this guy was there. very agreeable. come on up. so we're were going up the coast and george with his everlasting good judgment got thirsty and we had to stop by the road. there were some kids selling this really evil looking fluids. and george, 15 minutes later, i don't feel so good. so he passed out. drives up to the rego. i really wanted jurors there. turnout these mexican prisons are kind of interesting on

weekends they bring out the hibachis and cook chicken. their girlfriends, and. the music and guitar. and it seems very good. but i imagined what went on if he made enemies or something else, there was absolutely no official protection. anyone. >> very interested in making marijuana dealers, unbelievable he wrote geniuses, ceos of pot. all kinds of these crazy headlines. and so did general story, there

is no sunset. i don't think that exists. >> the experience, the corona enterprise in general. you don't get into it this plane and their something about the glory. coeval. and that was a journey that these guys signed up for. so not, at the end.

there were like, funk. we need to get, because otherwise we are one hand clapping. a tree falling in the was with no one around. we want to be famous. we want to be known. even if he does pick up the old media storage, the bumbling part of the narrative. journalists work really hard canadian basic characteristics of some of these guys. and then there will be some little detail checks. forty years. a failed tropical plant business and that an actual tropical plant business in florida before he will west.

and then he became a captain of the pot navy, fortune 500 of pot and all this crazy stuff. he got busted. how did he get busted to back by the way, he had an electrified stairway in this house of build a special security chamber. the odyssey eventually get up and stellar temecula in his notebook with all of this context. [laughter] >> my debt read the book and he

called me and he had a long, long list of things you what a sick. you know, a mist on page 206. you know. a think he got it. i did. not enough workers in the book. [laughter] apparently five scenes with workers was not sufficient for have. in for true documentary accuracy >> what is your bond think of the book? >> she said -- she supported the

book and has been generous with her time, the issue went to some dark places in recapturing a story for me. now that it is out should does not want to look at it breezy doesn't want any part of it. she's confuse yourself how she participated in such a life for so long to read the sociologists long-term iconography of the california doe the scene which is basically the same as the east coast hubs in. it had this profile. the iconography my mother of it's a it certain character type. i love her, and she raised me in the absence of my father and dug go saw this cash and put it tore my education.

so any other questions to back. [inaudible question] place very source vote. the way you describe and getting into it the the not quite the same situation.

by two closest friends apparently an uneasy. >> with that's the thing. >> is also consistent with the ability to see yourself from the outside. an internal narrative that is cinematic. it's like giving direction to yourself. one of the great scenes, unblock us from going to wash up. think about the past. that is what they do. >> a lot of resources for people restaurants. a is this then there's that. but necessarily every community

readings. or we have all lost of regular with us tonight somewhere. adelle want to embarrass anyone. >> aware of the politics of the time? be retirement. how to influence. >> he was extremely aware of the politics of. : ascribed to it. a dead giveaway as you were charged either. he was very aware of the politics and reacted in direct response to them. he was walking down the street recently. a guy with a clipboard try to usages for legalization and massachusetts came up to have.

it brought back all the old memories. legalization is the final confirmation of his rosa parks of legalization. anyone else to back. >> you have this kind of luxurious lifestyle. he did have a sense of what was going on the u.s. after. what did he say was that laughs out? your sense of how your family worked. >> by father bought and sold and develop property and vermont

which did. kaythree curvatures bid to all kinds of amazing stuff people living in vermont are now been completely constructed out of drug money. just leave money but make clean money come out. and then when the cut too much of a hassle the judge about for a guy trying to start a boat company pleaded still exists. and so he got a boat. it was a great pope. he got above lessons. i thought this would lead to it. in no, kids don't know. you can lie to your kids. they don't know. they don't know what happens. >> he was a regular. >> i did not know he was a large-scale drug dealer until i became a father myself and decided to get to the bottom of my father and no more robbers.

of a journalist now. confined of things. i did a local search for records and found a cocaine possession charge. and i call the national archive of a long shot, 1 percent of all the documents that the government produces. they sent me his indictment. page one through 14 of what was 01 under something page file. three overlapping indictments of all of his friends. then i knew. i called my mother and said i have this interesting document here. what to you know about that. flooded with the motion. regard to tell you. i had heard talk.

the drug use. like it assumes that it's just kind of pathetic. so i am a young kid, a teenager, in my 20's when this is being talked about. my assumption is that plans are not actual ton level marijuana dealers. it would be preposterous paribas >> he just left. it was consistent with his generals is leaving. and i thought the -- i saw women from maryland to florida to miami to maryland because we were afraid of hurricanes. in fact a real reason was because most of father and my father's of a partner at had a very long proffers session with the new england for taskforce. the little story about. three indictments came down we

should go. we did not tell anyone. we lied. we went to maryland. the internet was born. my grandmother, someone google me. if you're interested. >> howdy will but that? we will feel like you're here. what about your emotions? >> more than our fathers to but no matter how pathetic they are. and then when he left, and internalize society pushing extremely low. so when i found out he was a drug dealer, for other people

that would be a crushing blow. from the it was amazing. he's a criminal. awesome. using said. what about al, now i understand. i mean, the key moments of his life. it seemed as though he cannot possibly. and a certain inevitability that takes over when i lay his story out. here is like it could be no other way. to understand is to forgive. >> watching the wire and lately. i mean, i have been watching it is supposedly an accurate portrayal breed i don't know if you have seen it. but an accurate portrayal baby

brought in and distributed pitbull and dave simon was a former reporter please do you find -- these two stories don't really jive with that whole wire police catching people on wiretaps and all these sorts of drug buys and police informants in that sort of thing. and just curious your thoughts on that. >> well, two points. i mean, they are dealing crack and heroin. so categorically different kind of animal involved in that business. i don't know much about how it works really. it is a different individual that gets involved.

also on the street corner level i have no idea what happens there. george was. it -- >> george never tell what -- this had nothing to do with those of all ever. they were very high up in the wholesale business. he did know where -- other than some of the guys you would hire to protective he never noon. he was at ten very. he was care in this class of black kids to teach. they were not trying to except any of his teaching to get a ged people decide that he would teach them how to smuggle if they would get their gigi. it was air conditioned and

there. jurors is not want to return of the school. but on this level that has nothing to do with the wire. >> i don't think my father was the guy in that tall grass. he would be there to receive it. if the load was eight times he would call eight guys. a ton of peace. where it went from there he had no idea. the money, no one pays up front. so the money washes back. when it washed back in small bills my father would get excited. he had some conception of the end user but the he was doing marijuana. that end user is writing music ended late submitted. >> your. >> so in 86 the gang decided to

do one last job predicted a huge job. everyone got rich debate and they all were supposed to go off at live private lives. my father and his supplier, the most prolific smuggler of the reagan era to he did one more jobs with them all bring he used to be involved and, boston guys to and then he disappeared. well, that ring in boston, they had a low shot. eventually the irs notice that all the loans were going to friends and family. they get busted. they get indicted for marijuana sober. so that al qaeda was like a boy who is a supplier. we want to find an. in portugal.

and who living it up and a big coastal community. he had a for a. he was driving fast all around the place. the could not find him for a long time. in the court records are all these references. what did they say? will lau less they one of. they don't know areas. but eventually the local authorities are like a boy who is this correct go with a ferrari. this guy is an idiot. identify him successfully plead he gets busted at the dentist's. the put him in a portuguese jail. his girlfriend is pregnant. he does not like jailed. the plus to the prosecutor flies over and says talk and we will be you out of your. okay. all talk. he comes to the states and caused my stepfather who is the level of other and actively father and me. he says -- he calls our house

and asks my stepfather to be for a drink. so he's out and ordered to turn someone else. most of the other coast of the bark. i busted. of cooperating. you should too. here's the phone number. they're is a film. above cannot do this. and then making the stuff out, he says i wasn't going to do it but they said there are going to break down the door and take you put you in foster care bust your mother. i got it right the guys are going to be safe at that agree to talk. >> a step that was a popular? >> yes. >> i did not know that. [laughter] craigslist the father was the island guy.

