first let me say how proud i am that the three of my family members are with me today appear at the head table. my oldest daughter amy who as a small child used to ride on the laps of some of my disabled friends from vietnam as they did wheelies in their wheelchair races in the hospitals and i think she found her calling at a very young age and now works with the disabled american veterans. [applause] ..

>> in public service will always come from the contributions of those who served either under my command in the marine corps or on my staff. our country has heard and will continue to hear from these talented men and women wherever they go and however they choose to serve, and a good number of them have made the trek over

here the during a busy workweek to join us today. we did great things during those six years. they continue to show us that they are all-stars in a multitude of endeavors, and i'd be praised if they would stand or wave and be recognized right now. [applause] there have been a lot of things going on in the last couple of days, and i'm sure i'm going to be get questions about them, but what i'm ready like to talk about in my opening remarks is what's going on in our country and what we can do to make things better. and let me begin by stealing a quote by gore vidal, one of the most irascible minds of the post-world war ii era. he once wrote: you never know when you are happy, you only know when you were happy. we seldom know when we are

living through a period of true historic challenge. we only know after it's over that we did. the internal workings of national policy are not a part of most americans' lives. you make up every morning, you go to work, maybe you try to find a job, you take care of your family, you pay your taxes, you turn on the tv and p watch comment -- commentators as they were screaming at each other this morning about how crouped i up -- screwed up things are. bad things happen in the world, and that will never change. at the same time, i think it has been rare in our history when our economy crashes at the same time we're at war as has been the case in the past five or six years. here in america, our

multicultural society is frustrating and creative. but the discussions during recent years have taken on a different tone. the very character of america is being called into question. who are we as a people? what is it that unites us rather than divides us? where is our common ground when the centrifugal forces of social cohesion are spinning so out of control that the people at the very top exist in a distant, outer orbit, completely separated in their homes, schools and associations from those of us who are each in the middle -- eastern in the mid -- eastern in the middle and completely disconnected from those who exist paycheck to paycheck and those at the bottom who are often scorned as undeserving takers who simply want a free ride. now think about that. how can we say we're fellow americans when tens of millions of people are being quietly

written off not only by our most wealthy, but even by many of our political leaders as hopeless, who will never be fully employed and who would be -- or should -- be avoided on the street, feared rather than encouraged to enter the american mainstream? we live indus piewt my in the greatest country on earth. the premise of the american dream is that all of us have equal opportunities to succeed. but let's be honest, if you're 10 years old and black and living in east baltimore and going to the bathroom in a bucket because the land lord won't fix your plumbing and your schools are places of intimidation and violence and the only people on the street who seem to be making money are the ones who are selling drugs, no matter how hard you work you do not have the same picture of the american dream as a kid your age who's being groomed for prep school and then to go off to the

ivy league. or if you're a kid growing up in the appalachian mountains of clay county, kentucky -- by most accounts, the poorest county in america which also happens to be 98% white -- surrounded by poverty, drug abuse and joblessness, when you leave your home in order to succeed and when you do, you are welcomed with a cynical, unbelieving stares and whispers of an america that no longer understands your cultural journey and policies that can exclude you from a fair shot at education or employment with the false premise that if you're white, you're by definition -- you by definition have some kind of socioeconomic advantage. what are you going to think about the so-called fairness of your own government? if you're a man, a woman who just did your time in prison, as have so many millions of

americans in today's society, you paid the price for your mistake which could be as simple as the sickness of drug addiction or a moment of absolute but culpable stupidity, and can you want to reenter the community that you left behind when you were locked up, neglected, possibly abused and definitely marked for the rest of your life on every employment application that you'll ever fill out, how do you do that? when there are no clear programs of transition that can prepare you for the structured demands of the work force or society itself, which is going to fear you because you spent time in prison. what do you do now? do can we as a government to provide a structure that can assist you so that the rest of your life is not wasted, or have you merely become just another throwaway like the kids in east baltimore or clay county,

kentucky? well, let's say you're 30 years old without a high schoolty schooldiploma. maybe you had a rebellious streak when you were 17. you went out and got a dead end job or got pregnant and became a single mom, and now you're looking at the rest of your life, and you feel hopeless. the big debate between the two political parties seems to be whether you should get a higher minimum wage, whether the government should start universal programs to put kids into school from prekindergarten. what do you mean, more than a min women wage? even if your kids attend pre-k, what happens when they come home? is your life already over at the age of 30? would it change if we had a second chance program where you could finish school, show your kids your own diploma and tell them to stay in school and study and be an example and aspire to a real job that pays more than

minimum wage? what would it take to turn those things around? or is it impossible? or should we just decide that it's something that's beyond the role of government? this societal dislocation has been happening at a time when america's place on the international stage has become increasingly up clear both in terms -- unclear both in terms of our position as the economic beacon of the global community and our vital role as the military guarantor of international stability. for more than two decades since the end of the cold war, our country has been adrift in its foreign policy. the greatest military power on earth has lacked a clearly defined set of principles that would communicate our national security objectives to our allies, to our potential adversaries and most importantly, to our own people. or that same period our debates

over domestic policies and fairness at home have become even more polarized, driving our people further and further apart rather than bringing them together. in many cases, deliberately exaggerating divisions based on race, class, gender, sexual orientation and geography. not surprisingly, the american people have grown ever more cynical about their national leadership in both parties and increasingly more pessimistic about the future. so make no mistake, how we resolve these two formidable questions is going to determine what america looks like 10, 20 or 30 years from now, in the not-too-distant future depending on how we resolve these questions. we will look back and judge ourselves; did we have the courage to face the hard issues, to make the difficult decisions

to prove we were worthy of the sacrifices of the generations that went before us? or did we fail? watching passively as the greatest nation on earth descended slowly into mediocrity because it burned itself out through bad choices, petty debates, trivial party politics and the inability of our leaders to come to grips with these sorts of challenges and to work together to actually solve them? and so we have reached an unavoidable and historic crossroads. the way we choose to address can the conditions that now so deeply divide us over the next few years will divide who we are as a people into what our future will look like. what other responsibilities of our government -- what are the responsibilities of our government? here's a list. provide for the general welfare, maintain order and public safety

for all whether you're in east baltimore or north arlington, direct standards of fairness when it comes to the opportunity to succeed, don't pick favorites based on special access to the corridors of power. despite any of the barriers that have too often divided us, i'm naive enough to believe that those of us who love our country can come together to rebuild our infrastructure and to repair the torn, divided fabric of our national spirit. true fairness is not an impossible dream, nor is the notion that we can turn to a time when we can look at a fellow citizen and feel a moment of camaraderie rather than a feeling of mistrust, dislike or fear. we need the energy and the talent of every american trained and put to use in ways that will make them more productive, their neighborhoods more vibrant and

