balances necessary for a functional government. the challenge of establishing representative governments, functional government institutions in which citizens have trust and confidence and is daunting and unsettling for us to watch. what should we do? first things first. we must ask ourselves before we can credibly convince others of the righteousness of our policies. these steps have to be reduced and the government must be put on financial footing that than it sounds. we should fix primary education. it is abysmal in far too many places in this country. we need to refocus innovation and emphasize research and development. that is the future cop,. do not accept mediocrity for fear of offending. it is all too prevalent today. we have an unparalleled legacy of national behavior based on principle and values in this country.

let's return to basics. let's hold our officials accountable. act responsibly and for the common good. treat people with dignity and demonstrate good behavior. people notice if we offer a good example and walk the talk, we enter policy discussions with credibility and competence. we tend every day business with principled action. policies should follow a description of fairness and collective good and freedom of choice. we don't turn our backs on friends. the principle preference. engaging on the three big issues. bad news with the festering israeli conflict does not get better with time. iran is not just going to melt away in the desert heat.

the revolutionary wave of self-expression will continue. we can help, by example, and by assisting with the tools of institutional government. this is not easy. it is going to require planning and patience and go full employment of all aspects of american national power. keeping in mind that changes ever present, technology advances with astonishing celebration, human behavior is reliably, if unpredictably, return. 200 years ago, an adolescent found an interest in economy and national reputation, in the middle east and north africa. not a big issue and a long way from home, but vexing. her leadership established policy decided on a course of action and used the capabilities of government to resolve the issue. the message of those actions

when a long way to establish the reputation of the united states. we have many good reasons to act as a major power in a beacon of freedom that we have become as a nation. the middle east needs today more than ever, american leadership. the sand will continue to shift, but we should not shy away. people in the region act on yearning for change, freedom and choice. the region has great geopolitical importance for the u.s. and these are reasoned, thoughtful, and carefully planned engagement. let me finish with a few wines from hov longfellow. we can make our lives sublime and departing, leave behind us, footprints on the sands of time. thank you very much, you have been kind, and i will be happy to try to take your questions.

[applause] [inaudible conversations] >> what i learned from iraq, where shall i begin. i have an answer when i showed up on the scene over there actually in 2006 the first time, during the war. the response was i cannot undo what has happened in the past, but i can work on where we are now and what we are going to do in the future. what we did was, the lesson here is that it is extremely complex. before we jump into such endeavors again, we need to do an awful lot of studying, i believe a lot more than we did at that particular time when the

war began. because the old adage that things are often not as they appear was oh, so true. we learned a lot of hard lessons at every level. some very challenging circumstances, we had engagements that rival those of world war ii in intensity and casualties, unfortunately. they went time and again to what they were asked to do. at the end of the day, it is all about people. you have to have a level of trust. somebody asked this question today. let's talk about trust. without trust at every level, we can't succeed unless you are a dictator or tyrant and can direct things that happen, not for long. so we spent the better part of the year, trying to build trust

with the iraqi people. because of the end of the day, it is their country. and they had to step up and take over and solve the problems. it is easy to say from a distance that we should've done that earlier on, but we didn't. they didn't trust us and they weren't sure what we were going to do. some of them are probably going to walk away the first opportunity and some thought we were never going to go away. and everywhere in between. we have to work at establishing trust, nicky back out of that, you get back to higher things, it's a good thing. we act based on principle and we try every time to do the right thing, to have a measured response to the challenge. it would be nice if everyone in the world were basically decent human beings. they are not, unfortunately. they are not at all. but we spend our too much time, in my opinion, digging ourselves

out of holes that we jump into instead of taking a preventive step that we could and should be doing and let me give you a couple of examples. there are many troubled areas in the world. areas and regions and people that could use our help in the system. but we have this aversion to doing things in many cases, spending money to engage in international affairs. it is really tough. it is a tough sell on the hell and i used to try to convince the leaders that he would fund an ounce of prevention today, we would prevent -- look at all the chileans we have whistled away in last decade. i had a fraction of that money, during the early part of the war when i was in the pacific. i was thinking of the good i could do in indonesia and the philippines and malaysia and

india. i don't mean giving things to people. dead set against the basic welfare business, is empowering them to fix things to get competent at running their countries and running their infrastructure, and they do it. in many cases they need help, our help. this is a much better use of our resource than digging ourselves out. i think we have seen this before. sir? >> i'm sorry, i feel my failed my duty here. i am not supposed to talk until the microphone gets in front of your face. the helpful people will take care of that. >> you talk about spending money. my question is, would you address your thoughts on the

ceiling and endless desire of the corporate and political pressure by companies that make a lot of money by selling military equipment, what we have now and what is accurate, is that they are trying to force greater expenditures through congress and even the military people are asking for, and if we are the only remaining super power, we over militarized. >> the problem with this is that we live in an era of sound bites and in opinions. and we are constantly bombarded by people who have something to say about an issue of which they generally know little. but they focus on an issue. so let's pick this or that company, who is lobbying to build more at abc or whatever that thing may be, and should we

buy two of these, 20 of these, or 200 of these. who knows. the bigger picture issues and my sense. we have a decade of expansion of the department of defense budget, and regrettably, most of that money has been whisked over to the side and form places. during that time. we unfortunately invested very little in the future. the wise household and business does near-term things, midterm things, and long-term planning. in the u.s. government spending arena, that equation is usually out of chilled. so you could find every angle on these arguments and find a piece of this is absolutely accurate

in the piece that is not accurate. we know that defense spending is going to come down. with certainty. it's started already and it will continue. exactly what the level is, it remains to be seen. it ought to be $333 billion because i don't have a visibility. but i will tell you one thing. there's an awful lot of stuff that is wasted. and it is wasted for 100 reasons. in the process. just the process itself consumes incredible amounts of money. the big thing that i believe, first things first, instead of haggling over the 233 or 243, we need to get the big picture right and get the budget going. that means some things will calm down and some things will have to go up. but instead of haggling over my pet project or my influence for my contract or my lobbyist

thing, my opinion, the guys that are elected that we have elected need to get their act together and they are long overdue to come up with a coherent plan that gets us in a state of solvency where we actually have credibility when we talk. can you imagine is talking to countries, maybe other than greece about getting your financial house in order with all that we have seen? come on. i would say that the challenge and i was talking to a student today, a bunch of bright young people, in my opinion, we have an opportunity to play with balls and juggle balls. people in this country are confused. they can't see the really important things, stuff that is of interest, but at the end of the day, what kind of impact

will it have on the future of the country? little to none. so i would ask that the discourse focused on the big items rather than in his 3995, and of course, these are billions because that is the number two shorter in washington. there are some things that we need. some things we can do without. and you have some people that have been working pretty hard. they actually have to institute these budgets. i had my personal preferences. i am a guy that was always inclined to go with smaller, leaner, meaner reasons. the least i had some span of control. the next student? >> okay, go ahead. >> from a strategic perspective, is the u.s. aligning with israel

a gesture is in the middle east region? >> are you going into the media? >> i don't want to give you a hard time, but i will. >> this is the kind of framing, and this is a question i have heard before and seen all the time, that doesn't do justice to the issue. the issue for us is to believe what i say about the principle being the guiding light of execution of policy, crafting execution. the principle is israel is the only country in the entire middle east, that has a true democracy. now, it is not pretty, and it is screwed up and they can't make a decision and they have 100 other things wrong and there are so many other parties, they ought

to do themselves a favor and outlaw half of them, but i have enough trouble here without getting involved in israeli politics. they are an exemplary democracy where people have a say on who is in the government, what they do and what they spend on how they act. regrettably, that can't be said about many other places. people remotely in the region. what do we support? is a pain in the neck? we disagree? under different approaches and lack of tact? again, big balls and little balls, this is an exemplary kind of government that takes care of its people. this is what we want to encourage. and then there is a lot of history, which we could spend an hour on. but on the other hand, just

because we support democracy and just because we uphold the opportunities for freedoms and choices doesn't mean that we can condemn our behaviors. and so, again, much easier for somebody like me on the outside, i was is there a couple of weeks ago, so they probably don't want to hear it again, but there are some things that they ought to tend to businesses do. of all the things that keep people in jerusalem awake at night, and there are a lot of them, you have to live in a state where death and danger lurks everywhere. in a lot of cases this applies to a lot of countries. there has been a lot of mayhem and terror. people are tired of it. on the other hand, if they don't solve this issue and come to an

agreement with the other people who live in this region, this is not going to get better. it's going to get worse. the results on either side are going to continue to try to force something and it will blow up. so we have a challenge. we have to work with them. we have to encourage them. we have to insist on them and again, longtime friends, they have supported us and many things we supported them for a lot of reasons. you could go back to these claims and counterclaims. one of the biggest problems in the middle east is fact -- don't bother me with facts. this is about perceptions. i was in washington on the hill and i was a dumb young whippersnapper that thought he knew too much. and i was in the hearing and

being pummeled by some witness that was outrageously expounding on something that was just not true. so i grit my teeth and waited until the chairman said what you have to say about that. and i said well, mr. chairman, in my world, i deal with facts. and i have not heard many facts are today whereupon the chairman leaned across the table and put his finger out towards my chest and lectured me for the next five minutes and said you have something to learn son. the perception is you guys are screwed up in this amount. in the middle east, the legends have become enduring myth. many people in this light on 10 region believe things that are absolutely not true. they have heard the story so many times and it becomes part of the fabric of life. it is really tough to change

these opinions. some years ago they figured out in an era of relative peace, not in work. maybe the conflict and bloodletting will make them come to their senses. we are the only likely facilitator to broker a deal that might be enjoying in this area. we will just have to work on it. it's a long answer, but it's typical of the issues and there is almost nothing that is simple. nothing that appears, as they say. maybe in the background. i will work my way back. okay. >> i would like you to comment

on an early news show today. they interviewed a former ambassador from syria. his comment was, bashar as-assad's is never going to stop fighting. the opposition is never going to stop fighting. and he said it was up to the u.s. to stop it. which i interpreted as sending troops in. would you comment on this? >> i don't think i would sign up for that description. i think bashar as-assad's days are numbered, it's a matter of time. he will not go easily her quietly, but it is pretty obvious that the level of discontent and discord is significant. at the end of the day, he has, in my opinion, a strong quarterly of supporters, but it is a distinct minority in the country. they all have to be weighing

their options right now. there is the opposition, and as it gets older, unfortunately we will see more violence. but i don't think it's going to last forever. for us to jump into this frying pan, if i were still in the region and this was my responsibility, one of the first questions i would ask is what you want me to do. ..

