked beautifully together for four years effectively with the senate. senator baker, when he was the chief of staff, to president reagan, every single morning --

so he tells me, would begin his day with the president sitting down just the two of them, each of them telling the other one a little story. that ought to be a lot of stories. but it always made me feel a lot better about our country, to know that we have a president and his chief of staff who were so secure in their own skin that they could sit down at the beginning of each day and tell each other a little story. that was one of howard baker's secret weapons. his other secret weapon is that he remembers roy blunt's advice. people start getting into trouble when they stop sounding like where they grew up. howard baker has never stopped sounding like where he grew up because he never stopped living where he grew up, the little town of huntsville, tennessee. earlier this week, a student asked me, what is the best way for me to get into politics?

i said i can tell you exactly how to do it. pick up the person you admire the most. volunteer to go to work for them without any pay. carry their back, drive them wherever they want to go. babysit their children. write their speeches for them, even if they don't give your speeches, i know that works, because that is what i did. i did it for the very best, and 45 years ago i went to work in the united states senate for howard baker in the very same office that i occupied today. i agree with them -- [applause] >> -- i agree with senator dan quayle who once said, there is howard baker, and then there are the rest of us senators. [applause]

[music playing] >> i'll tell you exactly. i increasingly believe that the essence of leadership -- the essence of good service is the ability to hear and understand what your party has to say, what the country has to say. the ability follows to try to translate it into policy. >> there was a quiet there. the demeanor of what was going on. i have come to really realize how much she absorbs -- how much he absorbs when you think he isn't. he met my dad actually took me to the or courthouse to meet

him. he was the most respected man other than my father. mr. baker was a young, good-looking man who is into politics. when i went to washington, he came with me. the. >> the very idea that he would run and try to be the first republican ever elected in tennessee of the united states senate was a huge leap of faith. >> when i got there, i got the impression that i was accepted as a college. tour when i came here, i was his legislative assistant, and i wrote his speeches. of course, like most young aides, i thought my speeches were pretty good. after a while, i got to hear him deliver my speeches. the first one i went to, he didn't say a word of it. i worked hard on the next one. he didn't say a word of it. he never complained about them, so i asked, senator, i think we

have a real problem here. i'm working hard in these speeches did i give them to you, and you don't say one word of my speeches. he leaned back and laughed and said we have a perfect relationship. you write what you want to write, and i'll say what i want to say. >> was introduced to senator baker, i was assistant u.s. attorney. i was 29 years old at the time, and he said senator baker wanted to talk to me about being his campaign manager for his reelection. and i said, okay. how much does that pay? he says nothing. i said i'll take it. [laughter] [music playing]

>> when watergate happened right after the campaign was over with, he asked me if i was interested in coming out. they were going to form the watergate committee. he was going to be the ranking member and with the lack of minority counsel would represent three republicans on the committee. >> than with watergate, you think this type of thing that comes with the political consequences. that he would be vindictive, fighting type -- no, he was reasonable and rational about it. i have been a supporter of richard nixon. we had a real mess on our hands. >> senator baker had the most difficult job of all because he

had to balance all the interest. you don't have to worry about the democrats when they are investigating nixon, the question is what are the republicans going to do? the pressure on senator baker during those watergate days was unbelievable. there was not only pressure from the white house, but from tennessee, from republicans, from the press, watching everything -- is howard baker going to participate in the cover of? is he going to be soft on the white house? i'm sure inside the senate and his own caucus, there was a lot of concern. he had an equilibrium he is known for and coolness and patience, he developed a personal relationship with sam ervin. they were both country lawyers, and they were able to navigate those waters together. that was probably the last committee that really had a

bipartisan investigation. that was because of senator baker and his leadership. the lone star was a simple one. as it usually is. >> what we need to know is was the president and bob? [inaudible] >> what did the president know, and when did he know what? >> it was like ringing a bell on a cold, winter morning. it was clarity -- it was a commonsense question. that is what everyone wanted to know her. >> the panda -- can mock now --

it was a big deal in history. teddy roosevelt built it and connected the two oceans. we paid for it, we built it, we own it. that's what ronald reagan said. what senator baker and senator byrd said was, let's give it back to pen a mock him and the right to use it. >> he decided it had to be done in the interest of quarter in that part of the world and that was a tough vote. the people of tennessee said no way. you have to be kidding, to give up control of this tremendous global resource. that was difficult for me. it was a difficult intellectual decision. it had difficult questions. as we ran into it, it was clear that it could not stay the way

it was. panama was a sovereign nation. they own the property. it was also important to understand that the panama canal was very important to us as well. >> you had every veterans organization, not mildly opposed, they were in the streets. you have pressure groups unlike you see very often, politically united in our position to this treaty. >> it took 67 votes to confirm a treaty. here you are, on unpopular president, republicans wanting to get into office. howard baker running for reelection. ronald reagan going about the country. what you are really doing is taking a risk of throwing away your political future. by going against your party on such a big issue. he not only went against it, he corralled other republicans to get the 67 votes. the. >> i remember senator byrd, one night, as we were discussing

great moments of political courage. it had nothing to do with the panama canal, but senator byrd said you want to know kurt smacked? courage is howard baker. courage is the panama canal and howard baker. kurt smacked his doing what he did against incredible odds and pressure. that is kurt smacked. courage. [music playing] >> it took a long time for conservatives who are part of ronald reagan's team to get over the baker vote for it what is interesting is that they got over to the extent that when he needed somebody to take over the white house when things were in trouble. reagan was in big trouble over the iran contra problems.

the president called down to miami to talk to howard and got troy baker on the following. and he said i would like to talk to howard. she said, he's at the zoo with the grandchildren. president reagan said, wait till he hears about the zoo i have for him. [laughter] >> that is when he asked me to come up and be his chief of staff, president reagan did. which took him out of running for the presidency in 1988, which he probably wanted to do. >> i thought president reagan was good to appoint him as his man. democrats and/or republican. and they all trusted him. [music playing]

>> howard baker has the right stuff, and it's called kurt smacked, it's called empathy, it's called leadership. these are basic instincts, whether he's right or wrong. your own position will dictate that you have it. you can't just go on faith, quote unquote, all of the time. you have to look ahead at what the positions of the country, the people that you represent -- otherwise, there's no point in having represented government. >> he always told me the importance about running for the united states senate of being a citizen of legislator. i didn't know exactly what that meant, but now i have a good feeling about what it meant.

it means listening, taking counsel, it means yes, having strong convictions and strong principles, but listening to differing views and dissident views and taking those into consideration. >> the real essence of senate leadership is the ability. there is a difference between hearing and understanding what people say. you don't have to agree, but you have to hear what they have to say. and if you do, the chances are much better that you will be able to translate that into a position. and it is leadership. [music playing]

[applause] [applause] [applause] [applause] [applause] from the state of canada's-- kansas, senator pat roberts.