our countries more strongly. more than that, every one of us should view this as a duty as a citizen if nothing else, and participate in the national discussion. so let me mention a few areas where i believe we can make a difference. first, we must develop a clear statement of national security and foreign policy. an understandable statement of our national security interest is the basis of any great nation's foreign policy. clearly understood principles and the determination to stand by them are essential to stability and also to public support. our allies will be able to adjust to our claire ty -- or clarity, our adversaries will know that we're serious, and our people will understand the logic of our place in the world. we do not have that now. our foreign policy has become a tangled mess in many cases of what can only be called situational ethics. what does the united states

stand for in the global arena, under what conditions should we risk our national treasure, our credibility and more importantly, the lives of our military people? here's a quick bottom line. tell me what our national interest is, how we're going to defend it and how we will know we have accomplished our mission. unless you can do that, you don't have a strategy. once the ground war ended, strategically we lost our way. and we have yet to regain it. in the area of international relations, it's not a healthy thing when the world's dominant military and economic power has a policy based on vagueness. and so we ended up and continue to be trapped in the never-ending, ever-changing entanglements of the middle east beginning with the pandora's box that was opened with the invasion of iraq and continuing through the still-fermenting

nightmare of the arab spring, particularly our inadvisable actions in libya. i was one who warned before the invasion of iraq that our entanglement would destabilize the region, empower iran and weaken our influence in other places. let me quote from an article i wrote in "the washington post" on september the 4th, 2002. five months before we invaded iraq. i quote: america's best military leaders know they are accountable to history not only for how they fight wars, but also for how they prevent them. the greatest military victory of our time, bringing an expansionist soviet union in from the cold while averting a nuclear holocaust, was accomplished not by an invasion, but through decades of maneuvering and continuous operations. with respect to the situation in iraq, our military leaders know two realities that seem to have

been lost in the narrow debate about saddam hussein himself. the first is that wars often have unintended consequences. the second is that a long-term occupation of iraq would, beyond doubt, require an adjustment of force levels elsewhere and could eventually diminish american influence in other parts of the world. then later in japan, american occupation forces quickly became 50,000 friends. in iraq they would quickly become 50,000 terrorists targets. so what should course governing principle -- what should our governing principles be? first, if a president wishes to conduct offensive military operations, he or she should be able to explain clearly the threat, the specific objections of the operations and the end result. second, we should honor all our treaty commitments, but we are

not obligated to join a treaty partner if they elect to use force outside the direct boundaries of our as commitment as in libya, for example. third, we will maintain superiority in our strategic systems. this includes not only nuclear weapons, but also such areas as technology, space and cyber warfare. fourth, we will preserve and exercise the right of self-defense as guaranteed under international law in the united nations charter. fifth, we have important allies around the world, especially in asia and the middle east, whom we will continue to support in many ways. this will not cease. in fact, as we clarify other commitments, these relationships will be strengthened. with respect to the war against terrorism, we should act vigorously against terrorists organizations if they are international in nature and are a direct threat to our national security. this includes the right to

conduct military operations in foreign countries if that country is unwilling or unable to address the threat. we have this right through international law and specifically through article 51 of the united nations charter. but there's an important caveat to how our country should fight international terrorism, and having ignored this principle has caused us a lot of trouble since 9/11. i can do no better than quote from an article i wrote on september the 12th, 2001, the day after 9/11. do not occupy for story. territory. terrorists armies make no claim to be any members of any nation-state. similarly, it would be militarily and politically dangerous for a military to operate from bases, permanent or semipermanent, or to declare we are defending specific pieces of terrain in regions where are the

terrorists armies live and train. and finally, with respect to national security, a warning spawned by the actions of this administration in libya. there is no such thing as the right of any president to unilaterally decide to use force in combat operations based on the vague concept of humanitarian intervention. if a treaty doesn't obligate us, if american forces are not under attack or under threat of imminent attack, if no americans are at risk, the president should come to the congress. second point for consideration as we look into the future is we need to give our people some hope on issues of economic fairness and social justice. our working people have struggled following the collapse of the economy in the final months of the bush administration. while those at the very top have continued to separate themselves

from the rest of our society. if you take a look at the stock market since march of 2009 when this recession bottomed out, it has moved from 6,443 to more than 17,000 as of today. the stock market has almost tripled as we've come out of this recession. at the same time, study after study shows that income levels among working people have suffered a steady decline since january of 2009 and not only for our workers, according to "the wall street journal," loans to small business which traditionally have been the backbone of the american success story have decreased by 18% since 2008. overall business loans have increased by 9%. the growth in our economy has been increasingly reflected in capital gains rather than in the salaries of our working people. in cases, corporate headquarters

are here, final sectors, while the workers are overseas. many of our younger workers in this country right now are subject to complicated hiring arrangements that in many cases don't even pay health care or retirement. corporate success is measured by the increase in the value of a stock. corporate leaders are paid accordingly. when i graduated from the naval academy, the average corporate ceo made 20 times the average worker's pay. today that multiple is about 350. and it's not a a global phenomenon. in germany, which has the highest balance of trade in the world, the average ceo makes about 11 times what a worker makes. many of our brightest economic analysts, high among them ralph gamore who's here today -- ralph? [applause] point out that this disparity came about not because of globalization, but because executive compensation became linked with the value of a stock rather than the company's actual

earnings. investors will not complain, they invest in stocks. but our workers, the most productive work force in the world, are the ones who have been left behind. i agree, we cannot tax ourselves into prosperity, but we do need to refigure the tax code so that taxes fall in fair way. third, we should rebuild our national infrastructure. the technology revolution has pushed a lot of lower skilled people into unemployment, and yet everywhere around us we see roads that need to be widened or repaired, bridges that are beginning to crumble, others that need to be built, traffic jams from clogged highways, schools that need to be built, expanded or repaired, inner city neighborhoods with cracked sidewalks, broken windows and people on the street. franklin roosevelt mobilized a nation whose unemployment rate was at 25%.

