the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the record remain open until 5:00 p.m. today for purposes of submitting statements, cosponsorships and introducing legislation. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until monday morning at 2:00 p.m., september 15. following the prayer and prejudice, the morning business be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. following any leader remarks, senate be in morning business until 5:30 p.m. at 5:30 p.m., the senate proceed to proceed on the motion to invoke cloture on s. 2199 as provided under the previous order, and finally that the filing deadlines for first-degree amendments to s. 2199 be at 3:00 p.m. monday and secondary amendments be 4:30 p.m. on monday. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: madam president, senators should expect three roll call votes at 5:30 p.m. on monday on the cloture on the paycheck fairness, on cloture on

the baran and burns nominations. if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it adjourn under the previous order. the presiding officer: the the presiding officer: the >> earlier today the senate voted down a resolution proposing a constitutional amendment that would grant congress the ability to place limits on campaign contributions in federal elections. that vote 54-42, 60 votes were needed. the chamber uprooting of other presidents executive nominations and work continues today and will on monday and the paycheck fairness act with votes over 5:30 p.m. that would measure equal pay for similar work for men and women. watch live senate coverage on c-span2. we take you live to iowa for a debate in the state's third congressional district between

democrats, courtesy of our publipublic tv. that gets underway at 8 p.m. eastern here on c-span2. both candidates have been releasing a number of tv ads over the past several weeks. here's a look. >> when republican tea party brokers went into the back room saturday, they chose david young, 20 years on the payroll of a broken congress. >> what washington needs is a healthy dose of iowa commonsense. staci appel, imam of six worked as a financial consultant who knows small business. a state senator she got results helping to make equal pay for equal work and i will. as i was first woman in congress you fight to protect social security and medicare. staci appel, end of the backroom deals and put iowa families

first. speed back i am david young and i approve this message. >> barack obama promises hope. and he ripped apart our health care system, shredded our economy and crumbled our national security. it if we band together and fight for a conservative principles, we can put our economy and our country back together again. >> i was answer is not magic. it's david young. >> iowans just want a good meal and good government. will we get the good meal, but our government overspends, over taxes and over regulates. it underperforms. i get it and you get it. why can't they? i will bring a dose of ohio reality to washington. then made we can have a good meal and good governance.

i'm david young and i approve this message. >> and coverage of that iowa congressional debate courtesy of iowa public tv tonight at eight eastern here on c-span2. today marks the 13th anniversary of september 11 terrorist attack and senators from both sides of the aisle came to the fore to pay tribute to the victims and reflect on the events of that day. >> mr. president, i'm not sure that everyone remembers where they were 13 years ago today. but most of us remember. the vast majority of us remember. just a few feet from here in s-219, senator daschle head is usual meeting at the time. i was the first to come in the

room shortly before 9:00. about 9:00, maybe they went a minute or two, they said flip on the tv. something is going on in your. i flipped on the television and something that happened on one of the towers. looked like an airplane had hit one of those towers. i wondered what happened there? we kind of looked at each other. people started coming in the room. the tv was turned off, and the meeting was started. just a short time thereafter, five, six minutes at the most as i recall, so it came to the room and grabbed senator daschle who was at the end of the table, took them out, came back very briefly minute or two, a minute probably instead, the building is being evacuated. we all have to leave. there's a airplane headed for the capitol. as we left that room, you could look out that window and see already smoke billowing from the

pentagon. airplane had struck the pentagon. now, trying to that day was a day i will never forget. never forget. i was taken with senator daschle and don nichols who was the republican assistant leader, trent lott, we were going to a classified location. spent the day there with the number of quitting, including the vice president of the united states. late in the evening we came back to the capital after having been cleared to come back. senators gathered on the senate steps here in the capital. democrats and republicans. we're gathering just to show that we were supportive of this great country.

barbara mikulski, small in stature but a powerful in so every other way said, so everyone could hear, let's say god bless america. mr. president, i don't see singy often but i sang that night. we all did, god bless america. we did it because we knew that that was a day we would never forget. it was a day we wanted to show that we were together as members of congress. so, mr. president, as i've said already two or three times this morning, i don't want ever to forget that moment, that day, and i want to make sure we honor the heroes that paid the ultimate price for our freedom.

the greatest memorial we have to offer the brave men and women who perished on 9/11, thousands of them, is to simply never forget. forget. >> yesterday i joined congressional leaders in awarding three congressional gold medals to the memory of thousands of men and women who perished so tragically on this very day, 13 years ago. every american that morning our witness to terrible tragedy and suffering. but that wasn't all we witness. we also saw incredible acts of bravery and compassion and heroism. we saw it in a great city. we saw it on the edge of the capital. we heard about it high above the clouds. sacrifices to those heroes of 9/11 inspired estevan, and they inspire us now. in memory of every man and woman who perished so tragically that day continues to serve as a

unifying force for our nation. and we will never stop honoring them. >> mr. president, today is the 13th anniversary of 9/11, the day that will be burned in all of our collective memories. i remember to events like this in my lifetime. 9/11 being one, the other is when john f. kennedy, our president, was assassinated. i remember where i was, what i was doing. and i remember the feeling of horror as the reality of both of those events became more clear. and i bet i'm not alone. i bet there are americans all around the country who remember where they were and what they were doing, and what the first thoughts were when those planes hit the world trade center in

new york, the first and then the second. and then only to learn that there were other planes that were flying with terrorists that had other targets. of course, there was the pentagon, where many americans lost their lives. and then there was the plane that was brought down in pennsylvania that i will talk about just a little bit more. but this is one of the defining moments in our nation's history, a day when, to prove our love of country and our fellow americans will always prevail. i remember the overwhelming sense of unity that the american people felt when this tragedy unfolded, and it is entirely right that we do so. nearly 3000 americans lost their lives on that terrible day, many in the attempt to save others from harm. as usually happens in moments of

tragedy, visit our sparks or hints or bright lights of the triumph of the human spirit. people rising to the challenge showing some of the very best qualities that we exhibit as human beings. so today we bonds with heavy hearts to remember those we lost, and pray to god that he will continue to comfort the families of those who still mourn. 13 years may seem like a long time too many of us, many of us who did not have the personal tragedy of losing somebody we are close to, or a family member. but i'm confident that for many who did lose family members and loved ones, friends that 13 years seems like just yesterday. we also continue to keep our military, along with our intelligence professionals, our

law enforcement officials, first responders and others who dedicated their lives to that fateful day, to keep them in our thoughts and in our prayers. because it is they who help keep us safe and who have helped us avoid another similar attack on our homeland over the last 13 years. none of them should ever doubt for a moment our gratitude. i wasn't serving in this body when those attacks came on september 11. but as i said i remember exactly where i was. like many other americans i was at home in austin, texas, preparing for work when he heard the terrible news. i remember my wife called my attention to, after the first plane hit the world trade center, i didn't actually see that. of course, i saw it time and time again as that was replayed. but i turned to the television set as my wife called my attention to this just as the

second plane hit. and, of course, we all wondered what in the world was happening. and then, of course, when the towers actually file and people jumped out of the towers to avoid, they hoped, their death but, in fact, they did jump to their deaths. it was all too vivid and it is still today. we should never forget, and that is perhaps the most important lesson we should learn. we should never forget what happened on that terrible day. it's said that those who forget history are condemned to relive it. and i believe that to be true. september 11 is a solemn reminder of what can be taken from us in the blink of an eye, and while we must never waver in our efforts to protect this great nation and the freedoms it embodies. two simple words were spoken that will be remembered in history as one of the most courageous and powerful phrases

ever uttered. and, of course, i'm referring to the words spoken by todd beamer aboard flight 93 when they heard that the terrorists were in command of the controls of the airplane and perhaps heading to the nation's capital, perhaps to attack either the white house or congress and to knock out large portions of the u.s. government, todd beamer's response along with other brave patriot work, let's roll. and then they attempted to overpower the terrorists in the cockpit. those brave passengers on that flight did more than just save the lives of innocent americans here in the nation's capital, absent their sacrifice, that flight would have claimed even more lives than just those on board. the passengers on flight 93, along with every american who died on september 11, 13 years ago, were men and women with

jobs, with families, and, of course, with dreams. i'm sure that like all of us, many of them made promises to their loved ones before they boarded that plane or left for work, promises to be home in time for dinner, to make a child's soccer game or birthday party. some promises don't come cheap. others cost us absolutely nothing. others require that we risk everything we have and everything we are, even our very lives to fulfill those promises. their acts of courage offer us comfort even today, inspiring every american as we have rebuilt from that terrible day 13 years ago. the acts of courage displayed on 9/11 mark there was promised in a sense, a promise carried on to

the nation, to their children, and other loved ones left behind. a promise this is the story of freedom will not end in the violent acts of evil men. it will endure and it will not be destroyed. earlier this morning i had the privilege of joining my colleagues on the senate judiciary committee in approving an important piece of legislation called the justice against sponsors of terrorism act which will now be eligible for movement across the border gets a proper we pass that piece of legislation on the anniversary of 9/11. by amending the current law to hold foreign sponsors of terrorism potentially liable in u.s. courts for acts to injure or kill americans, this bill will allow the families of the victims of the attacks of 9/11, and others, to proceed to court against those responsible for