>> bob, elizabeth, harry and nancy, somebody took away my teleprompters. [laughter] [laughter] >> i have a cold, so please forgive me. it is called grandchildren. [laughter] >> little ones running around my house. little petri dish is running around my house. ladies and gentlemen and distinguished guests, my name is lamar alexander. [laughter] >> i think i have the wrong script. within minutes, i have it. it's down here. it says that i am pat robert, senior senator from kansas. did bob leave?

did that one guy leave to? nancy, what do you know? [laughter] >> why am i introducing a movie about the great man? unknown to most and before this was classified, i have been bob dole's bucket toter. i tell buckets. first as a staffer, then as a member of the house now serving from the senate, i have toted buckets of all shapes and sizes here, there, and everywhere. i ran through the buyers and brambles and the bushes in places where rabbits or democrats would not grow. bob, i did spill some. i admit to that. but you, sir, truly provided the water for kansas in our country. it has been quite a riot. inc. you.

[applause] thank you. [applause] >> tag along your side with my bucket gave me insight. i witnessed firsthand the change becoming, the shining from bob dole man to bob dole bipartisan man. i know the song, you know the song. and i'm going to need a little help from the audience here. i might need a lot of help from the audience. my apologies. this is coming from a monotone. where he began, he can't even begin to now. but he knew it it was going strong. was in the house and the house became the senate. who would believe that the democrats would come a long?

hands touching hands ♪ reaching out, touching you, this next part is going to be hard -- touching me -- here comes your part, suite robert dole -- bob, bob, bob. sweet robert dole, bob, bob, rob, good times never seemed so good -- so good, so good, so good ♪ i have been inclined -- all by yourself. >> to believe that they never would, but they did in the country, and the country was better for it.

searching for page five. [laughter] >> ladies and gentlemen, the movie futureview team, and starring elizabeth dole and senator inouye, what's his mood, what do you think? [inaudible] still the most humorous of man in the senate. the former majority leader tom daschle, most eloquent, substituting for penny youngman, former congressman and secretary of agriculture and a man for all seasons, dan brinton, start but stage screen, law and order, and

reverse mortgages -- [laughter] >> senator fred thompson. the former whip of the house, majority leader of the senate, and a singer of the hit song l. bier, 257 times. of course, the man himself, bob dole. let's play it again, sam. roll it. [applause] [applause] >> june 11, 1996, was one of the most emotional days of my life and one of the most beautiful days of our lives because of all

the warmth and love that was in that room for bob dole. it was quite an event. he was not only stepping down from his role as majority leader of the senate, he was giving up his senate seat. and he loved the senate. >> we didn't grow up in a rich family or a family of politics, we were taught to work by our parents. we did a lot of things like mowing lawns for people and shoveling snow, it was done in the name of responsibility. it made me a better public servant. >> they moved into the basement of their home and rented the upper portion of the home for a period of time. i think it brought to him a keen appreciation for the balance between the role government plays in the role that individuals play.

>> the experience of going without -- the experience of an oncoming dust storm, those are defining experiences. i think it gave him a very real empathy with have-nots. >> he was wounded on april 14, 1945, in northern italy. just about 2 miles away from where my men were wounded on april 21, 1945. we ended up in the same hospital. >> when he was on the battlefield, as i understand it, he was there about eight hours. and he said his hands were above his head, and he wasn't sure that he had arms.

>> senator dole felt a burning scrapple hit in the back of his right shoulder. with that, he had almost 40 months of rehabilitation. to me as a doctor, that meant one thing. >> reporting or 40 months laying in a hospital bed after world war ii, you know, you probably reach a point that you just are relying on yourself and you have to have the will and the strength to make a comeback. >> he should've complained, but he didn't. i asked him when i was ready to leave the place, i said well, bob, i'm going to be leaving. but what are you your plan's? he was all banged up. he says i'm going to be county attorney, first opening in the state legislator, that's where i will go. first opening in congress, that is where i will go. all through the senate after

that. >> he had this plan made right then. [music playing] >> the bob dole who came to washington in 1961 was a faithful representative of his part of kansas. he arrived in washington a classic partisan. he outgrew the limitations of partisanship. >> i was a consensus builder. i had as many friends on the democratic side is that on the republican side. >> and it was not because i was some kind of ingenious.

it was just that i was willing to listen. >> have to tell you that one day i dropped in bob's office and i walked in and here were four meetings going on. in four rooms within his capitol office. bob was presiding out over all four. >> there would be one in my conference room, one in his, one of the meetings in his office. his common phrase was work it out. >> you hear that -- work it out. [inaudible] and he would just come in and do that cool, glad you have it all done, guys. get out of your -- he'd say well, get it done. he had an impatience but always with kindness. he was strong. >> use one of the seven lawmakers that was appointed to

the national commission on social security reform. they had hit a snag. >> decisions involving raising taxes and social security involve reducing benefits and involved changing eligibility. >> it's not just politics, i remember my mother telling me not to take away social security. that's all i have. there are many like my mother who lived month-to-month on social security. >> the challenge was was there a solution that democrats and republicans could agree upon? spirit. >> senator moynihan, a wonderful senator, we got together and we almost said at the same time, we can't fail, because they're ours -- 30 million seniors to count on us.

one by one, we build a consensus for a compromise on social security. the classic case of what they had in mind. getting people to work together to reach a common solution to a very difficult problem. >> one of the things that i think was dearest to him, and a constant reminder, was a cigar box that he kept in his desk. it was the box that people of russell, kansas, collected money for him when he was in surgery after the war. a lot of his work in disability with was giving people the tools that allow them to get back into the workplace. it allowed them to gain, essentially, the confidence and self-respect. >> the one particular legislative project that we will talk about a century from now is

the americans with disabilities act. everybody thought it was an impossible mission. every year we had talked about it. in fact, every april 14 i would make a speech on the senate floor about people with disabilities. at the time, it was very controversial. it was very strongly opposed. we were like bulldogs. we were going to let it go. and we felt as time passed. >> it compared any other constituency i can think of, they don't have the resources, they didn't have the people to articulate their positions. they didn't have much going for them. but they had bob dole. >> keep a sense of humor. that is what is missing now. there is no humor.