the civilian conservation corps went out and planted trees and cleared land. we built roads, we put people to work, we cleaned things up. dwight d. eisenhower's vision brought us the interstate highway system and the jobs that it took to build it. there are people who need jobs, and there is work to be done. and along the way i believe it's possible to meld such a program with another one featuring adult education for those who did lose their way when they were 17 and now know how important it is as a worker and as a parent to get that diploma, earn some money and be a role model to your kid. fourth, we need to reform our criminal justice system. this is not a political issue. it is a leadership issue, and it has dramatic manifestations throughout our society. the united states has the highest incarceration rate in

the world. since i doubt we are the most evil 350e78 in the world -- people in the world, many now agree that maybe we're doing something wrong. millions of our citizens are either in prison or under the supervision of the criminal justice system. during my time in the senate, we worked exhaustively to examine every component of this process from point of apprehension to length of sentencing to elements of life in prison including prison administration and to the challenge of reentering society and, hopefully, living product i lives. productive lives. when one applies for a job, the stigma of having been in prison is like a tattoo on your forehead. in many cases, prison life creates scars and impediments that can only be remediated through structured reentry programs. millions of americans are now in this situation, many of them nonviolent offenders who went to prison due to drug use, drug dependence. to those who wonder whether we can or should put such programs

in place, my answer is this: you want to see these former offenders back on the street coming after your money or your life? or do you want them in a job making money and having a life? finally, let's find a way to return to good governance. it'll take time, but it's possible to rebalance the relationship between the executive and legislative branches and to carefully manage the federal government which is surely the most complex bureaucracy in the world. a lot of people running for president and a lot of people covering those who are running for president seem to skip past the realities of governing into the circus of the political debate. the federal bureaucracy is huge and byzantine. i've seen many people come to public service from highly successful careers in the business world only to be devoured and humiliated by the demands of moving policy through

the bureaucracy and in the congress. the very administration of our government needs to be fixed. with the right leadership and the right sense of priorities, it can be. i spent four years as a rah mean -- as a marine, five years in the pentagon -- one as a marine and four as a executive -- six years as a member of the united states senate. i am well aware and appreciate that there are a lot of highly talented, dedicated people in our federal work force, and i know they would be among the first to agree that we would benefit by taking a deep breath and basically auditing the entire federal government in order to rejustify the functioning of every program and every office. [applause] the way to solve these challenges and others is the way that other such challenges have always been solved in the past; find good leaders, tell them

where the country needs to go, free them up to use their own creative numberings, trust their -- energies, trust their integrity, supervise, hold them accountable just as they should hold our own people accountable, their own people accountable and just as the american people should hold every national leader accountable. have the courage of your convictions, have the humility to listen to others. remember the greatness of our country and the sacrifices that have gone before us and never forget that history should and will judge all of us if we ever let the american dream die. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. we will now go into a, we'll now go into our q&a session. and as i said to the senator

before happened, we'll try to make it rapid fire to get as much as we can in this next few minutes. sir, are you considering pursuing the democratic nomination for president? [laughter] would you consider running as an independent? >> i would say we, we've had a lot of discussions among people that i respect and trust about the future of the country, and we are going to continue having these discussions over the next four or five months, and i'm seriously looking at the possibility of running for president. but we want to, you know, see if there's a support base for people who would support the programs that we are interested in pursuing with the leadership. so the answer is i'm a democrat, i have strong reasons for being

a democrat. basically, if you want true fairness in this society, you want to give a voice in the corridors of power to people who otherwise would not have it, i believe that will come from the democratic party, and we're taking a hard look, and we'll get back to you in a few months. [applause] >> what, what trait, what trait is most important in a person wanting to become our president, and what is your best trait? [laughter] >> how many questions do you have on that stack before you pulled that one out? [laughter] you know, i think trust and integrity, vision and loyalty. you cannot run or lead unless

you have that and unless you have that in the people who are with you too. it's one thing i used to tell my staff when i was in the senate was that i met every day with cap weinberger when he was secretary of defense. i met with him every day for four years, and you will never see one word that was ever said in that meeting when the door was closed. i owe that to him and to good governance. but i think the issues of character override even issues of intelligence. i hate to put it that way, but i'd rather have someone who is really loyal and can be trusted than someone who is smart and couldn't be trusted. [applause] >> hillary clinton, of course, is widely seen as the democratic front runner for president in 2016. what do you see as her strengths and weaknesses? [laughter] >> well, i've had the pleasure of working with hillary clinton when we were in the senate and at times when she was secretary of state, and i must say she has

a much broader forum than i do to answer that question. [laughter] >> a follow-up regarding mrs. clinton. hillary clinton was secretary of state for four years. how responsible is she for the tangled mess of u.s. foreign policy that you cited in your remarks? >> again, i think that's a question that really should be directed at secretary clinton. i'm not here to undermine her. i'm here to just explain where my concerns are as someone who's been involved in the military and foreign policy all of my life. it wasn't even a political comment when i made it, it's more a comment about leadership and how we need to be much clearer in terms of our national goals and our objectives around the world. [applause] >> as someone, as someone who didn't really embrace the task

of being a politician while serving in the senate, why are you considering a run for president when that job demands so much politicking to be effective? >> you know, i think a lot of people misunderstand the approach that we took during my time in the senate and how much i valued being a part of the united states senate. i look at these positions more as opportunities to lead rather than to conduct politics per se. and i was raised on the notion of what it takes to be a leader. and i think if you look at what we were able to do during our six-year period in the senate, it's pretty remarkable. and we did it by bringing strong, dedicated people into the staff, trusting them, giving them what the marine corps would

be called mission-oriented orders and approaching issues such as criminal justice that a lot of other people in the country were afraid to touch in bringing them to a place where we bring these issues out of the shadows and into the public debate. so it's a very tough thing to run for office, but it's also the way that the american people get to know you and make their open decisions about whether they want to trust you, and that's, you know, that's the process of a democracy. >> a related question, what's appealing about the job of president when partisanship and unwillingness in congress to compromise and work together makes getting even little things done so hard? >> i think with the right

leadership, we can get a lot of things done in this country. and we've seep this over and over again -- we've seen this over and over again. i'm going to give you, i'm just going to give you a bipartisan historical response to that. this country was completely in the doldrums when franklin roosevelt took over. people had a feeling of hopelessness, that things couldn't be done. he came in with vision and leadership, put programs into place all over the country. things started to change. by the way, many of us lived through the carter administration. and if you'll recall in 1979 and 1980, there were a lot of people saying nothing can get done. everything is so paralyzed. people were even writing that the presidency was now too big for any one person to handle, and ronald reagan came in. he was a leader, some of my

democratic friends don't like it when i say that. ronald reagan was once a democrat, he was still a leader. but he brought strong people around him, he had a vision where he wanted to take the country, and things started moving again. leadership in this world requires that you sit down and talk to people and give them a clear vision of where you want to go and listen to them. i think we did this probably most clearly when we got the g.i. bill through the united states congress. i wrote this bill with legislative counsel before i i was sworn in to the senate. we introduced it on my first day. we worked extremely hard across the aisle. we got two republican key sponsors, two democrat sponsors, two world war ii veterans, two vietnam veterans, and in 16 months we got a bill through a paralyzed congress that now more