there were able to get it but had no market. they get together. there were like a way to we need each other. >> city know anything about it said ted? >> no. i didn't know there were partners. you told me? i don't remember who told me. some government source told ed and i confronted loss of father about it and the $8 to is that he told me the euros story. he said go to the bar. his is a west virginia. coach of the party get the papers of and you'll see indeed i got immunity for you. i saved you guys. he drinks like george allen. it's not right and half of the house.

d'agata paper. a comeback the fancy letterhead a lead in league with drug enforcement task force to the big leap signature from the unsecured call the last of father was protected. who. >> have a private school. >> unfortunately i was there long enough to landry. >> the same sources. the process. >> i mean, i had their names. they have to give testimony special agent david farley comes to the stand and lace up the whole architecture.

he was quoting dillon constantly tearing his life. he was blessed in fort

lauderdale by these people he interested. and once he one of their work of eliot know, they're never want to talk about it. >> just wondering. how do you -- [inaudible question] >> remain employed and 21st century journalism. road trips to mexico any more.

seventeen countries were ever you were doing. get a leave of absence from newsweek. >> i was a professor during this . i quit this week to become rich and famous magazine writer. working full-time. >> sent a day job. ahead of the book ideas she has endured this book. she's out there. >> before you leave a gun ask myself, what's next? this has a woman as the protagonist i can describe it

all. st. martin's press. next summer. 2015. the working title is the princess and the da. just quickly to when it is about a woman who was kidnapped. she is an american woman from a colombian national kidnapped. but colombian guerrillas. and since the king that she was a rich woman who had a multi, multi, multi million dollar wanderings cream in boca raton florida. they kidnapped her, brought her up into the hills. in reality she was working

undercover for the da. the story is how they got her back. they had a government agent in their grasp. >> oh, yeah. >> thank you all for coming. [applause] >> we have books for sale. we have -- if you don't mind folding its shares up and putting them against a wall that will be helpful. thank you again.

>> c-span2's booktv this weekend. books on marriage equality, the obama's versus the clintons and the autobiography of marion barry junior. saturday 10 p.m. eastern on "after words." sunday afternoon at 5:00.

booktv, television for serious readers. >> a couple of live events to tell you about this morning. the airline pilots association is hosting a forum on aviation safety and security. the opening panel on c-span2 at 10:30 a.m. eastern includes representatives of the federal aviation administration and the international civil aviation organization. on c-span at 11:20 a.m. eastern president obama will be in virginia to sign the bill overhauling the veterans affairs department. the bill which passed overwhelmingly in the house and senate expense health care options for veterans and improves department accountability. >> up next a forum on the effect of the latino vote in the midterm elections. posted on the national

association of latino elected and appointed officials. speakers include ahead of the latino victory project and hispanic libre initiative. this is one hour. >> as you all know anyone in 31 days will be election day in terms of midterm election. what we would like to do to start off the congress today is to put this in the political context as to how we expect the latino vote and latino candidates did in the midterm election. it's one of the major themes of the conference. other major themes will be working on but certainly the elections are top of mind at the moment. as we talk about 2014, let's make sure we put this in context about 2010. because when we compare elections, it's only fair to compare a midterm to a midterm.

so let's not forget what happened back in 2010 midterm elections where the latino vote had a decisive impact. the democrats are in control of the senate today because of the elections of these two senators, senator michael bennet of colorado and senator harry reid of nevada. the latino vote was decisive in senator reid's reelection campaign and senator bennett's did to be elected for the first time. that election 6.6 millions -- million latinos voted in the comprises just over 7% of the latino vote. also important of the 2010 elections were the real significant milestones that were achieved by latinos in the republican party. marco rubio was elected to the senate. the first latino governor of any state was elected in 2010 in new

mexico. first latina governor of nevada and the number of latinos in the u.s. mac more than doubled from three to seven. although it's not an election we should compare the midterm elections to, let's not forget the decisive impact latinos had in election 2012. 11.2 million let the nose went to the polls, comprising 8.4% of the nation's electorate, 5% increase over 2008. we know the latino vote had a major impact in some of the decisive campaigns in swing states. as we look towards 2014, look at how the latino vote is continuing to increase. we are making strides. you look at this chart that follows the trajectory of the latino vote in midterm elections from 1994-2010 we see that in

every single election cycle there's been a steady increase in the number of latino voters. that's the blue line. it tracks very closely to the green line which is the number of latino registered voters. let's keep our eye on that red line. find is a number of latinos who are eligible to vote. the truth is that that population continues to grow faster than the population of latinos will actually vote. so the challenge before us is to make sure that we engage latinos as they enter the electorate. every single year 50,000 latinos turn 18 years of age. these are u.s. citizens. so every single day, if i get the math, every single day seems like 2000 latinos the, eligible to vote in this country. so we have -- in terms of how

many latinos will show up to the polls, this november, we released projections earlier this year. we're expecting 7.8 million latinos will vote in november. that's an 18% increase over the 2010 numbers. we will make a 7.8% of a national share of all voters. so again we are making strides, the latino vote is going, but i'll be honest with you, for naleo is not growing fast enough. the next three days will talk more about what we are doing to make sure that we engage the latino electorate, grow our numbers and part of the conversation this one will be about some of the initiatives that are being undertaken to offer increased they like to -- latino electorate. there are some political factors that will shape the latino vote. whether latinos are mobilizing to go out and vote, it will

shape how to vote and the choices they make. immigration reform is top on my mr. babbitt in this this room and to latinos across the country. traditionally and historically, the immigration reform has not been the number one issue for latino voters, and in many respects it makes sense but if you are a voter, you're a citizen of your board here or you're a naturalized citizens they don't have a personal immigration issue to resolve. but as the issue has continued to be part of the public discourse since 2000, and as more and more latino citizens know personally a latino who is undocumented, the importance of this issue is increased to the point, and will have one of our panelists address this, immigration itself has risen to the top of the issues that latino voters care about any elections. so one of the questions will be

what does it mean that immigration reform has not yet passed both houses of congress? what will it mean for november 2014 and we will talk about that in a couple of minutes. some of the things that will be affecting the latino vote include a situation and the condition of the federal voting rights act. the voting rights act has been a powerful tool to make sure that every single american citizen is able to vote free of discrimination. last year the united states supreme court declared section for unconstitutional meaning that section five which requires preclearance of any change in election practices by nine states and a number of counties that that formula for determining who was subject to preclearance was unconstitutional. as a result of the shelby

decision, texas, alabama and mississippi have imposed voter id laws that in our view an interview of the evidence ever discriminate impact on attendance, african-americans and others. arizona and kansas are two of the states that are trying to strengthen the ability to impose proof of citizenship requirement in voter registration. so the environment itself is becoming more challenging to ensure latinos are able to vote, motivated to vote, and vote free of discrimination. a little bit about what is happening in terms of candidates in 2014. we expect that two of the latino governors elected in 2010 have excellent opportunities to be reelected in 2014. both governor martinez and governor sandoval are running strong campaigns for reelection. something is happening in new

england. in the state of rhode island, the mayor of providence, dominican american is run and extreme the competitive campaign for governor of rhode island. that primary will be september 9. are also number of latinos running for the number two offices in their state. joe garcia is the incumbent in colorado is up for reelection. carlos who was appointed genuine 2014 is now running on the ticket with governor scott. she will be with us later at this conference if not already in the room. assembly member lucy flores of nevada is run for lieutenant governor interstate. john sanchez in new mexico, and state senator leticia van de