those horrific attacks that took place 13 years ago. of course, part of the attack against international terrorism has to go against the money that finances it and this will provide another tool for those families to attack those who fund and finance international terrorism. this bill, not surprisingly, is strongly supported by the 9/11 family victims and it would allow their litigation to proceed on its merits. and i'm hopeful it will receive prompt consideration here on the senate floor that it deserves. americans have always been deeply concerned about the time, the kind of country and the kind of world we leave our children as parents, that's what keeps us going some days. of course, grandparents have other reasons to keep going and to keep fighting for a better world. and, of course, this remains true both abroad and here at

home. in our own communities, our schools and at work. we must continue to push on undeterred, always confident in the pursuit of our ultimate goal, a just, free, and peaceful world. not just for ourselves but for our allies and, of course, for future generations. part of that mission involves stopping evil at its source, running it down and eliminating it for good. because we learned one thing else on 9/11, we can either take the fight to the source of the evil where it exists, or we can defend it here on the homeland. speaking for myself, and i'm sure others, i want to go fight it at source and not just depend on the homeland. the millions of care has shown capacity for inhumanity and we've seen recent reminders of that with the beheadings of two american journalists by isis, and we must never underestimate the capacity and desire of these

evil people to do so again and again. we have recently been reminded of this, and, of course, the president spoke to the nation's commitment to deal with this sort of horrific activity and dangerous and extreme ideology last night. as we adapt to new threats and new challenges, americans must retain a sense of vigilance, a sense of purpose, and a sense of moral clarity. we must never forget why we fight and we must always make sure that our brave men and women in uniform have what they need in order to take the fight to our nations enemies. the greatest honor we can give those we lost is to live our lives worthy of their sacrifice. to relish the freedoms guaranteed by our constitution and to ensure the promise that those freedoms shall not perish for future generations. mr. president, i yield the flo

floor. >> senate floor comments on this 13th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. the flag over the senate chamber on the u.s. capitol at half staff on this 9/11 anniversary the senator mccain can do that for a number of speakers can talk about what the president said last night dealing with and how the administration plans to do with isis. senator mccain said the u.s. is not safer than it was on 9/11. he said the president saying that he wants to take the same approach to isis that he took to terrorists in somalia and yemen shows quote a fundamental misunderstanding on the part of the president of the united states of the threat we face. senator mccain is jointly by senator lindsey graham. >> today, senator graham and dodd on the 13th anniversary of the attacks of september 11, 2001, and this anniversary,

sadly, and, unfortunately, we cannot agree and we cannot say as president obama did last night that america is safer. in fact, in many respects america is in more danger than at any time since the end of the cold war. we look around the world at the challenges, the aggression, the provocations, the continued slaughter of innocent ukrainia ukrainians. it is a classic example of what happens when the united states of america decides to withdraw from the world and create a vacuum. that vacuum is filled by the forces of evil, and innocence throughout the world suffer, and america's security is threatened. so i strongly disagree, and i

believe that most objective observers would strongly disagree with the president's assertion last night that america is safer. by no objective measurement is america safer. in fact, when you look at twitter and facebook, you will see that isis is threatening the united states of america and urging others to come to the united states of america, and attack the united states of america. and yesterday, injuring before the department of homeland security, it is very clear that our border is not secure. and that is a recipe for at least attempts of those of isis who have dedicated themselves to the destruction of the united states of america, to be made possible. mr. baghdad, the head of isis who was once the head national

once in iraq, spent four years there, left and on his way out he said to his american captors, see you in new york. not making that up. said see you in new york. mr. baghdad he message has been attack and destroy the united states of america. so no, mr. president, america is not safer. in fact, because of the feckless foreign policy, american is in greater danger than it has been in some respects, in my lifetime. not in all, but in some. i'd like to say, and the fact is the president of the united states sees isis as some kind of

terrorist organization. it is not. isis is a terrorist army. isis as the largest area in history of wealth, of military equipment, and capability than of a terrorist organization in history and they spread in an area larger than the size of the state of indiana. i'd like to say the president got some things right in his speech on isis. he seemed to have read the op-ed piece that my colleague, senator graham, and i wrote in "the new york times" two weeks ago. because he adopted most of our proposals. most but not all. the president compared his plan to the counterterrorism approach he has taken in somalia and yemen. that, that is so disturbing to think that, that a strategy against isis would be the same

as against al-qaeda and somalia and yemen. the archers or position in somalia and yemen and yes, we've been killing with the drones but we have by no means defeated them. and to compare what isis has done as achieving and the slaughter that isis is carrying out compared to the terrorist organizations in somalia and yemen reflect a fundamental misunderstanding on the part of the president of the united states of the threat we face. the problem is also that even al-qaeda has not been defeated in those countries. so the president says he wants to degrade and defeat the way that they're attacking al-qaeda in yemen and somalia. they are not defeated. so what the president proposed last night, can possibly degrade

isis but they can't destroy isis and we must destroy isis or sooner or later, according to our heads of intelligence, whether it be the director of the cia or the director of the fbi or the secretary of homeland security, they want to attack. their goal is to attack the united states of america. so let's start out with what the president got right. he described the right goal, to degrade and ultimately destroy isis. he called for expanding air strikes, to go on offense against isis. he explained the need to hit isis both in iraq and syria. he called for training and arming opposition forces, and he described elements of a comprehensive strategy, diplomatic and economic and military, all of which we, senator graham, and i have long championed. he talked about the formation of

a coalition, his secretary of state he said he won as many as 40 nations. so far he has neither and history thing about it, there's not a single middle eastern country that is joined at the so called coalition. why is that? is it because they're not afraid of isis? of course they are afraid but they don't trust the united states of america. and i hit it directly from leaders all over the middle east. they don't trust us because of the president's bungling, incredible, bad decision after he once said that if syria crossed certain red lines and use chemical weapons, that then we would respond. they cross that line. he then said we're going to respond, then after a 45 minute walk with his chief of staff, announced to the world that we were not going to strike. he was going to congress knowing full well he would not get that

permission from congress. that nuance was lost on countries in the middle east that were prepared to join us, were prepared to join us with airstrikes into syria. so it is not surprising, it is not surprising at all that so far the president and his secretary of state have been unable to convince any of these middle eastern countries, and we need them. we need them very badly. well, one of the main things the president didn't say and should have said is that he recognizes that he made mistakes. every president has made mistakes. certainly george w. bush did in iraq, and had at least the courage to fire his secretary of defense, adopt a surge which is basically stabilized iraq. it had to stabilize iraq before

we made the decision not to do so. every one of the presidency military advisers, the smartest people that any of us know, general petraeus, general keane, general allen. i could go down the list. argued strenuously for leaving a residual force behind. the president of the united states decided not to. now we are trying to rewrite history and say well, the president really wanted to. finally, one statement that the president of the united states made publicly that he wanted to leave a residual force behind, and i can find you 50 where he bragged about the last combat troops had left iraq and we left the state stable prosperous beyond the a lot of howlers, a lot of howlers about how will we have done in iraq. if we left the residual force, the situation in iraq would not be where it is today.

that allowed the iraqi security forces to weaken, squandered our influence in iraq, and harmed our ability to check prime minister maliki's worst instincts. his failure to support and arm the free syrian army two years ago. i have been in city. i know how brave these people are. i know how disappointed they were when we failed to arm and equip them. two years ago his entire national security team including his secretary of state, secretary clinton, strongly urged the president of the united states to arm, train, and equip the free syrian army. the president of the united states turned them down. the president of the united states overruled the unanimous opinion of his national security team, and that my friends was a huge impact. idna giving rise to isis. again getting boettcher outside the ability and capability to

slaughter innocent serious. it breaks my heart that 192000 syrians have been massacred by ashore on the site. he continues to drop these belt bombs which are horrible killers. assad continues to have 150,000 syrians dying in his prison camps. i would wish every american would see those pictures that were smuggled out of the tortured, killed and starved to death serious, 192000 of them. we could have turned that around two years ago. and three years ago it was when the president has said said it's not a matter of whether bashar al-assad is leaving him it's a matter of when. he also said three years ago it's time for bashar al-assad to leave. bashar al-assad today continues to slaughter innocent men, women and children, millions of refugees have fled the country, and the horrors continue of this

butchery. and what changed? one aspect of the change the battlefield equation when the president of the united states said it's not a matter but when, was when iran, some now are asking us to work with iran sit in has blocked 5000 of them from lebanon and to change the momentum on the battlefield. finally, not finally but senator lindsey graham and i were called over to the white house. we went in to meet the president of the united states after the president of the united states said that he is going to strike syria. we sat there and the president looked us in the eye and he said, i want to do three things. the great bashar al-assad upgrade the free syrian army and change the battlefield equation. senator graham and i taking his workforce, without on the driveway and said, we are backing the president of the

united states several days later, without being notified we were stunned to read of the present of the united states had changed his mind. he had not told us the truth in the oval office. that is unique experience where i've been in the oval office under many presidents of the united states. i am confident that the steps the president took out last night can degrade isis, but that's not sufficient to protect our people. we need special forces and advisers on the ground but when the president continues to say that will be no boots on the ground, there's 1700 boots on the ground right now. there will be more boots on the ground, but they won't be in the form of combat units. but if we're really going to defeat i said we're going to need some close air support, air controllers, intelligence capability, special forces and many others. we will soon have more than 1500

their and they will have to be more. tell the american people the truth, mr. president. those young men and women are going there and they will be in harm's way and they are going to be exposed to combat. tell the american people the truth. we need to do a lot more. i'd like to mention one other aspect before turned to my friend from south carolina, who was with me in 2008 at a town hall meeting, a man stood up at the townhall meeting and said, senator mccain, how long are they going to be in iraq? i said, we may be in iraq for a long, long time. i said, because iraq, although we have sustained the situation, we have stabilize it, that was after the surge had been implemented and succeeded. i said, but it's very fragile. we're going to have to leave a residual force behind as we did in japan, and germany, korea, bosnia, where we have left residual forces behind for the sake of stability.