bob dole is a guy of rare good humor. that's just what he was. he could detain people. >> with perfect timing and with the sickness, he couldn't cut through almost anything with a comment or look as if you were in the mood to do that. it would just pull you over. >> it comes from working in drugstores in russell, kansas. the two dalton brothers would throw these one-liners back and forth all day. >> i picked up a lot of wisecracks in the drugstore. there are many people who said if he could have shown how quick witted and humor as he was on the campaign trail, he had been president in 1996. he has a wonderful line that he

said -- he used to have bumper stickers that said bob dole in 1996. most people thought that bob dole was 96. [laughter] >> senator dole of kansas is recognized. >> i appreciate very much the legislation that was just passed -- i know it can't have any political campaigning on it -- [laughter] but just having the name out there in lights the next few months might be enough. [laughter] >> i never will forget the day that he left the senate. it was very emotional for all of the senate. >> those of us on the staff of the time were surprised but not surprised that he had made the decision. >> he wanted to do dedicate full-time to campaign, gave his very best effort. >> sitting in the well at that point, next to him, how remarkable as an institution it

was. and the extraordinary respect the members held. the fact that they all came to the floor and that they all -- it was an emotional transition for all of them. it was just hard to imagine what the next step was going to be. [music playing] this is somebody who fundamentally believed so deeply in public service. that plays out in a variety of ways. he has been, of course, very active in raising the funds with fred smith, the ceo of fedex. $185 million to build the world war ii memorial. >> he put his heart and soul into the world war ii memorial. it simply wouldn't be there today if it were not for the fact that bob dole, almost at times, single-handedly, continued to press to get that accomplished. in spite of extraordinary odds to the contrary.

>> he led the process when the time came to put up a plaque in the rules said you cannot do it, he said the hell with that rule. he built that. [music playing] >> he was very much of a generation who believed that the end of the day, you are judged by. [inaudible] that meant what you got done. it meant what bills you pass and what programs to created. if you fail, you failed. you have to have your heart into it. you can't just be halfhearted approach. you have to put it all on the table. the stakes are high sometimes, and you better be good at

counting votes, or you will lose. >> i didn't like to lose. [music playing] [applause] [applause] [applause] [applause]

>> ladies and gentlemen, i stand before you with a welcome opportunity to impart to be magnificent facts. the first is that i am the last tribute this event. the second is that after i share a few thoughts, you will have an opportunity to hear from our honorees. the third is that the bars that stay in the room were placed at 2:00 o'clock this morning, so we hope that some of you will stick around. like so many of you in this room, i am very proud of my sensation with senators baker and dole. and deeply grateful to them for everything they have done for the by bipartisan policy center. senators mitchell and daschle as they continued to bring to our

events, we could not have this institution without you. the intangible gift has been the opportunity to know bob dole and howard baker -- it has been the greatest for us at bpc. been around the two of them makes you want to try harder. it forces you to listen a little closer, and it also really reminds you of the great opportunity that we all have to work with colleagues we care about on issues that are important to us. senator dole has taught us to embrace the value of good argument. not to settle for the thin compromise or simple solution, but to dig into the meat of the issue in hopes that you can find a lasting solution that represents and reflects the best ideas of the parties. no matter what else is happening, senator baker always ask how we are doing. it is not a simple throwaway line. he has helped us understand the importance of approaching every day and any problem with resolve and optimism. the insight and good humor is

always a key to a good result. they have set the bar high for us, and we are much the better for it. when we first conceived this event, each senator had two reservations. fortunately, there were the same. the first was they didn't want to much attention. the second is they didn't just want to focus on the past. senators, i apologize for the attention. there was simply no way around it. but i'm have to say a few words about the work you are doing together in the future. in addition to his work with the bipartisan policy center, senator dole represents a wide variety of clients at his firm. he is also a forceful recruiter of new clients. some of you are aware he is still a very hard guide to say no to. he is a tireless advocate for veterans and a strong supporter of the honor flight network, which is a terrific program that brings thousands of veterans all over the country to see the

world war ii memorial in washington. he has also made 100 or more visits to these delegations. to share in the admiration we have for their service. another goal is also continuing to work on cases for individuals with disabilities. finally, he remains deeply engaged in politics. he is a thought-out advisor on issues that affect the workings of washington. he is a very affable person as he has the greatest tact. i would say he is notoriously accurate in the republican primary. that is because he cares deeply about the party. i think he also recognizes that if we had a broker convention, he could be recognized and be perfectly positioned to lead the country once again. [laughter] >> senator baker is a senior partner at baker donelson.

he is now cochairing a project on nuclear fusion. when he finds nuclear fusion to be so, he moves over to the other product. >> i present their tours on trent gratuitous efforts. senator baker is a long-standing ally of the nation of japan. he continues to work with them. he is part of the japan nuclear table. something i did not know, he is a photographer. he photographed everything. i'm told that he takes great pleasure in showing friends and strangers around his studio in tennessee. no matter what the tasks or challenges are, senators baker and dole bring forward a

charisma and characteristics and leadership that is unique to this country. >> when we think about the future, one thing i think we are sure of is that these folks are going to have to be as good as baker and dole. with the active support of our majority leaders, we are very proud today to announce the baker dole fellowship program. this will help individuals around the country to work with us for a year at the bipartisan policy center on issues of importance to the senators and themselves and the nation. it will also provide a terrific chance for these leaders to test their own abilities and wrestle with the opportunities to serve to the public. more information about this fellowship is hanging around here somewhere. if any of you are personally

interested in applying or even wanting to help out a future leader, the application deadline is in september, and i am sure that more info is available on her website. it is truly my great pleasure in my honor to recognize the honorees tonight we have all come to see. senators baker and dole for their century of service to this country. senators, thank you. [applause] [applause] [applause] [applause] >> bob dole, thank you for the opportunity to share this with you.