than a million of the veterans post-9/11 veterans have been able to use and really change their lives. [applause] >> you have opposed u.s. military intervention in iraq and libya previously. please tell us your reaction to president obama beginning airstrikes in syria last night and perhaps you would also like to respond to the remarks that the president made three hours ago. >> i would start -- mark shields will remember this -- i would start with a comment that was given to me when i was in beirut reporting for the mcneil lehrer news hour. i was out on a marine outpost, marine platoon that started taking fire from an outpost because there was a lebanese

army position co-located with the marines, and then some unknown militia started joining in just because it was beirut, and then the syrians came up over one ridgeline and were firing 25 millimeter down into it, and a young marine turned around to me and said, sir, never get involved in a five-sided argument. [laughter] and during the hearings when i was still in the senate and they were considering doing something in syria, that was one of the points that i would raise, that if you think lebanon was bad, you know, syria's remember knop on steroids. just -- lebanon on steroids. just look at the situation that we now are in. isis whatever, however you want to define that -- and we need to be very careful to define what the membership of these entities really is because in that part of the world people tend to drift in and out of different organizations depending on who they think's getting something done -- we have isis who

supposedly is anti- assad, and now we're going to arm and train another syrian opposition whose mission up until a couple of weeks ago was to help take out assad, now they're supposedly going to fight isis. we have a quiet, a quiet agreement with the syrian goth at this -- government at this time, one would assume from what i'm hearing, the same government that the president a couple of years ago said must go. we have a tacit participation by iran on some level, you know, the country that many in the region believe we should be most concerned about. and it just shows you this, that is this region. it has been this region for 2,000 years, and what i have been saying since i was secretary of the navy, not just before the iraq war, is that the

united states can assert its national security interests in that part of the world, but we should never become an occupying force in that part of the world. so when i look at what the president, the strikes that the president ordered, i would say this: if he is ordering these strikes based on the notions of international terrorism, to borrow from the remarks that he made, if he is saying that this is an international terrorists entity and the national security interests of the united states are directly threatened and he is conducting limited strikes, i would say that is legal. that is legal. the question of judgment will remain to be seen. and i think i'm going to stop right there. folks, this is a very, very complicated part of the world, and we have to deal with our

national security in a way that is, makes sure that we do not get entangled on the ground again. >> president obama's advisers are saying that attacking al-qaeda affiliate khorasan last night is not an expansion of the u.s. military mission because congress authorized war against al-qaeda over a decade ago. do you agree with that reasoning? >> i have not heard them say that, but i would expect them to say that, and it goes to what the portion of my remarks were. i said that even without the congressional authorization they are mentioning, we have the right of self-defense under international law and under the united nations charter. if there is an international terrorists organization that directly threatens our national security interests. so in that context, these types of limited raids are really no

different than what we have been doing in places like yemen. >> do you think that the obama administration is handling -- how do you think the obama administration is handling the situation in the ukraine, and how would you deal with vladimir putin if you were president? >> i do believe that this administration has been taking the right approach with respect to the situation in ukraine. first, this is a -- the issue of the russian involvement in ukraine involves larger players in historic europe, countries like germany which have an impact on the actions of the russians. second, it's possible, always possible for the russians to have overplayed their hand. and we saw this, actually, with the soviets in afghanistan in

1979 where they went in, they overplayed their hand, and over time they had to adjust their policies. so i believe the policy of sanction and working with our european partners is the best way to go. what we can be thankful for right now, by the way, is that ukraine did not become a member of nato, as many people were advocating during the time that i was in the senate. because if they were members of nato, we would be obligated to come to their defense militarily in some of these situations. we need to preserve our options and to work with our european partners. >> going domestically for a few questions. does it bother you that all the big financial firms and banks found responsible for the 2008 great recession have only had to pay fines?

are we monetizing felonies? >> let me just say this, i'm going to give you a little historical marker here. when we had the vote on whether to provide $700 billion under what was called the t.a.r.p. program, to appropriate $700 billion to a lot of companies who had, i think, abused our economic system, i called a lot of people trying to get their thoughts on which way i should vote. and one of the pieces of advice that i appreciated most came from an individual named barton biggs who was with morgan stanley for years. he helped me when i was bringing american countries into vietnam years ago. a very, very smart macroeconomic

speaker and someone who had made a lot of money in the financial sector. i said which way do you think i should vote on this? it's a three-page, handwritten memorandum, and it says give these people $700 billion because of mistakes they made. he said, number one, you have to do this. he said if we do not staunch the bleeding within weeks, the economic systems and the world economy will have a cataclysmic freefall. number two, he said we need to reregulate. we need to get back to proper regulation of the financial sector. he said that as a hedge fund guy. he said, number three, you really ought to find a way to punish -- and that was his word -- you ought to really find a way to punish the people who have created this situation, whose negligence and activities created this situation. so with that in mind, we worked from our office to pass a

windfall profits tax not, you know, i'm not big on long-term taxes like that, but after reading an article by martin wolf in the financial times actually, a very conservative economic newspaper, where he was recommending because these companies got bailed out through the money of the average working people in this country, the taxpayers of the average workers in this country. they ought to pay back in. so we put together a refined piece of legislation that basically said if you are one of 13 companies that got more than a certain amount from the t.a.r.p. program, if you're an executive, you get your full compensation and 400,000 bonus on regular taxation, but

anything above your 400,000 bonus, you split half and half, you split 50/50 with the people who bailed you out. i thought that was extremely reasonable. and the most interesting thing about it was when we got it to the senate floor, it really was the democrats who didn't want to vote on it, not the republicans. nobody wanted to touch it, and as a result, we didn't get a vote on it. >> one more question before we go to some questions about veterans. do you believe that obamacare is a step forward toward creating economic fairness? why or why not? >> that, the whole issue of obamacare, i i think, was the most difficult issue that we faced during my time in the senate. whether to eventually vote in favor of it or not. and first i would say i believe the administration made an error, a strategic error of calling for that legislation at

the time that they did which was the beginning of their administration. it was an issue that had been very popular during the election cycle, but you will remember go months -- two months before the election the economy crashed. and to bring something this and potentially costly as your flagship piece of legislation at a time when the economy was still suffering was not a strategically smart thing to do, quite frankly. there were a lot of pieces in this legislation i did not like. i voted with the republicans 18 times on different amendments trying to bring the legislation to a place that i was more comfortable with. in the end, i did vote for it, and i'll tell you what was in my mind when i did. let's say this is 50.1% what you

like and 49.9% what you don't. but my mother grew up in east arkansas in some pretty difficult surroundings. she was one of eight children, and three of her siblings died in childhood. not childbirth, childhood as did her father when she was 10. and there wasn't medical care in east arkansas at the time. and if you go back to that period in the 1930s, even on issues like do we create social security, any program that was put up where the government was going to take a greater responsibility for the individuals, go back and look at it. they're all screaming, you know? this is socialism. you know, how are you going to have social security for these people? in 1960s medicare comes along.

