international dateline, and japan has said if we don't cross the international dateline, we'll take this part of the pacific, you take that, and we'll live happily ever after. we get to these mountains in the middle of nowhere, and we allow al-qaeda to escape? makes no sense. our entire country had become more legalistic. we should have gone and finished it right then. >> this month booktv's book club selection is bing west's "the wrong war." read the book and join in the discussion at booktv.org. and live sunday, may 4th, look for our next "in depth" guest, luis j. rodriguez. his work includes the award-winning "always running" and his 2011 release, "it calls you back." find booktv every weekend on c-span2. >> the president for americans for tax reform, grover norquist,

and several members of congress held a press conference thursday on tax policy and the need for tax reform. this is an hour. knox. >> my name is ryan ellis, i'm tax policy director for americans at tax reform. this is our annual tax day eve press conference where we highlight the irs issue along with members and senators. before i turn it over to grover norquist who's going to be the emcee of this event, i wanted to just run through the handouts you have on your seats so that you're familiar with them. and all these can be found, by the way, at atr.org. and dent forget our hash tag on twitter today which is @tax day.

these are people who have committed to their constituents that they will not vote for any net tax increase as long as they are elected as a member of congress. next thing you have is an op-ed i wrote in "forbes".com about why the irs should not be preparing people's taxes. we also have a packet of information from the ways and means committee on the lois lerner affair which is very useful information, can be found on the ways and means committee's web site. and finally a map of the chambers. so with that, i'll turn it over to grover norquist who's going to turn it over to leader cantor. >> thank you. we have a number of congressional house and senate leaders who are going to be here speaking today about taxes. i would just point out that we hold an event like this every april 15th. don't worry if you haven't put your taxes in just yet, we're doing this ahead of time because members will be back in their districts and states on april

15th. this year, 2014, is a little bit different than other tax years. we're in the middle of a discussion of an extenders, a consideration about fundamental tax reform that we all know is coming but what year exactly it's going to can kick off is unsure, but the shape is going to get formed. and lastly, every april 15th when we do these events, we know that the american people have a certain amount of fear about the irs and the irs' power. as we know from the last several days, this is the first be time where the people who run the irs are beginning to have a little wit of fear about the anger of the american people and how they've been treated by some of the bureaucrats and leaders in the irsment that said -- irs. that said, our first speakering today will be house majority leader eric cantor from the great state of virginia. >> thanks, grover. a pleasure to be here with americans for tax reform.

and i want to say that atr has consistently been the voice for the taxpayers of this country demanding reform of our tax system. and, you know, there is a lot of discussion right now going on in this building and throughout the country about the lack of confidence that people have in what's going on. and i think central to that is the trust that the people of this country place in their government and the appropriate balance of that government in terms of whether it works for the people or the other way around. and to the point that was just made by grover in terms of the confidence of the people, in fact, now the fear or the anger of the people towards the action collection agency and this administration, i think, is central to this notion of distrust. you know, it is reprehensible to think that an administration would condone activity on the part of bureaucrats that employ

the tools of a neutral instrument such as the tax agency, enforcement agency towards political ends. you know, it is one thing when people are elected and parties are elected, presidents, members of congress are elected voters and citizens of america have a right to expect that the individual elected is going to be promoting his or her philosophy or agenda. but never was it expected that a candidate, a president or his administration was going to use a neutral instrument like the tax collection agency to further political ends. that's what's going on right now, and as you know, the house is taking action. we have announced the intent for us to go forward to hold this administration accountable, hold ms. lerner accountable. and is as you know, the ways and means committee took an extraordinary step in its criminal referral of what's

going on at the irs. we've got to get to the bottom of this if we're going to restore the trust that is owed to the american people on the part of this government. i'd also on the other issue of april 15th, it is a today that we're all reminded -- it is a day that we're all reminded of how much money the government takes from hard working families. we've got to strive to make sure that the amount of money, the lev of taxation is reduced. we are taxed enough already. but yet this week we've got the democrats in the house right now as we speak passing their version of a budget which increases taxes $1.8 trillion. that is unacceptable. we can do better than that, and that's what we're about on the part of the majority in the house. we're pushing forward in terms of ideas, focused on how we reform our tax code, ideas of how we can make sure that people

keep more of their hard earned money and insure that this government works for the people and not the other way around. thank you very much to atr. >> we're now joined by representative steve scalise who is chairman of the republican study committee. steve? >> thank you, grover, and i want to thank grover for the leadership he provides through americans for tax reform. number one, highlighting just what tax policy means to real families across this country. but also how important it is to cut tax rates, to get economic growth, to get more people back to work in this country. and i think the importance of this highlight leading up to april 15th so important especially today when we're actually voting on a house budget. because we've had some really incredible debates up on the house floor because our budgets are our visions for the country. how are we going to actually get our country moving again? the republican study committee just had a budget on the floor.

paul ryan is bringing forward the house republican budget on floor. both of those budgets actually get to balance within the ten-year window, and what's so interesting about that is we do all of that by putting americans back in charge of their government, by getting washington out of the way to allow for people to get more of their freedom and to have more of their tax dollars. in fact, we balance the federal budget in the ten-year window without raising a dime in new taxes. and why is that important? it's important to contrast with the democrats' budget. president obama, five of his six years in office as president, he has missed the legal deadline to file a budget. he's never missed a deadline to file his final four brackets. the fact that he literally every single year never missed a deadline to file his final four brackets, which didn't do too well, by the way, but he five of the six years as president missed the legal deadline to file his budget. now, if you look at his budget,

you might see why he was ashamed to put it out before the people because it reflects his budget priorities. and what are those priorities of president obama and how they contrast with us? one of those important contrasts is president obama actually calls for $1.8 trillion in new taxes in his budget on top of what he already passed in obamacare. which was another trillion dollars in new taxes. so the president says he want withs to take more -- wants to take more taxes out of the pockets of american families, more than they're going to pay on april 15th. and ugd suggest, okay, maybe that's what he needs to get to a balanced federal budget with. maybe that's a priority of his. unfortunately, he never, ever gets to balance. budgeting, the balance in the budget is not a priority of president obama. he's made that clear. but he lays it out in his budget document. so when you talk about tax policy and the work that americans for tax reform does, why is it so important? because when you look at the debates that we have here in washington, there are people on the liberal side of the aisle

who say tax increases are what are needed to get the federal budget balanced. if only those corporations that are making money, which they seem to have a problem with. you know, if you're not making money, the federal government will try to bail you out. but if you're actually making a profit, this administration wants to go after you and punish you for your success. and they say it's all in the name of fairness and fiscal responsibility. the problem is when you look at their own budget, it proves the fact that grover and atr make every day. higher taxes are not the answer to getting you to a balanced budget. in fact, higher taxes are the hallmark of president obama's budge, and he never gets to balance. not in ten years, not in twenty years, not ever. with $1.8 trillion this new taxes. in our budgets, both the house republican budget and the republican study committee budget, we don't have a dime in new taxes, zero dollars in new taxes, and we both balance in the ten-year window. so it shows you economic growth is really that this country

needs, not the federal government taking more of our hard earned tax dollars but, in fact, unleashing the potential of american families, giving families more of their hard earned tax dollars back and forcing washington to finally start living within its means. that's what's going to get us back to not only balanced budgets, but back to prosperity for families who are struggling in this tough economy. the budgets really do lay out those priorities. look at our home state of louisiana, senator landrieu was the deciding vote for obamacare. that one vote that she decided alone to put that policy in place is going to cost louisiana families millions of dollars in new taxes on april 15th. just to pay for those 20 new tax increases that she put into law with obamacare. so these policies have real impacts on families. it's hurting families. that's why we're fighting to lower tax rates and put power pack in the hands of people, not here in the hands of washington politicians and bureaucrats. so, again, thank you, grover, for the great work you do at atr and look forward to continuing this fight.