i am pleased to be here today. there are enormous events. and we talk about national issues and local issues. but you have never, ever failed to consider the perspective and the terms of relevance and importance. lamar alexander remembered the remarks paid today, and i enjoy the occasional luxury of his expressed thoughts. [laughter] it is dangerous of a cost to say too much as it is to say too little, but i won't particularly

say that i recognize their achievements. they run several pages. [laughter] >> i was also impressed by another remark that was made. he pointed out that the attention span of a senator is measured by the willingness of his ability to listen. in highest regards for bob dole, those who participated and to this organization they say you make a great contribution to the future. we recall the debate to the future course of direction. but to spare you the details of

these remarks, having enjoyed all of them so far, in the best traditions of the senate, if the vice president is still here, i ask that the remarks be included in the record. [laughter] as if they were. [laughter] [applause] [laughter] [applause] next? [laughter] >> jason, thank you very much. thank you for your efforts and efforts of your staff. you have done an outstanding job in the past five years. howard and i are very proud of

nancy and elizabeth -- we are all very proud to have some association with you and with your wonderful staff and all of the good things you are doing good howard and i come from a school where we believe, and still believe, that some of the tough issues can be resolved if you can find people that you can trust on both sides of the aisle. i think that is the bottom line. if you don't trust your counterpart, you're probably not going to be very successful. what i want to say about howard baker, you know, i came to congress -- my parents weren't involved in politics.

it was -- you know, my dad was a working man, went to work every day and was proud of it and once i got a taste of it, in rent for the state legislature, and the county attorney and then the congress, and then in 1968, the senate. it has been a great experience, and i learned a great deal about people, and i learned a lot about america and about what is good about america. i don't believe there is any i don't believe there is any problem that cannot be solved if you have willing men and women come together. it may not be easy, it may not be possible, but in some cases,

it is necessary. you mentioned social security, had we not acted and actually -- pat monahan was a driving force. had we not been able to bring it back together, i'm not certain what saved social security today. as we predicted, social security would last until 20 -- i think, 20 -- the end of this century. it means that 30 some million americans will get their checks on time, again, as my mother used to say, that may be all the

people have to live on. they want to continue and they want to have it on time. so we have had so many possibilities. howard was a great leader. he was sort of my mentor, and i was a bit surprised that he left the senate after four years, but he did so for a good reason. he wanted to go to tennessee and make a little money. [laughter] >> i said, senator, a when i leave, i'll try to make a little money. [laughter] >> one thing that was said tonight is true. once you leave politics, your

approval rating goes straight up. people write you letters saying i never liked you, you so and so, but now i think you're a pretty good guy. please send me an autographed picture. [laughter] >> elizabeth. >> a picture of elizabeth. [laughter] [applause] [laughter] >> we have a lot of photos, we have lots of mine, but there are not many left of elizabeth. if you need any or want any, were just like to have one lying around, call my office. [laughter] >> i speak for my colleagues,

nancy, we thought we had a pretty good thing going in our relationship with the senate. we believed that most issues could be resolved, and i learned from her and i learned from elizabeth, who was like a bulldog when she got hold of an issue, she worked night and day. and she did in the cabinet where she held house jobs. my time is not out. i still have about 45 minutes. [laughter] >> howard keeps saying stop. [laughter] >> so i'm going to stop. and you all for coming. i want to particularly thank, i know he is not here, joe biden for speaking and speaking during a fairly limited time.

[laughter] [applause] [laughter] [applause] thank you, and goodnight. [laughter] [applause] >> okay. [laughter] [applause] [applause] [applause] [applause] feel free to move around, everybody. thank you for coming. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> be with us later for our "q&a" program. that is up ip and eastern on

c-span two. at 630, an event marking the 30th anniversary of sandra day o'connor and her term on the u.s. supreme court. watch that live here on this network. and our coverage of campaign 2012 continues later today between dick lugar and his republican primary challenger richard murdoch said that begins live at 7:00 p.m. eastern on our companion network c-span. the aspen institute recently held a symposium on race relations in america. speakers included civic and minority rights advocates who examined the institutional problems of race. also focusing on all text in the 2012 election. this lasts about an hour. [applause] >> good morning. i hope my microphone is working if you can hear me.

thank you for that kind introduction. i was thinking all this kind thoughts about myself as you were speaking. it is a pleasure to be here this morning with all of you. it is a very important discussion. professor, thank you for that introduction to this difficult topic, because i think age and generational divide, as the professor explained, are absolutely critical to our understanding of race in the 21st century. as david cohen noted, the context of our discussion this morning is really set by the political race that is about to begin. a race that features the first african american president that is seeking reelection. ..

please help me welcome charles blum. [applause] >> to my immediate left is karen nariscoci of the asian-american

justice center. number of the center for advancing justice and also vice chairwoman of the leadership conference on civil rights legal and nation's oldest and broadest civil-rights coalition and chair of the right working group, civil-rights groups who were looking at the erosion of civil liberties and basic immigration right after 9/11. she served on the board of common cause independent sector and committee on civil rights and she currently serves on the advisory council of walmart, nielsen media research current. karen narasaki. and the american enterprise institute. mr. oresnestein he writes a

weekly column for roll-call and serves as an election analyst. he was co-director of the brookings election reform project and participates in the election watch series. it is pertinent again when we have so much money in the political system that you should know that mr. ornstein can -- did a campaign finance law and authored the forthcoming, the title says it all, it is even worse than it looks. how the system collided with the new politics of extremism. [applause] >> let me begin with you. talking in general about race and politics in american society. i want to throw out we to quick

names and get your response. the two names i would throw out to you on mitt romney and sheriff joel prime. >> if you recall in the past there was a debate in arizona before the primary in which joe sat in the audience smiling and nodding vigorously, appreciatively as mitt romney extolled the errors of the immigration act and said he would take a little bit further. i could punctuate that with a third name which is russell pearce who is the author of that bill who was recalled and bounced from office because of his extreme views who set a few days ago that mitt romney's position on immigration is the same as his own. now we see mitt romney pushing the reset button little bit on this issue and changed the focus

by excoriating barack obama for not pushing hard for a comprehensive immigration bill but as we see surveys that show mitt romney's support among hispanics has been hovering around 14%, about a third of what george w. bush got and barely more -- a less than half of what john mccain got, if you look at the presentation we had on the distribution of votes, this is a huge problem and a huge burden. what it tells us more generally, juan, if you have a set of forces in the country now which is primary voters and the base of the parties and this is particularly true of the republican party, that will the candidates in a direction that is inimical to the direction you have to go if you're going to appeal to both the center and a group of voters who are critical

in a series of swing states and it is going to raise the issue of race with hispanic voters to a different level and it is going to require a different kind of dialogue. what everyone feels about the specifics of that immigration law or other immigration bill, the message out there which is in affect we don't want your kind here moves to a different level and it is not clear to me that if you pick a cuban american to put on the ticket that that will necessary mitigate against those views for the next -- mexican-american's or puerto ricans or salvadoran americans or others who are going to be critical voters. >> there you are referring to florida senator marco rubio. >> exactly. there are other choices mitt romney is going to look at. governor of nevada or ryan

