>> thank you. would you introduce the person at your right please. >> my name is wes bailey and i retired from the military in 2005 after serving almost 30 years. .. who persevered until "don't ask, don't tell" was repealed. the president will long be remembered for doing this, just as president truman was

remembered for stopping, or being, desegregating the military back in 1950 or so. i just want to talk briefly about this whole thing, and tell what the effects have been since then. and part of this relates to what the ad will set to senate when he gave his testimony. this is back on february 22010, which in my view was a brilliant stroke by the president to send him forward to do that. and which i also believe admiral mullen felt from the bottom of his heart. it is by personal belief that allowing gays and listen to serve opened with the right thing to do. no matter how i look at this issue, i cannot escape being troubled by the fact that women -- by the fact that we replace a policy which forces young men

and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens. for me personally, it comes down to integrity. theirs is individuals and ours is an institution. i also believe that the great young men and women of our military can, they definitely have been almost via it as fast. i don't have the words to express my gratitude to admiral mullen for what he said that day. is strengthen our resolve to bring about a day that "don't ask, don't tell" would finally end, we were kind of challenged back in september of 2010 when there was kind of a model boat we thought would pass, would get rid of "don't ask, don't tell," but we strengthen our resolve to keep knocking at the door for justice, and we did just that, bombarding congress with phone calls in november anti-simper. in the end they did the right thing, and voted for equality, fairness and common sense.

since that has happened the recruiting hasn't dropped at all. morale has continued up. the world has not stopped rotating, no matter what my friend michele bachmann might say. what happened when we feel came, there were three significant effects. the first was the end of the daily fear of being outed. i want you to put yourself in place of young kid who is far away from home, maybe a different part of the for the first time in his life is under of his sexuality. that did just wants to serve his country but he had the fear of being outed, what you did was and that fear and that's a great thing right there. i personally wouldn't -- when the young man was sent home during basic training, sent home in disgrace to his family in southern minnesota.

repeal has brought about honesty and service, and just as admiral mullen alluded to when he gave his speech. finally, enters the most important thing, i want you to take this back to your fellow democrats to repeal gave hope to gay youth. i told you as a retired police officer, a father, well, i can tell you what happened to g20 long longer have hope. they too often choose a tragic way out. as a police officer i do investigate that. my youngest son, who is straight and is also in afghanistan veteran himself, had a friend that came out when he was 19, and he was gay. as it turns out, that young man could no longer, he gave up hope and he ended up taking a tragic way out. that devastated his family and gave me the boost to keep

speaking out for equality and to give hope to young kids. so take that message back. what you've done your is given hope to gay kids that they can live a normal life, just like their peers and their friends and their family members, sure that message. give them hope, that is an incredible thing. you actually have saved lives. you will never meet these people go by your actions you have saved lives. finally, i want to dedicate this to a family friend. his name is andrew, died, killed in action in afghanistan in february 2010, or 2011. he was openly gay while serving, but it did make a bit of difference to those he served with. and to his memory, and to the cause of equality, i dedicate these words. thank you very much for what you have done. >> thank you. thank you. thank you for your service to our country. sergeant, i believe.

and we really appreciate the pic we appreciate your testimony. are the questions -- are fair questions? thank you both so very, very much for your testimony for being here this afternoon. our next presenter is tim velde. tim is a grain and hog farmer and yellow medicine county, minnesota. he serves on his local electrical cooperative board and the county zoning and building board. is also active in the minnesota farmers union, and he is here today to talk with us about the strength of the rural economy under president obama. tim, thank you for coming and we appreciate the opportunity to hear what you have to say to us. >> well, thank you. thank you for letting me come

speak to you, and welcome to minnesota. as just a brief introduction i am a farmer, fourth generation farmer. i farm on land that my great grandfather first bought, started farming in 1886. i farm with my son, and they have four kids and nine grandkids, and had a couple of my grandsons that are interested in coming into farming, too. one of my real concerns is passing the farm on to the next generation and keeping things going. consolidation in agriculture has been growing and growing over the years, going to more corporate agriculture, going away from family farms. years ago, the packers and stockyards act was passed, and implemented, which said that packers couldn't be in farming.

it kept corporate farming from taking over the family farms. those laws are still on the books but are not being completely enforced, and i think if we're going to continue to have good, safe food produced by family farms, those need to be implemented, or continue to be implemented if you want to look at one of the successes, the ethanol and biofuels. we have homegrown energy product that has helped farmers be more competitive in the marketplace, but it's also saved consumers millions of dollars and less expensive fuel, and you don't have to protect the cornfield with a battleship to get the products into your gas tank. so i think there's a homegrown energy is something that is very

important and vital to this country. one of the important things to the rope economy of course is agriculture. the farm bill, i really don't know if they should be considered a farm bill. the farmer part of it is just a small fragment of the dollars, but those dollars are important, all of them are. the school how much programs are very important all of this country and in the rural areas. there's a lot of infrastructure that is being built as far as water and sewer plants. that comes through the farm bill. the total scope of the farm bill is very important. it probably should be renamed so that farmers aren't blamed for the millions of dollars that go into it.

it is currently waiting, waiting passage, the senate passed it. the house ag committee has forwarded it, but they can't get any floor time to get a vote on it. it is as good a deal as can be had in these times when they are looking at cuts. one of the things that representative frank said earlier, that we need the message out there, that we do need to increase the tax on the wealthy are people, brought to my my great grandfather started the farm i'm on, came to this country is nothing. and to him, he became successful, worked hard, became successful. and to him april 15 was the best day of the entire year because he said you cover this country nothing, work hard. he said all you have to do is

pay some taxes. and i guess that's kind of follow through and her family. we are all, all feel very fortunate to be here, and don't see taxes as a bad thing. the other thing that's very important in rural communities, when i was introduced he said -- in yellow medicine county, west of the twin cities, some of the things that important to us, my hometown is less than 300 people. the postal service has been looking at consolidating offices, and our local post office gets to be a meeting site for people. everybody goes to pick up people living in town to pick up their mail. it's a place they can congregate, visit, and another thing that is very important in rural communities that hope can stay in the platform is the meals on wheels.