>> thank you. that's steve scalise, congressman steve scalise, from louisiana, the chairman of the republican study committee. i'd mentioned both the abuses in the irs ongoing and the investigations and pushback by the american people and by congress. and now the discussion that has been kicked off by chairman of the ways and means committee dave camp, congressman from michigan. he's really taken the lead in drawing what the future can look like and how we move there. and also where we're going with tax extenders. and if i could just say from a free market conservative perspective, i think the most important tax extender decision to make is to maintain what's called bonus depreciation. now, all it really is, is moving towards expensing. it's sort of halfway towards expensing. whoever called it bonus depreciation, i think, made a

mistake. makes it sound like something cool. it's actuallyless than full -- actually less than full expensing which is where we ought to be on new investment in the united states, but maintaining that and expanding it to all investment, i think, is ultimately the right way to go. chairman dave camp. >> well, good morning. good morning, everybody. and thank you, grover. thank you for all the leadership that you provide in americans for tax reform. you really have helped us move this issue forward. i mean, there's a couple of things that, obviously, americans are very concerned about, and steve scalise talked about some of them and that is that we don't really have the kind of economic recovery and job creation that we really need to see. more kids are living at home than ever before with their parents rather than starting out on their own careers and their own livelihoods and pursuing their own dreams. and we really do have a lower worker participation rate than we've had since the carter administration. so people are just not able to

see the sort of prosperity and median incomes have been declining for the last few years. and the number one issue facing americans is the jobs and the economy. so one way to address that is through comprehensive tax reform so we can be the party of opportunity, the party of pro-growth policies and we'd be a country that really sees the real revitalization of the american dream. so many people feel the country's moving in the wrong direction, and they don't think it's going to get any better. so, obviously, what we've tried to do with this discussion draft is to really have a code that really is pro-growth, and we do that by lowering rates, by increasing the standard deduction, and that gets at really the complexity of the tax code. and if you talk to americans, that's the other thing they talk about, just how incredibly complicated our code is. and that really has put a wet blanket over the economic recovery. tsa another reason why we aren't seeing the sort of job creation we need to see. but the real object is there if 95% of the people don't itemize,

which they don't under the tax plan, that means they will be filing a simpler 1040. that means that they're really have less opportunity for the irs to meddle in their affairs, because it'll be much more straight forward, its won't be, there won't be as much discretion in terms of the irs. and i'll the tell you, there's probably nothing more frightening than having a letter in the mail when you get home, and those always come on friday night from the irs. and, obviously, with the investigation into the abuses at the irs and the scandal that has resulted there, we've had an agency where there have been high-level officials who felt it was okay to target people based on their political beliefs. really what is that? that is denying people their constitutional right of due process, and that is a serious matter. and so the committee's been investigating this. obviously, if we had people from the irs that were forth coming in what happened, we wouldn't need to be sort of going through line by line tens of thousands of pages of documents.

.. so that this information would become public and this coming in, being able to hide behind the american people not knowing what and. and now really we need to see whether mr. holder will take x-rays look at this as we think it's important enough that he does. it was the violation of constitutional rights, the

potential release of confidential taxpayer information, and really sort of denying people the ability to choose to express their constitutional right. those things all the things that we felt needed to be looked at. moving forward, we are the only country in the world with big pieces of its tax policy that expires. we now call those extenders. we literally let them expire for your and then we'd retroactively put in place and they go forward a you. one of the things the committee is looking at is how we can take the so-called extended packages, a number, some items are very good whether it's the expense issue or whether research and development tax credit. one of our neighbors, canada, has a permanent research and develop a tax credit. we are competing with the tax policy we see around the world. you are looking at these. we got our first hearing on them, doing those any methodical way and breaking them down into groups. clearly, those are two that are

much at the top of a list. i look forward to continue to work on those and i should have markups in committee to see which of these policies can make permit so we get off is this a law or is this not the law, which is really that uncertainty for people are trying to plan on whether to build a plant or hire more people or even buy that piece of equipment, really makes a huge difference. i just want to thank grover, thank you and americans for tax reform for all the work that you do. and really helps us as we continue try to push these issues for. so thank you very much. >> chuck -- [inaudible] chairman camp, the ways and means committee, congressman from michigan, thank you for your leadership. we are now joined by representative virginia foxx from north carolina.

virginia. >> well, when you agree to do these things you probably should i do find who is here going to have to follow. dave camp is a preeminent expert in the area, obviously, as chairman of the ways and means committee. most of us aspire to know just a portion of what dave camp knows about tax code and about budgets, and the issues we're dealing with right now. i also want to thank atr for what it does with grover's leadership in educating the american people in particular about the issues that we are facing. last year when i was here i talked a lot about him the length of the tax code, 4 million words, compared to the bible. it is staggering in size, but

that's just the statute. when you add the 20 volumes, and growing, of regulations, the total comes in at well over 14 million words. that's a lot of words. each year the average american spends 13 hours to comply with our monstrous tax code, and it really is a monstrosity. this includes reading pages of rules, filling out forms, keeping receipts, gathering records, and often paying someone to do the rest. in total we spend more than 6 billion hours, and $168 billion just to pay our taxes. would that we would keep all that in a productive economy, perhaps to cfpb which is so concerned about the length of mortgage applications could take a crack at the over 200 pages of instructions it takes to explain just the 1040.

it's bad enough a that citizens, small business owners, moms, dads, young adults have to try to make sense of how the 14 million word tax system applies to them. that now we learned that a very likely some of those entrusted with enforcing this system, a system which a simple math error can devastate your budget, likely weaponize the code in an attempt to make life difficult for those they disagree with politically. this cannot be allowed to go unpunished. the tax code will never be popular, but it shouldn't be this complicated, and it absolutely shouldn't be partisan. is genuinely puzzling to me that our colleagues across the aisle aren't pursuing the irs with a bigger. their anti-vision of government requires massive bureaucracies to function. they should know the american people are unlikely to support a politicized bureaucracy.

for all these reasons, and many more, i support a simpler, more fair tax code it and again i want to thank atr for the work that it does. i know we're going to miss dave camp and his expertise on the ways and means committee, and i thank you all for helping to get the word out about what is happening here today. thank you very much. >> thank you, virginia foxx from north carolina. the discussion that several of the members have brought up on the abuse of the irs, in some of our less on us cities, the tax assessor is a political job and they punish people through the tax code who forget to contribute to the mayor. and who not do what they want to do. so there are some people who think the abuses in the irs our

politics as usual, if you're from chicago. they are not politics as usual at the national level, and they can't be tolerated any longer. you now joined by senator orrin hatch of utah, he is the ranking member of the senate committee on finance and soon to be the chairman. orrin hatch. >> well, thanks, grover. appreciate job in your today because this is an important discussion as far as i'm concerned. it's always great to see my good friend grover norquist so i think it's dancing to the head and shoulder above almost everyone else in this field of trying to get the government to live within its means and taxes done the right way. he understands that the more we tax, the more government spends and the larger the government becomes. and i think i've been proud of

you all these years, standing so tall on these particular issues. i wish we were here today to celebrate tax day, but let's face it, the clock ticks towards april 15, and americans across the country are rushing to complete their tax returns. and, of course, it's an annual chore we all go through. tax day reminds us all about overly complex and burdensome the u.s. tax code really is. and over 70,000 pages in length, our tax code is a labyrinth of red tape, it's counterproductive, it's stifling to american competitiveness, it hinders much-needed job growth, and needlessly hassled individual americans and their families. we haven't returned, we haven't reformed our tax code in 28 years. and is a colossal mess. i know that my good friend of dave camp is working hard over

on the house side to overhaul the nation's broken code. he recently put forward a bold vision, and for that he deserves a tremendous credit. i, too, share the chairman's goal of remaking the tax code and getting this thing under control and that tax code should be more efficient. it should be more competitive for both our job creators and hard-working middle-class families. let me be clear. any effort to advance comprehensive tax reform must not be turned into a revenue raising exercise. i believe we are to focus on spending reductions, and that's going to be a real challenge to our friends on the other side of the aisle. just look at the democrats over and house were trying to push a budget that would hit the american people with $1.5 trillion tax hike, that's on top of over a trillion dollars in the affordable care act. give me a break. we know that the democrats are hardwired to believe that the

governments money isn't the people's money, it's their money. even the nonpartisan congressional budget office has made it clear that we don't have a revenue problem in this country. we have what's called a spending problem. frankly, given that today's $17.5 trillion debt exceeds our nation's annual economic output. a lot of people don't realize that. we are just spending ourselves into bankruptcy. it's pretty clear we have a debt problem in this country. with all of the president's populist talks about the redistribution of wealth, making sure the so-called rich pay their share, well, guess what? that's not going to do squat to reignite our struggling economy to provide better jobs and bigger paychecks for american workers. bottom line, if we're serious about taking on the economic challenges facing our nation today, and reforming the tax code, then we need to rebuild

the system in which that will spur economic growth, jumpstart job creation, and once again restore prosperity to the american people. i think we've got to get to work, and hopefully in the near future we will be able to get to work on these types of matters. i intend to see that we do, and we've got to straighten out this colossal mess. for you young people, your future is being bartered right down the drain. and all the answers that they have for this kind of bumbling is we need more taxes and we need to assess the rich more. that may be but they're not going to solve our problems by, if he did every time, the so-called millionaires make, it wouldn't take care of the problem. we've got to find some way, stimulating the economy and create jobs and getting us back on track. to that degree i really appreciate what grover and the people who back them, and i'm one of them, due to try to get