well, in case me of my colleagues have forgotten, i'm sure they would, i was interrogated. mccain wants to stay in iraq. yes, i wanted a residual force in iraq not to engage in combat but to revive stability, intelligence and other capabilities. now we know what happens when we left iraq. now we know the consequences. i hope that all those people that called me all of the names that i'm not going to repeat here will render an apology. because i was right. because i said if we leave iraq completely, then we risk the great danger of the deteriorating. i am saying to my colleagues what is happened today, what in a situation today didn't have to be this way. none of the challenges we now face in iraq and syria had to be this guy. the rise of isis did not have to happen. we've lost too much time and

miss too many opportunities, but we can still defeat our terrorist enemies and we must protect our people and our partners and secure our national interest in the middle east. the president's plan, if he implements them, if he understands that this is not yemen and somalia, if he understands that this is a direct threat to the united states of america, if he comes to congress and asks for, not welcome, but asks for debate and amendments and votes that show the american people's representatives will support them in this effort, and i think we have a chance of succeeding. but i have to tell my colleagues, i'm not very optimistic from the start i saw last night. i would like to yield to my colleague from south carolina. >> thank you. if i may, this is the anniversary of 9/11. 13 years ago on this date our country was attacked by radical islamists who do not want your

car. they don't want your bank account. they don't want your television. they are not criminal. they want to destroy your way of life. and the sooner we come to grips with the fact that there are people like this still out there, the better off we will be. and it's hard for the average american to understand why people think this way. i can't explain it. i've been to the mideast more times than i can count, and i promise you, there are plenty of devout muslims who worship according to the muslim faith, the islamic faith, that would have plenty of places for me and you to reside in this world without fear. there are plenty of people. the vast majority of people of that faith we could live in peace with. but there's a thing called radical islam that would kill

every moderate muslim, kill every christian, destroy the state of israel, and would kill as many of us as they could if somebody doesn't stop them. so 13 years ago we had close to 3000 americans killed in the attacks on our country by the bin laden group. the only reason it was close to 3000 not 3 million is because they couldn't get the weapons to kill 3 million of us. if they could they would. so what do we do? we've got to keep them away from those weapons. we've got to keep the world of there's so doesn't come back here and we need allies. i'm here to tell you, contrary to what is your and my own party, most people in syria have two things in common. they don't like assad, and they sure don't like isil. and if you don't believe that about syria, you really don't know much about syria. this whole enterprise in serious started when people demanded to

be free from the dictator. and our lack of attention in not responding to the needs of those syrians who would've defeated aside and live in peace with us has cost us greatly. three years ago senator mccain said it is international sector to interest to side with the free syrian army to get assad out because he's the guy who helped kill americans during the iraq war. he's the guy that chose with iran. they had them on the ropes, the free syrian army was about to beat assad. and in came three to 5000 has below fighters, iranian inspired militia from lebanon, and the russians double down and we with to our support, and the army eventually collapsed. that happen simultaneously with our decision by president obama -- president obama's decision to withdraw all of our troops from iraq. we disengage from iraq. we have a presence there, and

the rest is history. about the speech last night, what bothers me the most is the way it started. the president try to tell us as a nation we are safer today than we've ever been. do you believe that the? i don't. there are more terrorist organizations with more money, more capability, more weapons to attack our homeland than existed before 9/11. we are not safer than we were before 9/11. and that's just an unfortunate fact. the president also said that this operation against isil will be like other ct, counterterrorism operations over the last five, six years. no, it will not. this is not a small group of people running around with ak-47s. this is a full-blown army. they were going to defeat the cartouche peshmerga, a pretty good fighting group if we hadn't intervened, to underestimate how hard it is will be will follow, will bite us.

mr. president, please square, be honest with the american people about what we face. somebody has got to beat this army. this is not a small group of terrorists. they have howitzers, the yanks, they are flush with money, they're getting fighters and all of the world but they can and will be defeated and they must be defeated. now, as to the family members, remember this as the day that your life was turned upside down, you will always be in my thoughts and prayers, like everybody else in the country. this is a day where most of us renumber with sadness, and it's hurtful day but if it was one of her family members who lost their life this day, it is the day your life turned upside down. but there are four other americans who died on september 11 that i don't want to forget. chris tidland, sean smith, tie woods, glenn portrait. they died two years ago in

benghazi. i'm not going to forget them or their families and we will get to the bottom of what happened in benghazi. that's my commitment to you. now, how do we move forward? mr. president, if you need my blessings to destroy isil, you have it. if you need to follow them to the gates of hell, i will send you a note, go for it. if you need congress to authorize your actions, let me know. you say you don't, i agree with you but if it makes a stronger for this body to vote in support of your plan to destroy isil, i will give you my vote. but here's what i expect in return. your full commitment to win. i am tired of half measures. i'm tired of misleading the american people about what we face. there is no way in hell we're going to beat these guys without an american ground component in iraq industry. there's not a force in the mideast that can take these guys

on and win wit with a substantil american out. you don't need the 82nd airborne but we're going to need thousands of troops over time on the ground holding hands of the arab armies that will do the fighting along with the syrians to make sure we win. the one thing i can promise the american people, if we take isil alone and lose, we will unlock the gates of hell. and help will come our way. this is the last best chance to get this right, mr. president to you made plenty of mistakes, so have i, so into making. senator mccain, no one is going to apologize to you. i think they should with enough. i'm not looking for anybody to apologize. we've all made mistakes. this is the time to do some soul-searching as a nation. me and you could do some soul-searching. those who have not seen the threat for what it is, i will ask of you is willing to embrace reality. all i am asking the president obama to do what president bush

did. change your tactics and your strategy because it's not working. senator mccain and myself went to the white house during the bush years, and we told president bush, this is not in your best interest, mr. president. you don't have enough troops. and if we don't change course, you are going to lose the country. to his credit he went from training and advising the iraqi army to a full-blown counterinsurgency strategy taking the fight to the enemy. the search led by david petraeus, and it did work. that was an admission by president bush, that he had gotten it wrong, and he had to change course. every president, every senator makes mistakes. history judges you not by the mistakes you make, but by what you learn from them. and here's what i ask of the president. quick caveat in everything.

look the enemy in the eye and say we will destroy you. and stop. look the american people in the eye and say, we have to win. we will win, and i will do what's necessary to win. come to the congress and say we are in this together. the american military, they're tired but they are not too tired to defend this country. if you have a bunch of them in front of you and asked them to follow, would you go to iraq and certified isil? they would say, cindy tomorrow. because they know what is -- they know what these people due to the rest of us. why do they serve over and over again? why do they go to iraq three and four times? afghanistan three and four times? they've seen the enemy up close. they know what comes our way if we lose. so this is the day to reflect as a nation. i am so sorry that 13 years after 9/11 we are having to deal

with greater grips than before 9/11. 50 years from now, long after i'm gone, there's going to be an american soldier somewhere in africa or the mideast helping indigenous populations fight radical islam. but over time, just as sure as i'm standing here, radical islam falls. because here's the truth. what they are selling most people don't want to buy. they don't have the capacity yet i themselves to stand up and stare these people down. as to americans are frustrated with the pace of democracy in the mideast, and to believe those people can't do this, all i ask is to pick up an american history book. within the first 100 years our country, we are at war with canada and mexico. within the first one at years of our country we're at war with

ourselves, and it started in my state. this is not easy. it is not easy. to expect people who have lived under brutal dictatorship, had their society divided and destroyed for decades, to get to where we are in 12 or 13 years is unrealistic. and here's the hope for me. there is good news. there is plenty of oil throughout the world to stand up to radical islam. our goal is to provide capacity to that will. sometimes it will be american soldiers, sometimes it will be clean drinking water, a small health care clinic that you wouldn't send your child to for five minutes that will save lives in africa, ma a small schoolhouse where a young girl can get an education. if we are not willing to do these things over there, they will come here.