many of the older people in town don't have access, we don't have a grocery store in town anymore. they don't have access to get out of town for their grocery shopping unless someone takes them for a ride. but the meals on wheels still comes to town, and that's a very vital thing for rural communities. i guess one thing that us, all of us democrats, need to bear in mind, i think most of our problems haven't been caused by us but could be solved by electing more of us. so i thank you for your time, and ask you to please continue to remember that us out in the rural communities are providing you with good, clean, safe food.

so thank you. >> ten, thank you for your testament. we were happy to hear from national farmers group, folks -- spokesperson yesterday. and we're happy to have you here today. are there questions from the committee? thank you. and especially thank you for mentioning the importance of these smaller post office. i think it's incredibly important to thank you. our next presenter is melissa spencer. and melissa is the president of the des moines education association. she's also a science teacher at the north high school here in des moines, and melissa, we love teachers and we appreciate the fact that you've come to speak with us. thank you. >> thank you. good afternoon, chairman and members of the committee, and thank you very much for the opportunity to speak with you today. as he said i'm a high school science teacher from des moines, iowa.

and a new today to speak about the increased resources and support for school reform that we've experienced in des moines was specifically at north. i taught there for the past 10 years, and the success that we've had to do the grant we received from the department of education is what i will talk about today. so two years ago north was designated as a persistently low achieving school because we were the lowest performing high school in iowa especially by matt and science discourse. we have 25% are students who qualified for english language learners services, and 80% of her students qualify for free or reduced lunch. our persistently low achieving level did allow us to apply and we received $3 million school improvement grant. that begin with the 2010-20 let's go you. in the fall of 2010, a new era kind of begin. while we were do more lives by being labeled as persistently lower achieving and we knew it was an opportunity for us to reinvigorate a school that

sometimes had felt it'd been neglected. we had an entirely new administration and our staff is mostly the same as it again before. what was different is would put put a renewed focus on education for both students and staff and we start to focus more specific on student learning and how we could measure and analyze. collaboration became the norm. the teachers and administration work together every step of the way. one of the keys we had is we set aside specific time for teachers during the day to analyze instruction and student learning. we reorganize our master schedule so that we teachers had 80 minutes together every other day and what we call those is dated teams because of a specific focus on analyzing student run. we start with common assessments that we developed together and then we look at how we can develop a curriculum together that will target the area that we, areas that students be more assistance with from those

assessments. we had for school improvement leaders that were positioned that were able to ask for. they were able to work with the data team. there are also been invaluable because they spent 90% of the day in classrooms with the teachers doing coaching, classroom walk-throughs, providing feedback in addition to mentoring students. another area that the school grad help us wa was in the areaf literacy. during, we have 90 minutes a week for professional development through districtwide early dismissal and we spent the time focusing on something called writing to learn initiative. writing to learn mean students get daily writing activities to further explore concepts you learn in every class, even inquire, p., every class. we also have further boosted our literacy by having a 45 minutes later secours and in the party for students that we know need additional focus intensively this instruction based on their test scores. so all of these initiatives were

lead and coordinate by leaders leader which is another position we were able to add through the school grant. and then another the key was we were able to become a one-to-one laptop school through resources. so the goal was to increase engagement but also the level the playing field for students and their families. before this many of our students at north didn't have reliable access to technology, and now each student gets a macbook for them in a family to use, both at school and at home. the pride they had when he got to go through our process, our rollout when i got to use their computer was wonderful. so what are the signs of success trucks in the past years north has gained 19 points reading and i was a state standardized test. we again nine percentage points in math. we've also seen other indicators

become and high-performance corporate less students in all return classtime, highly daily -- higher daily attendance rate. we now have positive stories about it instead to focus on the occasional violence that we would have. our robotics, academic decathlon and rotc teams all place in the top 10 nationwide. our staff, our students continue to are now proud to be part of the north high family. there are two big takes to north success of like to see the foundation for education policy across the nation. targeted resources and emphasis on collaboration. the staff at north had always believed we could help lead the chains we wanted to see. we weren't -- but throughout the school process we are part of the conversation about what kind of feedback and professional development we need to grow as educators to as well as leading the discussion about student learning. we were able to get the feedback, support and professional development we needed from the resources provided through the grant. i hope you will consider,

continued fiscal proven grants because they found a wonderful way to target improvement. thank you very much. >> melissa, thank you, and you just go to what i think is very important. if we want to improve education in america we need to listen to the people who know the most about it. and that's our teachers who work daily with her sister thank you for being here. are there questions from the committee? yes. >> more of a common. really enjoy hearing about the initiatives and incentives you were speaking about. kind of interesting segue because it is the opening of the olympics, and celebration of title ix from my perspective, the fact the first time in her history there are more women from the u.s. going to the land banks to be active, engaged and hopefully bring home some gold and there are guys. so i think these incentives and initiatives level the playing field, create opportunities, and

are something we should celebrate and actively pursue in our platform and in our democratic party. >> thank you, melissa. we appreciate you being here and thank you for sharing with us today. now, what i'm going to do, we have several friends from the labor community here, and i'm going to ask them to come up together. they may have to bring some chairs, but i'm going to ask david hallas, bob ryan, james samuelson, leann bosquez, tom robinson and adam robinson all, if they would please come up. will ask them to use share the microphones. and as these folks are gathering i wanted to a little bit about each of them, and what they're wanting to talk with us about. first of all, david hallas, he's a member of the united steel workers local 7263, and he is come to talk with us about his