it's socialism, you know? so that really pushed me over. i think there's, to vote in favor of it -- and i don't regret voting in favor of it -- but there's a lot in this program that could be tightened and adjusted, and i would hope that's where the congress can come together after this election. let's, it's not going to go away, let's tighten it up and make it better. >> we have many veterans in the audience, including yourself. i'd like to ask a general one and have you respond before we conclude. many veterans are struggling to find work. is there more we can do to insure that the men and women who serve are better prepared to enter the civilian work force? >> what i would like to see is a better understanding among

potential employers about the value that a veteran can bring to the workplace. we've had discussions over the years on this issue. i was a counsel on the house veterans' committee when i finished law school, worked on this for many, many years. and if you're in the military today and you're an officer and have been able to not only have a college degree, but have the, in many cases, an advanced degree and you've got a skill set that people in the civilian world can understand, you don't have a terribly difficult time selling yourself. if you're enlisted, particularly noncareer enlisted with career -- i mean the citizen-soldiers, the people that i designed this g.i. bill for, you interrupt your life, you go out, pull a pump or two in iraq, afghanistan, you come

back, and some of the best leaders in that environment are the ones who are in the combat arms. but they come to an employer, and they've got a dd214 that doesn't have, you know, a degree or a computer school. it says i was a squad leader. we need to have a better understanding among potential employers what that means. that means i had to get things done every day. i had to lead people. i had to motivate them. i had to work across ethnic and other lines. i learned how to lead and how to get things dope. and the more -- get things done. and the more people understand that, the easier it becomes to resolve the issues that you mentioned. >> we are almost out of time, but before asking the last question, we have a couple of housekeeping matters to take care of. first of all, i'd like to remind you about our upcoming event and speakers. on october 15th deborah rudder, the new president of the john f.

kennedy center for the performing arts, will outline her plans for the center's future. october 20th, thomas perez, secretary of the u.s. department of labor. and october 21st, bob bowelsby, commissioner of the big 12 conference. next, i'd like to present our guest with the traditional national press club mug. i trust you have a set at home, and you can add to it. [laughter] okay? and our final question. sir, two of our greatest presidents -- teddy roosevelt and fdr -- had backgrounds at the department of the navy. do you sense a trend developing there? [laughter] [applause] >> unfortunately, we're not cousins. [laughter] thank you very much.

>> thank you all. we are adjourned. [applause] [inaudible conversations] >> virginia's tenth congressional district stretches from just outside washington, d.c. to the west virginia border. its representative is retiring after 34 years in congress, and in that race republican state

delegate barbara comstock and fairfax county supervisor john foust, a democrat, debated last night in virginia. here's a brief look at that debate. >> why you voted against governor mcdonnell's transportation plan that was hailed by some as once in a generation infusion of money for transportation in a state, certainly here in a region, where transportation problems are significant. a moment ago your opponent referenced it as a game changer. can you explain why you voted against the bill and would you do so again today? >> i would note something my opponent hasn't noted was there was bipartisan opposition as well as bipartisan support. and i know this was a difficult issue. and we did all work together very civilly on it. and you know in the business community that i did meet and discuss this with you. but i was it concerned about the

disproportionate tax on northern virginia. we got a higher tax than anybody else. there were also all kinds of additional taxes that were put on businesses up here in northern virginia. so i know it was a tough call, but, you know, that was the call i made. now that that has passed, what we do in virginia unlike in washington and what we need to do instead of the name calling and the attack, is we immediately came together and said how are we now going to make that bill work. and an important part of that bill was -- and we had had previous legislation on this -- was to focus on congestion relief and make sure that money goes to congestion relief. not just things like the arlington trolley follow my which -- folly which is already gets tens of millions of dollars. i was told, oh, that'll never happen. now you see it going forward. so we need to now prioritize that, and i will work with all of my state and local colleagues to make sure the money doesn't go to things like that, but comes to places like louden where we are getting shortchanged on the transportation money. and i will fight with you every

day. and that's why all of these business groups who did support the transportation bill still supported me, because they know i'm the person who works to get things done. >> supervisor foust, one minute. >> thank you. the transportation bill literally is a game changer, and yet there are -- it costs more in northern virginia because we get a whole lot more. my opponent, you know, is now apparently taking credit for it after voting against it and is, you know, wants us to think that she is somehow making this work? well, led me until you -- let me tell you, that bill helped support dulles rail. my opponent showed up for the ribbon cutting. she did not support the funding for that project. this is the type of thing you have to look for. you know, are you willing to be there and take on the challenge and meet the challenge, or are

you just willing to show up after the fact and cut a rib bonn and take the credit? -- ribbon and take the credit? that is unacceptable. transportation is too important to play political games with in northern virginia. >> the virginia tenth congressional district debate is one of more than 100 campaign events c-span is airing this year. tonight live on c-span, a debate from nebraska's second district. nebraska has sent only two democrats to congress in the last 0 years. republican lee terry was first elect inside 1998. in 2012 he won re-election by 2%. and this year he's being challenged by democratic state senator brad ashford. you can see the candidates debate tonight live on our companion network, c-span, at 9 eastern. >> arkansas' governor is term limited after eight years in office, and two former

congressmen -- democrat mike raz and republican asa hutchinson -- are running to replace him. up next on c-span2, a debate between the two candidates. >> tonight the candidates for arkansas governor square off. a debate unlike anything arkansas has seep before. two candidates -- has seen before. two candidates with extensive political history. the attorney turned lawmaker, the small businessman who became a congressman. neck and neck in the polls. tonight your chance to see where they stand and how they differ. businessman mike ross. >> there are big differences between congressman hutchison and myself. >> obviously, we want to expand opportunity. i want to reflect our values. >> the debate begins now. from are your local election headquarters, we present this live, statewide presentation.