>> and try to minimize the damage, but i don't think it's a great idea for jumping in the middle of. somebody on that side. when much of the turmoil in the middle east seems to involve sunni muslims versus shiite muslims but i gather these animosities and rivalries go back centuries in terms of extremely violent. one of the prospects for stability to learn something approaching democracy in countries where there is animosity so long that

apparently continues to exist. most of the countries don't want much of a conflict within the country. bahrain is an exception right now because you have a sunni family leadership that's now 20% rest of the population is 80%. it's a very small shiite minority. the issue has been iraq, where about half of the population as shiite, and the sunnis and the kurds share the rest of the country. there's an awful lot of opinions offered when i was still serving out their, and one of them was because iran was shiite and they

were helping the iraqis that in the blink of an eye as soon as we left the place would turn into a shiite stronghold twice as big as iran today if he and that sent tremors of fear through all of the goal fees being those countries on the south side of the arabian gulf. back in washington they had a lot of veterans about ideas and i used to shake my head and say fifth. the leadership in baghdad right now and mulkey and his government owes a lot to the iranians most of them took shelter in iran when they were being persecuted by saddam hussein. they were heavily dominated by shia. but these people have been around a long time and one of the things we don't pay

attention to, but they do, is that iran is overwhelmingly shiite but iran is run not by arabs. it isn't likely to be run by arabs, it is mostly persian and their view in my opinion from the research and experience is that the arabs are out there but they are not at our level. the shia arabs in iraq are well aware of this, and so however much support maliki may get from iran, the idea that iran is going to go in there and called all the shots i think is highly unlikely. we are not going to solve a split in a slum that is for the manila to rebel about. at least in the middle east because they so many centuries

of domination by the sunnis that they have not had expected the persecution complex by the opinion and they are looking behind there is a baathist behind every three it was less in the country and you get irrational from outside view. one of the areas which i had in mind area of responsibility was indonesia. it's overwhelmingly muslim. much greater population than any country in the world, and they are not radical at all. their brand of islam is very benign compared to the devout muslims, but they are not given to these extremes which gets feedback to some of my earliest impressions in the region. i think more than a little of it has to do with the environment.

this is really tough territory. go back and look at what is going on. it ought to be read a given all of the threats. it's a very tough territory. there are shia sunni disputes, but it's interesting when you start peeling the onion back on some of these. for example, they dominated syria to held the extremist in gaza interesting. they're looking for whatever help they can get and looking to the trouble anyplace they can do it is a marriage made in heaven just like the crooks and criminals everywhere in the world. so it's a factor and it's the

concern. no doubt about it my conversations with king abdullah and saudi arabia and jordan, the other gulf, they worry about. why are they worried about it? they are all worried about the retribution thing. maybe they feel a little guilty for the centuries they weren't even a round about what ever. the other concern some people might put it up to me somewhere else. the gentleman with silver hair my hair color we like it. >> to bring it back to the navy a little bit, in the arabian sea and the gulf, the naval buildup that is going on now, what do you think would happen if the iranians attempted to close the streets or created an incident

in the gulf? >> well, first of all, back to basics. as i indicated in my talk, we are his or we our presence has been maritime. the countries out there don't want a u.s. footprint of much dimension. it doesn't fit culturally with the more conservative countries along the gulf and so it's the way to go. the iranians, they might try at. they will do it at their peril. it's just a matter of time because they can't really match up against us. so, unfortunately you get a lot of posturing and political reaction. so, we are getting back to budget stuff now. there's not a whole lot of slack, just aircraft carriers. my son is a naval aviator he just finished his fifth deployment over in the gulf and he's shaking his head and saying these guys should be sent back

to a six month turnaround. they said i'm not sure how long we keep this up. they say how do you do this? there's too much technical detail for this audience. but the way to do this we can better street power. periodically, show that we have the muscle and the wherewithal and the training and execution to enforce what we need to do. the message needs to be sent to these guys because sometimes they have short memories or they are revolutionary enthusiasm might overload their brains. my experience out there is when i dealt with the albanian navy they were pretty professional, but the revolutionary guards that had been given the upper hand by khomeini now they are

not so disciplined. they have some cowboys in that crowd and that is the danger is that one of these yahoo! is screwup and somebody thinks that they are really in jeopardy and something starts. if they are starting they may be temporarily successful but it's not going to be for long. the thing i always end with is iran lives or dies by its oil exports and gas exports. they all come out through the gulf, if it gets closed this just another nail in the coffin as far as their ability to continue to sustain themselves. so, i think that talk is cheap, but the thinking needs to be cautious, mindful, and we are -- it used to bug the heck out of me because the media was always trying to fight me to say something they could trumpet

back. this is an area that is much better done quietly not just this particular thing of the whole business of operating in the region. it's what they are used to and what we ought to think back and start doing but we have to get back in the mode of thinking and planning long-term. important things first and then worry about the little things. it's been a pleasure to be with you. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you so much. [applause] >> i would do advance but you don't want to see that. [laughter]

>> now, before we begin, let us rise and say the pledge of allegiance to our flag. please join me. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which a sense, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. thank you. please be seated.

i want to thank each of you for joining us today. i know we are excited to be here and to tackle this important task that we have before us. as you may know, every four years the democratic party assembles a platform that outlines our party's final positions on a host of different issues. this document also highlights the administration's accomplishments and the president's agenda to keep our country moving in a forward direction. today we are having our formal meeting where we will begin the process of drafting the initial draft of our 2012 platform. before we get started, i would like to ask all of the drafting committee members to just take a moment introduce themselves, and we will begin at my left.

andrew grossman. >> i am the assistant policy director at the obama campaign. >> carlos odio. >> professor at stanford law school. >> donna harri-aikens. >> i am deputy chief of staff at the afl-cio. , barbara lee, ninth congressional district of california. >> michael nutter, mayor of the city of philadelphia. >> i am the secretary of the democratic national committee. >> i had the privilege of

serving in congress from the state of florida and currently serve as president of the center for middle east peace. the'm a senior fellow at center of transatlantic relations, johns hopkins university. >> i'm heather miller. >> patrice taylor. >> and i am helping to write the platform. >> and i am ted strickland, former governor of ohio. it is my pleasure to serve with such remarkable people, and i am certain that your expertise will be invaluable as we proceed with this important task. there are members who were not able to join us today.

tony coelho, governor patrick -- governor deval patrick, the chair of the 2008 platform committee, and we know that the governor is a leading voice for making the country better place to live, work, and raise a family. then there is congressman barney frank, who was unable to join us at this time, congressman frank will be able to join us later today. also seated with us are three individuals giving staff support throughout this weekend. you have heard from them, andrew in, and patrice taylore.

patrice is the director of the dnc office a party affairs and delegate selection. also joining us is a very important person, and i will depend on our parliamentarians, mcfaddene, who will help us as we negotiate our way to this platform. the purpose of this hearing is to solicit testimony from individuals and organizations regarding the content of the party's 2012 national platform. each speaker will be given five minutes, and i will repeat that. each speaker will be given five minutes for a formal statement, and following those statements, there will be a period of

questions that will come from the committee members themselves. we had a busy and a compact hearing scheduled for the day. each presentation will be aimed, and will be times, and the speaker should adjust their remarks, please, to fit that time schedule. we are now ready to begin with our first presenter, and it is my great pleasure to present as our first presenter sister simone campbell. are pleased to have her who is the executive director of network catholic social justice lobby. she is with us, and network 's thousands of members it work to influence and next -- and

inspire our elected officials is. network is active in critical issues such as health care, comprehensive immigration reform, housing, poverty, and hunter. sister, we look forward to your testimony. >> thank you. it is an honor to be here. i want to say at this moment in our history it seems to me we are engaged in a struggle that is much bigger than just the election cycle, and i think the platform needs to reflect that. we are engaged in a struggle for the soul of our nation, and the choice to me is clear -- will we choose to continue the unpatriotic lies we as a nation are based in its extreme individualism, where those who have can claim even more, and where those who do not have are blamed for being irresponsible? or will we choose to return to the spirit of our founders and a

brace their concept -- we the people. it is we the people that is our constitutional framework, promoted for more than 200 years, and it is this vision that must be made clear creek get a vision where each person exercises their responsibility to participate, and as the president said, we each agree to have each other's backs. this means we have the internet connections and our society. no one can get wealthy without the work of thousands of other fellow citizens. it is a hot political topic, but no one can even get to work without the work of people who have built roads or mattress. the janitor and the ceo's office -- we are interdependent.