efforts to secure the use of steel from his middle and the rebuilding of either 35 westbridge here in minneapolis, the bridge which collapsed in 2008. and then we will hear from bob ryan, and bob is a member of united steelworkers local 264, and he will discuss the importance of fair trade for industrial workers. and then we will hear from james samuelson, and james is a member of ibew local 160, and james serves as a political coordinate for his local 2012 election. and james is here to discuss labor's second american bill of rights, which will be revealed i think in a few weeks. and we are happy to have you here. he has a copy today. then we'll hear from leann bosquez. leann is a member of the afl-cio

community affiliate working america, and she will discuss the full employment living wage component of labors second american bill of rights here and then we will hear from tom robinson, and tom is another member of working america, and he will explain the secure healthy future component of america's second american bill of rights. and discuss participation in the electrical process. and then finally we'll hear from adam robinson. adam is a member of the international brotherhood of teamsters local 120 here that them is a commuter the organizer with the minneapolis regional labor federation, afl-cio. and adam is also the chair of the minnesota workers faith networ of faith with unions and he call f,

racial and economic justice. so all of you folks share common concerns, and, obviously, represent common values. we are happy to have your. we look forward to hearing from you. we will begin by hearing from david hallas. david. >> thank you, chairman. governor strickland, please compose each of you as most of the democratic national committee platform. given the opportunity speak today. my name is david hallas. i'm appearing as a steelworker for local 7263 of the united steel workers, plus a kenya employee, where 350 of the steel workers are employed. i met the father two children, serve the national guard and i'm a registered democrat. since 2006 i've been politically active on behalf of my family. a union officer, and also as a

afl-cio labor federation vice president. among -- i'm on the minnesota committee and all the -- i'm here to explain today, excuse me, all this explains why i'm here today to advocate inclusion of the convention platform, support for buy america and the state national legislative policies to sustain family support the manufacture and ship it back in 2007 during evening rush hour, the entire span of the minneapolis bridge across the mississippi river collapsed and broke into sections. plunging dozens of cars and arguments into the river 60 feet below. tragically there were 13 killed and dozens injured. the i-35 w. replacement bridge was opened to the public on september 18, 2008. as a steelworker whose job depends on making steel, i am

joined by my brother and sister steelworkers and being proud to have produced the 63 millimeters anchor bar bolts that secure the new rebuilt bridge as the bedrock. i purpose in relating to disasters of the i-35 w bridge collapse and the rebuild, and our steelworkers is to emphasize the importance of our infrastructure, the strength of american steel, and the skills of our workforce and the economics of all those combined as good economic policy. the democratic convention platform must give urgent attention to american manufacturing industries and jobs as the bedrock of our economy and communities. we need to make a national policy commitment to the infrastructure investment of our bridges, highways, water systems, and other public projects to create good jobs and to strengthen domestic manufacturing. our policy growing importance in the global economy that is supported by the usw, the steel

industry is to strengtn the application and use of u.s. buy america act of 1933. so it's also adopted by law, individually in each of our states. unfortunately, by american laws have been diluted in recent years. lack of transparency and loopholes. on the state level patchwork and domestic references mean some state procurement qualities of american workers what other states freely stand -- syntax are to beijing and said we investing them in our economy. for the passover years i studied this issue and have appeared before various minnesota state committee hearings on the legislature with others in my union. we have yet to be successful in achieving legislation are minnesota state, adopt a law requiring american-made steel and public work projects. a new bill introduced by democratic lawmakers earlier this year is awaiting action. other states are attempting to do the same on this policy.

research into thousand nine found that with domestic content is maximized, manufacturing employment gains from infrastructure investment creates up to 33%. at a time when u.s. manufacturing sector has lost more than 6 million jobs since 2000. it should be a commonsense for step for quality makers seeking to rejuvenate the productive wealth creating sector of our economy. it's a well-funded corporate outsourcers are tempting to passed out on the merits of buy america by spreading myths that it's inefficient, burdensome and create a trade war. these myths are equally discredited. critics argue the use of buy america policy would spark retaliation of so-called trade wars with our foreign trading partners. most industrialized countries already utilize their own domestic procurement requirement to for example, canada has its own by canada laws. the european union has their own by e.u. laws. providing a preference for

domestic -- to remove any uncertainty, typically includes an explicit clause stating that provision shall be carried out in a manner consistent with our trade obligations. by american preferences should be utilized in a manner consistent with our trade obligations. thank you for having my comments at. on behalf of human steelworkers, and our local 7263 president. >> thank you, david, for your testimony, and we appreciate the fact that you've come and share this with us. i like what you say. next we'll hear from bob ryan. bob. >> thank you, governor and members of the committee. thank you for taking time to listen to us today. my name is bob ryan. for 30 years i've worked of the paper mill in st. paul. the plant just down the way here

is the largest paper recycler in the state of minnesota. every day we produce over 1000 times of corrugated media material and box used in all industry. unfortunately, much of the paper collected that we need for our operations, and we consume a large volume of waste paper, we are 100% recycled milk. we are for paper machines, each the length of a football field that produce a paper. largely many communities recycling programs are actually working for brokers that ship it to china. scrap paper is the number one export out of the united states. china is paying up to two and half times the market rate to get our paper. that puts a huge burden on the paper industry. my manufacturing job at the paper mill allow me to live a comfortable middle life class --

middle-class lifestyle. hopefully next year my 17 year-old son will be able to enjoy a lifestyle there, too. the republicans vision is cut taxes, cut services and cut budgets but the democrat platform should be about building, competing and sustaining a better tomorrow. we must sustain our current jobs. my st. paul mill employs over 500 people. when i started in 1981, they were 1300. because of different programs that have happened, particularly wal-mart, we have lost most of our manufacturing base in the country that directly relates to my mail. if the auto industry in detroit had collapsed, my mail would have shut down. all the parts that they need to put a car together typically a ride in a box.