putte is running for lieutenant governor in texas. some exciting and interesting races for the number two spot in states across the country. other significant statewide contests that we will be keeping an eye on very closely come in november includes state senator alex padilla -- [cheers and applause] who is running for california secretary of state. he was a top vote getter in california's primary. that's as much as in going to say about him. [laughter] former deputy secretary of state nellie gorbea again and nothing happening, she herself is run for secretary of state in rhode island and we hope she makes it past the timber primary. in terms of attorney general races, sean reyes who was appointed after in general is running for his first term as an elected attorney general in utah. and a former member of the naleo

board of directors, state auditor, running for attorney general in new mexico. again, fascinating races where following closely. of the key statewide races, robert aragon running for state auditor, rick lopez or state treasurer in that state and george bush running for texas land commissioner in texas. >> the are of course the entire house of representatives is up for reelection, all 435 seats. we expect the best matured of the latinos and latinas who are running for reelection to be reelected but there are some very close races that are in the mix throughout the country. here in california, representative raul ruiz who defeated incumbent mary bobo two years ago is running for reelection and has a very

competitive race against an assembly member, brian ex ante. joe garcia who also ran and was elected in florida first hispanic democrat get elected to congress from florida is running against a competitive field of republicans. that primary is august 26. we will see will be challenging in an what we expect to be a very competitive race. one of the districts in texas that has changed hands between political parties several times the past decade is currently being held by a democrat and he will be facing a business consultant and texas 23rd issue. that's another district that both parties are investing tremendous resources in. also in california, the 21st district in the central valley, and another race that is being watched by both political parties in terms of the swing

nature of both of these districts. and so part of what we want to continue to see at naleo at the growth of latino elected officials. these are the numbers that we are publishing here at the naleo annual conference in 2014. this is our record, for the record, on the number of latinos who serve in elected office as of january 1 of this year. here's a comparison over the past 10 years. we have gone from no u.s. senators four years ago to three. the house members of congress from 20 to 20. over all the increase has been 25% and the number of latinos in elected office, so just under 5000 to just over 6000 latinos serving in elected office across the country today. that's a little bit about where we are in terms of the number of

latinos who we expected turnout for the election. the impact we had in 2010 and 20 tough, now to talk about the impact of the political context of 2014. i'm going to invite up my guests and panelists to put all this in context, explain what they're doing to make a difference. so as i introduce you please come up and join me. first we will start with my friend daniel garza who began his career as a assistant for years congressman richard doc hastings. after serving soldiers as an elected official himself he served as george w. bush a message as the department of the interior and is an associate rector of the office of public liaison and the white house where we first had the opportunity of working together. his professional express also crosses into the private sector. user does coproducer of -- and

today he serves as the director of the libra initiative, nonpartisan nonprofit organization that advances the principles and values of economic freedom to embody as hispanic community by developing a network of hispanic pro-liberty activists across the united states. then we have doctor victoria defrancesco soto was a poll of the center for politics and governance at the lbj school at the university of texas. she's a senior analyst for latino decisions. she was named one of top postcodes and the country by diverse magazine picture seek her ph.d from duke university or academic experience centered on campaigns and elections come immigration women, rights and ethnic policy. she's also contribute to msnbc and the regular political analyst. welcome, doctor. [applause] >> and our third panelist is

also a good friend, his present of the latino victory project, a nonpartisan effort to build political power within the latino community by developing leaders for public office while building a permanent base of latino donors to support them. prior to joining the project, alex spent five years of philanthropy serve as in the ford foundation reinvested more than $60 million to increase political participation in communities of color. most recently christobal was named by washington "life" magazine as one of d.c.'s most influential leaders under 40 which is quite a feat given that the only move to d.c. about three months ago. [laughter] >> welcome. so please welcome christobal joshua alex, and all three of our panelists. [applause] >> so let's start with dr. soto.

if you can give us an overview of what you are seeing what this election will mean for latinos and what the latino vote will have for a spin i'm going to start off with a question and it's a question that i frequently get amateur many of you get which is, who cares about latinos? people don't say it that way. it usually comes about in terms of, oh, yeah, latinos are a fastest-growing population. but they're punching below their weight. but they are pulling in in terms of turnout between them behind african-americans and whites. so we see this question being posed, and it's a valid question, and these are facts that we are faced with. but i want to answer this question and want to answer this question with facts, with empirical data. and i'm going to be really, really blunt. we matter, partly, because we

are having a lot of babies. case in point right here. [applause] you know, i joke but baby max is going to be born in september before the 2032 presidential election. i'm not saying i planted this would but maybe it was a consideration in the back of our minds. right now age is a liability for our community. the average age of what she knows is 10 years below that of anglos and african-americans. so we are talking about 27 as opposed to 37. when you are looking at new of latino destinations, north carolina, arkansas, tennessee, the average age is 15. black, white, latina, young folks just don't vote. they've got other stuff going on in their lives.

teenagers and twentysomethings, even early '30s. but what i want us to keep our eye on, and arturo showed this in the graph is the brute force of demographic change. so there's that aspect of it. another one i want to highlight is poli-sci 101 tells us that poor folks and folks with less education also less likely to turn out and vote. and yes, latinos have historically had lower educational rates and lower income rates. but if we just look at that static member, we are losing sight of the dynamics. in the last couple of years, and dennis in his remarks alluded to this, we have made huge strides with our educational attainment. the pew institute has done a

fabulous job of tracking these educational games. so just last year we saw that latino college enrollment surpassed that of white college enrollment. high school dropouts are dropping. so in addition to that demographic force we also have rising levels of education. at the same time we have increases in economic attainment. because we had it beaten out of us during the great depression. we suffered the most. i think it was 66 or 60% of her wealth that we lost. ironically those who are the poorest and have the most to gain from being politically involved usually don't vote. but what we see with this rising tide of economic it came it that latinos are gaining on, this is also going to push us to the polls. so that's the first part of my answer to, well, why do latinos

matter? the second is because we are swinging. latinos have swing tendencies. compared to african-americans and whites, latinos have the biggest chunk of independent voters. in the last couple of elections electing those have definitely tended toward the democratic party, but let's not forget about the early 2000, living in texas i see a very vibrant republican latina relationship even in the midst of some strange immigration issues. so we know that latinos also matter because of that middleground that they inhabit. and geographically speaking they also tend to be in a lot of the big swing states. florida, nevada, new mexico. we see growing populations in

ohio and virginia. so latinos matter not just because of that middle they occupy but because political entrepreneurs know it, too. and they're going after them and they want to pull the men. i have 30 seconds -- 37 seconds let's i'm going to wrap it up. i would love to talk later, maybe in the q. and a., about battleground taxes, something i'm seeing on the ground because i think it's a beautiful example of the, of how you see this latino demographic brute force, educational 10, economic power bubbling up and democrats and republicans are going mano a mano for the latino vote. we are seeing it in this election for 2014 and this is what has become nationally and better. so with that i will wrap it up. >> all right, thank you.