helluva -- we are one nation together, and this time is desperate we realize that. so far, we have been fairly successful at being divided by fear of violence, the weak economy, fear of the future, fear of each other. fear drives us to individualism and isolation as we try to control the uncontrollable. but i as a christian know that jesus counseled fear not, these are the words that we need to believe. recently you may have heard i lead a nine-state bus tour to 31 communities to lift up the works of catholic sisters, speaking out against the ryan house budget, and demonstrate what it means to have each other's

backs. the matt hunters of people hungry, learning to find a way out of fear, not just words or games. we saw one of four partnerships were catholic sisters and their collaborators used federal dollars as cornerstones for amazing work in low-income communities, and we saw a person after person, group after group who have benefited from these amazing programs and who are not intruders that everywhere we saw evidence that these responsible programs use reasonable federal money to serve the needs and create relationships that nourished communities. these are the sorts of responsible will press responsible partnerships. i came to know a large percentage of folks served by these programs are working at least one job. they are not the unemployed or the lazy that many would want us to think they are. they are hardworking people trying to serve their families.

many face the situation that billy in milwaukee faces. he has enough food in his down sized salary to either put food on the table or a roof over his head. his family's had. he and his wife chose to refer to the families of the kid could stay in the same school. every evening they could to send -- st. benedict's danny room where they get nutritious food, and what you might say the dining room was getting sherry, they were also getting a subsidy. . .

>> she would have been covered under the medicaid expansion under the affordable care act. but expansion is a pro-life choice. margaret didn't have that option. margaret was without care and so at 56 she died of colon cancer.

her family came to our event directly from her memorial service. i carry her picture now in my bible because we cannot let her die. this is not who we are as nation. we need to learn this sort of program is a mutual benefit for all of society. we all do better when margaret don't die. if we're going to be the nation our founders envision, we must be held by the decisions we made. this means we each have to have an obligation to contribute building up our society. to do this, merous have each other's back. this is what it means to form a more perfect union. we've taken step towards this vision in the last four years. we have much further to go. all of us participate and contribute according to our

ability. with that truth we will know we the people are alive and well. then we would have rereclaimed the soul of our nation. thank you. >> thank you sister. at this time, if there are questions from community members, we would be happy to entertain those questions. anyone? >> thank you so much. it's wonderful to see you. i was taught by the sisters of loretta. the values you enunciated are the democratic party values. thank you so much for being here. one question i wanted to ask in terms of those in the middle class. in this day in time, we seen so many people falling in the ranks of poverty. when we talk about the middle

class, how do see us making sure this big tent party includes those who have not achieved middle class status but still want to see the american dream become real in their life? >> i think it's very important that we realize we're in this together and that the huge wealth disparities that exist at this point are driving us further and further apart. i think it's shocking that ceo salaries have gone up so dramatically where workers wages have stayed flat. if we're going to be seriously concerned about making sure people are in the middle class, they need to have salary increases. we need to pay a living " wage. everybody is working very hard to contribute something -- at least all the folks we met -- are contributing something to our society. but there isn't the valuing of that by employers or under the

guys of the fragile economy couldn't possibly raise wages. to be effective in stimulating the economy and some of the programs that have been proposed, are all about lifting up increasing wages, get money to where there's pent-up demands. if there's pent-up demand, mention will -- folks will spend the money. >> thank you. >> thank you so much. thank you sister for your testimony. you mentioned a living wage a couple times. it's a really important concept in terms of the two different visions of the economy. could you talk a little bit what you think might be the steps for the united states to move towards a decent wage for working people? >> i think a crystal ball will

be helpful to discern the details of that. we think that work is undervalued. physical labor is under valued. that understanding what each person contributes to the success of a business and creating kind of a proportional wage based on how much they're contributing might be helpful or even examining how much is cost to live. one of the things that's driving me nuts is that the current poverty level is still pegged at three times the cost of food. that probably defines the poverty level. the administration is trying to do sole alternative measures but the one that keeps being used in congress is the three times the cost of food. there's no accounting to what's happening to the cost of

housing. let's have wages reflect actual cost in an area. having a youthful minimum wage for this country that's so diverse in cost of living, it may make for congress nice political fights but it certainly doesn't help in the different parts that families face. valuing work, being realistic about the different costs of living and then trying to really do something to peg reasonable salaries to inflation or to other escalators would make a lot of since. maybe everybody ought to get a piece of the action not just shareholders. >> thank you sister. i think speak for all of us. when we want to say thank you for your leadership, your moral leadership and those of the other sisters who are working across our country to try to

make this a better land in which all people can enjoy the american dream. thank you so very much for being here. >> thank you so much. >> our next presenter is mr. doug peterson. representing the national farmers union. doug peterson is the secretary of the national farmers union board and he is the president of the minnesota farmers union. national farmers union is a national federation of state farmers unions which protect and enhances the economic well being and quality of life for family farmers and ranchers and their communities by promoting legislation and educational beneficial to farmers and by developing cooperative buying and selling methods for these businesses. we're very happy to have you here and we look forward to your testimony sir. >> i'm honored chairman and also

honored to be in front of an esteemed committee. i just want to thank you for your time and allowing me to be in front of you for national farmers union. my name is doug peterson. i come from western minnesota first generation farmers. we have 11,000 members also secretary of the national farmers union. i served in minnesota's legislature for six terms undefeated and elected to the minnesota farmers union presidency which i've done for ten years. i'm a former art teacher. we are really proud we're a grassroots organization. we've been in active policy sense 1902. our policy is written by farmers and ranchers and it comes from a

grassroots level. we represent fishermen. our national and agriculture policy should engable farmers to increase significantly their income and improve the quality of life and increase the family farm numbers. production agricultural, i like to call it farmers, it's a primary economic driver of america. when farmers go well, agriculture prospers and the nation prospers. a more effective in fiscal responsible safety net is possible which will mitigate against weather and we are in the throws of drought. two-thirds of our country presently mitigate the weather and bad prices. crop insurance does a very good job of protecting farmers against poor yields and also

assist in managing supply, stable commodities, could subsidize prices. grain will take the props of the peak of the price off and fill in the valleys which will help farmers which have been livestock producers, the biofuels and customers. supply management will make sure farmers receive the bulk of the revenue even in tough times from the market and not from government payments. a voluntary farmer reserve that operates under market forces during normal condition by moderates prices at extreme conditions that would allow these goals to be obtained. we are in extreme conditions ladies and gentlemen as you may know. beyond the market and weather anomalies and other threats faces rural america, average age of the u.s. farmer is rapidly increasing. the ability of the next

generation to family farmers to continues to produce food and fiber is critical to the economic health and security of our nation and community. in order to address this concern, programs must be in place and funded in order to meet the unique needs. with special emphasis on military veteran and ensure enter livelihood. one thing we want to impress upon, inadequate market competition. that does go with the word concentration. that is what the most pressing issue is facing farmers and ranchers across this country. personally what i have seen in

the '80s with the competition and the concentration piece. we need fairness and we need transparency and protection for bargaining rights for producers and farmers. the administration has been proactively investigating anti-trust violation and has held a series of workshops in 2010 that shed light on the issues. rules that would have better enforce the packers and stockyard act put forward but largely pushed back by lobbies and packers association. progress has been made in the last four years but much work still needs to be done to establish a fair marketplace. the sustainability of our economy both nationwide and in agriculture depends upon reliable financial system. despite the passage of

dodd-frank act, the budget proposals maintaining fair air competitive market including commodity trading. the administration also has fought back republican attempts to undermine the new protections. the rules of the game has been strengthened but the referees need to make sure those rules are followed and make sure there is a fair -- i just want to say, you got to be able to play by the rules. national farmers continues to support strong actions to address the cause and consequences of climate change. we are the original stewards of land farmers. over the past several years, we have experienced increase in drought. wildfires and other evidence associated with climate change. one solution to our climate change problem is to mitigation.