indirect correlation and it is carried out. every day china uses currency manipulation and state-owned enterprises to steal our jobs and destroy our american manufacturing industries. destroys the middle class family living. nationwide with lost six money and jobs since 2000 when china joined the wto. this must stop. we must enforce our trade laws and the rebuild our american manufacturing base become -- before become nothing more than a colony that supplies china's needs. the middle class begun to low income, unskilled workforce. earlier this year i was active in responding to help keep good jobs in minnesota. statewide campaign led by democratic state representativ representatives, and my union, supported an amendment to can proposed construction of a new minnesota vikings football

stadium. it requires that the stadium be built with 100% american steel, and the steel must be confined to northern minnesota. and if all goes well they will win a super bowl. revitalizing american manufacturing should be an urgent national priority. 55,000 factories have closed, which results in six money and jobs lost. factories don't often read open after capacity as they were but we do have hope. the u.s. now relies on force a partial everything from steel to batteries and critical high-tech components but to everyday medical supplies such as antibiotics and penicillin. the resilient risk would not have access to needed products. delayed delivery times and poor quality. i urged the democratic platform committee to examine a report titled preparing for the 21st

century risks, revitalizing american manufacturing, respond and recover. i want to thank you for taking the time to listen to us today, and please do everything you can to bring the manufacturing base back to the united states instead of shipping everything overseas. >> bob, thank you so much and we appreciate the emphasis on manufacturing, certainly and everything else you have shared with us. next we'll hear from james samuelson, who belongs to the great ibew union, local 160, and james, we're happy to hear what you have got to say to us. >> ladies and gentlemen, -- >> you may want to move that over closer to you. >> thank you ladies and gentlemen, for letting us present to you today the america's second bill of rights. ladies and gentlemen, my name is james samuelson. i'm a 27 year-old member of the

international brotherhood of electrical workers, local union 160 right here in minneapolis. we have been asked to come before you today to present the workers stand for america, better known as america's second bill of rights. i'd like to start off by saying it is now time to change the conversation in america. the dying middle-class, a burdens of job market, college debt levels out of control, the living wage secure retirement is increasingly a thing of the past. electoral process now open to the highest bidder. these are tough times for american workers, for the american worker, tougher than has been in many generations. as journalists recently wrote, alternate, over the past four years corporations and politicians have rolled back many of the games made by working and middle-class people over the previous century. we are the highest level of

income. we have the highest level income inequality in 90 years. both private and public sector unions are under a concentrated attack in federal and state governments intend to cut the deficit by slashing services to the poor. we are creating the gilded age, the carried of the 19th two early 20th century with corporations rule this nation. by buying politicians, using violence against unions, and engaging in open corruption. if there was a time to change the national conversation in this country by focusing on putting the political agenda back on the needs of working americans, it is now. it is now time to change the conversation in america. at the national press club in

washington, afl-cio president richard trumka, international brotherhood of electrical workers announced on july 12 the kickoff of the workers stand for america. once again, better known as the americans second bill of rights at the national campaign to refocus the american national priority on the needs of the struggling middle class demanding an economy that works for all, not just the top 1%. we will be asking both democrats and republicans to sign on as supporters. this is our way of asking those in leadership positions, are you with us? what we're saying here today is not new. what is new is how we propose to make the power structure in america pay attention to the needs of men and women whose labor dries this country. workers stand for america will feature a major rally on

saturday august 11 in philadelphia. i booked my ticket last night. bringing together working people, union and nonunion, in a run up to democrat and republican national conventions to urge elected officials to stand with working families in support of a second bill of rights. promoting individual freedom and economic opportunity for all. we have chosen philadelphia because it is the birthplace of the constitution and bill of rights. there's no better place to introduce the second bill of rights, inspired by president franklin roosevelt in 1944 economic bill of rights. which includes many of the same issues. fdr said, and i quote, true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. right now across this country, this holds truer than ever. and we want to make it part of

the everyday discourse on the campaign trail throughout this election and in the media. as president hill made it clear also, this isn't about party or partisanship. it's about the future of the american dream. our message is to both political parties to return to the basic values that created america's best days. our economy and our policies have become skewed almost beyond recognition. the recovery has been geared most entirely to corporations and wealthiest americans. the rest of us are being left behind, and opportunity, and opportunity the great promise in america is being lost. this is not acceptable in a nation that was built on generation of labor. a strong and prosperous america cannot be measured by the stock market or the gdp. it must be judged by the

availability of good jobs, economic opportunities and hope. hope that our children, grandchildren will have the same shot in the american dream that we did. we have seen what happens when conservative politicians back billionaires and right wing ideology state power. it's time to change debate going on in this country and get working americans tired of for november and beyond. it is often said that election year that this is the most important election of our lifetime, but this time it is ever so true. we only need to look at radical changes in wisconsin, ohio, florida to see what mitt romney's presidency would be like. august 11 would be the first step toward saving middle-class americans. but we have to start somewhere. we hope you can join us in the streets of philly on twitter, on

facebook, and in the months to come to build a grass-roots army, but this country back on the road towards economic opportunity for all. i want to thank you all for the opportunity to present this to you today. and now i want to give my colleagues a chance to speak, for the rest of this. >> thank you, james. and leanne, we're going to hear from you next. you may want to move over so you can have access to the mic, but leanne is working, with working america, and she is here to discuss the full employment living wage component, flavors second american bill of rights or so thank you for being and we look forward to hearing your comments. >> thank you for being here and thank you for you and me, and everyone else. i've heard some fantastic things today and i agree with everything i've heard so far, strongly. i want to take a look at about my family history. i am a fourth generation