sandoval and the governor of new mexico in martina's, republican campaign figure raised that a week ago. period winning governor from a full state. >> when you were speaking a moment ago about potential -- hispanic population to change the conversation in 2012 election. i was struck that the assumption is the black vote goes to president obama. >> the black vote will go by the same percentages or numbers as last time. the name trey don martin comes up, and we will have some

discussion. in 2010, a disaster all across the country. and in such dramatic numbers, it dropped off. that means young voters -- younger voters like hispanics and asians in the african-american population, 2-1 in the group's, that will turn out. now that we see a sharper focus. the washington post had a front-page piece that move beyond trayvon martin where we see sharp divisions on racial questions. it is going to raise a profile on those issues. it may have an impact on turnout and may change the dialogue we have in this campaign. >> karen please reply want to ask a question to get your

position as you look at areas of expertise where you are working, in the latino community. we heard about it from norm but in the asian population has been tremendous growth. where do you see these populations? kind of obvious what we heard from norm. what is going on with the asian population? >> it is the sleeping giant, what we talked about 20 years ago. the asian vote not only has grown exponentially but has grown faster than the latino population but is spreading out. we are no longer in the gateway of california and new york or illinois. we are actually the fastest growing population in nevada which is a battleground state. we are 9% of that population. we clearly contributed to

senator reid's reelection and he knows that and you leaned into that very heavily but he has been one of the few mainstream elected politicians who clearly is looking at the demographics and understanding in close elections this community is going to matter. there are half a million haitians in virginia. largely because of northern virginia. and latinos and african-americans. kind of make a big difference. it went by a couple hundred thousand votes. in florida and pennsylvania and ohio, it is no longer smoke and mirrors. if asians can be a different -- they actually are different. in california not much was made of the fact that in the last election in 2010 the governor is watching and a democrat -- even though the white vote went

republican and was latino's legal asians and african-americans who elected the senator and governor of those states. i think the republicans are making a big mistake. the latino and asian community are groups very much up for grabs. in the l.a. times in 2010 vote you saw asians and latinoss who are leaning democrat. a lot of the asian vote is still independent. they are being pushed there by many of the forces that norm talked about. the anti-immigrant vote. it is becoming so harsh that even african-americans, anti immigrants were hoping they would get african-americans into the column particularly in the south are so struck by how extreme the party has gone in places like alabama that they have joined forces and they are forging a new alliance.

it will be interesting to see not just wear each ethnic and racial group goes but the coalitions that are being formed in this new election. >> i was listening to you and i was struck -- excuse me -- everyone is focused on the hispanic vote. you said the smoke and mirrors is gone with regard to the asian community that it is a substantial vote. you mention nevada as a swing state with a substantial asian population. are there others you would pick out? >> definitely. we are looking at virginia which the democrats are hoping to hold but it is unclear given how the 2010 election -- they lost three democratic congressional seats. we have florida or pennsylvania or ohio. the other thing that is really important is the obama does not -- the democrats don't have a lock on the immigrant vote. they are hoping the republicans continue to be so anti-immigrant that immigrants have no place to

go but the democratic party. latinos are not that happy with president obama either. he has supported record numbers of immigrants and has enforced much more effectively than george bush did all the immigration laws. there is much concern about racial profiling that is happening in these meetings which again is forging alliancess with the african-american community because latinos and asians feel the impact of racial profiling as well. the question is is either party going to invest in a real way in getting these out? these are voters who vote on the issue. they are not partisan yet. they're looking at issues and many latinos are looking at the african-americans saying we don't want to be taken for granted like the democrats have taken for granted the american vote. maybe we need to send a message. in the short run we need to send a message to the democrats you can't take us for granted the there. >> what you are saying i thought

was given immediate climate, no question of the asian vote is leaning are being forced for the democratic column. >> what is the turnout going to be? is there going to be the excitement? i think a majority of the asian vote will continue because that is where republicans are pushing them. how many will turn out to vote? in democrat communities the challenge has been to get the registration numbers and to get them out the door. >> charles blow. you have done some ground-breaking reporting in terms of the trayvon martin case mentioned earlier as the trigger, potential trigger in terms of black turnout. it could excite critical base for the obama campaign that otherwise -- picking up on something karen was saying maybe

nonplussed by his performance in all this. >> last time around you had record african-american turn out. however if you look at -- we all liked the president for the electoral college. if you with the electoral college or how the state's average out. if every african-american voters in america stayed home in 2008 barack obama would still be president. barack obama did not need the record turnout that he got. this time around he will need those voters because his support among the white population has gotten so soft. there's a portion of that group that is so hostile to him that to bake the numbers add up there are few states where it becomes

really critical. it is the virginias and floridas where you only win by three percentage points and you have -- the voter disenfranchisement laws that basically you can shave off one, two, 5% of the vote in a state where you already have a softening white vote. that means you actually need heavy turnout from the african-american population. that said, i believe you are going to have a high african-american turnout regardless. what you see when the obama machine was enormously efficient enthusiasm enthusiastic machine, when it kicks into gear and they paint a portrait of a president

under siege, you have a circling of the wagon among african-americans. it is through. it is just because he is a black guy? not necessarily. john kerry won 88%. black people vote democratic. it is a problem. even though on virtually every social issue they are pretty much in line with republican views who are very conservative, but because of what they see as racially change kind of campaign against them. ronald reagan was the last person who had decent percentage of the african-american vote. nobody is coming close.