[applause] >> we will certainly talk about the battleground of texas. fortunately, we have two tejano's four part of this panel. >> texan by marriage. >> so daniel, the libra initiative figure august the coming at this from the perspective of reaching conservatives latino voters and growing the electorate. tells what the libra initiative, what plans do you have come with a 2014 in speak with we feel it's important, i think more important than demographic economic status and educational status is that what dean is get a sense of ownership in the process. look, puerto rico has hypertensive patient rates when it comes to those. that's because they own the island. bayfield they can control the destiny, they can control the

political outcome adults outcomes of the island. so many to great the same environment, the same feel here. the libre initiative doesn't. we engage latinos by talking about market principles, i talk about the virtues of capitalism, free market, rule of law, why we should have a limited government and check the power of those who would governor us. this remains a country of the people, for the people and by the people. so by doing that, by engaging in churches and chamber of commerce commerce's and colleges and universities, where ever latinos congregations be, we feel we can engage folks and do that proper outreach to get latinos out to vote and infect control the destiny of the political outcomes and policy outcomes. we have a considerable -- conservative perspective. there is no argument that the democratic party has benefited from the latino vote for the longest time. every presidential race the republican party has never

enjoyed a majority of the hispanic vote to george bush set the high water mark at 45%. that's a given. i think what's important is we understand that this has been a conversation within the latino community that has been dominated by the left. to their credit folks on the left have engaged, have not reached, have been in the communities, have seen the value of the growing demographic in the latino community, and they capitalized on that by sending resources and people and engaging the latino vote. so what i have seen as a political observer as well, arturo, is that on the conservative side there's sort of been a dereliction of duty. us advancing the principles that you believe are going to make society better, that is going to improve the lives of those who are at the bottom.

what others post to generate prosperity of what of those policies that generate poverty? we should be having an honest conversation within the latino to many of these issues director with the latino community. so i think the republican party has sort of had a bad approach to this. they just felt that the principles of economic freedom, the principles of the free market would sell itself to the community. just look at who we say we are. 33% of us say we self identify as conservatives. 32% self identify as moderates and only 30% as liberals. so the vast majority is a green with you at any given time in the latino committee which is the whole swing effect you're talking about. but we haven't been courted effectively. and so if the left has the union's that are engaging, hollywood celebrities that are promoting progressive policy, labor policy, if they have, the

party that is dedicate resources high-end with that, running sort of left slanted news packages on policy, on an eight to one ratio, the universities are much more liberal. they will get the outcomes are getting. my point is this, latinos have not rejected conservatives or republican candidates because of what they believe, because of the principles. they have rejected him because there's been an absence of this conversation about the virtues of the free market, about self-reliance, hard work, what makes america strong. so we aim to drive that conversation, even in i think in a state like texas where 44% self identify as democrats and only 16% self identify as republicans. there are massive gains to be made by conservative candidates because there is i think,

there's been so much open field, you know, for the democrats were so long that now as conservatives to engage, all hispanics they went up to the highest office in the republican party based on republican votes. there is opportunity if they engage. this by the way is a generation of ronald reagan that was influenced by this. i'll wrap up by saying that the conversation needs to be driven by the republican party, by conservative candidates, and they stand to gain much more that i think the democratic party because they are so far behind, increase the percentage just a little bit, they stand to gain a lot from the latino community spent which, of course, makes us powerful. >> thank you. do me a favor and pass this down over to a friend christobal. you will notice separated by the pregnant woman.

[laughter] spent you can't cross this line. >> is probably a good time to remind us all that what makes trend for a special forum is the expression of everybody's perspectives and ideas come respecting all of them but also engaging and challenging each other. now you have the floor. >> i want to take you so much. my luggage and come in yesterday. that's my partisanship, folks. thank you. [applause] been we may have different ideas but at the end of the we're all like he knows. we've got to work together and find ways to get done. i want to talk for a few minutes and turn back if i could go to the powerpoint. going back to the question about values. and what brings us together. i'll start with a very personal story. like a lot of folks in this room and daniel and others, many of us come from families of immigrants. my parents came to this country like many of your parents with

very little searching for the american dream. here is a picture of my grandfather. my mom did everything she could so that my brother and i would have the chances that she didn't have. she didn't get that because she's working in a few. by the time my brother and i came around she had settled family in el paso and did everything she could, including working three jobs so we could have the chance that she didn't have. my brother always wanted to be president but my mom said if you just put your heart and monster you can achieve whatever you want to achieve. he said he wanted to be president of the united states. he is autistic but he will never be president and he knows that. but he cherishes his right to vote. he votes everything election cycle. he knows voting is his voice. at the same time, and, unfortunately, you mentioned this at the beginning, across the country there are states that are introduced the laws that are designed to suppress the vote.

they have a disproportionate impact on people like mike brother, on our latino committee, and the brennan center estimates up to five many people will lose the right to vote because of these attacks on voting. in texas they pass a law that said if you have university of texas student id card you can't vote but he got a concealed handgun permit, no problem. you can see what these laws are designed to do. they are pass for purely political reasons. the right has a different idea about values and principles and they know they can't win with our community to be perfect on as to whether doing is they are shaping the vote and working to suppress latino political power. it's the same reason why the right won't pass immigration reform. they don't want us to vote. i have to say that and i'm sorry to say that. and if these anti-voting laws efforts aren't bad enough, we have structural problem as well in our community that keeps us from building political power. we talked about this milestone in 2012 around record

participation rates. but more like just a dumb on election days that actually voted. that's a serious problem. as a result of this lack of political participation we have a dearth of legitimate elected officials. this room should be a lot bigger. we should have twice as many latinos with the country 53 million only 28 representatives in congress we should have twice or more than that. it's much worse than letting us. -- latinas. we have a vicious cycle. when you don't see your committee reflected on the ballot and you don't see your faces, your voices similar names on the ballot from your less likely to vote. so the vicious cycle that further to press his turn the. we've got to change that. we are falling behind on other demographics. i'm running out of time so i'll just briefly, what happens if we are successful and we change this game? that's what led eva longoria to

launch the latino victory project. if we're successful what can happen is this. you see a picture in the rio grande valley. the u.s. census and 20 and said this was a force track in the country. at 1200 voters but only 150 of the latinas turn out to vote in a given election. they press the local authority to improve the roads and whether told his why bother? nobody out their votes anyways. a president answered what would it take to show proof of life? they said 300 votes. they took them up on that offer and they turned out more than 500 voters for a local election. [applause] now watch this. this is that same road a year and a half later. [applause] that's what happens when you latinos vote for power, accountability of people turn ouupto vote. we have to take every place in the country, every state in the country and we will finally have

true latino political power. and when we do we have to do things to fully. we've got to empower our in voices, support future lives and invest in their own communities as the leadership pipeline and thus so we're working to do at the the keynote victory project. when we're successful latino latino values, which are american values, will be reflected in the policies that drive our country forward. with -- what those values are our clean air and water. it means that we have access to adequate health care that's affordable and universal. it means that we have access to an ample education enemies the immigrants come out of the shadows and equal participants in our economy and that the good jobs that pay living wages. i'm out of time to let me say this last thing, arturo. i started by talking of my brother who always wanted to be president. when he went to vote in 2012, on november 6, he showed up at the voting booth. he didn't have the right idea. lucky for him and for many

others that law was held up in court and not in effect that they. it is now but on that day it was not in effect and he was able to vote. by pure coins it is our paper of record in el paso, our "new york times," when he walked out of the voting booth the el paso times with and got a picture of them. we have a friend at home. it's sitting right there. it made the front page and it was the best day of his life. and so together for our brothers, our sisters, our family, we've got to work together to pave the road. that's it. [applause] >> all right, thank you. okay so have a look at a time to get into this and peel back the skin on the indian. let's go first to dr. soto. what are the emergence of these two institutions mean? you can study led to the politics. we've had independent -- certain approaching the latino vote from

a partisan political perspecti perspective. you run ac three which also have a seat for -- the libre initiative is a c-4. coming at it from a much more political perspective. what does this mean in terms of latino political development? >> this agreement and debate is the lifeblood of democracy. and so the fact that we have these two gentlemen who have very different political perspectives, to meet this wonderful. i love it. i also want -- [applause] >> and beyond that, beyond where they are in the political perspective, one thing that is very exciting for me is to see the eye on the money. because at the end of the day in politics, whether you like it or you don't like it, we run on

money in the political system. and in order to run and be viable, you need that funding. so i think that this is really where the future of the maturation of latino politics lays. and having not just people say i'm on the side of the spectrum, or him on that one, but literally putting their money where their mouth is. >> some money where their mouth is. your institution came out of -- this was eva longoria and others efforts to bring money into the political system. daniel, you referenced economic power as being part of the pillars of latino development. so money is a common thread here. one -- what is money, from your perspective them you talked about developing economics, what about money and the political