american over 100 years ago my great grandfather, migrated here, emigrated here from mexico. he worked on the railroad here in minnesota. he was a union member, and for all these generations my family has been raised as to the importance of people standing together and the solidarity, and the strength that americans have when we stand together, and ask for all rights. on my maternal side, my great grandparents also came here, both the same time, from czechoslovakia and austria. now, i grew up hearing stories from my grandfather and from my parents about the world war ii era. my maternal grandfather was sent over to work with the navy to restore pearl harbor. he was a painter, and when he returned their work jobs. we all certainly know that the depression was much worse than

what we are going through. my parents, again like everyone else in that era, a lot of families had food rations. the government said here, you can have this much sugar, here, you can have that much of that. good luck to you. there wasn't food. there was nothing. can't participate in the war effort. they ran around getting tires and bringing them in to turn over so the military could make use of them for weapons. the country was involved in everything going on here. it wasn't watching on the news. it was being and false. when people were killed in the war, you would see a ribbon on the doorway of the people that lost someone, and everyone more and. so that was, there were people working together. the nation, a nation stood together. now at the same time, there were a lot of things we're hearing now. communism, socialism, and all

the fears. and we all know some very bad things came about, the mccarthy era and so on. so in looking back, when my grandfather came back from pearl harbor, he joined the wpa. that was a working program that the government put together, created jobs, created infrastructure, and pay the people working there. so we built the infrastructure, yes, i taxpayer dollars, and the people that couldn't find work with the people that did these jobs. in that era the american citizens, the majority, felt that this country was worth investing in. now, there was national debt at that time, and i think the main thing there is when need you, and the democratic party, to help americans understand the investment that it's not going to increase the debt, it's going to bring it back because the more money that people may, the

more taxes they are personally going to pay him. if we want to have people making, their current and not paying in, pay more, we need to pay them to wage that they can live on so that they can also contribute to the country. when we have companies like you mentioned, the richest people in the world sending jobs away and keeping wages low, then what happens is instead of the company paying them a living wage, that they can live off of, and then the employees paying taxes, the employees are forced everyone to eat to go get food stamps. so if you could help to educate the american citizen as to how we need to increase the wages so that more people can participa participate. thank you. >> leann, thank you so much. and we appreciate your work with working america. next we'll hear from tom

robinson. tom is another delegate with working america, and he will talk further about the second american bill of rights. >> thank you for inviting me to speak your. the specific issue i'm going to talk about is the voter id amendment. we have one up on the ballot in minnesota. they are on the ballot in a number of other states. i got on the ballot as an amendment to the constitution partly because the republican legislature knew the governor would veto it if they just try to propose it as a law. so they decided to offer it as an amendment to the constitution. they did it with a number of other issues. host of them were defeated from even getting put on the ballot, and onto, the marriage amendment and than this one are the two that did get on the ballot. i've been doing some phone banking with working america on this issue, and it's a hard one to this is going to be a hard one to win, but we really need

to try to do it. the people that i talk to, many of them either don't know it's on the ballot for they don't really have any idea what this amendment is going to do. and what i hear from a lot of people is what's wrong with the? all we want is a picture id so somebody can vote. there's a lot wrong with it. what this really is, and it's really cynical, really a dishonest attempt by proponents. this is being presented as an amendment to protect the integrity of the electoral process, and actually it's a attack on electoral process. it's a deliberate effort to disenfranchise a lot of voters, and specific groups of voters. they have the same data we do. is why this is happening to our secretary of state has estimated possibly 700,000 people will not take part, eligible voters will not take part in these elections

if this would happen. and the specific groups it will affect are the poor, people of color, students, elderly, disabled people are the main groups that this will affect. and i think both parties know that the majority of these groups tend to vote democratic. and so this really is purely political. there's nothing about an electoral, protecting electoral process here at all. to me, i find it very distasteful he does these people know that, or they're really uninformed which is a little hard for me to believe. how important is this? if this amendment would've in effect six years ago, right now we would probably have senator norm coleman and governor tom amber. and if that isn't enough to get you excited to go out and tried to beat this amendment, i don't know what we do it. but it is hard because they can present this in a passionate all

you have to present your driver's license for everything else, why not for this? and so it's hard. it is hard to combat but you can do it. we do it with a phone banking every night. we bring people. some people we get that done anything about it, we get them thinking about it. some people that had one opinion, we managed to change their mind because we give them the evidence about what is going to happen if this gets put into effect. so any help that the committee can be them with a platform can do to help us here in minnesota and nationwide to prevent this amendment in minnesota, and also the other states would be greatly appreciated, and thank you for your time. >> thank you, adam. we appreciate your sharing with us, and, or tom. now we want to hear from adam. both robinsons. and adam is going to speak with us. he's a member of the teamsters union, brotherhood of teamsters local 120, going to speak with

us regarding the minnesota workers faith work and were happy to have you, adam. we look forward to hearing from you. spent thanks for your time today. as mentioned i am adam robinson. find a community organizer of the minneapolis regional labor federation of the afl-cio, never of teamsters local 120 and chair of minnesota workers interfaith network. i'm proud and honored to get the chance to talk with you for just a few moments today. i'm here today at half of those organizations, and my brothers and sisters here up in front of the room to ask the democratic party keeps its long and foundational support for the freedom to form unions and bargain collectively. we know the democratic party's values are the values of labor. we share those values. the 2008 dnc platform states the belief in this way, that every american, whatever the background or station of life should have the chance to work

at a good job with good wages, to raise and provide for a family, and to retire with dignity and security. that belief we feel identifies the very core of the american dream. that dream can be reclaimed for thousands, millions of americans. it is a freedom of workers to join together in unions and bargain collectively. the 2008 dnc platform further affirms workers rights and the necessity of the freedom to organize for a vibrant new american middle class. 2008 you said this. democrats are committed to economic policy that produces good jobs with good pay and benefits. that is why we support the right to organize. we know that when unions are allowed to do their job of making sure that workers get their fair share, they pull people out of poverty and create a stronger middle class. you continued by saying we will fight vigorously to oppose so-called right-to-work laws and paycheck protection efforts, whatever they are proposed. mr. chairman, members of the committee we know that in this country the freedoms to bargain