national farmers union supports carbon emission cab and trade system to reduce non-farm greenhouse gas emission. such a system constructed correctly holds tremendous promise for our country economic incentives. thus engaging in protecting future generations. while it is necessary to address the causes of employment change -- climate change our nation must adapt to change. given the proper incentives, family farmers and ranchers will be valuable partners in this challenge. the potential of our nation's vast agriculture lands produce renewable energy is tremendous. the economic benefits also to

rural america. we need a balanced energy policy, a policy that seeks energy independence by 2025 and recognizing the special needs of american agricultural and its potential contribution. we at national farmers union strongly support rfs, renewable fuel stewards. we are making progress with investments in flex fuel technology but we must continue to explore the way to bring to the market more biofuels particularly the advanced blends. in order to meet the goals of the r.f.s. by 2022, we must continue to move in direction to reduce dependence on foreign oil. sound policy in the future of

graduate -- agriculture will set us up for economic development. ladies and gentlemen i appreciate your attention. if you have any questions, i will be happy to answer >> we have a couple minutes for questions. >> mr. peterson, thank you for your testimony. i group up in a small town. i know what a difference it makes as well. i wanted to ask you a little bit what you think the roll of our schools can be. of course we've got tremendous commitment making sure that america has great education no matter where but rural schools also facing challenges. >> i actually been in the classroom for 12 years. i see the diminished funding as probably one of the most critical and most dangerous things that you can do to the american education. we don't provide adequate funding per pupil and the means to learn, we will have a failed

society. we can't dummy down on education. how do you get that done? you make sure that the economy will be able to support the schools at the local level so that in rural america, you need to have a policy that will allow the taxes to be paid by those farmers that are making the money. the majority of the land is in rural america basically land-based taxes which supports the schools. funding, they're from the state and fed or local property taxes and then make sure that you don't skimp on this stuff. it hasn't changed anything. minnesota is woefully adequate. we are low in counselors in this state for students we need to put more money too those -- into

those thing. we experienced education cuts. the bottom line is, they actually reduced educational funding. you can't reduce education funding and expect kids to learn. >> thank you mr. peterson. we appreciate your testimony and i personally love the farmers union. we have a union ohio farmers union and thank you for this testimony. >> have a good day. >> one more question from the mayor over here. >> mr. peterson, you maid as a -- you made reference to feeding the hungry around the world. it is certainly more than appropriate for the united states of america to help in a variety of instances whether it's a disaster or other aid that we provide. but i'm also concerned that we continue to feed the hungry across our country.

i wanted to get your views on issue of the delivery system that helps to get food where it is most needed. there are children and parent who go to sleep every night in america who are hungry. congressional districts in the united states is in philadelphia. i want to make sure that we're focused on the issue of hunger in america and seek to eliminate hunger in the united states as we continue to provide the food and support around the world. >> first of all, the funding is about 72%. we need to make sure there's not cuts in nutrition. the delivery system is having the ability to make sure children and seniors, that nutrition program provides that it's adequately funded. there's going to be increases as you know in your city, for more

food, more snap programs and the delivery system. the food desserts where you have the poor cityings, the inability to have farm fresh food. that has to change. you have to change the mentality of how the infrastructure works delivering it to inner cities. you must have incentives for farmers to do local foods. in not local then from the state and then if not from the state, then from the united states. if you can't get it from the local from state to the united states, maybe we can do the importing. just making sure that infrastructure is part to the nutrition piece. i don't know if you thought about that yet, but just getting that delivered to those food deserts in your city or minneapolis. we all experience those food desserts and local food is part of that. that's a part of our policy.

>> we don't want to keep anyone from asking questions that maybe a question. we want to stay on track if we can. is there in the question and if so, we'll entertain it and if not, thank you sir. >> thank you very much, have a good day and good luck with all of your deliberations. >> our next presenter is ethan rome. ethan rome is the executive director of the healthcare for america now. it's a national coalition of more than 1000 groups from 50 states representing some 30 million people. healthcare for america now works to promote, defend, implement and improve the affordable care act at the state and federal levels. they work to protect medicare and medicaid. they work to increase corporate accountability and confront forces that seek to take away

critical services. so mr. rome, we are happy to have you and we look forward to your testimony. >> thank you very much governor strickland and members of the committee. thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak this afternoon. as you know, in 2008, president obama and the democrats pledged to fix our broken healthcare system. that is exactly what they did. a remarkable thing in politics. on march 23, 2010, the president signed the affordable care act. the aca, the law which we call obamacare, is a monumental achievement that moves us closer to achieving the justice that is the promise of america. as you know, i think the law

spans coverage to 30 million people. it brings peace of mind to middle class family who are just one injury or illness from crushing medical cost. it makes healthcare more accessible in rural and urban areas. it put us on a path to controlling cost at a first time ever. the a.c.a. is improving medicare for seniors. saving them hundred of dollars a year in prescription drug cost. it's allowing young people to stay on their parents health plan. it's giving small businesses tax cuts to provide care for their own employees. it's helping all of us to be more healthy with no cost to preventive care. significantly on august 1st, this benefit expands to cover additional services for women. the a.c.a. bans distribution to 129 million people with preexisting conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure and asthma.

it ends insurance companies price gouging and other abuses like dropping you when you are sick. the affordable care act is the most sweeping piece of social and economic justice legislation since medicare and medicaid. these programs all fit together along with the labor movement, medicare and medicaid and social security helps create the middle class. they are the foundation of economic security and equal opportunity for america's families. the a.c.a. bridges the gaps in the protections of these programs. to help ensure that everyone gets the care that they need without risking bankruptcy. it is these vital programs that under attack by the republicans and ryan-romney budget. the republican plan would repeal the affordable care act dismantle medicaid and end medicare as we know to pay for corporate tax cut give away and tax cuts for the rich.

every federal function would be slashed. the nation's entire safety net at risk. their budget promotes prosperity for the few instead of opportunity for all. it says we should be on our own. it makes a mockery of shared responsibility. the country faces real fiscal challenges. but the ryan-romney budget represents the prong priorities. it's a second rate plan for a first rate country. the democratic platform must explicitly reject the republican prescription for deficit reduction. that puts medicare, medicaid and the affordable care act on the chopping block especially to pay for tax cuts for the rich. the republican see every deficit negotiation as an opportunity to chip away at these programs. republicans want to turn medicaid into a block grant.

replace medicare with vouchers. the democratic platform should say we don't want to do any of these things. not as part of a so called grand bargain guru a lame duck session or at any other time. democrats believe that medicare, medicaid and obamacare are not source of deficit reduction. either the backbone of the -- they are the backbone of the american dream. as president said we need to reduce the deficit in fair and balanced way. we should begin by reforming our tax code so it raises adequate revenue and start with asking wealthy americans to pay their fair share and closing corporate tax loophole. that's precisely what majority leader reid and the democrats in the senate did this week when they voted to end the busch -- bush tax cuts for the richest 2%. president obama has called on

the house to do the same. it will be on the way to his desk if it were speaker pelosi instead of boehner who were in charge. this isn't just a matter of principle. it's how we fairly pay some important things like the affordable care act. the 2008 democratic platform outlines a bold vision for affordable quality health coverage for all americans. it's remarkable to read this document and look at what has been accomplished since. in the battles ahead, democrats must protect the healthcare program. thank you very much. >> thank you mr. rome for your testimony and now are there questions? i see a question. >> yes thank you for coming. could you talk little bit more about how the a .c.a. and how

the safety net actually hurt kids as they are preparing to go into school and obviously a.c.a. helped them stay on their parent's health plan. >> there's two things to say about that. the first when we talk about adult children, the a.c.a. allows as you know, for adult children to stay on their parents health plan from 19 to 26. in this economy, that is a critical protection since it is harder for people to find jobs. as for children, one of the -- two most important thing you can do is to make sure they do to school not hungry and not unhealthy. that's what medicaid is about and that's what's filling in the gaps what the a.c.a. does.

>> thank you. >> yes. >> thank you ethan for your testimony. it you tell us a little bit, you spoke briefly about the a.c.a. on the budget deficit. >> i know it's shocking that the republicans periodically do not tell the truth about things. one of the biggest places is the affordable care act. the affordable care act reduces the deficit. most recently cbo said about $83 billion over the next ten years. it is a federal savings program in addition to a program that saves people's lives and helps businesses stay open. it's critically important when the republicans talk about repealing it but they do not talk about the fact that would increase rather than reduce the federal deficit. >> thank you so much for being here and for all you've done

over the last four years. can you talk a little bit what repeal of the affordable care act would mean to middle class families across the country? >> for middle class families, people really are one injury or one illness away from bankruptcy. people learn -- they learn in the fine print of their policy that their benefits are capped annually. they learn when they get dropped, that their insurance doesn't cover what they thought. for middle class family, this is about making sure that people have the healthcare that they need. it's about making sure people aren't locked into their job because just because they want to keep their healthcare. the best thing has been done for entrepreneurs in the last two years. one of the best thing is the affordable care act. it makes it possible for people to take risks.

for middle class family, this is a vital protection and it's the base for economic security. >> thank you very much for your testimony and your passion to ensure every american has access to affordable healthcare. also a.c.a. provides for creation of hundreds of thousands of jobs in addition to deficit reduction. could you comment however on the impact of the a.c.a. as it relates to the huge ethnic and racial disparities that we see now, even when you look at life expectancy rates, there's still these huge disparities that need to be addressed and how the a .c.a. will really help address many of these issues? >> everyday people learn new things about the affordable care act. because it is so comprehensive

in what it does. one ever the thing i always use as abexample, there's $12 billion in funding for community health centers. which people only exist in urban areas. but it's one of the central ways that folks in rural areas get the care they need. providing people insurance is not enough as you know well. we need to make sure people have access to care. $12billion to expand and build new community health centers is good example what this law does. if that was all we did, we would be celebrating and talking about that now. there are more things we can do to address racial and other disparities. especially in health outcome. we are on long way from that and that's something we all have to work on.