us on the right track. thanks a lot. >> senator orrin hatch, ranking member of the senate finance committee from utah. we are now joined by senator pat roberts from kansas who is a number of the senate finance committee and has been a leader on taxpayer issues for a number of years. senator roberts. >> good morning. anybody out there? good morning. let's try it again. hey, this is the first amendment rights. i mean, if this keeps up in the irs comes in your you won't even be able to say good morning. good morning. >> good morning. >> thank you. appreciated. thank you, grover. i recently made a personal vow been come it says in my bio i'm a journalist. i'm an unemployed newspaperman but at least i recognize for

generations of the roberts family, first amendment, and the right of free speech. i made a personal vow, like many in the senate and the house, to keep pushing the administration until we understand the irs is recent actions that have been targeting conservative 501(c)(4)s. and just visit tuesday i took the opportunity to question the new commissioner of the irs, john koskinen, and beyond any shadow of doubt that there be no shadow of doubt, the irs has been targeting conservative groups. during the process, and effective looks like it's doing it even as i speak. yesterday's action by the ways and means committee i think really confirms this. and kudos to the ways and means committee for the dedication to get to the bottom of this, of

this mess. what is going on is a deliberate abuse of federal enforcement powers are purely political purposes. part of a larger pattern of this initiation using the irs to shut down its critics and its opponents, and to change the outcome of elections. now, when i go back home to the town hall meetings, or when people come to my office, invariably they will bring up the number one, two, three issues they're concerned about. there's always someone in the back who says wait a minute, what about my free speech rights? what about the first amendment? why can't congress get to the bottom of this? that takes a rather lengthy explanation, but at least there are those of us that are committed to do that. that's why they're frustrated, that's why they're concerned, angry, that's what they think the american that they have grown up in an appreciated and profited from and what led to the kids and grandkids, that the

very fact they can't even get up and say what's on their mind or take part in the political process is in danger. has been in danger. this is an attack. that's just the way we have to put it, is an attack on the first amendment rights of our citizens, just because they dared to differ from this administration and the president. i can think of anything more reprehensible, and certainly i'm not going to stand idly by when the administration tries to dodge and weave its way out of this. lately the commission, the new commissioner, commissioner koskinen, has been a little crafty with his remarks. he made these remarks last tuesday, sort of a verbal somersaulted the will to downgrade the problem. i specifically asked him whether he would put a stop to the regulations he has been detailed

to implement, the regulations that would enshrine the stifling of free speech, at least until we are done in the ways and means committee and at least until we are done in the finance committee, and also the government affairs committee over in the house, or here in the house. at any rate, he dodged, he ducked, he told us several times not to worry, these regulations won't be finalized until after the election. once. until after the election. if that doesn't put a quote around it and several underlines and about 22-point bold in terms of the statement, with regards to this being political, i don't know what will. i'm not sure that's what he wanted to say because by telling me not to worry, the regulars -- the rags will be until after november he made it clear the actions are designed to control the battle space of the election this coming fall to get conservative groups on the sidelines.

i expect them to keep ducking and dodging. we have 40 cosponsors. senator jeff flake from arizona and i to offer legislation on our legislation to stop the irs from receiving with new rules until we have answers, and to we have finished our investigation. and i vow to put a stop to these regulations so that we can preserve the rights of all citizens and groups to engage in the political process. and then i deviated from my prepared remarks and i just asked john, the new commissioner, i said look, here's the do. there's a fox in the chicken coup. and you know what fox is due in chicken cubes. -- chicken cubes. they are not only denying the right of free speech to the chickens but they're taking away a lot of other things as well. what you are telling me is don't worry about it, we have investigations to determine how

the fox got into the chicken to come up with a fox in the chicken took a more for how to get the damn fox out of the chicken coop. and he indicated to us not to worry, that we'll have those answers down the road. i said, can i have your commitment that you wait until the end of these investigations, at least wait until the end of the investigations? he said, deal with in which is on the merits of the case. he would not give me that commitment. he kept dodging around the issue. i said, john, get the fox out of the damn chicken coop. determine who put the fox in, then take that person and hold them accountable, or else we have a very damaging situation in this country. i can't tell you how much this affects people are really stop and think about this in terms of their free speech. in terms of the rights to free speech but everybody automatically thinks it's free

speech, favors broadcasters, et cetera, et cetera. members of the media, the press. it's everybody, folks. everybody, left, right, middle, any group that wants to express themselves in the political process. its fundamental and basic to our rights. said jeff flake and art are determined to do that as i said we had 40 sponsored were working on it but i think we had several covert democrats, we could pass it in the senate. we are not giving up. i appreciate being here. thank you. >> senator roberts from kansas. he makes the point that this administration doesn't have a lot of interest in the first amendment but they are recently conversant with up-to-the-minute, and seem to understand that one if not all the others. -- the fifth amendment. the obama administration start off by saying i'm outraged, that

he was outraged at the abuses in the irs and he was going to tolerate and get to the bottom of the. then he turned round and decided he wasn't outraged anymore. as the medevac you want to codify into law a number of those outrages so that they would be legal to do in the future. and 150,000 americans sent in comments on those proposed irs with solutions, and the folks from the administration have pointed out that they got more comments on this irs attack on the first amendment and all the other proposed regulations going years in the past added together. i think that's very interesting. i would've thought, irs regulation. i thought most irs relations are about taking more or less of people's money, and more or less of their time and how you do that. i would've thought that would've

been -- would have engendered many comments. it's a healthy sign that people got more exercised at the irs for going after their free speech rights, their freedom, then their money. over the years. that i thought was extremely powerful statement by the american people as to what this is about and what the first priority freedom more even than money taken out of their pockets. we are now going to -- we are now joined by katie mcauliffe to talk about what is happening on efforts with americans for tax reform. >> i'm katie mcauliffe. and executive director of digital liberty with americans for tax reform. i just want to point to a narrower area of tax policies. when you look at taxing the internet and one of the things that maybe people don't know is that there is legislation that prevents states from taxing access the internet. just getting online, basic getting online.

there was legislation introduced to prevent station doing that but before the legislation was introduced in 1998 there were few states that attacks the internet. that's been going on and has been reauthorized for a number of years but it's been three times since the internet tax was guaranteed authentic we have two bills, house and senate, the permanent internet tax freedom for ever act which is sponsored. we also have the internet tax freedom for ever act sponsored by senator wyden and senator thune. those would prevent taxes on internet access at any time anywhere and would not allow states who have been doing that to continue doing such things. that's great for our economy, greater economic growth but it also that states from taxing sales that occur online or e-commerce differently from sales, traditional market sales. that way they could not be taxed higher than your regular sales tax. this legislation is important to keep our tax code consistent,

and lets people of acts is one of our greatest areas of economic growth and that is the internet. taxing access to the internet, ability to get jobs come to get education, and to further themselves in the way that we think is vital, especially the internet freedom. thank you. >> thank you, katie mcauliffe with digital liberty. we are now joined by the senator from kentucky, rand paul. senator. >> i'm glad to be here today to discuss a little of the problems we have and associate myself with americans for tax reform. for 20 years and kentucky iran a group called kentucky taxpayers united. we were associated with the projects and policies of americans for tax reform. we supported the tax their pledge and kentucky as was supporting it nationally. i think the thing we need to

remember about taxes on tax day is that we need to think about how taxes prevent us from creating jobs. right now we have a tax code in a country that scares jobs overseas. everybody laments jobs going overseas but if you want jobs to stay at home, you need to make money more welcome your money leaves and goes where it's welcomed. right now with the corporate income tax of 35%. candidate is 15%. we wonder what people are going overseas with their jobs. we have $2 trillion worth of american profit off of that american companies have gained overseas. he wanted to come home, it's not coming home at 35%. we have a bill to bring it home at 5%. jobs can be created by reducing taxes. we don't want revenue neutral, least i don't want revenue neutral tax for but it's a waste of time. if you want jobs you've got to lower taxes. lower the tax burden to compete with the rest of the world. we talked about economic freedom zones where we lower taxes

dramatically in economically depressed areas. if you want to fix poverty and long-term unemployment, lower taxes. i'm glad to be a today to associate myself with americans for tax reform, and for the push a reasonable taxes to help us create more jobs in this country. thank you. >> before a he was innocent he was the leader of the kentucky taxpayer movement, so tea party before tea party. we are now joined by senator rob portman from ohio who also serves on the finance committee. senator. >> i'm delighted to be here today to support what atr is doing. back in my home state of ohio and whether doing nationally to make sure every rational tax policy in this country unfortunately we are not seeing that now. the president has already raised taxes $1.6 trillion. and he like to raise them under

the $1.3 trillion. as we approach tax to our people see got an administration and democrats in congress it would like to raise taxes at a time of historically weak recovery, and economy that is faltering, takeover is going to a if they want to tax people more. the average family is going to be about $25,000 in federal taxes this year. that's already too high and yet they want to take it i. the argument is made we are somewhat undertaxed. that's just not true. one thing aid your has done what i think is a lengthy historical perspective. we are actually, the situation even without the tax increases that the president and democrats are proposing, taxes and the burden on the economy is going to increase. so folks say, gosh, we need to raise taxes to reduce the deficit and the debt. the problem is spending. we are not undertaxed. we are spending too much. until we get spending under control we are not going to build to solve this problem. taxes have gone up enough.