>> would my colleague yield for one question? >> absolutely. >> i note the presence of our colleague from california, so i will make a short. but last night i had an exchange with the former spokesperson for the white house, and again this issue came up, that, and the assertion, and credible assertion that it was the iraqis that did not want to leave a residual force behind. a statement that continues to amaze me that anyone would believe such a thing, particularly given the circumstances in which the iraqis were left under, including, by the way, every single one of our military leaders, urged that we leave a residual force behind. and many of them, like general keane, general petraeus and

others, predicted what would happen if we pulled everybody out. i wonder for the record that senator from south carolina would relate the experience that we had in iraq and our personal experience with the issue of residual force behind? >> i remember getting a phone call from ben secretary clinton asking me and you and i think senator levin to go to iraq and see if we could intervene and help the iraqis make a decision about a residual force, because we thought it was in our interest. president obama has always looked at this issue as the fund a campaign promise. he got the answer you wanted, which was zero. the military told and we need some people, but he really was intent on ending the war in iraq. here's the problem. without a residual force, we've lost everything we fought for. when we met with maliki under this, i was convinced they were

willing to accept an american fall on force. we just had to put on the table in a way that matter. we were talking to prime minister maliki -- he said how me to talk about? i turned to the general and ambassador jeffreys and said how many? he said, we are still working on the. we went from 18,000 recommended by general austin, the last time i got a number from the white house it was below 3000. this cascading downward from 18 to below three was not because of the iraqis said that's too many. it's the white house couldn't pick a number because they didn't want to stay. it's about as accurate to say that the iraqis didn't want us to say -- tuesday, as it is the president never called isis a jv team. he did. is trying to rewrite the statement because it looks pretty naïve. look forward. let's beat on the republicans for a minute here.

the republican party, the party of ronald reagan, embraced sequestrasequestra tion. and to those who don't know what i'm talking about, it is a budget proposal that would gut our military over the next decade, got the smallest army since 1940, the smallest navy since 1915, the smallest air force in modern history. republicans embraced that concept. if you want to defeat isil you better change of sequestration because we're about to gut the military of the time we need it the most. there's plenty of blame to go around here. here's the key for me. we as a nation have one last chance to get this right. i will make the same offer to president obama that it made to president bush. if you come up with a strategy that makes sense and your understanding and learning from your mistakes as i try to learn from mine, i will be there with you. there was not much help coming from our friends on the other side when iraq went back.

bush got absolutely no support when his mistakes came back to haunt him. i will not make that mistake. the mistakes the president obama made are real, and they have to be corrected. if you will correct them, i will stand with you. no matter what the polls show about troops on the ground, and i know how you stand with south carolinians. not very well, but it's not about you. it's not about me, it's about the specs on this anniversary and they can offer to my commander in chief and barack obama. if you will destroy isil and mean it, you'll have an ally in send mccain and senator graha graham. >> it is the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack. the president participated in a moment of silence at the white house and just about an hour later, 9:30 7 mrs. truman at the pentagon. here's what president obama had to say.

>> here once more we pray for the souls of those we remember. for you, their families, we love them forever. and for a nation that has been inspired by your example, your determination to carry on, your resolve to live lives worthy of their memories. as americans we draw strength from you or for your love as the ultimate review, to the hatred of those who attacked us that bright, blue morning. they sought to do more than bring down buildings or murder our people. decide to break our spirit, and to prove to the world that their power to destroy was greater than our power to persevere and to build. but you and america proved them wrong.

america endures in the strength of your families who, through your anguish, kept going. you kept alive a love that no act of terror can ever extinguish. you, sons and daughters, our growing into extraordinary young men and women they knew you could be. by your shining example, your families have turned this day into something that those who attacked us could never abide. and that is a tribute of hope over fear and love over hate. >> c-span to provide live coverage of the u.s. senate floor proceedings, and it key public policies and. and every weekend booktv now for 15 years the only television network devoted to nonfiction books and authors. c-span to greater by the cable tv industry and brought you as a public service by local cable or satellite provider. watch us in hd, lik like us on facebook, and follow us on

twitter. >> our campaign 2014 coverage continues tonight on c-span2 with the iowa third congressional district race. tom latham is retiring and this debate tonight between the democrats staci appel and the republican candidate david young. it is courtesy of iowa public tv getting underway at eight eastern. here's a look at some of the ads running in iowa of the election. >> when republican and tea party brokers went into the back room saturday, they chose d.c. insider david john, 20 years on the payroll of a broken congress. he won the room by stand up for cutting social security and ending medicare as we know it. he even raised the minimum retirement age. what washington really needs is a healthy dose of iowa commonsense. staci appel, a mother of six, worked as a financial consultant knows small business is key to job growth.

as did senator she got results helping to make equal pay for equal work a lot in iowa. as i was first woman in congress she will fight to protect social security and medicare. staci appel, in the backroom deals and put iowa families first. >> i am david young and i approve this message. barack obama promises hope. then he ripped apart our health care system, shredded our economy and crumbled our national security. but if we band together and fight for our conservative principles, we can put our economy and our country back together again. >> i was answer is not magic. it's david young. >> iowans just want a good meal and good government. will we get a good meal? but our government overspends, over taxes and over regulates.

it underperforms. i did it and you get it. why can't they? offering a dose of reality to washington. then made we can have a good meal and good governance. i am david young and i approve this message. >> and the iowa debate coming up tonight 8:00 eastern live here on c-span2. meanwhile, south dakota has an open senate seat because of the retirement of three term democrat tim johnson. three of the candidates running for the seat, rick weiland, larry pressler and gordon howie debated last night in sioux falls. the republican nominee for the seat, mike brown declined to participate. this debate is courtesy of ksfy-tv. ♪ ♪ spin good evening from sioux falls. we welcome you tonight to the first televised debate between the genders and issues race for

south dakota's u.s. senate seat which is being broadcast tonight on ksfy. simulcast on c-span. we welcome both audiences. this race is being closely watched not only here in south dakota but nationally as well. democrats and republicans in a real battle for control of the u.s. senate which was a democratic majority. joining us tonight are democratic candidate rick weiland and independent candidate larry pressler, an independent candidate gordon howie. the only candidate not beginning this evening's debate is republican mike brown. we want to let you know he was offered the same invitation as the other candidates. however, a spokesperson for his campaign said he respectfully declined citing the schedule and the number of joint candidate events that are already on the calendar. with a without him we move forward tonight so let's get started. first the rule that each candidate will be given one minute for an opening statement. during the question each cared who was asked a question will get 90 seconds to respond. the other candidates will

receive one minute rebuttal as well as the original candidate. and find each candidate will receive one minute for a closing statement. we drew straws to decide the order and the first opening statement tonight comes from gordon howie. howie: thank you. it's good to be a. thank you for doing this favor of hosting this debate. south dakota has a real choice in front of it, november, and the choice is who do you want to represent you in the united states senate? we know that there are several different philosophies of people running in this race to the power brokers would like you to think that a vote for gordon howie with some elusive the senate. i have a newsflash for those people. political prognosticators are all saying across the country that republicans are very likely to win as many as eight to 11 seats, more than a six needed to take the senate. so here's the real choice south

dakota and have to make. what kind of republican do you want to send to the united states senate? a big government tax spender or someone with a proven record of fiscal responsibility, and that would be gordon howie. so i would like to encourage you as you listen to this debate tonight, take a serious look at the candidates and evaluate who is the conservative in this race. and i think you'll reach the same conclusion that i have. >> that is so much for that opening statement. now from rick weiland threat to thank you for holding this debate. it's unfortunate michael rounds isn't here but i just want you to know that i have been, the last 16 months, traveling extensively across our state. ..

that is i think the real heart of this campaign. who is going to be out there in the united states senate, showing up everyday, fighting for the voters in south dakota, fighting for the people who affect a fair shake for the deal as we move forward. that is what we expect. that's what the voters need to expect in this campaign process. i only hope mike will show up for the future debates and forums we are going to have in the coming days ahead. it is a critical election for this day. a lot at stake in our country here and people have a right to know where their candidates who

want to represent them and want to serve them, where they stand on the issues, what is their vision for south dakota? what is their vision for the country? not showing up is the problem. the data showed to get elected. moderator: thank you. mr. pressler. pressler: i'm larry pressler. i want is an independent to become a powerful voice for south dakota. independents are provided for the u.s. senate. there were two there now. it appears that will be a third from kansas and i would be a fourth. this would break the poisonous deadlock between republicans and democrats which can balance our budget or do anything about the deficit. i pleasures of one six-year terms i would have to raise money during that termini could serve the people of south dakota full-time. there are many things i want to do. we need to raise the minimum wage. we need to help our teachers wages. the middle class in south dakota is suffering and i want to work

on the economy. there is a whole host of things. i've had three terms of experience. i can bring security to the senate and be a powerful voice for south dakota. also, there are a whole number of other issues for indians and non-indians across the state. harriet and i are departing tomorrow on a 15 city tour of south dakota of intense campaign and i here for the south dakota instead we have problems. are people of economic top ones. our middle class is struggling and we need to help people's wages get higher said they cannot more purchasing power to help small business. also on the federal level we must work on the devastated and i will be talking more about that later. as a vietnam combat veteran, i feel strongly we need to redo some of our foreign obsolete base spending. i want to balance the budget, but i also want to have a strong national defense. we can do that by monetizing our military. moderator: there is her time for opening statements.