>> robert? >> with respect to seniors, would you just maybe take a moment to point out often times people talk about the closing of the donut hole in the bill. could you maybe share your experience in terms of what the benefit will be to seniors across the board by the closing of this donut hole? >> i believe the number right now, there are several million people who have saved on average of $600 a year already under the affordable care act. when we talk about how the affordable care act is already changing people's lives in the case of seniors, we're talking about discounts on prescription drugs and we're talking about the checks they received under the donut hole. seniors have to make choices

about whether to put food on the table. do they get the care they need. this law already helping to make a difference in people's lives in that respect. >> thank you. >> you acknowledged the 2008 platform which spoke eloquently to healthcare. i actually have the 2004 and the 2000 platform. nonetheless what's so exciting about this accomplishment is for many cycles some of us participated too many of them, we have talked about healthcare but we've never actually accomplished this amazing dream. i'm wondering if you expand a little bit though. i'm excited about some of the preventive aspects and possibility not only for our citizens to be healthier but also for the potential of money saving for our entire economy by

having a healthier citizenry and having longer lives and less pressure on some of our social safety net. >> i think -- one of the most significant things, this goes back to question about military class -- middle class family. there are 86 million of us in america who have benefited from middle class preventive care. we are no longer paying co-pays on our preventive care. that will make a substantial difference not just in people's lives but it improves health outcomes. prevention saves money. it not just about doing the right thing. one of the most important thing that we can do in the united states is to improve our preventive care so that we don't have among the worst outcomes of

industrialized nations with the best medical care on the earth. >> other questions? well, ethan obviously your testimony has sparked a lot of interest. we thank you for you and we thank you for the good work you've been doing for the benefit of the nation. not only the democratic party but the nation. thank you so very much. >> thank you. >> our next presenter is mr. david harris. david harris is the president and the ceo of the national jewish democratic counsel. the national jewish democratic counsel focuses on educating democratic officials and candidates to increase their support for jewish domestic and foreign policy priorities. david, we're happy to have you and we look forward to your testimony >> thank you so much governor. good afternoon my name is david harris and i'm president and ceo

of the jewish democratic national counsel. the core mission is to maximize jewish support. the united states and the democratic party has been a strong support of the u.s. and israel relationship. democratic platforms celebrated this important relationship. like wise, president obama has presided over a foreign policy based no small part based on special nation and importance with america's ties in israel. our unique relationship isen breakable commitment to security and common interest. as the president said, israel is ready to defend itself, so has the democratic party's platform ear after year. this year should be to different. four years ago, this party produced a platform that served

as a blueprint for the president's platform. we should be well served to stick closely to a previous platform language and principles to be updated and expanded as necessary. as the new platform is drafted, we should recognize the important role israel, established democracy. as we seek to encourage democracy, we should also expand and strengthen our relationship with israel and work towards full integration into the middle east. it must be our expectation that new governments will commit to new governments will commit to

on iran, the president obama has more extensive and meaningful. unfortunately iran's continue's its program. it has refused international efforts to meaningful engage and it is closer to nuclear weapon than ever before. we support actions by the president in congress to impose tougher sanctions. we must restate our policy that we will do everything necessary to prevent iran from producing a nuclear weapon. president obama said i will take no option off the table. that includes all elements of

the america's perfect. members of our community strongly support of the broader issues of the democratic party. there's no demographic group today more pro-choice than our community. 90% of our community supports reproductive rights. the 2008 party platform was clear when it said, the democratic party strongly support roe v. wade and woman's right to choose safe and legal abortion. these words speak loudly and clearly to my community and stockily encourage you to reiterate and strengthen them of women's health services and providers in america.

the american jewish community has been deeply frustrated by the war on real science. including among those who deny human contributions to global climate change. the words of our platform were received by american jews. my community is one of many that looks to our party for leadership on this issue and i ask that you reiterate the essential call. my community was also tremendously part of the discuss that president obama waged to successfully pass historic healthcare reform for our country. great weight was given to this vital and significant updated language should be afforded to this issue in the new platform. it is yet to be done to ensure that tens of million of americans receive the govern that they deserve. one other issue that president obama did is the ongoing fight for marriage equality. this is an essential issue of

liberty and i'm hoping it will be squarely addressed in our party's platform. the american jewish community is more supportive of marriage equality than any other faith community with approximately 80% supporting it. i'm hoping in keeping with the president's support, our party will anchor the right to marriage equality. i'm deeply honored by the opportunity to testify before you today. i'm glad to answer any questions that you may have. >> thank you david and are there questions? >> david thank you for your testimony and it's good to see you again. words are cheap so it's good to know this is a president that kind of followed through on previous statements and

platforms unprecedented support for israel. standing up to israel at the u.n. this president's accomplishments in term of keeping his word on the unbreakable commitment to security israel. it's pretty clear for folks. i'm wonder if you can flush out one thing. it wasn't touched on quite in your testimony. events changing so quick. could you speak a little bit how see the peace play into israel future security as well as their identity as a jewish and democratic state? >> sure this is obviously something the president spent a great deal of time working on directly. it's something the advisors responsibility -- spent a lot of time.

it's something we've heard israel's democratic prime minster saying it's something he wishes to do. in my mind, i think in the minds of many area jews, it's something that we hope happens. it's something the president has clearly expressed he hopes happens. he has said repeatedly that america it's in israel's interest. he will go anywhere, and any time to talk to the president and discuss it. he's put his money where his mouth is. he's tried very hard to move in

process forward. i'm confident he will continue trying. this is something that's up to the parties themselves to negotiate. >> thank you very much for your testimony. there's no question that america's military and economic power are critical to advancing our interest in protecting our ally. other factors maybe at work. for example america standing in the world of culture and values. can you talk a little bit how these factors might affect our foreign policy? >> can you flush out your question more? >> what you mean to the extent that the united states is able to project culture that's compelling to the rest of the world, that it has standing in the world strong allies. how does that effect our ability that we carry out our goals in the middle east? >> i would u. u.s.-israel alliance are part of our values

and it project our values to the world. showing our closeness with strong democratic ally in the east and building our alliance with other allies in trying to sanction iran. in fact, it'll part of our domestic values. marriage equality, gay rights. these are all common interest that we share with israel. we as jewish democrats, see many of our domestic democratic priorities in parcel with our love for israel as we see those shared values in our u.s .-israel relationship. we see a lot of this projected to our u.s.-israel alliance. >> robert? >> david you want to thank you

for cord work -- extraordinary work you do. there's a well funded effort to reduce the vote count in on the democratic side in particular for president obama and the jewish community. just a couple moments ago to bolster what the essence of your testimony was. gallop came out newest poll numbers in the jewish community which has president obama gaining 68% to 25% for governor romney. again consistent with your testimony. i for one, actually believe we have an extraordinary record to run on in this case. i say and apologetically that president obama is the strongest president since harry truman. if you can elaborate quickly on

a few points. fact that obama administration israel has received bombs for if the first time. in fact, we have engaged the largest military joint exercises in the history of state of israel under the leadership of president obama. maybe just quickly talk about president obama's personal engagement if you would in terms of the calamity that was avoided in the israelian embrace in cairo. >> think congressman in the industry that's called a softball. laugh -- you hit the nail on the head. the bunker busting bomb was not something he bragged about. something that would have been a political winner for the president to talk about that he realized it was more important

to do it quietly and it later came out to the press years later. of it not a political act. it was a security related act that he wanted to help our ally israel. largest exercise ever after largest exercise ever, which is going to come in just a few months. the last thing you said was most telling, what he does in the most private moments when it's up to our president personally himself. when he personally intervene late on a friday light to save lives of israel diplomats. when israel asked for help to fight, he left the president all the response that america could muster in a region. he got on a plane to go to afghanistan and it was reported that the first question he asked getting off under the cover of dark next landing in afghanistan, are they on the ground. do they have everything they

need. that's the first question he asked. you're break about your broader point. there's an incredible exercise under way. this is an issue that should be bipartisan. there's decades of history of u.s. and israel support not being a partisan issue. this is a cynical issue that's making it a partisan issue. what i'm asking us to consider in these pieces of platform not only the right thing to do and stand on record of achievement this president has amassed, it also helps to establish the fact in our testimony to push back to try to help deprive the other side from engaging what is

deeply disturbing cynical effort to try to woo votes for political reasons. to try to turn this into a partisan thing. >> thank you. >> david, your testimony has been well received. we thank you for it and we thank you for the breadth of the testimony. we look forward to continuing to hear from you and members of your organization going forward during the next three months especially. >> thank you so much for this opportunity. >> our next presenter is dr. maya rocketmore. he is the chair of the board of directors of the national committee to preserve social security and medicare. this organization is one of the most effective and trustworthy sources for social security, medicare and medicaid advocacy in our country.

the committee works for older americans who want our nation's health and income security programs secured for the future. have doctor we're happy to have you and we look forward to your testimony. >> thank you. on behalf of millions members and supporters, i want to thank chairman strickland and all of the somebodies of the democratic platform k for your invitation to testify today. i also like to refer you to my written testimony in your development of your platform. i will use a few momentos make a few key points. first, i hope the platform of the democratic party not only defends critical social insurance program but consider language in support of several modest improvements that will modernize the benefit structure for certain groups. democrats can be proud of their history helping seniors live independent and dignified lives.