the arkansas governor's debate. >> moderator: good evening and thanks for joining us tonight, i'm ashley ketts in little wrong. we are coming to you live on television and online here tonight. what happens in the next 60 minutes could decide who represents you as the next golf of arkansas. will the democrat stay in the governor's mansion with mike ross, or will it be a republican transition with asa-upenson? -- hutchinson? mark it op your calendar, election day is november 4th. tonight's debate will look and feel a little different. you won't see any podiums, the time limits will be flexible. the goal tonight is to get to the heart of the issues so you can make your dixs. we want you to -- your decisions. let us know who is making an impression. you can tweet us using the hashtag argov, and we'll share some of that later in the broadcast. let's take you down to our

moderators to get things started. >> moderator: all right, ashley, thank you very much. hello and good evening, everybody. er joined by your candidates for governor, mike ross and asa hutchinson. gentlemen, thank you very much. also joined by political reporter david can -- david goens. our goal is to cut through the clutter, get to the issues that matter most for arkansas and, of course, for the next governor of the state of oor. david, it's good to have you here. >> absolutely. and each candidate will be afforded two minutes for an opening statement. via coin toss, mr. ross won that toss, and he'll be beginning with his opening remarks. first a short introduction on mr. ross. of course, he is the democrat in this race, he's also a native of arkansas, spent 12 years in the u.s. congress at a time where voters, obviously, seem fed up with washington politics. mr. ross, we'll start with you with your two minute opening. what makes you different? ..

and then she got her ged and moved to little rock and came back home and was a nurse in our little county well into her 70s. my parents were schoolteachers and after a lifetime of teaching and being a principal my dad became a united methodist

minister and a little country church in southwest arkansas today. my family, my family collectively taught me the values of faith, family, hard work, personal response ability and those values serves me well for the last 53 years and i want you to do the know the same values will serve as my moral compass as i do my best to hopefully leave this state -- lead this state. my parents were teachers and taught me the importance of education. i said i want to be the education governor because that's how we create more and better paying jobs. if you think about it if you want to talk about employment, opportunities, you want to talk about good jobs, hunger, homelessness, poverty, crime, it all starts with education. we've got to start sooner and finish stronger. we need more career tech opportunities for those who do not choose college or those coming head even my age that wake up one day and find themselves with a pink slip. we even need to make college

within reach for more young people. i want to be the biggest economic ambassador this state has ever had and i will work to get the job done. >> we are going to get to those issued this evening. let's introduce mr. asa hutchison who served as a federal prosecutor and also served in congress over several appointments under civil presence of drug enforcement administration and homeland security to mention a few. recently losing the same race we were actually hearing the debates last time you ran. what's different this time? >> i like to say those are good memories but this is a new day in arkansas policy. i'm glad to join you tonight. thank you everyone for joining us for this debate that is important for the future of arkansas. like mike i am very proud of my history in arkansas and my parents as well. we grew up on a farm. my parents were not rich but they were not poor.

they were middle class and what defined our family is hard work. we understood hard work. it was community, faith, church. that is what brought us together. and whenever you look at the work that we did, i started my first job as shoe shining a barbershop. i sacked groceries and i worked in a factory when i was in high school. i hauled hay. all these things to get ahead a little bit in life and have some spending money. going to college i actually cleaned up the gymnasium. i was a janitor helping to put my way through college and law school i was dating my sweetheart in memphis and i couldn't buy textbooks and put gas in the car so i hitchhiked to memphis and our marriage lasted 41 years but i think about my parents who were truly middle-class and that brings me to today's debate because the

defining issue in this debate and in this race for governor is who can best support and change the struggling middle class and give them more opportunity, more spending money, more and better economic opportunity. i want to be the job of governor because i believe everything hinges on the growing economy and better paying jobs. and today we see the middle-class squeeze because the government takes more and the government spends unwisely. so yes i want to make sure that we create jobs in arkansas and my plan for computer science in every high school, career education which is so important, lowering the tax rate in arkansas and refining education. >> of the a job candidate come education candidate you want to get through. >> received arkansas's unemployment rate peaked out at just 8% around this time three years ago. currently 6.3% that is two tenths higher but effectively in line with the national average. the bureau of statistics shows

that there are fewer of them today than five years ago. people want more jobs and overall fewer unemployed. what can you do from the governor's office to make that happen? >> a lot. obviously, to grow our economy and arkansas it is about the private sector. it's about individuals taking risk and making a difference, so i have a specific plan that will deduce that are better paying. one of the statistics today is that we were declining in arkansas and technology jobs. that is really insufficient particularly when we see what just moved 150 jobs in austin texas because the talent pool. that's why my plan for the growing economy in arkansas is right on target. it will work and produce jobs. we have to have a competitive tax rate in arkansas and my plan is to start it in the lower income. i want to have computer science and every high school. that is technology education

that will give our young people better paying jobs and opportunities and will help our growing industries such as many other countries that need that count. there is on the failed jobs in a future. that future. we also need to talk about career education, job skills that will help us bring industry and recruit the right ones to arkansas. this is in economic growth plan and finally, let's reduce the power of regulations on our business and let's make sure that we partner with them instead of trying to punish them. >> okay. what covered there. mr. ross, what are your thoughts on the job front? >> i've been involved in economic development all my life, and you can have the best industrial science and infrastructure, the best end state. they are going to do the job market or labor survey. and too many times in the towns large and small across the state, there is simply not an available educated, trained and skilled workforce. when i say i want to be the

education governor that is how we create more jobs for the working class families all across the state. that's why i feel very strongly about my pre- k. plan. if you are a parent and you have a 4-year-old and you want them in the classroom there should be a form regardless of your income, regardless of your zip code. you look at 109th nine traders today 20 of them do not finish high school. only 20 of them are graduating college. we've got to increase the college graduation rate. we need a renewed emphasis on the education of the science technology, engineering and math and for those who do not go to college we need a renewed focus if you will on career tech. we need greater partnerships between our high schools, community colleges, technical schools and existing industry so young people who do not choose college can learn a skill and trade and get a certification and get a good paying job and in doing so it helps provide our state with an educated, within educated, trained and skilled workforce we need.

that coupled with my plan for taxes my plan to reduce government rules and regulations as governor i'm going to send a message loud and clear to america and the world that arkansas is open for business. >> click on that and i will ask you to respond to this but what about retaining the folks that graduate from college to be part of the workforce and keep them from moving out of larger cities where they will make more money. it's been absolutely that is one of the challenges but looking historically we are keeping more of our talent in arkansas and also having students from other states come here that are finding their future here but it really troubles me whenever we are losing some of our best talent. we have to concentrate on the stem education and fields import into the future. i mentioned computer science there will be 1 million unfilled jobs in the next ten years, great opportunity. and it's a combination of things. we have to make sure the industry is here to use the

students we graduate but it also starts with those students and the talent pool that we have. let's start with the talent pool and the industry will come. >> part of my job is the first plan and you can read it at mike ross.com i call for fully funding the governor's distinguished scholarship so we keep the best and brightest in arkansas. let me tell you something else we have to do though. i'm from a small town and more times than not when someone goes off to college they never come back and that's pretty much what we see in the world council across arkansas and all across america. we need to create more and better paying jobs to these people that go off to college will have a job to come back to. >> we've talked about education and jobs and one thing i did want to touch on is the quick action fund and i know you are familiar with it. it's money at the end of the line. the governor has that at his discretion. you talk about your endorsement is not as clear as a slush fund.