are first question for this evening. mike olson on their facebook pages asking, what is your position on the keystone xl pipeline versus south dakota's quality-of-life standards. now olson is worried about balancing the potential economic impact versus any possible environmental impact that might come with this product. so bored howie, we'll begin with you. 30 seconds. if he's. if keystone xl a good idea? howie: we need to take charge of our energy policy in america. we have been disabled by a president and administration that has been complicit in hamstringing energy development. i am in favor of the pipeline. i think what it would do to take the pressure off of rail system, to allow for more shipping of grain, fertilizer and other essential things for number one industry in south dakota and that of course is apple culture.

but beyond the pipeline, i think the more pressing issue is whether we going to do as we move forward as a nation with regard to energy policy of quiet are we going to allow a president who behaves more like an emperor than a president to tell us that we are going to shut down coal-fired electrical production? are we going to hamstringing the production of oil and natural gas, or are we going to have a comprehensive program that is environmentally safe, by the way, but at the same time stimulating our economy and allowing energy production and economic development. moderator: mr. halley comet thank you. mr. pressler, 60 seconds on the keystone xl pipeline. pressler: i would walk into president obama's office about a selected and favorite into a

small pipelines to move the north dakota oil separate shippers can get their great shape. but i am opposed to the way governor rounds said at the xl pipeline for south dakota. south dakota doesn't get anything out of it. the oil passes through our state nfo endanger the obama aquifer, whatever clean areas. but our great shippers need to have more of the north dakota oil pulled by pipeline, smaller pipelines as governor dayton of minnesota has proposed. so i want some pipelines to move the north dakota oil across minnesota to the refineries. but this pipeline doesn't do it. i also want relief so that the big train engines will whole grain rather than oil. this is the main that i worked on a great deal. we have the dm in a railroad worked out for a great shippers and there's a lot of practical problems in south dakota related to this pipeline. survivor talked to president obama and i contact them in. i'm not ashamed to send a friend of president obama. i don't support them all the

time, but i am the only senate candidate who can walk into his office and talk about getting something for south dakota. moderator: albright, mr. pressler. mr. weiland, 60 seconds. weiland: i'm the only one that is, are in opposition to the pipeline. you need to listen closely. one, this is not a jobs program that is being billed by big foreign oil. this job talking about at most 35 permanent jobs. we don't guarantee any of them will be in south dakota. this is an export pipeline that is going to run straight through our state over the alcala aquifer down to port arthur, texas and the oil has gone overseas. there is no energy security. but the stress. no jobs, no energy security. now let's talk about the environmental impact. this is a nasty, dirty oil coming out of canada that they have to heat up to over 200 centigrade and ship it through a

pipeline that ultimately leaks. keystone has been leaking. 98 miles of keystone one has got to be done to fix because of inferior vials. if you want to jeopardize the ogallala aquifer and our environment for no job and no energy, then support my ground for gordon or senator pressler. moderator: mr. howie got a 62nd rebuttals would like it. pressler: i disagreed my friend rick on the no jobs assertion. i've been hearing this will cover perhaps 25% north dakota oil and there certainly jobs related to the airfare is an accurate report. we know north dakota oil production also impacts western south dakota and the rest of the state. so to say this would create no new jobs or stabilize jobs in place might be a bit of a

stretch. moderator: all break. gentlemen, question number two tonight deals with what most can figure the do-nothing congress. a new gallup poll released monday shows only 14% of americans are satisfied with the job congress is doing. this question is the reason all of you are running for the senate. how will your presence in the senate make washington work better for the american people? larry pressler, you've been very outspoken on this idea. how you turn washington around? pressler: well, i'm very sick and distraught about this. republicans and democrats don't ever talk to each other. i'm bored to serve as united states independent senator and work with both sides, especially on the deficit. we have come to a point i've been a professor since leaving the senate. we've come to a point i tell my students for the government is not functioning. the senate provides for independence. senator joe lieberman said he became more powerful for the state of connecticut after he left the senate. so i'm going to servicemember

pendant working with those sites. also it is my strongest conviction that there should be restrictions on fundraising while senators are in office. i pledge to serve only one term, one six-year term limitation here so i will not have to raise any money. the united states senators and 52% of their time raising money for the next election. i will do to terms a work in one term and i pledge to serve only one term as a reform. so i've had the experience and i want to go and make it work. moderator: albright, mr. pressler. mr. rick weiland. weiland: the first thing i would do is put together my own citizens united and get money out of our political process. i do believe that money is striving to show out there and as there and it's polarized congress. it has polarized the nation. when you have got folks like the koch brothers threat need to spend over $200 million on this election cycle in demanding from

the candidates they support that day total line. you've got a problem in washington d.c. that is what we need to fix first. if we can get that done, we look at back to stability we used to have, you know, back in the day it was so long ago that people have forgotten how congress is supposed to work. there needs to be compromised. there needs to be people working across the aisle. we've got to get the money out of our political system. it's the sole reason i got in to this race. washington is broken because it's been taken over by big money special interests would like to keep it that way. when washington is broken, they are prospering and that is unfortunate, but that's where we are today. moderator: gordon howie, 60 seconds. how would you make washington better? howie: you start from a process of fairness. i don't remind polley not republicans or democrats who may

have been fair. the leader demonstrated significant unfairness when they refuse to even provide a second to the motion susan wisner brought forward to call for a testimony from former governor bounds and others on the bp five scandal. so i think to begin with fairness and fairness means republicans don't just go while ideas anymore than harry reid stonewalls legislation in the senate right now. i want to commend my opponent in this race, rick weiland. i extended an invitation to other candidates to sit down with a television or 30 minutes, one-on-one, to talk about issues and share our concerns. let the south dakota voters see who we are and what we believe. the only candidate who is accepted that invitation is rick weiland. so south dakota voted not for trinity to see what we can do what we are working together and

talking together. the voters understanding the issues and that is significant. moderator: mr. pauly, thank you. mr. pressler. pressler: yes, -- to limit contributions and to reward small contributors. this will be one of my first acts because they think we need to limit it. also, as an independent, i will not be raising money of the united states senator. i have only about 1% as much money available to my campaign is my opponents. who are running for the party under the party nominations because independents don't get the special interest money. that means have a much harder time reading my message out, so i will need all of your help in getting the message out. people have an opportunity in south dakota for a vote for a shoestring campaign, which mine

is. people have an opportunity vote for a campaign not drawn in special-interest money in my campaign will only have about 1% as much money as the two-party candidates. that needs to change in america. moderator: gentlemen, one of the central challenges facing the united states right now and the larger community is this growing threat from militants in the middle east. we know they are engaged in ethnic and religious cleansing in iraq and syria enter their use of social media, they've even threaten the american homeland. this is our question. gentlemen, what specific section of the united states take to dismantle isis and eliminate the threat this poses. rick weiland, 90 seconds. we begin with you. weiland: we will listen to the president tonight as he addresses the nation and i wish him well. i think we all have to agree that isis is a serious threat. you know, the public murdering of two foreign american journalist on foreign soil was really an atrocious act of

violence and needs to be addressed. that being said, i don't believe we can unilaterally go it alone in the middle east any longer. i am hoping that the president will be talking about building an international coalition because isis is a threat to the united states, but also a world threat and the international community needs to come together to get rid of this threat. now, i will support airstrikes if that is what the president as we need to do. but i will support boots on the ground. i simply cannot support sending our sons and daughters back over to the middle east to fight another war. we have paid dearly in this country for the wars in iraq and afghanistan. with loss of life and treasure, millions, trillions of dollars spent in iraq and afghanistan.

we need to take care of our people here. there are a lot of unmet needs including those veterans that have returned are in iraq and afghanistan. they need to have timely, accessible quality care in our va health care system. we are making some improvements in that, but it took a crisis to get it done. we need to listen carefully to the president with an international approach, airstrikes and elbows on the the ground. moderator: mr. howie, 60 seconds on how we do a isis. howie: i would say in all practical purposes, he does have a policy. it is this. too little too late. we should have been dealing with this crisis two, three years ago. we need to support our friends like israel, for instance because it's even more economically viable for us to help people who are fighting the same battle we're fighting. we also need to look at

precision, focus strikes or we can take out the pockets of leadership. i think it is a serious mistake to read anything from the table. if you begin a policy by announcing to the world, including your enemy is what you are not willing to do, you are already compromised going in. so nothing should be off the table and we made a proposal, a policy. i suspect we'll be here for the president this evening is just more of the same. too little too late. we need to be proactive and we need to be serious about protecting our own national security interests. moderator: thank you, mr. howie. mr. pressler, would we do about isis. pressler: unveiled the veteran in this race.