process? >> frankie whether it's a church, any kind of institution, the accumulation, the efficiency of capital is critical to advancing any kind of effort our messaging or advocacy you want to be. so it is lifeblood, you're right. with that you're limited in what you can do but it also positions you to do things that normally you wouldn't if they didn't have the resources to do. so it's critical we do that. i think as a community we have evolved. we have stepped up when it comes to being able now to seek contributions and donations from americans who are aligned. frankly, i'm a conservative. that's what i believe. that's what we events. it's a game where you've got to get your ideas into the marketplace, and the people by those ideas then they're going to do and you. so that's the game and you need capital to do that. >> let me change this a little bit. just remembering we saw last you

on thi to the stage where they d was here, and a new nose, in his capacity as a member of the leader of the dnc and his talk about latinas have benefited, the democratic party have benefited from latinos participation i also sat other and was faced with a question i have is where are the latinos? he admitted progress an up and she. is the democratic party at risk of losing latinos through daniel's efforts because of the neglect are taking us for granted? >> what henry also said before is that, at the recent the latino victory project is nonpartisan is we can't be taken for granted by any party or any candidate. we've got to build our own power for the future of this country and we have to take a future in own hands and get it done ourselves. that's also connected to this money question. i think it's important that we talk about that because our community is not used to talking about this question.

this was the first time they broke the code and figured out how to get latinos engage in the clinical process to for us what that means is to be successful, to increase the number of latinos that are elected to get your members, we need to invest in our own community. it's why we launched this program called the first. in our families, the first milestone, education, financial milestone in the film. first lawyer, first doctor, first engineer. eva longoria calls these the ceo of the families. we need to identify and work with these were generally apolitical. they are the lead in the family, the ones who need to invest. they will be the ones that deliver the first latino president of the united states. [applause] >> really quickly i wanted to some it up, some up the main

point. [speaking spanish] we need to put into our community that notion of writing checks. the anglo community is able to do that. they just have become accustomed to doing it. it's not part of our routine and it's part of something that we need to start doing. i don't care if it's $5. if it's $100,000, grade. but it starts with the routine, and we know from political research that once you do something, you are more likely to just keep doing it over and over again. so i think your organizations are really critical in starting that tradition of money getting. >> i was going to say, a telling statistic is in texas, only 25% of latinos have been reached out to buy a political organization or candidate. only 25%. it's no wonder that only 13% is

the turnout rate for texans in florida it's 2% for latinos. so you're seeing a disparity in messaging, and folks getting the word inform elected about the issues that matter to them that will improve their families. so that's the effort that we are involved in is to get our message into the community. it is a market place of ideas, and yes, money is critical. >> let's talk about texas because this is, you know, it is the big price increasingly so, and it continues, even a bigger price in california. it takes up for congressional seats after this last redistricting, reapportionment large because of the growth of latinos. 55% of texas growth was latino. daniel, there is a lot of effort like we sought to turn texas from red to purple to blue.

obviously i think you're probably looking at that. how are you going to stop that? >> obviously we want more hispanic engagement to we will more hispanic involvement in the political process but we want more conservative hispanics. that's not a secret agenda. that's what we are about. so turn texas blue goes against everything we are about. so battleground texas of course is a threat to us. so we have to engage. we have to get into the community to craft to work with churches, work with the chamber of commerce is, work with our partners on the ground. we are also creating a volunteer force. will have about 3000 folks who are going to be on the ground helping us to advance conservative principles, ideas, talk about the marketplace, limited government. we are already well underway to enlisting those folks who are already helping us. we have offices and staff in

dallas and san antonio. that's what it's all about, engaging. at the same time it's an opportunity to also engage our young and get them involved in the political process at a certain age where they can begin to see the political process from inside. for far too long elected committee was on the outside looking in. i think that's why, back in the '60s and '70s we had to march, we had to protest. we had to have our fists in the air because that's all we have. so it was uncomfortable to do that but that's the only solution that we had to now we on inside. this is a new generation that is much more sophisticsophistic ated, that is now in the congressional staff offices, in state legislatures, in high elected office. let's move those resources and drive the conversation both on the left and on the right and now let's do that. >> we will come back to that because there are a lot of latinos the marching and holding sit-ins and will get into the

immigration topic in the second. are there real realistic prospects of a blue texas? >> there's no doubt lead to nose in texas will build political power and will change the course of the country. it's just a matter of when. for us we are taking the long view. we are a startup organization but with an eye on 2020 because in 2020, you have something set rarely happen. which is a presidential election, senses, followed by redistricting and latino majorities in the two biggest states, california and texas. we have to be ready for the. we have to be ready with our leadership pipeline, the resources and get a legit out to vote. if we're successful, turn out a record number of voters, a like a record number of latinos, we can then draw the redistricting lines and help drive policy with lacuna values for the balance of the center. so it's important to get everything in place including in

texas to have that kind of an impact. now, i have to take, i have to point this out. first, i like daniel. i think he's a nice guy. >> he's got a nice jacket. >> he's honest, he's got the nicest jacket in the building. [laughter] and i think he's honest. i really do and i think what he said is accurate. i think the firm that he's hired to do is add to the attacking latino candidates, we have so few come and go like the labor initiative with koch brothers money attached. that bothers me. [applause] buddies on us. his ads are not in the reason i point this out is we have a couple of people in texas that can change that state starting a. we've got the in the rio grande valley area. he's an incumbent who is putting his neck out there for immigration for latinos under attack. we got the first latina statewide elected lieutenant governor. she's a rising star and we have

other rising stars across the country but i just like to ask you to hold your fire on our latino candidates. >> to demonize the messenger. what happens is he says as if the left doesn't play politics either, as the left doesn't message, you know, to position their positions or their ideas. look, everything we do is fact checker everythin everything weo stand by. everything we do has to be ethical and above board. so it's a game of let's have this conversation, and we're going to have the conversation or not going to back down because it's not about pete. it's about his ideas. we don't want centralized government. we don't want collectivism. we do want liberal policies that lean more towards dependence instead of self-reliance. we don't want bigger government. that's the idea, the battle we're having. so let's have the conversation

but are not going to play the game of no, i'm going to back away from latina candidates when their ideas are not good for the country. and effect i believe strongly that conservative principles are better for our community and i will try that conversation regardless of sentiments expressed. [applause] >> i expressed those sentiments towards knowledge intended to there's probably other candidates that you could go after th but that's what i'm sag but if you think about folks in florida they are doing a tremendous job for committee, i don't think it's right. >> i want to get into the issue of immigration now. vicky, what do so with you if you can give us some background. your capacity, you've been doing some really excellent polling of the latino electorate, latinos over all about this issue. and sing this issue really rise on the agenda of latino voters which is something we haven't

seen before. it's been important issue for the community and not for the legend to show up at the polls into more recently. tell us a bit about that and then we will go to our two friends here. >> so immigration and you mentioned this at the beginning of the comments, is not the all-encompassing issue for latinos. we care about education, we care about him. however, what immigration has become is a gateway issue for latinos. because what we have seen is that latinos in the middle, moderate, conservative, are pushing back against the tenets of the rhetoric toward immigration. so even though it may not tangibly affect them, their second, third, fourth, fifth generation, they are moving away from those candidates who speak of immigration in such a way.

my little shortcut for thinking about immigration on politics, it's a gateway issue. the republican party is split down the middle. there's the george w. bush school of thought that back in the 1990s guided and said, you know what, immigration is part of this country and we need to put it inside of the big tent, and this is how we are going to court latino voters as part of a larger agenda. the problem with immigration and the republican party is in selling it to the non-hispanic base, and that was one thing that george w. bush was very good at. he was able to sell to conservative evangelicals and say this is part of our christian view. i really don't know if the republican party has come to the fork in the road.