taxes make it harder to great a job. taxes are going to make it harder for us to get this economy back on track to we've got to focus on the problem which is spending. i am for tax reform, as his atr. we can have a better tax system and we know if we don't do that we will not be able to compete in the global economy. that's clear. let's be sure when we do this we are not doing just the opposite which is making it harder to get america back on track and to correct the prosperity for every american. thank you all for being here today. thanks for making this point. thanks for ensuring that people know that america is not undertaxed. we are spending too much. we've got to get that under control first. >> senator, thank you very much. when we talk about tax reform as a number of the senators have, senator portman, roberts, orrin hatch, there's three legs, three

sides to a triangle of actual tax revenue. the first is to take the rates down to our tax return to high. we are at 35% corporate this is tax or. canada is a 15. the european average is 25. we need to take those rates down. it's not good enough to go to 25% because the average in europe is 25. the average there. we have about 4.8 or 5% state corporate income taxes, business taxes will. when you talk about american taxes on businesses, on average across the country, zero in texas, it's a lot more in california. in new york it's on average, 40. we are competing with canada at 15 and europe with an average of 25. so taking that rate down is very important to the others go to full expensive. we have long appreciation schedules, maybe 1000 pages of how we handle issues in terms of depreciation schedules.

but take those down to expensing so that when you actually spend money to buy a piece of equipment, you expensive that your, not depreciated over many. the third one is what was just referenced by rob portman and by rand paul, and that is going to a territorial system. right now the united states and north korea, not to me other people, had a worldwide tax system where if you earn money in france, we cannot shoot on top of what the french did. if you are french and you earn money invested in the french leave you alone. we take some, you can take it back to france and that encourages repatriation. we discouraged repatriation in the united states. that needs to come to an end. we are now joined by one of the leaders in the fight for tax reform, nashua, representative kevin brady was on the way -- on the ways and means committee. >> thank you, grover.

thanks so much for your leadership on limiting the size of the government, growing the economy and creating a pro-growth tax code. as you know, the biggest problem facing our country is a federal government living beyond its means. spending cuts can get us halfway back to alice budget but if you want to finish the job, start paying down our national debt, we need a much stronger economy. right now are broken tax code is a real drag on america's economy. it's too costly, too complex, but mainly it's too unfair. it's unfair to families, unfair to businesses. i think unfair to america. we are no longer competitive around the world. we need a tax code that is simpler, more fairer, flatter, that protects taxpayers, not special interest, and helps america compete and win against around the world to ways and means committee have laid out for the first time in 30 years a top to bottom rewrite, a discussion draft on pro-growth

taxes. it has some strong topline numbers, increasing economic growth by more than $3 trillion, creating almost 2 million new jobs, simplifying the code by about a quarter, and allowing more than nine out of 10 americans to file their taxes on the front and back of the piece of paper. it's a good, solid start. but more can be done. the reason it was laid out is a discussion draft is that every point along the way we ought to make it more pro-growth. right now because this draft we are having deeper discussions on tax reform than in the years i've been in congress. and it's long overdue. we know, i'm a strong supporter of lowering rates for individuals and families. i'm a strong supporter of cost recovery as well. i think it's important we get to all of these elements right. i will conclude with this. you've never had a truly love-hate relationship until you've done tax reform.

there's parts of that draft that of love and parts of the draft that i hate. i would say that's probably the case for everybody who is either working on it or looking at it. but that's the point of tax form, to have that discussion. and unlike those who assembled the affordable care act in secrecy, and pass it through a congress with virtually no one knowing what was in it, we took the opposite approach. laid out a discussion draft for all of america to see and analyze, determine what's right and what's wrong and help us shape the future. we have taken the most important steps in 30 years. we are going to work hard to advance tax reform at every step of the way. what we are hopeful that sometime in the future the senate will join us, and ultimate the president, but nonetheless whether they do or not we're going to advanced pro-growth tax reform. grover, thank you again for your leadership on all these issues.

>> the safe way to vote, whatever they are asking. thank you. we've talked about tax reform. we've talked about the extenders. we talked about the abuses by the irs, the president -- present, who brought the ethics of chicago to the irs where they do not belong. they don't belong in chicago either. but you can leave chicago. you can't leave the irs. they will follow you. those ethics need to stay far, far away from the internal revenue service and the laws that we all live in. i'd like to point out that while we are having this discussion in washington, d.c., there's a discussion going on in the 50 states. and when you look at the states, while there is gridlock in

washington d.c. because you have a republican house which wants to reform taxes, lower the rates, notable expensing, the democrats run the senate and i ran into then senator kerry from massachusetts when they were doing, remember that a discussion about giving a tax increase as part of the budget deal and 2011-2012. and he said, well, here's what we need to fix the $1.2 trillion hole that they had. he wanted 1.4 trillion higher taxes. that was the ask. they got no tax increase, all spending restraint, that's a question. that was the value of the pledge holding its tax increases that year. but every time the administration or the democrats in the senate discussed tax reform, the first thing they want is 1.2 or 1.4, i heard 1.3,

maybe they will compromise, 1.3 trillion higher taxes as part of taxes would you can't have tax reform if you're just going to be massive tax increase. we have gridlock on that tax issue. at the state level we have the opposite. in 24 states, the red states on this map, you have a republican governor, republican house and republic and senate. republicans can agree, they can cut taxes, and virtually everyone of those states as. there are 13 states, the blue state we have a democratic governor, if the democrats agree they could together raise taxes and each of the states they have. so at the state level we are actually having a test, just like they tell us in grade school, about the democracy. you have an experiment between the 50 states to see what works and what doesn't. and half the country's population lives in a red state with a republican house, senate and governor.

and declared of the country's population lives in the 13 blue states run by democrats. because of redistricting and the way things are structured, the red states stay red for a decade in the blue states stay blue for a decade. so we're going to see a long trip in one direction in red states to lower taxes and less spending, and a long trip in the other states with an experiment going the other way. so we are going to see a very interesting challenge. americans for tax reform has launched a project called 50 in 2050 and that is our goal is to abolish state income tax in all 50 states i 2050. it's a waste of because what to look different governed at different legislatures but we can already see a number of states, kansas and north carolina have begun that process. there about a quarter to a third way there in cutting taxes just over the last two years and have announced, the governor and the legislaturlegislature said we ao go does you. we're going to go to do.

louisiana has multiple efforts to go to zero. at the state income tax. governor of nebraska has made the same statement. so i think you're going to see a number of states follow the eight states now that have no state income tax, and one that has almost no state income tax, that's tennessee. they still have something called the hall tax on dividends. but there's a movement there that will succeed over the next few years to phase out, eliminate all tax so that tennessee will be the ninth state to have ended all state income taxes. watch the other states began to add and edit it at the end of the day telephone in new york can continue to have the high income tax rates when more and more states closer and closer to them and larger and larger in size are going towards zero at the state level. on the income tax. so with that, i will close up today's press conference.