democrats create social security, medicare and medicaid. democrats lifted millions of seniors out of poverty and retirement. this is no time to back away from that proud heritage. frankly, the american people don't want you to. in our polling, we have found across party lines, large majorities of voters, 77% overall, strongly reject cutting social security to reduce the deficit. they oppose all specific benefit cut that's are currently being talked about and say they will reward those who take a strong stand in favor of these programs at the polls. we all know that without social security over half of older americans would fall into poverty. while central to so many, social security benefits are modest

mostly benefit is only $1229. that's about $15,000 a year. beneficiaries can't afford cuts especially preserves tax breaks for wealthy millionaires and billionaires. what is more cuts to earn benefits would dis proportionately hurt women of color. those who have benefited so much from this nation, pay their fair share. in fact, it fay roll tax -- payroll taxes were applied more fairly, sovereignty could be assured. we could pay for needed improvements that would help social security meet all needs of all americans.

these improvements include providing social security credit for caregivers. improving survivor benefits, enhancing the special minimum benefit, strengthening the cost of living adjustment by adopting the c.p.i. for the elderly. restoring student benefits for children up to the age of 22 and offering equal benefits for same sex married couple and partners. at the same time we urge you to reject the myth that there are unpopular options for addressing sovereignty. we urge you to ending the program social insurance promise by privatizing for the benefit of wall street. increasing the retirement age is a cut. we ask you to reject. reducing the cost of living adjustments through the changed c.p.i., cutting benefits by altering the benefit formula.

we ask you to reject all of those. in terms of medicare, 47 years ago next week, president johnsons built on fdr legacy by providing health security to older americans. before medicare, only 50% of seniors had health insurance and 35% of seniors lived in poverty. today medicare continues to be a central for middle income seniors. over half of medicare beneficiaries have annual incomes of less than $22,500. having guaranteed access to health insurance coverage is also beneficial for communities of color. two-thirds of african-americans and latinos have incomes below $22,000 and they make up a large their of those who have income below the poverty level. as a result, communities of

color have a disproportionate stake in ensuring the future of medicare. the democratic party should support improving and strengthening medicare. lowering part b out of pocket cost for beneficiaries, offering free preventive services and reducing prescription drug costs. it's not enough just to protect medicare. that's why the democratic platform should support providing medicare coverage for hearing aid, as well as establishing an annual catastrophic cap on beneficiaries out of pocket spending for medicare covered services. unfortunately, the house passed gop ryan budget will take medicare in the wrong direction by ending medicare as we know it. privatizing it for the benefit of insurance companies.

making it harder for seniors to choose their own doctors. cutting prescription coverage and prepreventive services and increasing the medicare medicare eligibility age to 67. we reject all of these proposals. the national committee believes moreover that the platform should insist that seniors and people with disability have access to high quality and affordable long term care services and support available at home and in the community. funding for those services is primarily provided for and paid for by medicaid which covers over 62% of all long term care services. medicaid remains a vital safety net and it is especially important also to communities of color. sadly, millions of existing medicaid beneficiaries will likely forgo needed medical assistance and become thicker in a proposal in the ryan budget to block grant medicaid became law.

establishing a federal blended rate would also reduce medicaid payments to state. instead what's needed is the medicaid expansion enacted in thing a -- affordable care act. all states red and blue must cover all seniors. finally we are concerned that medicaid managed care may not be appropriate for individuals dully eligible for medicare and medicaid benefits. we urge you support peeling back these state demonstrations. in closing, democrats will win the confidence of american voters by being unapologetic defters on the tax against america social net. cutting benefits is not shared sacrifice. instead, ordinary americans want to know that someone is fighting for them, someone is standing up for them. as other middle class

institutions like pensions and retiree health plans crumble. please, fight for them by drafting a platform that puts them first. thank you for this opportunity to testify. >> doctor, thank you for your testimony and we have some time for questions. are there questions? it appears -- we have some questions. >> thank you coming and actually all of your work the past few years particularly with the social safety net. as you mentioned, this is a critical factor and critical set of programs for middle class families, for low income families and quite frankly for all families across all generations quite frankly.

but -- there's also a piece in the social security discussion around public service workers. in certain states, where there's a penalty within a social security system. i wonder if you can touch on that a little bit? public service workers penalized by the social security system -- >> government pension -- >> there has been an ongoing conversation about public service workers who actually teachers and others who might qualify for social security, who actually get a cut as a result of the benefit structure. so that has been an ongoing debate in congress. certainly one that has been a concern to the democratic party for a long time. it should be a part of any package that is taken up with regards to how we actually modernize the social security program. we make need -- need to make

sure benefits adequate for all programs. >> thank you. >> thank you very much for that very powerful testimony. let me ask you one thing. often times, we forget that social security and medicare really provides quite a bit of assistance for the disabled. what could you elaborate about that in terms of the disable and how important social security and medicare is for the disability community. >> absolutely. when people think about social security, they think of it as a retirement program. social security has three primary benefits that's for retirees and it's for survivors. in the disability program, often social security is the only thing for workers who become disabled in the midst of their working career, they can

actually get access to and support them in their disability. it's very important for people of all ages who become disabled. social security steps in to provide not on that disabled worker with income support but also their family members. social security disability is critically important for these families. >> thank you. are there any other questions? doctor thank you for your testimony and thank you for the wonderful work your organization does. >> thank you very much. >> we appreciate you being here. our next presenter mr. bill. bill is the political director of the southwest region counsel of the international brotherhood of carpenters. bill represents 500,000 union workers advocating for improve jobs and the protection of their

rights. bill, we are very happy to have you and we look forward to your testimony. >> thank you mr. chairman. i'm honored to be here. i also serve as the director of social projects for the international union. on behalf the 550,000 members of the united brotherhood, i want to thank you for the opportunity to submit these comments for your consideration. payroll fraud comes in two forms. for instance, the intentional misclassification of employees as independence contractors, workers who get i.r.s. 1099 forms at the end of the tax year instead of w2s, paying workers off the books. violations not only encompass federal and state tax evasion, workers compensation fraud but

includes racketeering, money laundering and mail fraud. payroll fraud is not limited to small construction projects. we find violations on public and private jobs, on residential, industrial, commercial construction, even happens in military bases like fort knox. these violations are not caused by confusion over definition of employment pease people know what they are doing. -- these people know what they are doing. where payroll becomes common, employers face prospect of losing their businesses if they don't join in. first they continue to lose work

and employees draw unemployment, then unemployment taxes and workers compensation premiums go up in order to make up for the shortfalls leaving them even less competitive. in 1984 study by the i.r.s. found that 15% of employers misclassified employees as independent contractors and nearly 20% of construction employers did so. more recent state study found that 14 to 24% of construction workers in massachusetts are misclassified. 14% maine, 14.9% in new york and conservatively nearly 18% in illinois. 2007 study in new york city construction industry, the fiscal policy found that 25%,

50,000 construction employees were misclassified or paid off the books resulting in an estimated loss of $557 million in 2008 federal state and local taxes workers compensation payments and in healthcare cost shifting to local government. those numbers fail to reflect true frequency in the cost of payroll fraud. florida discovered that a billion dollars was through check cashing stores. that was an estimated loss of $400 million in taxes, 174 which would have gone to the federal government. always workers compensation premiums. clearly state, local and federal governments would benefit substantially if we recover those taxes that are owed.

majority of states have recognized the problems created by payroll fraud. 33 states passed over 97 measures including law enforcement. states include california, colorado, new york, maine, oklahoma. these represent a broad political spectrum reflecting bipartisan cooperation as well as labor. following the lead of the states the united states department of labor has signed memorandums of understanding with the i.r.s. in 13 states to battle this

problem. unfortunately, congress is lagging behind. new bills have been introduced not only to be obtained in partisan gridlock. we believe similar measures should be passed by the congress and include support in this platform. funding u.s. department of labor initiative, increase the number of wages to investigators to improve the sharing of information and cooperative of enforcement actions with the i.r.s. and states and provide grants to states for information and technology and other state initiatives to improve enforcement. support for amending the internal revenue allowing i.r.s. to issue regulations, eliminating the rule that allows cheaters qualify for the safe harbor that continue violating

the law by not playing employment taxes and eliminating the industry practice of safe harbor that allows illegal behavior. my comment have addressed illegal practices in the construction industry but payroll fraud is all too common in trucking, restaurants, landscaping, home healthcare and hotel and elsewhere. honest business and taxpayers, is there a better protection for those who violate the law. hard working families will have more likelihood to realize the american dream. thank you >> thank you bill and the problem that you highlighted here is pervasive. i know it exist in ohio and probably every other state in this nation. thank you for your testimony. are there questions of bill

before he steps aside? anyone? thank you so much sir >> thank you. >> well, the mayor is here and so it's my privilege to introduce our next presenter, mayor kevin johnson. mayor johnson is serving his second term as the their of sacramento, california. he's the first vice president of the national conference of black mayors. as mayor of sacramento, he's worked to improve public safety, increased economic development, champion excellence in education and he tackles issues affecting urban communities. mayor, we look forward with great enthusiasm to your testimony. thank you for being here. >> thank you very much. i want to thank everyone for giving your time for this very important issue.