if they do in fact come to that fork in the road and say we going to tone down the tenor and try to figure out a solution, latinos will support this. because one thing we can find from our work in latinos decision is latinos don't hold a grudge. we asked in survey after survey if the gop were to turn strategy and embrace immigration reform, not even necessary a comprehensive, but just some sort of substantive immigration reform, latinos say i'd give it to be a shot. were talking about 40-50% of latinos. so there's -- the question is immigration, is the gop going to pursue that a vote? >> dana, question for you. as a reminder to all of us, also a year ago the chairman of the republican national committee sat on this stage, endorsing immigration reform, yet here we are a year later, the senate

passed a. in fact, if they pass it during the naleo conference last year but the house refused to move on immigration reform. the house controlled by the republican leadership. what do you think? >> without question, how a candidate or a party or an individual who is running for elected office speaks about minorities in their political narrative, the impression that is given as how you speak about them, an then strangely to what would be your policy remedies to those folks. so the republican party has not done a good job on that when it comes to immigration. that's absolutely right. but that doesn't mean that hispanics should run away from the republican party. that means they should flooded and change it from within which is what we're doing. we want to have that conversation and say immigration is positive for america. america was built on the waves of poor immigrants who created new wealth, new opportunity and made his strong because our economic system. we should be fighting for

economic system that absorbs and does not resist. it is good for our economy, families and their future. so that's the conversation we should be having. [inaudible] >> i've been invited by tea parties. i was in front of them driving immigration reform. for us, our preference is to a path to citizenship to our state that publicly. we are for that, but we also understand the political realities of things and that the democratic party doesn't get to define what immigration reform is. it needs to be both the republican party and the democratic party into two by persons. and fixing the difference of the while the republican guard once reform, legalization, the democratic party wants to get a past decision shifted because of the votes are there. as of this moment. i feel if we can form the hispanic community with conservative principles that we can win a lot of those

percentages back. the point is they need to come to the middle and reconcile those differences and we want to be a bridge to the. hopefully we can work together to make that happen. >> i said at the beginning that the reason the right doesn't pass immigration reform is because they don't want us to vote. now, when you look at these conservative principles that you espouse -- >> is that what obama did and passive? >> he worked hard and we have a bill that won' will pass because right will not let it pass. the way we build -- [talking over each other] >> we will come back to you. >> we can work together on this because it's what we have to do to build political power, which is hold these folks accountable. the one showstopping immigration reform now, hold them accountable and those are the ones that are running in november. on the right. increase both unicode and let's get them out of office and that hopefully we can of immigration reform. we can work together to make that happen.

the conservative principle problem though is that it's not just being able to but that doesn't want to stand our democracy to allow latinos in. when you look at other things at we hold dear. if you think about the environment we want to have a clean environment and we can lead to our children and our grandchildren. when you think about our jobs, we want to regulations that allow us to work and get paid a good living which. those are things that are against. so not just on immigration but across the board on conservative right wing principles you when i get latino voters. you do have great value in your workstation and working within the party to try to move them towards these things but they will not work within our community. >> vicki? >> oh, where to begin? [laughter] what has happened with regards to immigration has been, as you two gentlemen pointed out, a stalemate. it's a stalemate that we are seeing at the federal level between the executive and

congress. and i fear that it's not going to budge in the short term. namely, the next two to three years or so i want to train the spotlight on something else, which is state and local level politics with regards to immigration. because we are stuck in d.c. nothing is happening in d.c. but at the end of the day people carry out their lives on a day-to-day basis in their neighborhoods, in the cities, in the counties. and we see a lot of the most affects happening to folks who are getting picked up and deported. non-criminals. the criminals would understand. they're breaking the law and they need to live because a criminal record or whatnot. but for other folks on a day-to-day basis, we need to figure out how our state legislatures and how our county boards, how our school boards can affect the lives of

immigrants and also latinos more generally. so we can go back and forth, point fingers. president obama, john boehner, mitch mcconnell, harry reid, democrats, republicans. that's not going to get us anywhere. what you need is your today, go back to communities. i'm a big live that all politics is local so i think that is the point i would want to leave you all with. [applause] >> and the fact that is what the midterm elections are all about. these are elections that have been at the local level, 435 congressional races, state legislative races, statewide races. what do you think the process will be for latino republicans in this election? >> the process? >> prospects. >> prospects. i think it is trending conservative republicans. i think the way things are looking right now is take a look at the political map across the country, republicans will take

the senate. that's looking more and more viable. they will hold the house but i think especially hispanics are disillusioned with the obama administration. his favorability has dropped 23 points since january. in the hispanic community. obamacare was a 59% favorability. it's down now to 47%. all about hispanics are into disfavor with obamacare. you are seeing there has been nothing delivered on jobs. the deportation has increased and upset a lot of hispanics. there's been inaction on immigration reform. so you're seeing a lot of dissolution and a lot of frustration on the part of the american electorate that is trending republicans. i say that because i see just as a window for the republican party, as a window where they need to step in and have great candidates drive a great ideas is because i think hispanics are the crossover. talk about how swinging we are. we have swung again. we are back in the middle, back

at a fork in the road and is not enough for republicans to just stand there and i think say generally, generalizations. they need to be a part of the community. they need to earn our vote. i think we will solidify with anybody, and i don't think the democrats have done the. they had the opportunity. they lost it. >> what typically happens in a midterm election a is we have a drop off among latino voters. the problem with a drop off among latino voters is it allows for those on the right to increase their power. and in so doing that means that moving on immigration reform will be harder to do. living on a cleaner environment will be harder to do. and hope we can flip the script issue. i think the would we do that to increase latino turnout over previous midterms any substantial way is to actually spotlight the problems we're seeing on the right. they are the ones who hold of immigration reform.

you mentioned colorado. that's the perfect example of a state where if we spring board from the anti-immigrant position into getting latinos out to vote, we can remove an obstacle, representative kaufman, and we can thwart someone who's anti-immigrant running for senate, gartner, from taking positions. we are in california. something special happened here was prop 187. you all recall this was the first at the immigrant initiative, the homework was a commercial that showed latinos running across the screen saying they just keep coming. it sparked the revolution in california. they registered. they turned out in record numbers. now you will see that happen tot it changed the state forever and i think we can use what's happen right now with the right holding of immigration reform to supreme court into success for latino communities across the country. [applause] >> unfortnuately, we are coming to the close of the opening session but i think it would has put into context what this

election means, what the next three days of conversation will be. .. >> demographics are not destiny. what we've talked about throughout both on the left and on the right about building latino political power. at the end of the day, for any political power to materialize, we've got to make that happen together. so i want to leave you with a call to action to, please, join

us. go to latino, victory didn't u.s. and also please don't forget to -- latinovictory.us. >> daniel? >> it's not going to be about personallies, who's more fluent or articulate or whatever. it's battle of ideas. it's about how this country's going to look. about how we are going to be as a community, as a culture, as a nation. so i think we should welcome folks who are driving that conversation. let's engaging in a debate, let's have an honest debate, no sacred cows, and that's what we aim to do. >> last word. >> so there have been a couple of tense moments sitting here between these two gentlemen -- [laughter] but this is great. because out of disagreement, out of feeling uncomfortable, that is what mobilizes you and gets you to vote. and i want us to keep thinking

about the importance of our political maturation from marching in the streets. we're still marching, but we're voting more. and from voting to giving money, from giving money to expanding this room to fill more latino elected officials. >> excellent. please join me in thanks our opening panel. [applause] >> the annual conference of the national association of latino elected and appointed officials also heard from california governor jerry brown and california attorney general pamela harris. this is 20 minutes. ♪ ♪ [applause] >> thank you very much. i was pretty excited to be called a quarterback since i

never played football because i was too damn short. [laughter] i was a junior in high school, i was only 5-6. so that was -- 5-3. so that was a real complex. all the girls were taller than me, so that was a problem. [laughter] i had a good mouth. but anyway, california has come back. we are coming back. we're doing lots of important stuff. and not the least because of the leadership of senator padillo and and others. i think we've got probably the biggest latino delegation ever in california, and i don't know about the rest of the country, bigger than texas, i hope? >> [inaudible] >> almost, whatever. or close. but anyway -- [laughter] p friendly competition. and i was very proud to sign the dream act. and then as soon as i signed -- [applause] i had to sign the dream act twice. first one was resident tuition for undocumented students --