ever since then, that was the last time i can recall a push to include african-americans in the dialogue was included in the republican platform. that has not shown up again in the platform that goes to the floor of the convention. you are going to have the rallying affect -- i always ceo obama's numbers, 10% depression among whites and installation of 10% among blacks. >> two things everybody would be interested in. you heard some laughter when you set blacks hate republicans. i could go back to goldwater in 64 and the civil-rights act and all of that. then you come forward in time and of course i think actually

george h. w. bush did pretty well from that 15% with black voters and then colin powell to the right and a tremendous attack on george w. bush by the naacp in terms of the james bird act to make sure black voters did not go to him. he had done well with black voters as governor of texas. in the current environment is it wrong to assume as you put it because the incumbent is a black guy that black voters wouldn't respond to him. i heard so much from people who say he has not performed for black voters. do you buy that? >> i don't buy that necessarily. you have a president who -- there is no way -- this is an

extraordinary period american history. the economy going off a cliff and how you pull that back means you have to make choices and you can't make choices -- can't sue everybody's priorities. so were their areas where they could have done better? of course. i am chief among them. are there places where he did make significance? the affordable health care obamacare is significant as a piece of legislation that helps minorities in particular. you have to look at each piece of legislation. each victory from the white house and look at how that thing even though it does not have a black face on it or hispanic face on it for whatever, how it

helps minority communities. that -- people didn't turn and say the black unemployment rate is much higher than the white unemployment rate. there are few times in history where -- the black unemployment rate is always higher than the white unemployment rate. there are few times in history where when it gets worse than it gets for whites as it crossed the line of where it gets as good as it is for blacks. when it is at its highest it rarely crosses the point when it is lowest for black people. we're always in recession. right? this idea that he was supposed to rectify hundred and hundreds

of years of black recession in america is just ridiculous on some level. what we have to look at this one in comes to unemployment the election will be about the trend and the line. is the line moving in the right direction? it won't be fixed for black people or white people or anybody. we will not be back to in normal unemployment rate. >> we will come back to this topic. the other part of the comments you initially made, everyone's attention was about whites and what you say with regard to white support for this president being soft was the word you used. he got 43% of the white vote in 2008. what do you think is the cause of the softening of white

support for president obama? >> trying to get me in trouble. you have to look at voting and support as separate things. he gets 40% but as soon as he takes off his support among whites is really high. in the 60s 470s. they may not have been willing to vote for him but when he is selected they like the guy. what we see now is they elect the guy, how that translates at the voting booth, if it is a corollary between how you voted before and immediately afterwards and you draw those in the sand is catastrophic. i don't think that will be the case. people line up and say a choice between two people.

is it from the -- is it mitt romney or hold my nose and it some of them will. however, this has become -- race has become such a partisan issue. race has always had an underpinning in the political system. politics and law were used to enforce people's beliefs about race but there was a moral component to the racial discussion. the election of barack obama has been essentially stripped away the entire moral underpinning of the conversation. all that you are left with is this hyperpartisan discussion of race as an issue. the moment you bring up the idea of race in america you immediately have people calling

to partisan positions about who's doing what for whom from a political system since -- perspective. not a moral perspective. that is how people see this president. they don't see him overtly -- their objection is not overtly racist. that is such a loaded word. i do believe that race sneaks' its way in to their assessment of him in implicit ways. very implicit weighs about the country has failed on the racial front altogether and a fatigue with the topic of race and he

starts to embody that fatigue. part of it -- if you are a small government conservative who believes in a strong military and small social services that is what you believe that has nothing to do with this november. data on to that the personal that 10% for and against. inflated about 10% among blacks. that 10% sneaks in and whether they articulate it or not, that part is real. >> norm, i want you to pick up on that. i particularly -- after you do you respond to what charles was saying, pick up on this notion of softening of the white vote and give us an idea wife what -- white voters looks to be disenchanted with the incumbent?

>> the problem barack obama has had is with working-class whites. that is a problem democrats have had in a growing way with working-class whites. particularly acute in the south. what charles was saying brings back a century old set of tension where you have populist movements in the south going back to reconstruction and just a little bit after trying to unite for people who have a lot in common because they were oppressed by a small group of the elites and the race card was played and created those divisions that carried through the south certainly until the 16 -- 60s and 70s and we still have those tensions. one of the questions is whether mitt romney can continue the appeal to working-class whites outside the south given his image and the things he has been

saying that certainly make populists salivate. you can go through the litany of the wife having two can wax and i like to fire people and don't know how much my net worth is within $50 million that earned a little money on the side, $374,000 from speeches. that is not designed to appeal working-class whites and one of the questions is whether race is played more overtly with that group to create more of a wedge and then we will see more of these racial tensions play out. just a couple additional points. >> i want to get everyone. >> beyond trayvon martin, the supreme court that just heard obamacare is this year going to hear and probably will on what remains of affirmative-action and higher education and there's a pretty clear signal that on a 5-4 vote the republican appointed justices in the

authority and democratic appointed justices not. there will drop a delicate balance of sandra day o'connor built-in. there goes affirmative-action. boating like that, section 5 is a frequent provision which are very much in the news both because of the voter laws charles mentioned involving id and also districting and clear signals from chief justice roberts from previous decisions that it is just a matter of time and this is probably the time they throw out section 5 of the voting rights act. if you think racial issues for african-americans have been high before just wait if we get those positions before the election. >> they have the arizona case. >> sir the case as well. just a point on the asian americans. we had good one --goowin liu an

asian-american, nobel prize winner who has been a punching bag for republicans because of solyndra and other issues. their hind, create a different level of consciousness among asian americans drawn along partisan lines. >> you already had the act in michigan they ran during the super bowl. >> tell us about it. >> hockstrow is running for senate and ran an ad that has the chinese looking woman save very scary that china is taking over and thank you to the opponent for selling out america

to china. that got flash all across the community. wasn't just -- to great offense at this notion that somehow people are going to be run against them by using race in that way. i do think -- it surprises me. the republicans have a death wish in the long term that they are ignoring demographics in going after in a very personal way, gratuitous the almost, asians and latinos. you had mitt romney going after for example the latino on the supreme court very gratuitously. in need to be trying to -- it was crazy and july realized what the republicans have decided to do is they're not going to go after that vote and try to keep minorities from voting. those are the anti vote was he was referring to and is not just the new identification laws.

those are crazy enough but cutting back on voter registration. not allowing a vote on sundays when they know black churches used to turn out their congregation. all these things shutting down. so difficult to register people in florida to vote legally. they turn a registration that a certain hour of the day almost. so complicated to understand that even women voters who say they devote voter registration in florida, all of that is very intentional. all of that if you attack on unions and try to defund unions. the unions that have been the financial engine and the only group who cared about getting out -- putting money into asian votes. the attack was very direct. it seems to me the decision has been we don't think we can get these votes even though i think they are wrong.