i recall my dad saying planet vietnam, was a rhodes scholar. i could've kept a student student deferment for several more years. he said to me, you can take your euros scholarship and so forth, but if you don't volunteer as their cover someone poorer than you are less able than you will have to go in your place and that might always bother you and i signed up and volunteered for service in vietnam. but i was very disappointed in that war. so i feel i can speak with authority can be some aground. when a two strike lethally if strike lethally if someone chops off and americans had someplace. we need to strike legally and quickly. as henry kissinger said have a plan to get out. under the powell doctrine, you strike with high-technology weapons and get out. that is what i would do. i would not have a force that would have us stay there. trans them and mr. weiland, a 62nd rebuttal if you would like one. weiland: yeah, it is really

really unfortunate meistersinger to answer this question. these are the questions you have to give answers to when you get elected to the united states senate. here we are the verge of another middle east conflict where we are talking about at the minimum airstrikes, galvanizing international community coming in no, army miscarrying ruppel and mike has decided not to be here. he has made the decision to take a 54 day vacation from all of these public debates and public forums between now and the 23rd of october. i think that is unfortunate. again, isis is a threat. we need an international solution. we deleted the country. sending our kids to fight the war is not something i can support. moderator: gentlemen, will spend the next few minutes talking about south dakota's involvement in the federal tb five program. that allows foreign investors

access to work visas in exchange for their economic relevant investments. bring on investigation is under way after mike rounds administration reportedly embezzled more than half a million dollars to the program. there also allegations another state officials create a business hoping to profit from his involvement in at the eb-5 per program. gentlemen, question tonight. does the eb-5 program create more problems and opportunities? to support the continued use in south dakota? mr. howley, 90 seconds. we begin with you. howie, the eb5 program may have started out innocently enough. i am not going to say. but i will say it is fostered an environment of greed, corruption. there is one and dead. everyday there are new revelations about more problems. today i am hearing that joe bollinger was one of the center keypads of this investigation, both federal and state if we

even are calling a state investigation and investigation, said his attorney contributed to mike rounds campaign. i have asked for mike to release information that shows financial contributions by eb5 beneficiaries to his $9 million war chest. so far he is silent on that, too. it is interesting to me that new revelations continue to come every day. first we were talking about half a million dollars missing. i hear reports now. you see them as well. over $100 million missing. we hear about cayman islands alone for $30 million at 29% interest. i just have to say, how cannot possibly be good for south dakota and how can it possibly be something the former governor could sweep aside and say i wasn't running it. well then why did he approve a

million dollars check? why did he have to issue his approval of this private enterprise that was set up to reap millions of dollars? i would like for mike rounds to look this camera in the face and say that he has received no benefit to no one close to ms received no benefit for many eb5 buddy. he can't say that there was not here tonight. moderator: wrister howie commit thank you. mr. pressler. pressler: south dakota's one of the correct in the united states and that is part of the reason i ran here to find a liked it, i shall appoint an independent united states attorney and also appoint independence to the judiciary in south dakota. the united states senators make those appointments although made by the president. the corruption in our state has drawn national attention. i would also call upon governor rounds to issue a memorandum of fact. his closest associate for years in the state government with

mr. benda. a memorandum of fact if that happened before the election. all of this will be that it next year. based on my experience coming asunder will be fêted in the first year and if that senators mike rounds and his fêted and sent in error, it will hurt the people of south dakota because their senator will be crippled, so we should have that memorandum of fact before the election rather than after. moderator: mr. weiland, 60 seconds on eb5. weiland: i came up very early when this scandal broke open. the sale of citizenship or half a million just doesn't square when he does show up for these debates is both south dakota commonsense. we are essentially selling green card. it is not just people. it is pouring big money coming

into this day. now we have this mess on our hands and it's really unfortunate. the senator made a comment a few weeks ago that we do need to get to the bottom of this before november 4th and i agree with that. and now we have more questions than answers. again, mike is not here tonight to address it. i am beginning to wonder why outsiders are different than selling citizenship to the highest bidder, that maybe there's something a lot more to this that we are never going to see until after the election and that would be a real disservice to the people of south dakota. moderator: mr. howie come in 60 seconds if you would like it. weiland: yeah, i would. my ground would like to buy south dakota are like a see what happens at this scandal. i disagree with larry that a memorandum of fact would solve the problems. i don't think that is

sufficient. mike rounds needs to agree to test fire under oath so he can be vindicated if he should be vindicated or chastised if he should be chastised. but we need that information prior to this election so voters can make an informed, confident decision. wrinkly, my ground should also release the e-mails between his office and ball in a benda and other conspirators whatever you want to call them. he should also release his appointment calendar so we can see what really happened, what he really did when he did it in who he talked to when he talked to them. that is only fair that we will discover the truth and people testify under oath. right now the republican leadership is stonewalling every effort in protecting something or trying to hide something. mike, you need to come forward and answer questions. moderator: our next question

tonight deals with the dynamic we have in this race. we have two independents running for the senate seat while south dakota has an independent streak a mile long, both according how we end larry pressler are being criticized for monday in the water in this our latest survey released last night shows 11 percentage points between mark rounds and rick weiland. the same poll shows 51 its rate would be a dead heat between mike rounds and rick weiland. high-ranking democrats, ranking member. he said they don't believe you can win this race. gentlemen, point blank and i come away her critics wrong? bible you when this election in november? mr. pressler, 90 seconds. pressler: our law provides for independent candidates. they should be on the ballot equally. i have been concerned that frequently independents are referred to as trying to steal the votes are mothers or something like that.

a.b. they are trying to steal votes for me. the same poll you cited curtis matched me against mr. rounds and i would've been winning, for example. so i do think that we need to have more independent united states senate. there are two there now. kansas is probably going to a lack one and i would be the fourth. so we would need between this poisonous dispute and i think we could help washington get more things done, especially on the dataset. dataset is the number one threat to agriculture, national defense and lots of other areas. so i am proud to run as an independent and we are going to make some real change in america and in south dakota. it would be refreshing for south dakota to elect an independent to the senate with this duopoly one-party situation we have in peer that has led to the corruption that we have in

oursa. moderator: mr. weiland, 60 seconds. why are your critics wrong? weiland: first, i don't think they appreciate the past six months sitting in every café, senior center and just listening and showing up in talking to the people of south dakota. south dakota has been defending democrats. tim johnson, stephanie herself and i really do believe they getting have been talking to the voters is a lot more important than shaking down big money out of state. i don't know where mike is tonight, but he's not here. i really think as i said earlier, people want someone who is going to show up in the united states senate and have their best interests at heart. they would be out there fighting for them, not for the special interests. maybe i've rubbed my national party from. that's okay, too. i'm independent of the national

parity in terms of winning and winning this race. i am running for the people of south dakota. i'm going to fight for the people of south dakota. i'm going to show up everyday fighting and working for them and not big money. moderator: mr. howie, why are critics wrong? howie: pulling data is indentures again. if you asked how he was doing, his polling data showed he was at 75%. the next day he suffered a significant upset. i find it interesting most of the polling data is collected in south dakota on this race mentions the three other candidates in undecided. doesn't even mention my name. i'm not sure what the methodology is in that regard, but what i would say is you can't have an actor or pull when you don't mention all of the names. i am in this race because i blew south dakota needs a conservative republican alternative. i'm a lifelong republican. i'm running as an independent because the browns machine money

lost the primary and the conservative vote was so fractured no one could get any traction. i'm a strong proponent of life. i opposed the rounds tax increases. in fact, i was the only republican senator to vote against the budget because of increased spending an additional $10 million over the previous year in $1,927,000,000 deficit. south dakota needs a conservative choice. pathway ministries enough but we can win it. moderator: stirs howie, for clarification you included an apple when it came in at 3%. just wanted to clarify that. howie: thank you. that's the kind of you. moderator: mr. pressler, 60 seconds if you would like it. pressler: let me clarify one thing that i agree with my friend gordon on the issue of a sworn statement from governor rounds if we could get them. but we've only got 50 days.