[applause] and the second was eligibility for scholarships for undocumented students. [applause] and then, because we're still waiting for that whatever they call that, congress, washington group of people -- [laughter] i signed a bill to let an undocumented law school graduate who passed the state bar to become a lawyer. [applause] legalized in california. [applause] so i think that's pretty good. you can practice law in california even if the law doesn't recognize that you ought to be voting in california. so it's -- but you know what? if we keep doing stuff like that all across the country, congress will get the message. that's what's really important. but we're not waiting. [applause] that's why i signed the driver's license bill and, by the way, it was only ten years ago that over 60% of the people were against giving undocumented californians

a driver's license. that's flipped around for one big reason. not politicians, it's really the people, the participation, the sheer power of the latino community as it is felt in the towns and cities and counties up and down the state. so that's the tide that is turning the political feelings and philosophy of state government. by the way, there's one more bill, and that is another bill i was able to sign. the legislature actually -- i don't invent most of these things. it's all done by the legislature. and then when i sign it, everybody thinks i did. that's why the legislators always get jealous of the governor, because he gets almost all the credit and does almost none of the work, but anyways -- [laughter] take the good and the bad. anyway, there was another bill that said if you have an organizing drive, group of employees want to work a union and the employer calls up the immigration service to defeat

that effort, that we have an anti-retaliation law that now says you have to be reinstated, and we make that practice illegal. so we give undocumenteds the right to organize. [applause] and then i do want to say something about the school funding formula that the legislature passed two years ago. very important. i think it's the first time that money is being spent not equally. there used to be the cry, very important, equal spending for all school districts. and a lot of places haven't even done that yet. not even close. but in california we have unequal spending based on needs like those families that speak a language other than english at home, they get a special consideration, and the school district gets more money based on the number of non-english-speaking families that have their children in our schools. [applause] by the billions. [applause] and that's only because it's not

really justice to treat unequals equally. you have to do more to be able to create that opportunity and that pathway for those families that are not having the same skill of speaking english as others. so anyway, we've done that, and california out of six million students, two million are designated english language learners, and that means extra money for that school. as well as for low income families. and that's about half the students in california. it's pretty amazing. i don't know what the affluent families are doing. they're not reproducing or something -- [laughter] the schools, half the kids in the schools are from low income families, so, you know, what can i say? [laughter] there it is. [laughter] but we understand that, and we're doing something about it. and then, of course, water. look, these are all -- there are a lot of individual issues. what's important is that we, the power you represent is growing.

and it's growing in really important ways, and as someone said, our connection is to mexico so close. it wasn't all that long ago, 176ed carlos iii said occupy san diego. you didn't know california started with the occupy movement. [laughter] it was. carlos iii said occupy san diego and occupy monterey. and then gaspar deports a lot came up with father sara in 1769. the mexicans threw out the spanish around, what is it, 1815, and then, of course, the gringos threw out the mexicans in 1846 or 1848. [laughter] but the point is you never, you never keep control forever. there's always new waves coming. [applause] so you have got to stay ahead of the wave. [applause] that's what we call brown power.

[laughter] be all -- all right? [cheers and applause] but anyway, so -- and i'm going to mexico next month because we want to forge an agreement. you know, i ran for president three times, didn't quite make it. [laughter] i won five primaries twice. unfortunately, you have to win maybe 25 primaries. [laughter] but california's like a nation-state. we have 38 million people, 30% of latino descent, and we can form our own agreements. so we're forming agreements with mexico and china, british columbia on trailed, on joint -- on trade, on joint research, on scholarships and climate change. so, yeah, there's a border, but there's something bigger, and that is the human family. and when we focus on the western hemisphere and we focus on baja, california, and alta, california, we know that we are one greater family that is working together, and that's my

philosophy in alta, california, and together i think we can have a better state. when i was governor the last time -- by the way, i signed the by lingual education bill. that's a -- bilingual education bill. that's a long time ago. [applause] i also called for a common market between mexico -- not mexico, the united states. i forget. [laughter] mexico, the united states and canada. and we're going to get to that eventually because, you know, this is where it is, and we're all together in some is big sense. so anyway, thank you very much. i think this is great. you're getting more powerful all the time, and stick to it. you know, once you get elected, don't get unelected. i can tell you. i've been in power and out of power. better to be in than to be out. thank you very much. [applause]

>> another historical reference. for those californians out there, 20 years ago in this year that the voters of california passed proposition 187. what many would argue is a precursor to the arizona law, the georgia law, the utah law, all the other anti-immigrant laws in recent years. and as i look around the room in the year 2014, i see school board members and council members and mayors and supervisors and legislators, and come saturday members of congress, so it's true. we keep coming. and we have governor brown who embraces us when we keep coming. so thank you, governor brown. [applause] our next speaker is the attorney

general for the state of california. [applause] the honorable camela harris. and, boy, are we fortunate to have her serving us in this capacity. her already-stellar career began in 2003 when he won her first election to become the district attorney of the city and county of san francisco. in november 2010 she was elected california's -- excuse me, she won in 2003. in 2010 she was elected california's attorney general becoming the first african-american, the first south asian and the first woman ever to hold that post. [applause] it's a powerful job, it's a busy job, but i i think something that speaks volumes of her commitment and her values is her relentless fight against financial institutions to provide justice and restitution

for families, a lot of latino families, unduly impacted by the foreclosure crisis in america. i'll let her brag about that. a lot of people call her a rising star in california politics. i disagree. she's a rock star for us here in the state of california. please welcome the honorable camela harris. ♪ ♪ >> thank you, thank you. [applause] welcome to california and thank you, my dear friend alex. i am so proud to support you as you continue in your leadership in our great state, and we have an embarrassment of richings, to be -- riches to be sure.

the first senate pro tem in history is here as well, we have an embarrassment of riches and, you know, all of us here are elected, are appointed, so we know how our profession can be. but i will tell you that we are very fortunate to have a lot of stars in this state who work together and are are truly friends and committed to our collective desire and respondent to serve -- and responsibility to serve the people we represent. so welcome. there's so much i want to say, but i've been given seven minutes, so i'm going to keep it brief. but i think that it's important be to recognize as everyone here cleary is the significance -- clearly is the significance of naleo and its reason for being. and in appreciating its reason for being and its purpose and its responsibility and the duty it has assumed, we know then that all of us in this room have many things in common in spite of the fact that we have diverse

interests and priorities in many ways. but we have at least two things in common, i think all of us. and the one is that for most of us in this room we are one of the first if not the first to do what we do. and for most of us in this room, if not everyone in this room, we do what we do because we believe truly in the magnificence of our country and are committed to fighting for its highest ideals at every step of the way. and so when i think about the purpose and the reason for being the commonality that we share, i think of it also in the context of something we will commemorate or celebrate next week which is the 50th anniversary of the civil rights act of 1964. and in thinking about the civil rights act of 1964, 50 years later, we know it and remember

it to be a product of a coalition of people who came together to fight for the ideals of our country, for that promise we made in 1776 that we are all and should be treated as equals. we know that in the coalition that came around that movement there were people who fought hard and some who died to make it real and make it true. and we know then also for many reasons that document is not just a piece of paper that was signed into law 50 years ago, it is very much still a living, breathing document. a document that outlined for our country and reminds, unfortunately, some folks who may need to be reminded of the great promise which indicates that there are certain fundamental rights that always must be protected. there are fundamental rights that relate to education, that