we will try to keep them from voting. we will suppress their vote as much as possible and whip up enough of our base and they are wrong about -- they are selling short white voters. they're assuming white voters are going to bite the racial bait and ignoring the amount of interracial marriage that is now happening. 9% of whites are intermarried. much higher in the younger generation. is not just the growing minority votes but where is the white vote eventually going to go? when their families become increasingly multicultural and increasingly look like -- >> from what i am hearing from the three of you do you see race as absolutely driving much of the politics of this campaign season? no getting away from racial discussions even though we already have a black president to pick up again on something

david said about the paradox that makes it seem the farther we have to go and realize how far we have to go. so race is absolutely at the forefront of this and let me shift for a second to say in response to you isn't it the case that candidate mitt romney, the front runner right now looks inevitable that he will be the inevitable nominee. is responding to an overwhelmingly white republican party wants -- they are angry over high levels of immigration. they are in fact concerned about increasing the size of government entitlements spending. they're concerned about china. as well as a military power.

so isn't it smarmy -- the president mentioned the older americans and largely white. younger americans, largely people of color and immigrants. isn't he responding appropriately to represent what the party's base wants. >> a segment of the republican party. if you look at intermarriage rates, all those things that look at immigration the south is still south. >> their highest in the south. you have outposts, and atlanta, a few outposts that are more international. you can see that in the local immigration laws that get past.

kids are coming to school. they're able to get utilities. they are trying to aggravate any contract you make. there over the line. the south is the south. a bunch of republicans, there are latino -- asian republican governors. two in the south. how did that happen? they are being forced in a box. when the dream act got voted on in the house the only republicans who voted with democrats in the house, guess what? the asians and american republicans. they are becoming -- the question for the republicans is to they want to go back to the party of reagan which if i were them is what i would be doing because blacks and latinos,

socially conservative, they could still get them or are they going to play to this increasingly narrow red part of their base? more than the rapid part of their base. >> let me come to you and say i think there are people who feel under siege by immigrants in this country who thinks this is not the america they grew up in hand they feel somebody needs to be a voice for them and much of that has come in terms of the republican base from an element we would identify as the tea party saying this is not illegitimate. this is not racist to say. these immigrants are flooding in here. too many immigrants of all kinds the specifically undocumented immigrants and why is that somehow wrong headed to say and why does it invite raise 0 -- racial backlash from white plead personal asian and hispanics? >> will never be what you are talking about ever again.

all you have to do is look at a census and its first people to death. republicans are banking in the short term on the us versus them politics which is the only way to preserve your way of life is circle the wagons and that means anti everything. anti-immigrant, anti entitlement. our way of life, our money, our tax money, everything is being taken from us and given to them and we want to reverse that trend. whether or not that works is the question in the short term. can't work long-term. there is no fighting math. you can't look at the numbers

and believe as a long-term strategy this works. >> let me interrupt you. you say this is the naked racial appeal by the republicans? >> this is when you look at particularly, republican primary voters. that is the last bastion of white voting -- even -- [talking over each other] >> let me finish! even though what they are doing is playing to the worst fears among that population, that part is naked. that is a place of fear and the fear of the bogeyman out there, and the only way you can have what you had when you grew up in the 50s or 60s is for us to keep

this country as close to that i deal as possible which is an impossible thing to do on the math. however you can look at ways to reverse immigration trends or you can look at ways to diminish entitlement programs or whatever. that is interesting if that is the attack they want to take they can take it. what the gamble is is can you grow the resentment that exists among the poorest, less educated of the white population in to the working class and even higher in to the electorate? if you look at the appellation vote for instance, that is the closest kind of chorus vote, most closely resembles african-american population.

just getting started. therefore poor whites, there for blacks are for. immigrants just starting. a lot of them are for. they voted differently in 2008. there are 410 counties that stretch all the way from the top of alabama to new york or parts of new york. barack obama won 44 of those counties. fewer than any democratic candidate in recent history. those people are just like no matter what my economic situation i am not in for it. i am not voting for this guy for whatever reason that is. what they're trying to do is figure out how do we grow that fear among that group, take advantage of it. >> to get back to your question

a few points. immigration is a vexing issue and has been for many decades. there was a bill passed 20 years ago. the idea was you're going to have some sort of amnesty for people who come in illegally and we are going to make sure we secure our border and it obviously didn't work very well. the same problem remains. there are twelve million or so people here with their families illegally. most have been here for a long time and the established white and have jobs and pay taxes and dealing with them is not an easy thing to do. that is one thing. second is many of the fears are heightened when you have a lousy economic situation and high unemployment and people suddenly see a competition for jobs that they didn't see before with illegal immigrants. mostly they are wrong. they're still wrong. jobs that nobody else will take for one. we have a crack down.

we are finding gaps. we are not having our fruit being picked or vegetables being picked. we don't have migrant workers who do things, backbreaking jobs for very little money that nobody else wants to do. big problems on that front. i am waiting for someone to do a movie like it is a wonderful life when we look at what our society would be like if all of a sudden all twelve million left and we would find that this society was a bill that like potterville. that is one part of it. a second part of this is just to look at how far the republican party has gone. it was john mccain and lindsey graham who led an effort to find a bipartisan approach that was along the same lines. we will find a way to take those who are here and act in a humane and practical fashion and find ways to tighten up the borders. and we are going to enhance

legal immigration because that was the basic reason this country is as great as it is today. they don't have in europe or japan or other places. you look at rick perry. not your idea about raving liberal. basically thrown on the defensive because as a practical matter as a governor with the border with mexico he tried to come up with some way to educate illegals who happen to be in texas. that as much as anything threw him down from a strong position in the race. look at even the attacks that newt gingrich forgot when he talked about maybe grandmothers are here, we can find a way not to leave the citizenship to legality. that came under siege. look at mitt romney's position on immigration and talking about self deportation. it tells you that what was of bipartisan approach to the issue no longer exists. there are legitimate concerns.

this is a real and important issue and a vexing problem. no doubt about it. you now have a party driven by a narrow portion of its base and this is a short-term concern. getting through primaries and winning a nomination. you can have this back when forced into a position that is so far over to when that becomes more reasonable and forget about the election dynamics of it. we have to solve this problem or at least cope with it as a society and if we get into a situation as we are now where you are not even calibrating on who is supported, your going to start to see cracking down on employers because they hired illegals and don't have much other option and we may see restaurant's closing or other things happening it is going to create an explosive situation and it is another of those issues suspects where we move so far apart that what is required