i'll take any questions people have no. i will also give them afterwards if you want to have a separate conversation. >> can you talk about the implications of obamacare both on this years of taxes and also next year? this your iced it will hit wealthier americans but then we will see the effect of the mandate goes into effect next year. >> americans for tax reform has put out several lists of the 20 different tax increases in obamacare. and you're right, they face in overtime. you are seeing organized labor very unhappy at the taxes they're going to have on, very nice insurance, health care insurance, expensive insurance. that's not something that the labor unions wanted to see happen but it's part of the plan. it was actually an idea that mccain at one point endorse and they spent to endorse in the state of virginia trashing them for it. they need to the idea and put in

obamacare. so there are a series of tax hikes, everything from the tanning tax to a tax on medical devices. in the medical device, including in some cases wheelchairs and crutches and things along those lines, how you reduced the cost of health care because we never one of the things we were promised was that some people who didn't have insurance would get insurance and everybody's health insurance would drop by $2500. it's now gone up by almost that much money. part of it is that we tax health insurance plans now. we are taxing not-for-profit hospitals under obamacare. we are taxing the stuff that goes in, when you put a state in your heart, we tax that. how does that make a less expensive? there are a whole series of those tax increases. they have been facing in, and they are not just on the rich. as a matter of fact, very few of the 20 would only qualify as hitting high income people.

basically a get health insurance you're paying that tax but if you don't buy health insurance you are paying a tax. and if you of health care, you are paying tax. additional taxes will regardless of how high or low your income is. not taxing the rich to give to the corporate they are taxing everybody and all parts of health care. it's a rather expensive, massive tax increase inside what we all thought was all about reducing the cost of health care. taxing health care is raising. >> as far as the lois lerner referral, what you think is likely it is that she would be investigated by the justice department? >> i have complete faith in our government following the law. and holding itself to the same standard that it would like everyone else helped you. >> do you think irs scanned is

worse than watergate? >> well, i mean, watergate, they broke into the democratic headquarters and stole some stuff there to not supposed to do that. the irs is certainly affecting more individuals that were just minding their own business. but both were attempts at corrupting the political process and using the power of, actually watergate hired burglars to steal stuff. they didn't use the government. it's worse -- i'm old enough to remember watergate but it's been a while, they are the hearts and gaza broke in and stole some stuff, criminals. they didn't use the marines or the irs or security and exchange commission to just force the government to do that. they did the proper thing. what you don't want to do is criminalize the government. that's what appears to have happened with the irs.

people working for the american people, paid for with tax dollars, abusing that power for political purposes. senator pat roberts and we will put, making his decision until after the election. talk about sending a letter that this is a political decision. not even after november, after the election. so yeah, it's worse because it is the corruption of much of the government. many people were involved, not one guy telling some bad guys to do something. i hope the prison since his are at least as long. ask questions? thank you very much. grover norquist with americans for tax reform. we will see you again, assuming the president has been present income tax system is large in place a year from now, we will see you in your -- we will see

you a year from now. take care. [inaudible conversations] >> the first thing i would do is not let the largest cable tv company by the second largest cable tv company. that's were i would start. my job here on the judiciary committee is, at these hearings, is to raise my concerns, and he

seems like a really smart guy, a really great guy. he earns, i would say about him, he earns, you know, sort of what he gets. but my job was to ask tough questions on the have -- see, they have 107 lobbyists on capitol hill. they are swarming capitol hill, their lobbyists. but i've got 100,000, i had 100,000 people, more than 1000 people write me their objection. and so the first thing i would do is stop this deal. i would not let this go through. it's not up to me, it's up to the fcc. >> senator franken weighs in on the proposed comcast-time warner cable merger tonight on "the communicators" on c-span2.

>> a plant scientist us with interest in the other sciences, and the story is that he knew that it didn't freeze in fort myers. a lot of interest that he had here in this area were based on his love of plants. by the 1920s, the united states was relying on foreign rubber and we were headed into war. sure that point they decided the plant material and the process should be done in this country. edison, ford and firestone work on all of the world and collecting plants. and the fact that hundreds, thousands of people all over this country collecting plantains send you back your to fort myers to his laboratory defined a source of plant material that could produce rubber officially, effectively, commercially. so the laboratory was here because of that reason come because they could grow the plants you inside and actually do the preliminary research on

site. so it's an exciting project. collaborative was interesting for many reasons. one of them was at the point in american history there was no patent process for plants, chemicals, patenting. and so part of the reason why this lab is so important was that it caused the u.s. government to come forward with what was called the patent, u.s. patent law, which then said that if you invented something with plants and it was a process that was worthy of patenting, it was issued a patent. >> next weekend booktv and american history tv take a look at the history and literary life of fort myers, florida, including a stop at thomas edison's botanical research laboratory saturday at noon eastern on c-span2, and sunday at two on c-span3. >> a live look inside the

treasury department this morning where we are planning to bring you live coverage of a news conference with treasury secretary jack lew and ukraine finance minister, the two meeting to discuss economic aid to ukraine in conjunction with the imf. the u.s. is pledging support for a billion dollar loan guarantee to help ukraine's recovery effort to this is set to get underway in just a moment. live coverage here on c-span2. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] >> and again verify that the treasury department in washington, d.c. for coverage of news conference with treasury secretary jack lew and ukraine finance minister, both going to discuss economic aid to ukraine. it should get started here in just a quick motor while we have

a moment, live coverage of the discussion on the rise of islamic political parties in pakistan as was the current state of u.s.-pakistan relations. that will be happening this afternoon here on c-span2 at 2:30 p.m. eastern. former pakistani ambassador to the u.s., live at 2:30 p.m. on c-span2. on c-span this afternoon, lewis black will be speaking at the national press club. he will talk politics and social issues. that gets underway live that one eastern and once again you can see that live on c-span. also, the chair of the national, united national commission of inquiry on human rights in north korea will discuss funding of a recent report detailing atrocities committed by the government including murder, enslavement and torture. c-span will have that life started at 3 p.m. eastern. [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] >> treasury secretary jack lew and ukraine finance minister expected to appear live at the trade department to discuss economic aid to ukraine. when it gets underway we will have live coverage here on c-span2. in the meantime over the weekend citizens united and americans for prosperity host its inaugural freedom summit in

manchester, new hampshire. among the speakers, mike huckabee. while we wait for this news conference to get underway we will show you a portion of hisoe remarks. >> thank you very much. thank you and thanks al all of u for being a today. i appreciate it. y. look, i realize i'm what they call the parking lot speaker. that means i'm the guy that is on the program right at the end so those of you who are really in a hurry to get to the the powerful are able to do so. so i'm totally unaware of that.u thank you for staying. i'm delighted. i truly was a great outcome to to a an en mpty room. i willeard me speak before and i wouldn't stay. i just tell you t now. is has be. i left new york. taped my show, that hopefully will get out in time to watch

tonight. i said, hopefully you will go watch that tonight. there you go. [applause] in addition to that, i had a real frightening thing happened today. i lost my iphone. and that is scary. how much stuff that you got on your phone? a lot. your contacts, e-mails. i panicked. then i realized exactly what i could do. i called the nsa. they told me exactly where was. -- where it was. they were able to restore my e-mails, voicemails, everything. good to go, folks. all set. several years ago during my tenure as governor i was participating in what was an annual event, reading week. i would go to in elementary school and read to the students. and i was going to the georgia elementary school in springdale read to theing to first-graders, but before that i had a science fair to attend at

the local junior high and then over to elementary school for the reading. the science fair ran late, so by the time i got to the ellen driscoll, the principal was standing at the door wringing your hands. we have been waiting. the kids are ready for you. so they grabbed me and rushed me down the hall. took me into the first-rate class. and they had it all setup up. the kids were on the floor seated filmore style. for those of you old enough to know what that means. they were all seated. and i go and they put me in one of those first-rate -- first grade chair. they hand me the book. i thought, i do not want to walk in here and be so abrupt and not have a little time to connect with them. so i thought, let me at least warm them up a little. it was near halloween, so i said, anyone of you want to tell me what you're going to be for halloween? talk.ery kid wanted to so i call on somebody. they would answer.

give me some wonderful thing about the cost of. and then somebody else. there was one little girl in the front. i noticed she was just like this. you know how there are some kids, and they're not like this. this. she was so intense. i thought, she cannot keep that energy up. so i called on everybody but her. look, i just wanted to see, could she do it? sure enough there she never lost the intensity. i called on the all the other kids and finally, i said, yes, sweetheart. did you want to tell you something? with that kind of enthusiasm she probably wanted to say i want you to know my mother thinks you're the best governor we ever had and she voted for you. in my mind, that is what i was thinking. i later found out the little girl's name was ashley. i said, what would you like to say? as serious as she could, she said, governor, we are already late for lunch.