relate to economic opportunity, that relate to giving human beings and the people who live in this country the ability to live a productive life and live with dignity. so when i think about the work we are all here to rededicate ourselves to doing the -- and the 50th anniversary of the civil rights act, can't help but reflect where we are today. on the issue of education, for example, we look at this country and we know that the graduation rates from high school for communities of color are embarrassing. we look at the tbrawtioning rates -- graduation rates, and we see that for white students it's 79%, for latino students it's 68%, and for african-american students it's 62% who will graduate from high school in our country. when we look at an issue like we've been examining in california, the issue of

elementary school truancy, kindergarten through sixth graders missing 50rbgs 60, up to 80 days of school as the youngest of our children and recognize that among latino elementary school students in california can, they are absent four-and-a-half times more than their white counterparts. we though that as it -- we know that as it relates to that fundamental right to have equal access to education that there is still a lot of work to be done. when we look at the issue of economics and the right, the ability everyone should have to work hard and in that way aspire to and, in fact, live the american dream, we know that in terms of that opportunity there's still a lot of work to be done these 50 years later. we can look at the statistics that tell us white women earn 78 cents on the dollar compared to white men, african-american

women earn 64 cents on the dollar. with that comparison, latinos earn 53 cents on the dollar in that comparison. we still have a lot of work to do. when we look at the fundamental principles underlaying the motivation -- underlying the motivation for and zimm -- civil rights act, we know it was not designed with the underring that in this great country of ours there should never be an underclass, there should never be a very defined group of people who are forced to live in the shadows, who are considered second class. and then when we look at -- as has been discussed, what is not happening in washington, d.c. around comprehensive immigration reform, we know we have a lot of work yet to do. we can look at it also in terms of something that my office and i have worked on for the last few years in california. relating the issue of the need

for immigration reform to an issue that all of us know our constituents have on their top list of priorities which is public safety. and we can connect that then to a policy that was called secure communities. and in mapping out how it worked, we know and, in fact, i issued a bulletin in 2012 to say it ain't working as it was intended and designed to do. and, in fact, it allowed the immigration service to pick up and detain up to 30% of undocumented immigrants who by i.c.e.'s own definition were noncriminal. so i issued a bulletin to all of the police chiefs and there shes and district attorneys of california back then letting them know of the research that we had done that makes it very clear those detainer requests are just that, a request, they are not mandatory, and let's

leave it up to the discretion of our law enforcement leaders in those particular communities to make the decision about what is in the best interest of public safety for their community instead of allowing them to use the limitedded resources we have to make sure that we have a country that is stable and great. and in particular, let us not be subsumed in a way that recognizes something that is very important. we have to recognize that we have designed our system of government in this country in a very smart way, and we all know that as elected and appointed officials. there are the responsibilities of the federal branch, there are the responsibilities of the state branch, there are the responsibilities of the local branch. public safety rightly was designed as the responsibility of the local branch, and as a career prosecutor who has personally prosecuted everything from low-level offenses to homicides, i will tell you that a system like secure communities that allows victims of crime to to live in the shadow because

the predator convinces her that it is she that will be treated like the criminal if she goes to a law enforcement or a police officer, that is not a smart be public policy -- smart public policy decision, and it is not true to the ideals of our country in saying that we will not have an underclass or those that live in the shadows. and finally when i think about this issue, i think about it in the context of, again, who we all are. you know, my mother used to have a saying, and she would say to my sister and me you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you're not the last. [applause] and i know that when we talk about the ideals of naleo, it is very much about that. but i also think about this room and when i look around at the folks who are here, and i know that many of us share another common experience which is that experience that i'm sure many of you have had where somebody, a

constituent, shows up at the front window of your office, and they say the only person they want to speak with is you. i've had that experience so many times where some woman who looks like one of our mothers shows up and says the only person i want to talk with is you. and that highlights that experience, the great duty and responsibility those of us in this room have. yes, our interests are diverse, our priorities are diverse and varied and many. but we in this room also carry an additional responsibility and duty to insure that the people who are so proud of the fact that we stand in these places make sure that their voices are heard knowing often they are some of the most voiceless. so we have the responsibility of being the voice for the voiceless, and we have the responsibility of insuring as we

go forward -- [applause] that we cultivate with the folks who are proud of us, cultivate their trust in our government. and these may seem like two different points, but they are entirely connected. because when we as a country get to the point where all people feel the protection of the civil rights act to the extent that they have full trust in their government, then we will truly be living the ideals of our country. so i thank everyone here for your leadership. [applause] >> labor secretary thomas perez also spoke to the annual conference of the national association of latino elected and appointed officials in san diego. this is 20 minutes. ♪ ♪ [applause]

>> good afternoon! [speaking spanish] great to be here, great to be back. it's old homes day. hey, larry, how you doing back there? we're both still bald -- [laughter] but bald is better. [laughter] that's what governor brown tells me. so, hey, it's great to see everybody, and senator padilla, thank you for your kind introduction. alex has been a very good friend for a long time and a wonderful leader here in california, so thank you for your leadership. there's arturo over here, he is a force of nature. you look up the term force of nature in the dictionary, you'll see arturo vargas. so thank you so much. and i would be remiss if i did not acknowledge one of the icons of the civil rights movement to your right, delores huerta. [applause] it's an honor to be here. [applause] you know, i'm kind of the wrong

person to be talking about the 50th anniversary of the civil rights movement in the sense that i feel like i'm a student of the movement, and when you are here in the presence of, you know, henry of the movement and leaders of the movement, it truly is humbling. so, delores, it's great to see you again, and thank you for everything you have done to expand opportunity for so many people across this nation. [applause] i also want to acknowledge when you work at the department of justice, it's a real honor. i also want to acknowledge our former attorney general, alberto gonzalez, it's an honor to be here with you as well, mr. attorney general. [applause] you know, there are many anniversaries, kamala mentioned the civil rights act, but over the last year or so there have been a number of remarkable anniversaries that we have noted that really give us pause, a time to reflect, renew and

redouble our efforts. we celebrated roughly a year ago the 50th anniversary of dr. king's letter from the birmingham jail, we celebrated or marked, really, the 50th anniversary of the 16th street bombing. more recently at the department of labor we marked an anniversary that you might be a little bit less aware of. it was the 145th anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad. and the reason i note that one is because we have a labor hall of fame. and to mark that anniversary, we inducted the chinese-american railroad workers into that hall of fame. [applause] because they are part of the all-too-frequently-untold story of the civil rights struggle. and when there's the iconic photo in utah where the transcontinental railroad was

finally completed, notably absent in that photo were the railroad workers. and they actually had to go on strike for better wagings. they had so many -- wages. they had so many acts of courage, and it was so remarkable to be able to pay honor to them at the department of labor so recently. and it was so is wonderful recently to go to the viewing of the movie about cesar chavez. because, for me, cesar chavez brings together the two passions of my professional life; labor rights and civil rights. they are inextricably intertwined. cesar chavez understood that the most important thing he could do for farm workers was to get the right of collective bargaining, to make sure that they could form a union and bargain together x. that's really -- and that's really what the president was talking about a year ago when we marked the 50th

anniversary of the march on washington. because as you know, the march on washington was a march for jobs, and it was a march for justice. it was a march on washington for jobs and freedom. it was march for civil rights, and it was a march for labor rights. there were posters there. the "i am a man" campaign. i've kind of taken a little liberty to say "i am a person" campaign. because, you know, they were looking to increase the minimum wage, and they were looking to make sure that the right to vote existed. they were marching for civil rights, and they were marching for labor rights. they were marching to insure that racial justice existed in this country, and they were marching to insure that economic justice was insured in this country. and there were so many titans who were involved in that whether it's a. philip randolph, cesar chavez, so many other people who were so heavily involved. and as president obama said last year to mark