.. overseas wasteful obsolete military spending, and some revenue enhancement by eliminating some corporate deductions that are merely

corporate subsidies. also let's remember that republican senators tend to vote for higher deficits because they vote for corporate subsidies and unlimited military spending, especially corporate subsidies. >> moderator: we'll talk about campaign financing. mr. weiland, you in particular have made a point in your advertising to talk bout the role that big money to play in a campaign. gentlemen, our question is twofold. to date it was the largest contributor to your campaign? how do we reduce the role of big money in politics? mr. weiland, 90 seconds. weiland: when i got in this race i wrote my own constitutional amount to essentially overturn citizens united. that debate has been going on in washington this week and, unfortunately, it didn't pass. but the tom udall a minute from new mexico would've done what i've been talking about for almost 16 months. big money is running the show in washington and i will play what,

we can take back. i really do believe that. i don't think for the most part, you know, members of congress want to be professional fundraisers but those are the rules. i asked mike brown early on if you be willing to limit contributions to 100 bucks. he turned it down cold. i estimate could get together with just the two of us and see if we could work out a way to keep the dark money, the super pacs him coming in and trying to buy the senate seat. he didn't even respond. he's not here tonight so who knows where he is. is probably raising money somewhere in the country. but this is "newsnight" it was a bad thing for this country. so was mccutchen versus the fdc which is another reason decision that basically took all the limits all. senator pressler likes to kind of have it both ways but if you do your research i know when he was in the united states senate he voted against campaign finance reform. maybe he has had an epiphany. but big money is a problem

comments calling the shots what comes health reform, calling the shots when it comes to financial services reform. is calling the shots when it comes to energy policy. if you follow the money and where it's coming from you'll see who michael rounds is lined up with and use the who i am lined up with. most of my contributions are very small in the scheme of things. they are nothing like the $99 mike brown has been boasting about raising. >> moderator: do you know who your largest contributor is? weiland: i have contributed to $52, several, but that's for the primary and general election. they are south dakotans and people from other parts of the country. the thing i was most interested in, i'm willing to send all that back if we can level the playing field. but i wasn't going to unilaterally disarm and i told mike that when he turned to medical. that would be like getting a seat the big money. i will play by the rules he wants to play by but i would not

tie both hands behind my back. >> moderator: mr. alley, 60 seconds. howie: i would like to give you an opportunity to give me my largest contributor tonight. >> moderator: i could not do that. howie: i couldn't tell you my largest contributor is either but it wouldn't be very impressive because we don't have a lot of large contributors. i hear a lot of complaining about big money in politics and i will join the bandwagon there and complain about big money in politics and tell me i start getting some of it. i would suggest that right now mike rounds has boasted is going to raise $9 million rick, i don't know if he has raised $2 million, maybe three. certainly between one and two, maybe of a better idea. but what i would say is that big money isn't a problem in my campaign because we certainly haven't had big contributions.

we haven't taken any pac money that i'm aware of. and so it's all individuals who are giving to our campaign. >> moderator: mr. pressler, 60 seconds. pressler: yes, my largest contributor is dr. ron smith, $2600. i raised less than $100,000 in this campaign so far. a lot of icon traditions have been $150. people in south dakota will have a chance to vote for a true grassroots campaign this fall. as an independent i don't get the big special interest money that my republican and democratic opponents do. but i need you, but people, to send me some contributions. go to larry pressler.com and you can send a contribution and you'll be part of a group of small, one of 50, $200 contributors. i will have about 1% as much money as the republic or democratic nominees. so we need to make a special

effort to get our message out. homemade yard sign, homemade bumper stickers are needed. volunteers are needed. larry pressler.com. i need your help. >> moderator: mr. weiland, 60 seconds. weiland: rick weiland.com works as well. i go back to the beginning of this race. for mike rounds to boast about making, raising $9 billion, and is saying publicly that he was going to spend host it is time out of state doing it, tells you the difference between the two major party candidates year. again i will point out when senator pressler was in the united states and he didn't support campaign finance reform. i believe this issue is probably the single most important thing we need to deal with in this country. we are not going to get good health care reform because of the insurance companies that might lines up with. we are not when you get a good energy policy that focuses on renewable fuels and conservation because of the big oil companies

that have been running the government when it comes to energy policy. mike is lined up with them. you've got a real stark contrast between the democratic candidate and the republican candidate when it comes to money in politics. it's on the back of my business card. so when i receive a $2600 contribution from out of state, they know the first thing i'm going to do is to to run big money out o of the political system so we can take our government back. >> moderator: mr. howie, do you have a website? howie: gordon howie for senate.com and will be open for business all night. >> moderator: let's talk about the economy. the u.s. economic recession, ended roughly five years ago. national unemployment is right around 6%. government report says the u.s. has added over 2 million jobs over the last year. good things but companies are increasingly hiring temporary or part-time workers instead of

full-time employees, nearly 10 million people are still out of work tonight. ap survey finds typical employee pay increasing by less than 2% per year. our question, do you believe u.s. economy has fully recovered from recession? mr. howie, 90 seconds. howie: my first impression is to say, are you kidding me? we have not recovered from this recession to contact the obamacare express continues to destroy our national economy. obamacare has created significant job loss across this country. in 2010 in the states and i introduced a bill called the health care freedom act that would've nullified the provisions of obamacare in south dakota. it was at a time when obamacare was just really getting its wheels under it. and so we would've joined other states in opposing that legislation that has been incredibly bad for our economy,

particularly those people in south dakota seeing their insurance premiums going up. and then governor mike brown and his chief of staff to the senate state affairs committee to kill that bill. i didn't a stunt opponent of government run health care, and i think if we really think that government run health care stimulates our economy rather than hurting it, we should visit the indian hills service or just doesn't take long to review the recent news about veterans administration. what a debacle that's been for veterans who are literally dying waiting to get care. so not only is it a bad health care system, but it into our ability to recover economically. and i was at a restaurant not long ago. a waitress was bemoaning the fact that you do go find different work because her employer had reduced her hours and she couldn't afford to live on the hours that she could get

with that employer. >> moderator: mr. howie, thank you. mr. pressler, 60 seconds. have we fully recovered? pressler: let me first of all say i want to correct rick on one thing. i did support campaign finance reform in congress. i support all of the john anderson reforms and i voted for campaign reform over and over in the house and senate. let me say as far as wages are concerned, we need to raise the minimum wage in south dakota, raise teachers a pay, we need to help our native americans. recently i was honored to eulogize gerald one feather, one of the most legendary native american leaders in south dakota. and harriet and i were there on the reservation in pine ridge and i will be on to more native american reservations. as we go around the state, visit 15 city starting tomorrow, i see a lot of poverty. i also see the middle class is struggling economically. we have a problem financially in our state.

people just barely get by who are on wages, people to work for wages, whether working in a bank even but if they work for wages, wages are low in south dakota and our people are struggling. i want to do something and that's why want to get into the training center. i will be a powerful voice, an independent voice and the voice of the table to speak to the people of south dakota and a special interest. >> moderator: have we fully recovered from recession? weiland: i think 1% we have. 95% of the recovery has gone to the top 1% of the country. that's why think big money belies a dysfunctional federal government. government has always been prior to this big money influence kind of supposed be an honest referee but they have bought off the referee. they like government when it's dysfunctional nk getting thing done because they can maintain the status quo. went 400 people in this country have more wealth than

150 million people, something is wrong. something's happened your country. i maintain it's because big money has gotten in the way of good government. that's what we need to change. that's what i avoid this constitutional amendment. there are things that we need to do here in south dakota. i have come out in favor of this ballot initiative for the minimum wage. we do have a struggling middle class in south dakota. we need to address it and we can but it's not the paul ryan budget which mike brown wants to support. what it does is continues the big money of government by cutting billions taxes and big corporations taxes, and putting the fiscal responsibility on programs like cutting head start in student loans and grants. that's just silly not the way to go. >> moderator: we're beginning to get tight on time here as the hour goes on. 30 seconds. >> i would just i respect what does with both my friends here

on this program about increasing the minimum wage. that doesn't solve the problem. we have to solve problems by going to the root, and the root problem isn't that raising the minimum wage can solve it. we need to stop printing or creating new money which devalues every dollar these middle-class and low class income earners make in this country. we need to do something about fiscal responsibility to stop overspending and to stop overtaxing. >> moderator: all right. going forward, no worries, we are getting tight on time. going forward each question can each of you will get 60 seconds to answer. in late spring the president said he would take executive action on immigration reform. nsse will delay taking any action until after the november midterm elections. one of the ways this affects us at home, the white house has 10% of all farm workers in south dakota are not citizens of the united states.