thinking, this kid does not ear that the r governor of the state is parked in one of these little chairs. and of all those goals in the entire state, i picked hers to come read to her. no, it was wednesday, and it was corndog day at georgia elementary. and the only thing she was interested in was making sure she got to the cafeteria before the corndog scott called. my staff made fun of me for months over that. but i've often thought about it and here's what it taught me. that little girl going to school that day did not think whole lot other than she wanted to get to the cafeteria on time so her corndog would still be warm. wish left there thinking i that every kid in america would only have to worry about the warmth of their corndog. i wish the biggest worry that kid will ever have in her life

is getting to the cafeteria on time. but the harsh reality? i'm afraid that there are a lot of kids in america that will have to worry a whole lot more than about the temperature of the corndogs. if we are not careful, and i say this from the depths of my heart, the things that that little girl will worry about will be far worse than my having to worry about the duck and cover days of the early 1960's when we thought the russians were going to come and drop a bomb on us. the fact is, we are worried today not just about what someone externally will do to us . i have never been so worried in my life about what my own government is already doing to me and doing to the little girls who are sitting in an elementary school. [applpausause] of theirle lose sight landmarks, and if you've ever tried to follow your gps and you lose the signal, you do not have

a waypoint anymore. what happens? you're lost. dayse are way past the when we pulled over and asked someone for directions. and ask women pull over for directions anymore. men never have. gps does not work, we are utterly disoriented and lost, because we have lost the landmarks. we have nothing with which to navigate. m concerned about is that we are rapidly losing the very landmarks of the liberty in this country that has been the hallmark of what we have once the mostwas important thing for a little girl like ashley and her first grade class. the land marks of our country -- pretty simple once. our founders when they declared their independence from the mother country. i want you to think about what they did. what absolutely audacious behavior was it that

made them pull the muskets off their mantels and take on the strength of the most well- equipped, well-trained and well financed army in the world of his time and decide that a bunch of merchants and politicians, preachers and farmers could take musketsarmy with their that were better designed for hunting varmints than it was for challenging king george's and credit will force? -- incredible for? but what we believe was that living their lives free, living in liberty and having their children being able to say what they wanted to say, to think what they wanted to thank, to live the way they wanted to live, where they wanted to live, and do what they wanted to do was more valuable than life itself and they were willing to put every thing on the line. ..e are! that's what this country is all

about in its origins. when they broke away, they made the statement. we hold these truths to be self-evident. so obvious that we should not have to state them, but they did anyway. and thank god they did. are createdus equal and endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, among these life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. those landmarks, we have lost our country. and i tell you today, i am a whole lot more worried about losing the landmarks than i am about ashley getting her corndog. today, federal agents are pointing rifles and american citizens in an escalation of a standoff over a man who for 20 years has graced

his cattle on some land the state owns. i'm not here to jump in on the middle of whether cliven bundy ought to pay the state or pay anybody for the chance for his cows to eat grass. here is what i suggest -- that there is something incredibly wrong when the government believes that some blades of grass that a cow is eating is thean egregious affront to government, that we would literally put a gun in a citizens face and threatened to shoot him over it. here is what i would have to ask -- [applause] is this government more eatingted in some cows grass and nevada then they are as to why brian terry was murdered with guns that are government provided by drug dealers in mexico? can somebody help me understand that?

is this government more concerned about a few hundred head of cattle grazing on some land than they are as to why for americans were murdered in benghazi and nobody answered the phone at 3:00 in the morning? the threats and affronts to our liberty today are so incredibly sprite -- frightening. university, a speaker that was invited to receive an honorary degree, a speaker who was named by time magazine as one of the most 100 and one to people in the world for her stance against radical islam and the horrible treatment of women, including female genital noodle asia and -- g

enital mutilation. you would think that they would like that. a few people complained and brandeis. they disinvited the speaker and made fools of themselves. fools of themselves. the unitedbe that in states of america the idea of freedom of speech meant that we wanted more people to come to public square to express an opinion. today, like things that we have seen in brandeis, with the idea that -- her seat on the drop box board is being challenged because somebody does not like the fact that she had the same position on the war in iraq that hillary clinton did. pushed outmozilla of his position because he had the same position in 2008 on proposition 8 in california that hillary clinton had, that bill clinton had, that joe biden

claimed to have. do we want an america in which instead of having free speech we simply have a few forms of speech that are carefully protected by the radical left, and if you do not agree with them, it is not just that they to thei wrr

>> i want to go vote, i don't eat a thing. all i got to do is show up, and i can give 'em anybody's name, and that's okay. [applause] but, again, the president reminded us yesterday, there's no voter fraud. [laughter] i'd just like to show up at the white house and say i'd just like to come in and look around. do you have an appointment? no, and i don't have a photo id either, but i'd just like to come in there and look around.it if i don't need one to vote, i ought to be able to come in there and look around without one too.ndma [applause] the landmarks of our liberty ought to be protected, celebrated x this shouldn't bere an ideological issue. look, i'm not one who agrees with very many things the left puts out, but i think they ought to be able to express theirle t opinions. gives me a great deal more confidence and comfort in my own. when i hear there's i reali, my gosh, my sounds a whole lot better than the.

i love it when they talk. . but the fact is they do not love it when we talk.they do not want us to talk . you know why? because when the lights turn on, roaches, theyhe run for cover. that's why. [applause] today our freedoms are threatened by government agencies like the criminal enterprise formally known as the internal revenue service that operates with a heavy-handed, unbelievable power that is able to crush any citizen, any organization. the one type of entity in america where you are guilty until you prove yourself not to be guilty. basic system of jurisprudence which says you are innocent until somebody else with the burden of proof proves

beyond a reasonable doubt that you're guilty. one of the reasons i'm such a strong supporter of the fair tax is because once and for all it would rid us of the irs and it would make it that the irs and the entire federal government would have nothing to do with what i earn. they would not know. and it is none of their business. only when i spend the money should they be able to get anything from it. not when i earn it. they should not be penalizing productivity. our founders would be shocked if they came back today to see what has happened, because they never intended the federal government would get very big. they were so intent on that. that they wrote amendments to the constitution just to make sure we got it right. and every one of the bill of it diddid one thing -- nothing, not one thing at all prohibit what a citizen can do. in every one of the bill of rights, is limited what the government could give.

do.ould today, we as citizens are being curtailed by the bill of rights, told we cannot do when that was never the intent. the bill of rights tells the government what is restrictions are. if there was any doubt about it, the 10th amendment was written to say if it is not expressly written in the constitution than it is none of the business of the federal government. it is the job of the states, the role of states and the right of the states and the federal government should not keep their hands -- should keep their hands off i >> or we're going to leave this at this point, you can see remarks in their entirety at the c-span video library. live now to the treasury department where jack lew is discussing with ukraine's finance minister a billion dollars in loan guarantees to help that country's recovery. >> at the bank, imf and bank spring meetings, i made it clear to my counterparking lots -- excuse me.

counterparts. their strength and commitment have been strength to us all. the united states has been at the forefront of building international support for ukraine and holding russia accountable for its destabilizing actions. that's why at the recently-concluded imf/world bank spring meetings, i made it clear to my counterparts, including the russian finance minister, that the united states will continue to impose costs on russia for its violation of ukrainian sovereignty and for its illegal intervention in and occupation of crimea. in addition, working with our allies we are fully prepared to impose additional significant sanctions on russia as it continues to escalate the situation in ukraine including, apparently, through support to a conservative campaign by armed militants in east ukraine. during the g7 meetings that took place, there was broad and strong unity on increasing the sanctions and costs in response to escalating action from russia. in the face of provocations,

ukraine's leaders have acted responsibly and with remarkable restraint to insure economic and political stability. under the leadership of the prime minister, ukraine has made considerable strides on both these fronts. the presidential election next month is an important next step in giving the ukrainian people a say in their own future. at the same time, i would like to congratulate the minister on the progress he and his team have made many putting in place a comprehensive economic reform program together with the imf. these reforms will allow ukraine to tackle longstanding economic challenges and unleash the country's potential. we look forward to imf board approval of the program in the coming weeks. for its part, the united states will continue to work with the imf and other international financial institutions and bilateral partners to support ukraine as it takes the difficult but necessary reforms. to that end, i'm very pleased

that we're signing a $1 billion loan guarantee agreement today. this agreement, which was supported by the president and by both chambers of congress on a bipartisan basis, demonstrates the united states' unwavering commitment to seeing ukraine stabilize and move its democracy forward. with this loan guarantee agreement, the ukrainian government is empowered to take steps to gain access to low-cost financing from international capital markets and help to ease ukraine's economic transition, particularly for the most vulnerable. next week vice president biden will travel to ukraine to deliver the message that the united states remains steadfast in its support of the ukrainian people. since 1991 when ukraine declared its independence, the people of ukraine have sought a better, brighter and stronger future. the united states very much wants to see ukraine prosper, and we will continue to stand with its people as they move forward to realize their long-held aspirations. thank you very much.