collectively has been under attack for decades but it has really been so openly and directly assaulted as in recent years. we see as a base, in the face of these attacks, wisconsin, ohio, across the nation, americans have come together to organize some of the largest and proud is labor mobilization in recent memory. we stood united to protect the rights. we've also seen more and sages forms of these attacks. they come as carbon copy bills include so-called right to work legislation. they have been pushed onto the floor in state legislatures throughout the nation. here in minnesota we've just seen this attack him in the form of a proposed amendment to our state constitution. these attacks on unions and collective bargaining not only affect union members but we know in in the ripple effects of these attacks in the wider economy. as union membership has

decreased, american wages have stagnated and that's again skyrocketing prices of health care, higher education, housing and the of the necessities of life. we know we need to work together to protect the rights of workers, to form unions and bargain collectively. but i want to say this in closing. that we know that unions are powerful economic actors, but beyond that, beyond that it's that unions are more than just organizations to fight for economic justice. they help to bind us together as a community. during one of the dozens of conversations i've facilitated throughout the state of minnesota during the right to work battle here in our state, a union members stood up to thank you for bringing the committee together. he put it this way. sometimes will go and that we feel like we are alone. we feel like no one should our values or thinks about making a better future for our kids. but when we remember where union members we know we can work together to make things better.

to me, that's what it's important of the right to form unions and to collectively bargain. that's why i'm asking today that the dnc include that as it has in years past as it moves forward this year. thank you. >> thank you. i want to thank each of you for joining together as you have. we have heard you. you speak the truth. and i am personally inspired by your individual work that you do, and the work that you collectively. now, are there members of the committee that would have a question for any or all of the members? >> thank you so much. i just want to thank each and every one of for taking the time to come today, and for reinforcing i think what we've been tightened over the last couple of days, which is the shared values of the labor movement, working families, and the democratic party. and a lot of the issues you raise, and james but and the

concept of second bill of rights, but many of these issues go to living wage, equal employment and the importance of rebuilding and middle-class economy and doing so with fair trade policies and the strong enforcement of trade policies that president obama's put in place, and the importance of buying american products, as we go about, as americans use our tax dollars to rebuild our economy, we know we have to buy american products to the fullest extent possible if we're going to create good jobs at home. i think the point you raise is so important about collective bargaining and the right, the right to voice at work which is really essential not just to the economy but to our democracy. and i think the point that lee and raised about strengthen solidarity is really very important. and tom, you raise the issue that's come up several times over the last couple days about the right to vote and the bedrock is important to not just democratic party but the country of not shipping away americans

rights to express themselves at the workplace. at the polling place. so i just want to thank you all. if we had time we could go on and on about each one of these issues, i know that the time is very limited but i did want to personally thank each of you for taking the time to come and for sharing your testimony. >> thank you. are there other questions from the committee? >> you are letting bob off easy. >> well, you're very convincing in your testimony, so that means that i hope we're all in agreement. thank you so much for being here and for sharing with us. we are nearing the end of our witness list. we have one additional person. that person is ken bradley. he is our final presenter of the day. ken is the chair of the solar works for minnesota, coalition of more than 150 businesses,

unions and nonprofits, focus on getting minnesota generate 10% of its energy from solar by the year 2030. a noble goal, and ken, we're happy you're here. we look for during funding. >> thank you for having me. it's a honor to here. you know, first, just exciting to have an opportunity to present our organizations store, our coalition stored. i think you for the time. besides serving as chair, i also service director of environment of minnesota. in 2000 our organization begin to look closer at the benefits of solar energy, to provide a state and nation. our organization realize that poll after poll indicated that solar energy was extremely popular with democrats, independents, both republicans as well which demonstrated to us that the public was once again way out front of many of our politicians. however, it was also the optimism and the tone

established by president obama's election that provided us with hope that finally leadership in washington, d.c. would be able to transfer out energy system that has been handcuffed by the fossil coal industry to an energy future, supported by clean energy technologies for future generations. the u.s. imported $400 billion in patrolling in 2008 which accounted for 59% of our trade deficit. energy plays a significant role in our state and national trade that, far outweigh the impact of china. minnesotans import close to 20 billion worth of fossil fuel but that is $3800 for every minnesotan annually. i want to thank the obama administration for their leadership increasing fuel efficiency standards to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, and their support of electricity, electric vehicle and battery technology. today, every major manufacturer, auto manufacturer is producing

hybrid, plug-in hybrid electric or all three of these types of vehicles. we need the same level of commitment that was provided to transforming our transportation sector apply to the solar and renewable energy industry. while over the last four years americans installed significant and more solar energy than over the last 20, our progress has been dwarfed by the growth that is incurring in the global market in places like germany and china. germany has installed equivalent of 27 nuclear power plants in solar energy. in one day in may of this year, solar produced half of germany's electricity. china just announced that it is increasing its solar goals to 21 gigabytes to 2150 which demonstrates the growth occurring in the global marketplace. last year the is department of energy released the sun shot initiative report which outlines how solar energy could provide 14% of u.s. electricity by 2030,

and 27% i 2050. the sun shot initiative is also an important collaborative and national initiative to make cost competitive with other forms of energy by the end of the decade. an indicator of the progress of solar works for minnesota coalition has achieved occurred in 2012 when were able to secure the endorsement of the afl-cio for our campaign to pass legislation to install solar on our schools, hospitals and other public buildings. we also have access support from the 3m corporation, silicon energy and many other corporations. each dedicated resources to campaign. these unlikely allies governed the common good that solar can provide our state. as of august of 2011, there were over 100,000 solar workers in the u.s., more than double the estimate employed in 2000. in minnesota with more than 50 companies providing various solar products and services, including companies like 10-k solar located in bloomington minnesota.