your thoughts on the continuation of that money is that something that governor needs to bring the business to arkansas cracks >> a governor needs to have the ability to recruit industry and use incentives to get them here that's very important for the state but what i set up a quick said about the quick action closing fund is that it's important that we do need to have more transparency so we know how that is used and in hindsight we can measure it better and we need to have better callback provisions that are being used in some instances in which we've lost the industry. they've not been able to fulfill the jobs and so this is taxpayer money we need to be old to recover so there needs to be some adjustments and that is what i've advocated consistently in terms of the amount i don't think that we should be locked in raiders 50 million or 45 or 55 lead to balance it with the needs of the states we need to have it adequately funded as the exact amount i don't think you should be definitive i think we

need to look at what is going to be the needs for the next year and balance other needs in the state. >> with the governor's quick action closing fund i support the state chamber of commerce position which is that it should be fully funded every two years the $50 million. it has worked. congressman this is the fourth consecutive decade to run for statewide office. last decade it was against governor beebe and a debate much like this when he proposed the idea of being able to compete with other states for incentives to get good paying jobs congressman hutchison said it wouldn't be anything more than governors slush fund. fast forward seven and a half years into the governor's quick action closing fund has put 30,000 people to work in arkansas. if we want to be competitive with surrounding states and get more and better paying jobs we have to provide the incentives other states are providing, clawback processes and procedures are already in place and the state is successfully clawback on the companies that have said one thing and have done another.

i agree with the governor. i support the governor's quick action closing fund greatest image you have a list of corporations when you are in office that come to arkansas? >> i've already actually contacted a couple of them. >> and they are? >> i was at the nra convention and i was visiting with gun manufacturers and they are leading some northeastern states because the product is illegal under the new gun laws and so i said make me a promise that when you leave you will consider arkansas before you make a decision and they made that commitment to me so i've already passed that on that i will follow it with them and a few others that we've talked to. >> you have some people on deck. >> let me tell you what i'm going to do as governor. we are not going to be for the industry to contact us. we are going to do due diligence. we are going to reach out and identify companies and

businesses in america into the world that we believe are looking to expand into bouquets and i'm going to spend time on the phone reaching out to these businesses, telling them why they should do business in arkansas and if i need to get on the next commercial flight and fly to their town to make the pitch, i will. we have a lot of success stories in arkansas. people that have done well here and i'm going to ask those that have been successful in arkansas to give back and to become economic ambassadors for arkansas and ask them to reach out to be let them know why they do business here in arkansas. >> talking about taxes we talk about jobs and education and it blends into the taxes. each of you have proposed a cut to the state income tax, putting on the screen right now the graphic that essentially highlights each of the plans into similarities. those needing less than $75,000 a year there are some nuance differences. but the big picture they are similar and i'm sure that you will tell me they are quite different but the bottom earners do not see any reduction of the

income tax. how do you characterize that as middle-class tax relief? >> because the tax relief is very targeted between those that make $20,075,000 a year. that's the heart and soul of arkansas. we can help the middle class and this is the way to do it. >> the tax plan is 45% of the taxpayers. >> it's for those making $25,000 a year. it's targeted towards them. if you want to promise something to everybody like mr. ross with a 565 million-dollar tax plan i wanted to make it something that doable and that is $100 million when you do $100 million limited to that you have to target it and it's toward the middle class. there's been a -- the lower income are already in the lower tax bracket.

the high income can wait until later. let's get into the double post first. the sweet spot in arkansas. and there's a huge difference between my plan and mr. ross because it is a competitive issue of the surrounding states. we have a 7% tax rate in arkansas has the highest in the region. mine would reduce the starting with middle income from 7% to 6%. 6% to 5% that makes us more competitive. mr. ross's plan doesn't do that. when i came out with my plan from the very beginning, it was foundational. mr. ross said i'm going to be leading -- letting rapists out of prison. and all this fear because i wanted to do a tax plan because i knew that it was needed. and now he then poses some even larger than what i proposed. >> what you think of mr. hutchison's assertions about its? >> the classes are too high for the middle class in arkansas for the working poor in arkansas and i'm going to fix it. i never thought i could would see the day-to-day republican candidate in congressman

hutchison here would criticize me for wanting to cut people's taxes too much. i subscribe to the governor's model and just like he did on the sales tax, this is a similar debate with the governor and the congressman had almost eight years ago when the governor said we are going to phase out the sales tax as we can afford it and he said it is an empty promise. you will never do it. fast forward, 80% of the sales tax on groceries has been taken off and the wall has already passed law has already passed to take the remaining 20% off. i subscribe to the same model. my tax cut plan is this. we are going to balance the budget first and we are in the financial safety and then as we have the revenue growth and we always do we are going to implement my plan for the lower and fair taxes. >> manufacturers, we have pre- k. and then there is a third one that escapes me, but we have a three-pronged approach here. which one takes the president? >> first of all here's what i think is important and what i've done in the campaign for

governor. i sit here are the things come here are my parodies and here is my vision for a better arkansas. here are the things i go to a published in the next four to eight years these are my priorities that we are going to balance the budget first and we are going to find the medicaid safety and then as the ad revenue growth we are going to be the priorities of the state and provide tax relief for working families. here's the difference between my plan and congressman hutchison. he's promised every voter in the state that he will cut taxes on hundred million dollars in the first year in office. when the department of finance and revenue will tell you the department of finance and revenue will tell you that at best we do have a 50 million net revenue growth that means a 50 million-dollar deficit. that's the kansas model. the record deficit credit rating downgraded. >> let me ask you one more time in a short amount of time the veterans and is the third one. one of those has to be the first to be the tax cut if the revenues are there which is one of the most important do you start the pre- k. plan, do you go for veterans or

manufacturers? >> i think we can do some of all of that and of that and that is what i called for in the plan and it is on my website and i hope that people will take a look at it it is about priorities. those are my parodies and we will need them as we have revenue growth by not going to promise 100 million. that is the kansas model i subscribe to the bb model. >> this is very important right here. first of all my plan of $100 million targeted to the middle income is something that can be absorbed in our recurring revenue in the state. we grow $200 million a year and a hundred million dollars if you look at our budgeting actually if you pass it next year it goes onto the impact in 2016. so it is very manageable. but what is important is if you have seen mr. ross promised something to everyone but then he will not be definitive as what he wants to do next year. i've been very clear i promised $565 million in tax cuts and i said $100 million this is where we are going to start. so i want to ask what are you