[speaking in native tongue] >> translator: secretary lew, ladies and gentlemen, good morning. ukrainian delegation is very honored and pleased to be in this historical building at this historic event. we view today's documents and today's signing as a sign of, as a sign of support, unconditional support from the united states of america, of the aspirations of the ukrainian people to freedom, democracy and european values. we view today's signing as the first step toward broad financial assistance to our nation.

we've practically finished the talks with imf and expecting in the near future the board meeting on the ukrainian issue. through these several days in washington, we held fruitful negotiations with other partners. we have practically agreed on a broad program of cooperation of ukraine with imf. we have finished the work with the european union who is also ready to support ukraine. during the few days the ukraine administration had dozens of meetings, and we are very grateful to all our counterparts and those who supported ukraine in them. the world is admiring ukraine,

the courage and dedication of our people. these wonderful spring days here in washington are hard to remain in ukraine, in ukraine which now undergoes a war. not just a war against separatists and bandits, there is also a war against corruption, the war against economic irresponsibility and the ukrainian government is decisive in its separation to introduce economic, political and financial reform. we believe this -- in ourselves, in our partners, and most of all, we believe in our people. glory to ukraine. [background sounds]

[background sounds] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] >> live coverage this afternoon of a discussion on the rise of islamic political parties in pakistan as well as the current state of/pakistan relations. among the speakers is former pakistani ambassador to the u.s., husain haqqani. that's live at 2:30 eastern here on c-span2. and over on c-span today, comedian lewis black speaking at the national press club about politics and social issues. that's live at one eastern. also on c-span, the chairman of the united national commission of inquiry on human rights in north korea will discuss the findings of a recent report detailing atrocities committed by government including murder,

enslavement and torture. that's live at three eastern on c-span. >> the first thing i would do is not let the largest cable tv company buy the second largest cable tv company. that's where i'd start. i, my job here on the judiciary committee is to, you know, at these hearings is to raise my concerns, and what mr. cohen -- you know, mr. cohen seems like, i really think he seems like a really smart guy, and he's a great guy, i'm sure. he earns, i can say about him, he earns sort of what he gets. but my job was to ask him tough questions on behalf -- see, they have 107 lobbyists on capitol hill.

they're swarming capitol hill, their lobbyists. you know, but i've got 100,000, i had 100,000 people, more than 100,000 people write me their objections. and so the first thing i would do is stop this deal. i would not let this go through if i were -- it's not up to me. it's up to the fcc and the doj. >> senator franken weighs in on the proposed comcast/time warner cable merger tonight on "the communicators" at 8 p.m. eastern on c-span2. >> the senate on their holiday recess, we're bringing you highlights from booktv in prime time all week here on c-span2. tonight a look at the world of banking and finance. at 8:30 eastern, megan mccard l on her book, the upside of down: why failing well the key to success. then an interview with michael lewis, author of "flash boys: a wall street revolt," and steven

harbor on "fragile by design." booktv in prime time all this week here on c-span2. the world's finance ministers and central bankers were in washington last week for the imf spring meeting. the headed of the imf and the world bank held a press briefing thursday morning. emf -- imf chief christine lagarde discussed planned to loan $14-$18 billion to ukraine and said she hopes the authorities in ukraine will deliver on their commitments. she spoke for just over half an hour. [background sounds] >> okay. thank you very much for photographs. good morning, everyone. welcome to this press conference on behalf of the imf. thank you all for coming.

very nice to see you. we're on record this morning. we'll get to your questions very shortly, ask you to keep them short, stick to one question, please. it's my pleasure to introduce to you this morning the managing director of the imf, madam christine lagarde, and our first deputy managing director david lipton. with that, let me turn to madam lagarde for some opening remarks, and then we'll get to your questions. >> thank you very much, gerry, and good morning to all of you. welcome to the 2014 spring meeting. you will have, you will have seen our numbers in the reel that was presented a couple of days ago. for those who were not in the room, we expect global growth at 3.6% this year and 3.9% in 2015.

the emerging markets and developing economies continue to be the main source of growth even if a bit slow or than in the past at 5% in 2014 and 5.4% in 2015. the advanced economies are finally strengthening a bit with growth projected at 2.3% this year and next year as well. our overall message, the global economy is turning the corner, but the recovery is still too weak and too slow. so our bottom line is fairly good but not quite good enough. can do better. and for some despite the fact that growth is strengthening, they're not feeling it. we still have 200 million people

unemployed. so bold actions are needed to generate more rapid, stronger and sustainable growth as is outlined in our global policy agenda. what we call our gpa, which i know you have received overnight, and i hope it's made good reading for you last night. we are sharing it with you for the first time. in advance. so you probably wonder what policymakers are going to discuss during these meetings. we believe that the overriding topic for discussion will be the topic of growth; quest for higher growth, better quality growth, more inclusive growth and sustainable growth. now, what does that mean in practice? it means, in our view, overriding a trio of hurdles. first, an extended period of low

inflation in the advanced economies. topic has been discussed. we are concerned about this potential risk in advanced economies in general, in the euro area in particular where we know that prolonged low inflation would hurt both growth and jobs. and in this context, it is encouraging that the ecb has reiterated its commitment to use unconventional measures as needed. second, we need to act on growth because it is just too low, and we need to act now. and that requires policy actions across the board. in the advanced economies, they need to get the pace of fiscal adjustment right and the normalization of their monetary

policy right in due course as well. it will be about timing, it will be about execution, it will be about communication. in the emerging market economies, they need to strengthen macro and prudential policies to safeguard against market volatility. in the low income countries where growth continues to be strong, they need to guard against the rapid debt buildup that needs to be watched. not short-term growth, but we need to also guard against the risk of hoe growth this the -- low growth in the future. and to deal with that, we need ambitious and coherent policies to avoid years of subpar growth and to secure global financial stability. that means that all countries, advanced, emerging and low income, need to step up

structural reforms. that is certainly the case in product and service markets, but it is also the case in labor markets. together with that well -- we've got well targeted investments whether private or publicly-funded are needed in quite a few countries, not all. it also means renewing the momentum on global financial reform and containing financial vulnerabilities emerging in hot spots in various places. for instance, in the nonbank sector both in the united states and in china and high corporate debt in emerging economies. and all of that, obviously, is taking place against the rising risk of geopolitical nature. now, how can we get to that destination and face those three hurdles? clearly, the policies that i have briefly touched on are

needed, but what is also needed is cooperation. at the recent g20 meeting that took place in sydney, it was noted that with the right policies undertaken by the various countries and appropriate cooperation between them, growth could actually be higher by two percentage points over the next five years. and that is the kind of growth trajectory that would help create jobs and improve the situation of those economies. what is the imf doing about it? well, the fact that you're all here, the fact that 188 members of the institution are represented here means very simply that the imf is the ideal forum for cooperation, for communication. and a lot, i can assure you, is taking place officially in big

public meetings, but also bilaterally in private meetings that tack place and advance -- that take place and advance resolving issues. our global membership has asked for support. we are actively helping the australian presidency in regard to the 2% objective and how we can measure it, tailor it. and that is also why the imf must be reformed. and that reform, as you know, is the reform of quota and the reform of governance, one that i had hoped we could celebrate on the occasion of this spring meeting. and we are still longing for. the entire membership and certainly the institution as well. these are important commitments that were made by the entire membership back in 2010, were to be delivered in 2012.

we're in 2014, it hasn't happened yet. are we giving up? no. it will happen. how quickly? through which path? with whose support? i hope the entire membership, and i hope that happens soon. it's important because it matters for the credibility of the institution, it matters for the size of the institution, and we certainly look forward to a good dialogue during the imfc on those particular issues so that we can rally support across the board, across the -- [inaudible] thank you. >> thank you, madam lagarde. let me turn to your questions, again, asking you to keep them brief and to the point, and we'll try and take as many as possible. going to begin here on the left with the lady right here. thank you. >> thank you. i'm from china business news. my question is about china's

economic growth. we have just seen very poor trade data in march. if china authority were to continue to use the depreciation of r&d as a tool to support growth to reach its goal, 7.5%, which is also the imf forecast for china's growth of this year, what would be your comment on that? thank you. >> well, i think, you know, i think you're jumping to conclusion. i certainly took the recent increase of the band of variation as a move in the direction of the internationalization of the to currency. and i would not characterize it as an intended depreciation of the currency. and certainly, we welcome the

internationalization of the roman b going forward, and we belief there will be steps in that direction going forward. in terms of china's contribution to international growth, clearly china is playing a key role with 7.5% growth target for 2014. it is clearly contributing significantly. and from the various discussions that i had two weeks ago when i was in china, i took great comfort from the fact that the rebalancing that we have advocated over time not only as being visible in numbers, but as also the intended policy of the authorities. >> so going over to the right here, yes, sir. gentleman, second row. >> hi. jeremy -- [inaudible] with ap. how concerned are you that the new imf program with ukraine could go off track, and do you think you could put the imf credibility at risk? thank you.