10-k was founded in 2008 and employs 158 employees and they sell the product across the world. this is just one example of a business that did not even exist four years ago but is a flourishing industry in our state creating new jobs. while all the progress is significant, we do need to do so much more if we expect to compete in the global marketplace and leave those planets healthy for future generations. july 8, nasa announced that nearly all of greenland's massive ice sheet suddenly started melting. a freak event that surprised many scientists. ..

a four years pass without making significant progress. we should expect present and future generations to judge all of us as neglectful delinquent stew woods of our nation if we don't take action. i appreciate you taking the time to listen to me but please don't wait to act. >> appreciate your testimony. i could say we saved the best for last but i won't do

that. i appreciate all those that come and presented today. do the committee members have questions of ken? thank you so much. we appreciate you combing. well, my fellow committee members we've had a good day of insightful testimony and covers. and i know we all appreciate everyone who has come and presented to us. conversations like those that we've heard today are examples of what our president has been fighting for and why the democratic party prides itself being the party of change and inclusion. so at this point we will break are it the day so that we can come back in the morning for a very productive conversation around the actual drafting of the 2012 platform. and so we will now move to a members only one chun in the university a room.

thank you so much for your attention and attendance and we are dismissed. >> the universe room, go straight out the door, make a right and see it on the left-hand side. you're more than welcome to leave all your materials here at your seat. [inaudible] >> we're live from the nation's capitol this morning. john pistole, the administrator of the transportation suit administration is the featured speaker this morning at the airline's pilot safety association forum here in washington. after his remarks there will be a series of panel discussions with industry experts. they will focus on safety guidelines, aviation security and health issues that are affecting pilots. the airlines pilot association is the largest

pilots union and represents airline pilots in the u.s. and canada. [inaudible conversations]

>> ladies and gentlemen. we'll be starting in one minute. would you please take your seats and turn off all electronic devices. [inaudible conversations] >> ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming the airline pilots' association's ivy ages safety chair, captain chuck hogeman. [applause]

>> -- air safety forum. our theme for this year's forum, everything matters. what does it mean for us? just this. in a system as complex as commercial aviation no single element can enhance safety on its own. equipment systems and human factors are interrelated and affect everything else and we must work together to function effectively just as a crew must work together. everything matters. for the next two days we'll look at some of those interrelationships and why they matter to this association and the industry at large. we have informative and thought-provoking panels that will look at such issues as the political environment in the u.s., canada and worldwide. are today's regulatory structures up to the task of providing, safe, efficient travel in today's economic environment? we'll be talking about

airport wildlife, ground operations, and runway incidents to see how we can make that airport environment safer. many think of flying in terms of cruising at 35,000 feet but we know better. experience tells us some of our most challenging work takes place while we are still close on the ground or to it. we'll be asking whether passenger and crew member screening and airline security measures are up to keeping the task of keeping bad people off our airplanes. we'll discuss health issues that are focused on cockpit crewmembers who operate in a unique and demanding environment at high altitudes. no discussion on health and welfare of pilots would be complete without a discussion on fatigue and how all airlines, passenger and car foe alike, must adapt to the same science-based approach scheduling their pilots to promote our never-ending goal of one level of safety. as with many forums of the

recent past we'll continue to technology and in our aircraft and how to keep flying skills sharp. we'll study the rapid growing segment of unmanned aerial systems where we may find ourselves sharing our very crowded airspace with planes pilot from the ground. we have examination of pilot health, fatigue, airports, automation and security. in short, everything matters. sitting around you and presenting before you are some of the world's leading experts on the subject of air safety. take the opportunity to network with other attendees. ask questions of the panelists and visit the great exhibitors and sponsors. as i often tell my passengers, buckle up my see belts. unlike my regular passengers your ride is for the next two days. we'll honor the united states and canada with the

national anthems of our two great countries, please rise for the playing of oh canada, and the star spaeng gelled banner. ♪ . ♪ .

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♪ . >> thank you. please be seated. it is now my great pleasure to introduce the president of the airline pilots' association, captain lee moke. thanks, lee. >> all right. good morning. thanks captain hogeman.

ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the 53,000 members of the airline pilots association international welcome to the 58th air safety forum. before i begin my remarks i would like to direct your attention to the screens for a special video presentation. ♪ .

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♪ pleus applause [applause] >> for those of us who are professional pilots, everything matters.

when it comes to the safe transportation of our passengers and cargo. that includes weather conditions, load factors, the condition of the aircraft, flight schedules, and so much more. for the airline pilots' association international everything matters when it comes to advancing aviation safety. for alpa, it is not just a job, it's a moral imperative. the alpa pilots and staff who work in our air safety organization, security and pilot assistance areas and with the other alpa committees related to those areas are dedicated to carrying out this mission and as you saw in this video, our association i involved in every facet of aviation safety. the international air transport association recently reported that last

year's accident rate was the lowest in aviation history. according to iota, the 2011 global accident rate was the equivalent of one accident every 2.7 million flights. this represents a 39%, a 39% drop compared to 2010. when the previous mark was set. i'm proud to say that in the past year we have accomplished a great deal in the areas of safety. in the areas of security, and in pilot assistance. and now i would like to highlight some of our most significant achievements. so we'll start with known crew member, which is an enhanced and i stress enhanced screening process for u.s. airline pilots and flight attendants. the success of the

initiative which is due in large part to the coordination of airlines, government, and alpa can be measured in the following statistics. more than 3500 screenings take place each day utilizing the program. non crew member has facilitated 500,000 pilot entries through security since august of 2011 when the program was launched. non crew member sites are operational at 18 u.s. airports with 31 total airports expected by the end of the year. flight crewmembers at 28 u.s. airlines now have access to this enhanced screening process. another issue at the top of alpa's agenda in both the united states and canada is pilot fatigue. for decades we've advocated