-- the dream act was thoroughly bipartisan. now it is not and tells us about the polarization politics as it plays out with the polarization operation. >> polarization of the republican party is the thing that is interesting to me. when we were taking students around the hill republicans who were sympathetic to the issue, who didn't go earlier on, were basically saying they were afraid to go forward. not that it would hurt them in the general election but they were afraid someone would go to the right. >> we have gotten so strong on this point that race is going to be a defining factor. let's bring audience in to there questions. i see we have two microphones. if you could be pointed not to deliver a lecture but a pointed question we would be delighted

to consider. people are coming to the microphone let me come back to something i was saying to charles blow which is white voters are genuinely anxious especially as you see it represented in the base of the republican party about high levels--about entitlements spending. why is it illegitimate for anybody to represent that point of view? >> you have two questions. is it going to be colossally stupid publicly to represent that point of view so strongly, you lose should vote in the short run but in the long run given the demographics we have seen from what karen and charles have been talking about you force yourself into a position of minority party for a long period of time. >> you and i both know it is about winnow. not looking down the road. potentially by playing to those

anxieties and saying these are legitimate anxieties and i am trying to help resolve these issues met ronnie could become president. >> what we see right now is among swing voters to get beyond that base. he has appealed so much to that base that he has seen support among swing voters the road and it starts with women in the current perception issue. in moved to other swing voters. and in the short run. >> how do you present the solution. it is us versus them or we come together because we're incredible american people and confined dissolution? that is the challenge. >> at least to end of this. with sir with us versus them,

and we want to cut quick. they can't be themselves and keep going and that leads to things like women should not be able to access contraceptives when they want it. it leads so far in the wrong direction we start to alienate so many pockets of voters that you only have a few left. that is not a winning strategy. the presidential election is about winning the medal. you have to be able to swing the middle. were destined to lose the

middle. everybody -- you cannot in the middle. >> john mathis from community action. >> i can accept the antecedent that anxiety has to be expressed. what troubles, if someone has a legitimate concern, their solution to chain somebody to the back of a pickup truck and drive them three miles down the road i am not sure that is the proper response. so my question to the panel is is there any way to restore civility to the differences we have? no one is justify racism. is perceived differently. what is distressing is lack of civility. the hate that is involved. i watched you on tv in south carolina during that debate where the audience was let's kill them.

let the guards are with our another puncture. that kind of vitriol is so damaging to our country. is there any hope we can have a discussion about the anxiety in a way that doesn't breed more hate and contempt? >> charles. [laughter] >> throw that to me. here is the thing. the idea of discussing race requires a precept we don't always employer which is that it takes being able to look at the same that -- different points of view. we choose to look at them from our own self-interest to point of view. if i look at race only as immigrants coming in making my neighborhood's unsafe and taking away jobs that we would otherwise have is the only way i

can understand the issue. the other side of the issue is immigrants according to polls literalist enterprising people in the country. the most likely to start small business. these are exactly the kinds of people you want in the country. these are the people who will do work one else will do. these are people who generally have more intact families. these are exactly the kinds of people you should want in the country. being able to look at one set of facts and say i can understand your side of this issue, will you allow for mine? both things can exist. and we can start having a conversation about how much do we give or take on this issue. is kind of a civility that i think has evaporated from the entire discussion.

so now we can't -- everything is entitlements and that kind of slip of the tongue -- talking about don't have a habit of going to work unless it is something criminal and there's nobody in their neighborhood who works. this is this stuff? there is no way to look at that set of facts objectively and say what you are saying is true. you are just saying that, newt gingrich, to try to inflame racial tension. that is the only reason anybody would let that come out of your mouth. >> it worked. he won south carolina. [talking over each other] >> in addition to the changing demographics of the u.s. globalization. there's a real impact and the reality is you can't even keep

agriculture in this country because the response to shutting down immigration was for agricultural companies for mexico, if we can't get cheap labor here we will follow the cheap labor. i would love to see business leaders stepped up and say business leaders who control some of the money that goes into the pack that funds the worst ads that go out on the air, this is not good for our business. and we call for rational conversation to solve these problems and hold people accountable and they are not going to get our money if they go down this road. >> wondered if you had evidence or research on whether particularly asians vote on

their ethnicity on other issues. and other minority votes. >> there is a little bit of study that has been happening. and the study that came out that shows the challenge for asians -- lot of immigrants, 60% is foreign born. what we are seeing in each election is 30% of asians voting are voting for the first time and newly naturalized citizens. what will get them to vote is the out reach, where they hear from leaders and temple leaders

or whatever. and connects to whether they get a youth center or senior center or sufficient funding for schools that so important. and the justice center i just retired from, coming out with a pole at asks the question how asians are looking at this election and what will motivate them to vote. >> another question? >> my name is paul dorn and - o --dorn --dornyn. what i hear you talking about, if you look at the makeup of the state legislatures. there is a different trend that seems to be occurring.

republicans are winning all over the place. the old question of whether we're going to have a continuation. we have divided government kind of for the foreseeable future related to the difference that turns out intensity, all the kinds of things that determine local voting as opposed to the national vote. >> a couple of answers to that. republicans are winning everywhere but a large part of that is a suite in 2010 where they had unprecedented gains in the state legislative level and pick the proceeds in the house of representatives which was the most in our lifetime. whether that continues remains to be seen. what is also clear is an almost evenly divided country.

democrats have a little bit of an edge that was mitigated against by differential turnout. it is evenly divided. not divided across the country. it varies from state and regions. what we also see is something charles mentioned. in many states we are seeing where republicans have this we, all the reins of power, getting laws enacted to tilt the voting population in the direction that will give them a longer term invented despite the fact they might not otherwise win the elections. part of it is we are unique in this world in that we have partisan election officials. our secretaries of state are partisans. no other country does that. every -- every body of the independent rear people who handle these things. that makes a difference. we also see changes in laws designed to suppress some kinds of votes and enhance others.

that may provide a level of leverage that could make a difference down the road. i make one final point which was the polarization we have seen in congress, ideological and partisan. a kind of trouble politics have metastasized to large number of states and localities. you see these divisions in wisconsin written large now. they played out in my native minnesota where you had to shut down a government that was similar to the kind of confrontation we had over the debt limit and shut down in the 90s. we are seeing it in state after state. we have seen it in florida and ohio and michigan and we are not going to get out of this for some period of time. in the short run, amplified by a media that make a lot of money off of dramatic differences and extreme views from talk radio

through cable news and others, fasten your seat belts. this bumpy ride is going to continue for some time. >> national politics for the president and to some degree senate elections are a little bit different from the house elections and statewide house of assembly elections because the way the boundaries have been drawn, redistricting will benefit republicans in the house. not necessarily in the senate because it is still a statewide election. the other thing is to remember that even if democrats hold a slight advantage nationally in terms of party id, republicans -- conservatives consistently hold a 2-1 advantage over the ra