>> well, thank you for your question. we generally do not enter into negotiations with the idea that the program is going to fail. and when we do negotiate on the ground, when we do work with the authorities with support from the entire membership of the imf, we do not forecast failure. our plan and, actually, the conditions under which we enter into a program is for that country to deliver on its commitment and restore its financial situation so that it can finance itself, refinance itself and operate without support from the imf. and that's exactly the conditions under which we enter into that project which, by the way, is not yet completed, huh? there has been staff agreement in ukraine now ten days ago.

the board has met several times in an informal setting, and we hope provided that the authorities -- [inaudible] on their commitment which we have every reason to belief they will. we hope to review that program and submit it to the board at the end of april or in the very early days of may. >> okay. gentleman in the middle here. you, sir, with the glasses. [inaudible conversations] >> chris giles from the financial times. madam lagarde, the imf regularly gives other organizations, other countries and organizations advice and calls for plan b most recently asking the ecb to loosen monetary policy. given that there doesn't seem to be any sign that the u.s. congress is going to change its mind about funding, is it time now for a plan b for the imf where you circumvent the u.s.?

>> you know, i hope that we can exhaust all the opportunities under plan a. and i don't think that our institution should move to plan b until we have full certainty and massive disappointment that plan a is definitely dead. i'm not prepared to declare that at point, and i very -- at point, and i very strongly hope that the resolve of the institution, the pressure brought to bear by the members of this institution on all those who have not yet ratified will deliver fruit in the not-too-distant future. >> okay. going to stay in the middle. the lady in the white jacket. no, the lady in the white

jacket. thank you. >> thank you. my question is about japan. double your projection with lower 0.3, and do you still believe in abenomics? if so, why? it seems not working very well. so do you have any concerns? when you meet minister, also, this afternoon what do you expect from him but do you recommend him? thank you. >> well, you know, i listened very carefully to prime minister abe's description of the three arrows, and those three arrows were described by former prime minister now finance minister in various meetings. and it's fair to say that the first arrow has been delivered, has begun to work. we're seeing inflation certainly rising not yet to target, but significantly in japan. we were very pleased to see that the commitment to increase the consumption tax from 5 to 8% as

of april 1st was delivered upon. on that secondary row, we also believe that medium term fiscal plan needs to be articulated and needs to, you know, be convincing. we hope to see that. many reforms, many changes of a structural nature that have been touched on, not yet completely articulated by the japanese authorities. and when i have a bilateral meeting with minister azo, i will certainly discuss that with him, askç what the timetable is and what the extent of the reform is. i will particularly focus on the reform of the labor market in order to facilitate access to japanese women, for japanese women to the job market, because we believe that it's a very important component of the structural reforms. it's not the only one, but it's

one where clearly the japanese authorities have signaled interest, have responded to recommendations which i was very pleased about, and i will not give up on that. >> okay. thank you. i'm going to come down to the front row here. yes, ma'am. front row. thank you. >> thank you -- [inaudible] there was impressive demand for a fife-year bond is returning to market today. however, the imf program is ongoing, and the country's still counting on official sector support to make it sustainable. do you still believe that the debt restructuring is necessary, and when do you expect it to be concluded? [laughter] >> it is the case that greece is still in the program and that we have just recently approved a review of the program which

shows that after, you know, significant discussions and work being done by the greek authorities and the greek people, progress is underway. i see the issuance that took place today that was massively oversubscribed as an indication that greece is heading in the right direction. and that, you know, the water testing that the authorities wanted to do is really successful. now, there is still a lot to be done. program is not over. but this is a clear indication that the return to markets -- which is clearly the objective of any imf program -- is on the horizon. >> okay. i'm just going to stay right here. yes, sir. >> thank you. my name's -- [inaudible] i am with the russian news agency. madam lagarde, on ukraine and

russia, obviously -- first, i guess are you now closer to understanding the range of the contribution of the imf to the ukrainian problem, and secondly, as you yourself pointed out recently, russia has been supporting ukraine for a number of years. it is still supporting ukraine, especially in energy subsidies. so my question is, in the new program is it intended to provide specifically for ukraine to be current with its debts for russia, to russia? that is paying -- [inaudible] and being current on the current payments? thank you. >> you know, the ukrainian program, project of a program, right? because it will be a program once the board has approved it. it has been negotiated on the

ground, has been discussed informally with the board, and there has been encouraging, very broad-based support from all corners of the board of the imf. the range of financing is going to be predicated on what the international support will be to that country whether on a bilateral basis or from other international institutions whether that is the world bank across the state, the ebrd and other regional institutions. for the moment what we are forecasting is a financing envelope ranging from 14 to $18 billion. and that includes room for appropriate payment of, you know, anything that is a legitimate area, right? to any creditor. i think that answers your question. >> thank you very much.

swinging back around here, yes, ma'am. right here. >> thank you, gerry, thank you, madam lagarde. about a year ago when we had this meeting, at that time emerging markets were clearly the star of global economy, but one year later the driving force is still clearly declining. so what is your opinion on this kind of a shift? and policy wise, what do you think the emerging markets can do in order to regain their momentum, growth momentum and also to enhance the resilience to have the financial market in a post-qe era? thank you. >> you know, i would not call it a shift because it is till the case -- still the case today that the bulk of growth is generated by the emerging markets. so this story about the emerging markets lagging behind, slowing down and having lost their momentum is a little bit overdone. they are still providing the bulk of growth. what is new is that advanced economies have picked up, and there is that rebalancing

happening at the moment. but i wouldn't, you know, call that a shift. i would call it rebalancing. having said that, clearly since the tapering talk in may the emerging markets have been under some pressure, and we have observed volatility which has had, you know, an effect, a significant one on some of them which has since been essentially sort of erased by the various policy measures that have taken place in those countries. and they range from, you know, one to the other depending on the fundamentals of those economies. but if you look at what india has done from a monetary point of view, for instance, if you look at what indonesia has done on the whole scope of tools available to the policy authorities, clearly there has been good work done. there continues to need constant

attention to avoid the consequences of volatility. but volatility's something that we're going to have to live with. we've been massively protected a few years from volatility because of quantitative easing taking place in many corners and by very -- and launched by various central banks. this is bound to be normalized over the course of time as the economy bounces back. >> okay. thank you very much. i'm going to take from our -- yes, sir. with the glasses. you, sir. yes, sir. thank you. >> okay, who's got glasses? >> everyone. [laughter] >> thank you very much. i'm the north america editor of african youth analysis. we recently witnessed the recent declaration by nigeria, you know, of being africa's biggest

economy. after it's recalibrated the indicators, and which before that everybody's witness to what happened between the federal government and the central bank. well, nigeria might have anything to do with that right now, with the fund right now. but we have, nigeria's situation is only an isolated case in africa where we have whistleblowers coming out, you know, to -- >> sir, do you have a question? >> exactly. i'm just -- this is to the question. where the government tends to victimize whistleblowers, but the same government comes to the fund, you know, to propose for

grants and stuff. in this case has the fund any upper hand to play, you know, the superpower -- [inaudible] with strong conditionalities? >> okay. i think i -- it's a very important question that you raise. and i can assure you that there are cases when countries -- and i would not, you know, single out african countries, any country -- when countries come for negotiations for a program, for a monitoring program with or without funding, where we have that dialogue with authorities about the authenticity, the evidence relating to contracts, to licenses, the ways in which business has been conducted and there have been instances under my watch where we have said, sorry, but unless and until we

have documented information about the circumstances under which such contract, such mining rights were granted, unfortunately, we cannot work together. and i can assure you that it is efficient. all right? and i applaud any instances where authorities in africa or elsewhere actually have the courage to step up and to identify when they are shaky if not shady circumstances under which those rights are granted. >> good. gentleman, front row. yes, sir. with the glasses. thank you. >> alessandro -- [inaudible] from italy. there seems to be a different assessment on the risks of protracted low inflation or deflation in the eurozone between the fund and the european monetary authority especial