i know you have a 101 things you should be doing. one big thank you. i like to thank chairman strickland and the members of the committee for the opportunity to be here today. as the chairman mentioned mayor of city of sacramento and second vice president of u.s. conference of mayors and let me begin by just recognizing the leaders of the u.s. conference of mayors. i start off with our president, mr. michael nutter, good to see you. i guess you're wearing two hats today. phillies on the roll too by the way. >> like that. >> first vice president scott smith and ceo and executive director of the u.s. council mayors tom cochran. i would also like to acknowledge all the mayors who participate in the u.s. conference of mayors for their invaluable input. we represent 1300 cities and each the cities are over 30,000 and we are non-partisan body. think that speaks volumes to

what we're trying to do in this country. i would also like to thank president obama for his leadership. he has given us as mayors, unprecedented access to the white house. he's allowed us to sit down to cabinet members and ways that haven't happened. the first lady came and addressed our body on a number of occasions. we as mayors are extremely thank.ful. we also want to thank the administration for their bold action. many successes in the first four years. we're just getting warmed up. we got a long ways to go. one of the thing that we did through the u.s. conference of mayors with week ago, we met in philadelphia and we got together

collectively about hundred mayors around the country. we talked about what you collective responsibilities are. we released something called u.s. metro economies. i want to pull out a couple key findings. it's very clear that american cities are the lifeblood of this country. here are the three key findings. 84% of the u.s. population is in metro economies. 84%. secondly, 86% of the nation's jobs are in metro economies. thirdly, 90% of the nation's gdp is in metro economies. u.s. cities are global power houses. in fact, some of our city have greater economies than countries. for instance new york is larger than mexico and

south korea. los angeles outpaces switzerland and chicago outpaces sweden. there's a number of metro economy that's are larger than states. miami has larger economy than arizona and houston's gdp is higher than georgia. these numbers will continue to grow as time goes on. over the next 30 years, you're going see a 32% increase in the metro population around this country. we believe where businesses occur and where people live and where innovation is born. that's partly why we are so thankful to have an opportunity to share with this particular committee today. we as mayors stand ready to be a part of the solution. we want to put our country back on track. just last week, mayor nutter hosted us to a 2.5 day seminar. we got a chance to prepare document called building a better america. efocused on ten major issues

that we thought were important in cities around the focus. i won't mention all ten. more importantly it's about creating an urban agenda. let me start with investing if infrastructure. that will keep our cities competitive in the 21st century. secondly keeping people in our cities safe and secure through public safety as a top priority. primarily role of government. thirdly, ensuring that all of our children have access to a high quality public education. we believe those are three most important things for us as mayors around the country. these priorities we believe are transformative and obtainable,

they unify our interest and transcend our party and geography. they improve the lives our citizens and sustaining the promise of the american dream. first let me dive a little bit into infrastructure. what is infrastructure? infrastructure are our roads, waterways, bridges, our railways, energy grids. things that bring us together. things that connect us with our cities. by investing in infrastructure, we provide both short term and longer term jobs. it helps our ports and exports and it reduces congestion. further more, thinking about infrastructure, the u.s. spends only 2.4% of its gdp in infrastructure. meanwhile, europe spends 5% and china invest 9%. it's clear we're moving in the wrong direction in the 1980ser. at 3%. if we fail to act, our cities

are going to increasingly sufficient congestion under employment and certainly a long term cost. what we mayors want to say very loud and clear, we as cities want to be a part of the solution. when you think about how we get our country back on track, states play a critical role but we believe cities where the rubber need to roll. our aim in addition to infrastructure is also public safety. we know that we need to keep air cities secure and safe. the u.s. mayors know that crime affects our streets and our people. unfortunately, with budget cuts already stretched thin, cities are increasingly have to cut fundamental services for its citizens. we have identified a few ways in which our party, the democratic party and president obama can ensure that the aid directly goes to public safety. first, we must support local law

enforcement by supporting key programs, the cops hiring grants, and second chance. secondly, we must have a paradigm shift and focus lot of our energy on prevention. we want to be proactive. thirdly, in this is something that's near and dear to president, i guess in this case, our president nutter, is gangs and illegal drugs. we all know that there's so much gang on gang violence. young kids, african-american in particular are impacted in a negative way. we have to make sure we come up with solutions and part that is inner governmental partnership and combination of tough enforcement and prevention.

the last thing i'll talk about briefly in term of public safety and it's a little bit nontraditional. it's our floods and our levies. we cannot places around the country very similar to what happened in new orleans and katrina that can impact us. lastly is education. this is the one that's probably near and dear to my heart in particular because we as mayors cannot have a great city without great schools. unfortunately many of our schools and cities around the country are not meeting the bar. it's a moral impettive when you think about achievement gap. it's a competitive dynamic. we got to get our schools back on track. we believe very strongly that you have to have a well educated

and highly skilled work -- workforce. we rank now unfortunately 14th in reading, 17th in science and 25th in math among the 34 developed countries. what makes matters worse, is in the next 20 years, we're going to have 120 million jobs. unfortunately we're going to be able to fill 50 million of those jobs by our children. that means 70 million jobs will be outsourced to children in other countries. that is not the america we believe in. just under under investing and lack of prioritizing, under investing and lack of priority will cripple our education system. that's why we as mayors want to be a part of the solution the

president has been far and above one of the key leaders on these issues. we want to prioritize early education, which and all know is very important for our students. we want to reform k12. we got to increase graduation rates. we want to improve our access to higher education by ensuring college affordability and completion, pell grant. we want to expand and improve on community college system. our community college system is so important when it comes to training and career tryouts for young people. we want to create a skilled workforce. the last thing i'll say on education is, there's policy that's also very important. we're in lock step with the president from a bipartisan support and secretary duncan. we believe very strongly that we

need to re-authorize e.s.c.a. we want the federal government to move in a very swift way. we got to bring congress together and get this reauthorization passed. it fails, our nations cities and students will be impacted in a very negative way. mayors stands ready and we urge our party to hold us accountable. we want to be a part of the solution. that's under mayor nutter's leadership as well. the urban agenda is critical for moving this country forward. we believe very strongly by focusing on infrastructure and job creation, public safety and education, that we will get our communities back on track. we also think that the u.s. conference of mayors, we said this before, there's other things that we know are very

important. exports and advanced manufacturing and small business, energy independence and jobs, housing and community development, tax reforms, balancing our budget and certainly reducing our deficit. we as mayors again stand with this administration in this country and look forward to the months ahead. we want to be willing partners we believe in the values of democratic party. we believe in everything we stand for and we believe there's a lot of work to be done. sign us pup >> thank you mayor. thank you for your leadership. are there questions for the good mayor? mayor nutter >> thank you. not so much a question. i do want to thank mayor johnson for coming in and clearly laying out the case for cities and partnership as we move forward in strength in this platform for the role of cities and a new

city federal partnership and in particular thank you for your comments with regard to public safety and the issue of violence all across the united states of america. for some of us believe that response we've had to international terrorism very important for this country. but unfortunately on a daily basis, many of us experience domestic terrorism in our cities. we need a much larger and comprehensive response to those issues so that people can be safe not only as they fly but also as they walk around their communities. thank you >> congresswoman? >> god to see you. thank you for that clear and testimony as well. it's very important for us to hear and include in this platform. coming from oakland, california, many of the ours you raised are

similar to all urban areas. public sector job cuts, primaryings firefighters and police officers and teacher, next door neighbors, they experience the brunt of public sector job cuts. that of course is part of the republican in terms of deficit reduction. and public sector jobs has been the primary pathway to the middle class for people of color -- african-americans and latino and asian-pacific americans. what in terms of your city in terms of an urban agenda is the impact of the public sector budget cuts as it relates to services and jobs and keeping our community safe? >> first of all, i'm a big fan of yours, thank you. i appreciate the question and thank you for the work that you do obviously in the bay area.

i'm the mayor of sacramento and we're the capital of california, which is 8th largest economy in the world. as a capital city, in sacramento, the majority of our jobs are public sector jobs as a capital city. when the economy is hit hard, our community is hit a lot harder than most cities that have a diverse kind of workforce. we don't have a diverse workforce. think there's two thing i would say. number one, the lifeblood of our communities are police officers, our firemen, teachers. we've got to do everything that we can to make sure they're not making choices between paying the mortgage and buying groceries. we've got to make that as a priority. secondly. we have to figure out a way to grow the pie. the private sector can play a

critical role in growing that pie. government jobs we want to keep and keep strong. we also rely heavily on the real estate industry in sacramento. we were hit by the foreclosure crisis like many other communities around the country. that's an opportunity to create public, private partnerships. that is the answer going forward. it's public and private partnerships. they are not mutually exclusive. >> mayor, thank you for that really amazing rivetting series very thoughtful concepts we all need to think about. i know in the brief amount of time, we allowed, you couldn't speak to everything. i am curious because you mentioned the word corrected

responsibility, whether you as elected official, u.s. counsel of mayor. any comments you would like to make on the unprecedented attack on our voting rights that as an elected official i think is a almost terrifying attack on our basic democracy and whether the cities so many of our citizens live. >> certain things are nonnegotiable. for us, especially the african-american and proud of this party in 1964 and 1965, you think about the voting rights act and how long and hard we fought to be able to have that right and privilege. now folks are talking about creating schemes and ways to disenfranchise folks all again. that's not something we as

mayors should allow to happen. i don't want to speak on behalf the u.s. counsel of mayors because this is permanent to -- personal to me. i can i can assure you, we feel strongly doing what we can to make sure no one is disenfranchised. >> i just wanted to thank you. also comment on the fact that the priorities that you have identified for us are equally as important to rural communities. i come from a large state where half of our population, i can tell you that the issues most important to those communities are things like public safety, and infrastructure and education. i appreciate the work that you're doing on those issues and i appreciate the fact that u.s.