for updated, science-based pilot fatigue rules. as a result i'm pleased to report that new regulations for pilot flight and duty time and rest requirements in the united states were released in december. far 117 will implement much-needed and long-awaited safety improvements over the next two years. but as you know the rule excludes all cargo airlines from mandatory compliance and this is absolutely unacceptable. so alpa has redoubled our efforts to promote one level of safety for all, and i repeat all airline operations. to that end alpa has launched an intensive campaign focused on the critical importance of protecting all airline pilots equally against

fatigue and to date alpa piloted a very cats and its staff have made more than 400 visits to the congressional offices as part of this effort. in addition, our members have sent more than 2600 messages to their elected representatives in strong support of the safe skies act of 2012. this legislation was introduced with bipartisan support in both the houses of congress earlier this year. the safe skies act achieves one level of safety by insuring that all pilots are protected by science-based rest requirements regardless of whether they fly passengers or cargo. if enacted the bill would direct the u.s. department of transportation to apply the federal aviation administration's new regulations to all cargo operations in the same way

they currently apply to passenger operations. at this time i would like to think u.s. representatives chip crevat and tim bishop and senators barbara boxer and olympia snowe for their commitment to aviation safety and leadership in introducing and moving this important legislation forward. now up canada the transport canada fatigue working group completed its work late last year. the group which is co-chaired by alpa canada board president, captain dan adam u.s. was charged with evaluating current canadian flight and duty time rules and developing recommendations for change. since august 2010 they met on a monthly basis until their final meeting in december 2011. the cochairs have submitted

their report using the working group's recommend stations and it will be on the agenda choir act technical committee meeting scheduled for this october. then transport canada will take the report alongwith public comments and review them for regulatory consideration. now you have my word, the airline pilots' association international is and will continue to be fully engaged to advance one level of safety for all types of flight operations across the airline industry and in the u.s. and canada. the success of programs like known crew member underscores the effectiveness of utilizing a risk based approach to aviation safety and security. alpa continues to advocate for adoption of this approach because it will help enhance aviation security making air transportation more

customer-friendly for airline transportation, more customer friendly for airline passengers and air cargo shippers and insure the u.s. airline industry continues to fuel the nation's economy and provide jobs. in the u.s. alpa worked closely with the faa over the years to promote the highest level of safety for our air transportation system. many of our efforts have been tied to the funding of the agency and i'm happy to report this year we finally have a long-term reauthorization bill through 2015. this bill was signed into law after 23 extensions. faa reauthorization advances many of alpa's priorities including advancing nextgen initiatives. enhancing runway safety. making latzer attacks on an aircraft a federal crime.

improving the safety of lithium battery shipments by air, strengthening voluntary i have a veryization safety protections. studying the feasibility of installing flight deck doors or alternatives on all cargo aircraft. and supporting critical aviation safety research. at the airline pilots' association we find that when we work together we achieve outstanding results and at alpa we are uniquely positioned to bring industry stakeholders together to keep focus on issues critically important to the aviation safety mission. using the air safety forum as a model we have held a series of highly successful con againsts, -- conferences each devoted to one specific issue.

last october alpa and airlines for america cosponsored a conference on the growing problem of laser illumination of aircraft cockpits. in january we kicked off the new year by organizing and hosting a symposium on aviation safety action programs. the current challenges, the trends in these vitally important voluntary safety reporting programs. in march alpa seized the opportunity to galvanize industry efforts to combat pilot fatigue. we held a landmark conference where participants explored the actions necessary to the build on these new safety regulations. in april, alpa hosted a full-day conference in closing the gaps in air cargo safety and security and last month alpa hosted a one-day conference on pilot

training which was sponsored by rockwell collins and general electric. each of these conferences drew a wide range of attendees from alpa safety and security representatives and their peers, from other labor groups to legislators, to representatives of several u.s., canadian and european government agencies and airline managements, law enforcement and military officers, news reporters, and academics. the level of interest in these issues underscores the point that when it comes to aviation safety we are all stakeholders. now there are a few new initiatives i would like to highlight. in april alpa submitted comments to the faa outlining the association's view on the agency's notice

of proposed rule making on pilot certification and qualification requirements. for air carrier operations. alpa actively participated on the aviation rule making committee that developed many of the recommendations contained in this nprm. in june the house subcommittee approved money for the human intervention motivation study. this is a highly successful collaboration between the faa, air carriers and pilot representatives and so while we're talking about facts and figures, here's an important one. the long-term success rate under the hims program is 85 to 90%. and by approving funding for hims. the committee enabled this critical health program for professional airline pilots to continue to operate for another three-year cycle.

also in june we created the special pa president's committee for remote operations chaired by first air captain peter black. several alpa carriers conducted this type of operation with their pilots routinely flying in the high arctic and other remote locations in the far northern areas of canada and the united states. earlier this year we had the opportunity to see some of these pilots in action. they're true professionals in everything they do. they operate in a harsh, unpredictable environment, using rough, unpaved runways, making approaches with basic nonprecision nav aids. through the creation of this committee it's another step toward alpa's longstanding goal of one level of safety and security for airline operations. the primary focus will be to

address the challenges that professional alpa aviators overcome on a daily basis during operations in the arctic and similar regions. as you can see in the years since we last came together we've accomplished a great deal. but there's always more to do. in the work of alpa's air safety organization continues on many different fronts and i'd like to highlight some of the association's strategic priorities going forward. one of our goals is to improve the safety and standards for the carriage of dangerous goods, especially the carriage of lithium batteris. our position is clear. lithium batteries represent an unmitt bated hazard on our cargo and passenger aircraft and must be