here's the question. what specifically needs to be done to reform american immigration policy? mr. pressler, 60 seconds. pressler: specifically i would do three things. first of all i would relocate some of our obsolete bases in europe, and especially italy come back to the united states and have them patrol the border. that would give us a secure border between mexico and united states. we could do that at no additional cost to the taxpayers because we already have the troops doing nothing. number two, i would fall for george bush immigration plan. i would advocate a five year path to citizenship for our people. and number three, i would recognize the particular needs of agriculture and other needs. we need to throw our arms around many of the next immigrants who are here legally. we need them and we want them and they are a blessing to her country because they help us to our social security for us old guys. so we need a lot of these

immigrants who have come, and they are a blessing to us. but we want to bring them in on an orderly basis with a secure border. that is what i will fight for in the united states senate. and let me say that i would join with rick in the constitutional limit on campaign reform. i didn't get a chance to say that. >> moderator: mr. weiland, 60 seconds. weiland: i think pretty straightforward to in a very sort of an characteristic bipartisan effort, the united states senate last year passed immigration reform with over 60 votes. and the senate over to the house of representatives for consideration and to take a vote on. but, unfortunately, speaker boehner has an even broader to the floor. if he did it would pass and i think most people know that. that was a bipartisan bill that put aside some money for border security, which is i think what the republicans wanted. and it also created a path to

citizenship for the 12 million some undocumented workers in this country. so i think that it's a pretty straightforward answer. the path is deliberated on and sent to the house. i want to say this. i don't think they eb-5 visa program is an immigration policy. people should come through to this country not buying their way into permanent resident status but going through the immigration process mike is not here to talk about that, unfortunate. >> moderator: mr. howie, 60 seconds. howie: a good start might be for our president to get off of his golf cart and get back into the oval office into some business. we need to secure the border of this country. it's unthinkable to me that mexico can keep their border secure. it's the same border. if someone accidentally crosses into mexico, they find themselves incarcerated. but our border, that same border

is open and hundreds of thousands of people are coming through undocumented. what we needed it is secure the border. that's job number one. then we need to track every single worker. this isn't a process of eliminating farmworkers are other laborers. it silly that we need to know where they are, who they are, and what they are doing. and absent that, our national security is in serious jeopardy. >> moderator: gentlemen, we have seen how the oil boom in north dakota has jumpstarted the state economy with north dakota realizing an estimated $30 billion in economic impact the year. i believe there are strong and solid oil deposits in northwest south dakota but interest and action have been slight. do you support oil exploration in northwest of the coder? what would you do to get exploration up and running? mr. wyden, 60 seconds. weiland: a great question. i spent time over there on my

town to town to an an opportunity to talk to a lot of farmers and ranchers in hardin county and other areas of the northwestern corner of our state. if it's an untapped resource we need to explore it. right now i don't see a lot of effort going forward out there, and it may be because the fact the block and fields in north dakota are richer in supply and the process is already underway. i mean eventually i can see it coming to the part of our state and we need to be prepared. maybe there are some lessons to learn to what's going on in north dakota that we need to be mindful of if it comes to that part of our state. but i personally think that we should be moving more towards renewable sources of energy. like ethanol and solar and wind, and to move away from the fossil fuel development that we're

doing. but we have to transition to that and we need to make sure that we are making a concerted effort to do it. >> moderator: mr. howie, 60 seconds. howie: welcome the environmental protection agency is an agency that has on far beyond the pale when it comes to regulating all sorts of businesses. the government has regulated energy productioproductio n and development practically out of business. i don't know if we could find out at this moment when the last oil refinery was constructed in this country. we need a policy that would enable businessmen and women to invest in the development of our natural resources. i support oil and natural gas development in south dakota. and, frankly, the block and isn't just a north dakota. the city of faith i think it oil drilling water well. i know personally of a rancher

who was a drilling water 30 miles or so out in rapid city and pumped oil for five days. it's year, ladies and gentlemen. government is restricting the development trend with mr. pressler, 60 seconds. pressler: what i would do is i would use my seniority which i can take back to the senate and get on one of the energy committees and worked for legislation that would allow development of oil in south dakota with extreme environmental care. i cosponsored three water watere went interstate because we don't have very much a little water in south dakota, believe it or not. water for human things to drink the those pipelines have been built. in my three terms in this and i've worked on this water problem and they don't want us anymore our groundwater being polluted. there may be a way to do it and i'm in favor of if we can do it in environmentally safe way. people tell me a lot of stories about the epa. i would go and see president

obama and the only candidate running who has a personal relationship with him that i could see him and work with them. although i don't agree with president obama on a lot of things, he is the president of the training for two more years and those epa regulations are handled by the administration. >> moderator: gentlemen, because of time you each have 30 seconds to answer this vital question. what does it mean to be a united states senator? mr. pressler, 30 seconds. pressler: i believe it means to serve. i have devoted my life to public service. the legend of professor doubt university of south dakota used to tell us to do public service, and i want to help the people of south dakota. the people of south dakota need help. we are a small state and we have been ranked one of the most corrupt states in the union. we need a breath of fresh air, and my election would change the dynamics of south dakota politics, national politics.

>> moderator: mr. wiley, 30 seconds. weiland: first of all you have to show a. when you show begun to be on the side of everyday folks here in this state that really deserve a fair shake. they're not getting it from their government. government basically as i've maintained from the beginning of my campaign have been bought and paid for by big money. get big money out of running our government and a line the pockets of politicians who are more interested in shaking them down and shaking hands with voters, that's what it means that you stand up and fight every day in the united states senate for everyday folks in the state. we're not a state of billionaires and big corporations. >> moderator: mr. howie, 30 seconds. howie: i think it's a significant position that allows you to be a voice represent the people. and, frankly, we need a voice in washington, d.c. in the united states senate who will demand that we return to the things that made our country great. those principles, the foundation of faith, freedom and purpose, and we don't hear a lot of talk

about faith on the campaign trail, but we are after all a nation that was founded on judeo-christian principles. and those principles provide an ethical basis to make good policy decisions and what thank you. by drawing straws we determined the order for closing statements, and mr. pressler, we're going to begin with you tonight. pressler: well, i would like to ask you, the citizens of south dakota, for the blessing of your vote. i served in the united states senate for three terms and i think i did a very good job by all accounts. i can bring my seniority back and i can be a powerful voice for our state. south dakota needs leadership now, both morally and ethically and across the board. i would go back into the senate and work on a bipartisan basis with both sides to achieve certain objectives were our state. i might also say that the working people of south dakota

need help. they are barely getting bye. they are operating paycheck to paycheck. has cycle around the state i am amazed at what a difference there is between the very wealthy and middle-class people are losing our middle class and south dakota. i'm going to take steps to help restore that. thank you very much. >> moderator: mr. howie, your closing statement. howie: i think south dakotans are a conservative law. most believe government spends too much money and, frankly, the choice in this race is very clear. we have two candidates who voted for president barack obama. one supported harry reid financially. we have another candidate two is a former governor nearly doubled the state budget can increase our taxes, left us with one of $27 million deficit, and a scandal that just keeps growing everyday. there is a conservative choice in this race. i represent that choice.

and, frankly, my record demonstrates that i don't just talk about conservative principles. i believe them. i'm a strong supporter of the defense of unborn children. i'm a strong fiscal conservative. i voted against the governor's budget which led to the deficit, and i would appreciate your support as south dakota demonstrates its conservative values in this election. >> moderator: mr. weiland come your closing statement thank you, thank you. this is a big decision for the state of south dakota, and i can't begin to tell you what a profound experience it's been for me. to visit every town in this state and sit down and talk to the people of south dakota. most of my time on the road, it's not been out there shaking down big money but it's been shaking hands with you and listening and learning. i really do believe that we are at a crossroads in south dakota. we are frankly at a crossroads in his country. you've got to have someone who's going to stand up every day on the floor of the united states

senate and look at that legislation that's come across the aisle and how it affects people here in our state. and not the big money donors funding her campaign. i will make one commitment to you tonight, one promise. we should never make promises but i'm going to make one. that i will work as hard to keep your vote as i have trying to earn it these past 16 months. >> moderator: and with that we have covered a lot of topics tonight or gentlemen again thank you so much for accepting our invitation to come to this debate this evening. it is appreciated. of course, thank you at home for joining us as well both on ksfy and a nationwide audience on onn c-span the election is tuesday november 4. a presidential address is next on ksfy. ksfy. >> another campaign 2014 debate tonight on c-span2. live at eight eastern a debate from iowa's third congressional district in the race to replace retiring republican tom latham. democrat stacey apple and republican tom young debate

before a live audience at the iowa western community college in council bloss. again that his life 8 p.m. eastern here on c-span2. and more iowa politics this weekend on c-span. democratic senator tom harkin holds his 37th and final harkin steak fry. speaking at the event, former president bill clinton and former secretary of state hillary clinton. that's live from indianola, iowa, on sunday starting at 3:30 p.m. eastern. you can see it on our companion network c-span. >> today is the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and flags are flying at half mast over the u.s. capitol in washington. on this money's "washington journal" we spoke with a reporter about a september 11 anniversary. president obama's strategy to deal with the islamic militant group isis. vi

>> host: david sanger, let'se begin with the strategy outlined by the president last night. what do you make of it? doesn't fit within a pattern of the president's thinking and his strategy that he is used in other areas? >> guest: the president certainly put it within the context of the strategy that is used in somalia, the strategy that is used in other counterterrorism operations while he didn't refer to specific, pakistan. he couldn't talk much about pakistan because that's been a covert program where some others have been, according somalia, have been, and yemen, have been done by the military. .. unmanned aircraft, the creation of this training center you were referring to in saudi arabia, and its size, and then as your caller suggested, i disagree

with what he said on both isil and the ultimate intention for its future, which i think the president sincerely wants to destroy this whole terrorist group, is that it will be long. i think he was trying to prepare americans for that. i think the big question is to what degree is there an what degree is there an to what degree is there an opportunity cost here that ends up delay and or in some cases perhaps derailing other elements of his foreign policy. postcode david sanger, what do you make that there will be no combat troops? >> guest: well, this is the continuation of the president's commitment that he will not get us back into the kind of a rapport we were in before. and he doesn't need this to get back into that. he's not trying to occupy and change the nature of an entire