conference of mayors are pushing that agenda. >> i would like to sigh one -- say one thing on that. i know doug peterson spoke earlier representing the farmers union. i thought his points were appropriate. in this metro economies report, i did not realize just what the percentage and the numbers were that metro economies represent in this country. on the flip side, we have many rural mayors that are part of the work we're doing. we look at them as extreme partners. please don't look that the as something we are turning a deaf eye on one part of our community because we need all. we all have different strengths and different parts of the equation. i certainly agree and i appreciate you pointing it out. it is very consistent with the u.s. conference of mayors and what we want to do as well >> mayor thank you so much.

thank you for your leadership and appreciate your testimony. we appreciate you coming. thank you so very much. >> i know all the questions were from the left side of the room [laughter]. our party is on track. thank you. >> well our next presenter is mr. tom greeceson. he -- to meet and to network with other professionals as well as local, state and federal elected officials and candidates. also known as dembiz promotes

program of interest to democratic. >> thank you governor strickland and thank you members of the committee for having me attend this meeting. i am here in my capacity as vice president of the democratic business council of northern virginia. we refer to at dembiz. i want to thank ron pierce who is with the dnc small business owners council for invitation for us to be represented and make this presentation today.

we feel that dembiz can serve as a model to other communities. probusiness, this is a term that's become a weapon and seeks to separate those who place -- those who somewhat argue do not. pro-business implies there's only one other camp you can be and that is anti-business. the pro-business camp has been -- democrats have been left in a category that influence that we are anti-business. by extension anti-american and conservatives wrap the economy in a flag and make it their own. democrats lie champions of core

values of justice. in the last election we saw that the gop designed to convince americans those core values make us and our president social lip. words do matter. in a culture that's increasingly driven by sound bites the best slogan. in 2008 yes we can spoke to millions of people. young people, poor people, minorities, seniors. all who had never bother to vote before came out and supported the president. the party holding the flag when the economy collapsed in 2008 was the gop. that brings us to today. jobs in the last four years, it has come down to jobs. this is an endless debate about what and who creates those jobs.

words matter when the polarization puts the republicans in one camp pro-business and pro-jobs and leaves democrats only champions for entitlement programs. democrats can't win local, state and national elections without rebuilding our credibility as business center, pro-economy advocates. we begin in our area to try to change the conversation among democrat who are business and professional people in northern virginia. one of the most strongest economies in the country. dembiz, we talk about messaging and perception and misguided notion that we have to cut, reduce and eliminate to

strengthen our american economy. to paraphrase tip o'neil our business is local. those organization are the champions of local businesses that have traditionally embraced the pro-businessman tra -- mantra of the republican party. increasingly and extension of the gop. the creation of the democratic council, democratic business council, is not the answer to chamber of commerce. this is not a matter of feeding a mentality of opposing camps. in finding business people who understand and value the importance of social issues, we create a different discussion in a new form around how we can meet the basic needs of the many

while supporting the people, company and organizations that comprise our local economy. members of dembiz understands that the political process provides change. this is about creating a partnership between the business community and those who are in the business of government. democrats must craft a convincing message about how we value business and its relationship to government. democrats are not a party of smaller government, we are a party of better government. we must carry that message to the business community through a

cadry of people who believe that message our continued sustainability is largely based on word of mouth. we want committed people to help advance our goals. our democratic business council is based on a membership model but not every organization that is in this sector needs to be modeled in that way to be successful. we have a pack, which allow us us to directly support democratic candidate. our chief goal is education over fundraising. we focus on getting great speaker to our breakfast, people who have wide appeal, name recognition and serve to draw our members, friends of our somebodies and just people that are simply interested in hearing us speakers in the topics we discuss. our format encourages open

discussion. we create stakeholders in the initiatives and the agenda the democratic party by giving people in the business and professional community a chance to really talk with elected officials with candidates and with public administrators. we give our members and guests access to people they might not otherwise be ail to connect with. we give decision makers and people influences in their own networks. it is my hope that the democratic party at the national level would encourage the formation of local democratic business councils as a boots on the ground approach to reshaping the public perception of democrats. we don't have to compromise our core values to be seen as a pro-business party. we have to help others to see how business serves a greater

goals in our society. language and message to take these idea us out to the community. convincing voters one person at a time that democrats are also pro-business. thank you very much. >> thank you sir. think the record shows that across the years even across the decades that the business community does better under democratic administration than they do under republicans. are there questions >> thank you very much for your helpful testimony. i appreciate your point about the partnership that's possible between government and business. food safety is one example where over time there's been improvement for the american people and their. i wanted to ask you a little bit about universities. universities are not only a way for individuals to get a leg up

in their life but also serve a social economic growth. >> northern virginia one of the biggest universities in the state of virginia actually is george mason university. there we actually work closely with the faculty and students to try to reach out as members of the business community and also try to have the individual who are part of the faculty and who actually can bring value to our discussion about public policy issues and be part that discussion and be part of that partnership. i would agree that outreach by democratic organizations to youthses can -- universities can be extremely helpful >> thank you very much for your reference and for your input. you talk about how dembiz is engaged in messaging and

perception. i wonder if you can help us with that. one of the thing republican party seems to have been very good at is wrapping themselves in small business and using small business as something to hide behind in support of policies that are neither supportive of small business people or small businesses themselves. you care to comment on that? >> i agree with you completely. when democrats are in office, when democrats actually adopt policies, those small businesses actually thrive. having democrats promote policies and actually god for the economy and good for all the

citizens in our region. >> i want that thank you very much for the opportunity to be here. >> tom, we thank you for being here. our next presenter is allison herbert. allison is the legislative director of the human rights campaign. during her work >> , she has spearheaded the organization federal and legislative efforts on capitol hill. h.r.c. is the largest single rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and tran gender americans. allison we thank you for coming and we look forward to your testimony >> thank you very much. i want to take a personal privilege what an honor to be

here. we are the largest lesbian and gay bisexual transgender civil rights organization. i thank you for the opportunity to be here today before you. i would like to begin by thanking the democratic party for its long standing commitment to lgbt community. we obtained tremendous progress in address widespread

discrimination. despite these historic advances and others achieved at the local, state and federal level, there is still a great deal more that needs to be done. i come before you today to ask that the democratic platform once again reflect strong support of the right of lgbt people. i urge to expand the party's commitment to equality by unequivocally supporting the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry. it also calls for repeal of the

discriminatory defense of marriage act or doma, the federal law denies even lawfully married gay and lesbian couples a myriad of rights and benefits such as equal access to social security survive budgets, equitable taxation. because of doma, the gay and lesbian service member now able to serve our nation openly are still not treated equally. their partners and spouses lack access to health coverage, housing assistance and other benefits afforded to other military families.

earlier in year, president obama made historic statement in support of marriage equality. his words have fundamentally changed the national conversation on this issue. inspiring more and more americans to move forward on their personal journeys towards supporting equality.

an impact their ability to obtain the skills and education they need to succeed in life. in recent years, high-profile of like condi issue of bullying and harassment in our nation's schools. this problem is not a new one and does not only affect lgbt

youth are those perceived to be gay and tranche tender. it has contributed to entirely too many tragedies and we as a nation must do more to ensure that all you have the opportunity to learn and flourish in safe and respectful in garments. i urge you to include in the platform called for strong measures to combat bullying, discrimination and harassment that are explicitly inclusive of sexual orientation and gender. >> thanks to the lifting of the hiv travel on immigration ban, we are all reminded of the importance of our continued fight against this epidemic. hiv and aids remains a critical issue for people, and sit

affects particularly young people and gay and bisexual men of color. i ask that the platform continue to call for robust funding of prevention care and research. prevention programs must be comprehensive, science based, and focused on communities that they are intended to serve. hr 3 recognizes the role race based organizations play in tackling the problem, but we are keenly aware that religion is too often used as a platform to discriminate against lgbt people. with the federal courts continuing to grapple with lgbt equality, thee b federal dougie sheriff means critically important to our committees well-being.

perrin impartial judges recognize that the constitution's guarantees compared to all americans. on behalf of the human rights campaign, i think for the opportunity to testify today. we are grateful for the democratic party support of the community in championing our quality. >> thank you so much for being here and for your testimony. are there questions or allison? -- number four alison? >> just a comment. so wonderful to see you, alison, and has always been a pleasure working with you. i think you have educated all of us and has been an important statement as we move forward for

civil rights for all americans. i thank the committee for your work in your testimony as well. >> are there other questions? i think this platform could be an historic platform, based on some of the things you have discus