going to do next year and i said what i'm going to do next year are you saying there isn't good to be any more income tax next year to the legislature. if you are going to present something to the legislature next year what is it going to be and what is the amount of that? i've been very specific and realistic voters about arkansas to be specific. >> one thing that you have been specific about when we get to education the class is important to everybody in your plan is very heavy on computer science and in high school telling the pre- k. plan but said the parents of expressed concern over what is called the common core and we have all seen that in the next couple of years you are going to see and wonder what it is. but for the most part a lot of things to be good folks think it's great. >> do you support common core and it's full of the mentation? >> i support the review of common core. it's very important that we have high standards in education in arkansas and i want to make sure

that we have the highest expectations for our students. second, it went arkansas to dictate its own education policy and not come from washington, d.c.. >> do you think there is that much in common core? >> look at oklahoma who rejected common core and they are just now withdrawing the waivers but the head with no child left behind. so yes there is a consequence. there is a lot of pressure on this i want to make sure that we determine high standards for arkansas based on our values. i was at the high school taught students about 100 they asked me about common core so i asked them to you want the next governor to modify common core or keep it as it is? 95% raised their hand and said it needs to be modified. it's just an anecdote. but my pledge is i will have my commissioner of education review where we are, have high standards and i want to get parents and teachers together and see what kind of tweaks we need to make to make sure that we have maintained high standards. but we control it here and

correct it from arkansas. >> i know you mentioned online testing as it relates to the same speed and as it relates to common core. your thoughts? >> i separate the concepts of common core. we need to teach young people how to think for themselves and how to think for a way that applies in college and technical school in a way they can apply it in the workplace. here's what common core is not there is a lot of misinformation on the internet. it's not a curriculum, it's a standard. it is a business of it outlawing writing multiplication tables nothing can be further from the truth. it's not curriculum, it is simply a standard. second it isn't pushed down from washington. it was written by people like governor huckabee and governor bush implemented and endorsed by the national governors association and in coordination with a lot of people that have been successful in the business world at creating jobs and putting people to work on people like bill gates. so we may need to work on it. i'm certainly receptive to doing it, though i think that the concept is good.

>> sticking with education was moved to pre- k. which is something that is very big on the campaign. access to pre- k. for every 4-year-old in the state by 2025 the full three years that would be after you leave office the price tag coming into $38 million at the time when the schools are already taxed running out of money. how would you pay for something like that? >> that is a good question and i hope that we can do it sooner than that. the first thing i wanted was fully fund the program that we have. this is the abc program and the quality is outstanding. we are ranked like he wasn't in the nation in terms of quality. quantity is the issue. oklahoma has figured this out. and i think that it is the right thing to do. and here is how i would pay for it. number one, we would increase from 200 to 300% of poverty those who are eligible for the program as fast as we can with net revenue growth and there will be revenue growth and the congressman hutchison will spend more than we are going to have a net revenue growth and put us on

the path of the fiscal responsibility and record deficits and have the credit rating will work just as they have seen in kansas as well as huge cuts to public education in kansas. i subscribe to that bb model. we are going to do this and pay for it. as we have the revenue growth. between 300 to 400% of poverty if they want their child in the classroom they would pay half the cost which is less than they pay for daycare today. those are the 400% of poverty which for a family of four is about $88,000 a year they would pay the full price to be comparable to what they are paying for daycare now so that's how they would pay for the implemented as we can. >> you call the plan fiscally responsibility but you also talked about fully funding the current pre- k. program because it isn't fully funded so that is a part of her plan, right clicks connect there is a distinction. i support pre- k.. we have an existing program that funds pre- k. up to 200 percentage of poverty which means we are targeting the taxpayer dollars towards those that need it the most. mr. ross wants to expand that up

to 300% of poverty in poverty and begin up to 400% of poverty with taxpayers money so, whether they can afford it or not you're going to get the taxpayers to pay for it and i'm saying we have to prioritize this $37 million a year. so that governor was available to find the money to fund the existing program and i want to fund the existing program to make sure that we target the tax payers dollars taxpayers dollars to those who need it the most. mr. ross acts like i'm going to put the state in jeopardy. we have a stabilization act and obviously, we are going to fund education. we are going to balance the budget. we are going to fulfill our commitments to services. but with the revenue growth that we have had historically it is important for growth and so we are on education and i think again coming back to the biggest difference that we can make for the middle income is to raise our income here and the best way to do that is to the technology education combined with career education that teaches them the skills for the workplace. that's what i want to emphasize.

>> the congressman said one thing in arkansas that he does another in washington, d.c.. as a congress when he voted against pre- k. programs is that my plan to increase access to pre- k. in arkansas was the wrong direction for arkansas. now he's telling us he's for increasing access to pre- k.. i get confused. is this the washington or arkansas i wish that the real asa would stand up. >> you can sit or stand. >> i'm not sure that a negative attack along that line. he spent 12 years in washington and congress and if you want to talk about his record come he voted for nancy pelosi for speaker for times and voted against her twice. [inaudible] >> i gave a nominating speech for her opponent with her sitting in the front row. >> you voted for times. i didn't say anything else i said you voted against her as well. don't get so defensive about

your flip-flopping on nancy pelosi. those are just the facts, mike. we both have a record in washington. i have had a record of balancing the budget for the example. when i left congress our nation had a balanced budget. when mr. ross with congress they had a 1 trillion-dollar deficit. so i'm proud of the record we had in congress. >> we are just getting started tonight. the candidates getting comfortable somewhat. coming up next we are going to examine something that we have all seen and we will see. plus talking to some of the issues that the candidates will face in the campaign. here's a look at the debate party in little rock at the republican headquarters. mr. hutchison supporters you are watching the next broadcasting on the presentation. ♪

>> we want to give you a live look at the campaign headquarters in northwest arkansas. reporters are gathering looking on this evening. don't forget to join the conversation on social media we are monitoring your tweets. simply use the hash tag #argov to join the conversation and we will be reading some of your tweets. if you've spent any time around a television set in the last year, you have been inundated with political acts. you see one, two, 55,000 by now. let's take a look at the acts that have been dominating the airwaves. >> some things shouldn't be for sale. >> they said that the attacks on mike ross are not true. when it came out he didn't hold the truth.

mike ross fifth-generation on kansas, public school educators. >> the next governor will have to stand up to washington liberals like president obama and nancy pelosi. >> we need a governor class families can plan on -- count on. >> just a sprinkling of what's been out there. the tds and only the king of politics but it's the monster and it's being fed very well. your take? too much or does it have to get to the point because a lot of the ads do work naturally. >> in negative ads are what is the problem and i think what the voters want without any question are positive ads. i have people telling us tell us what you want to do as governor so i'm glad you played some of them as part of my grand daughter talking about computer science. i've done and added talking about an agricultural committee of 16, 20 billion-dollar

business arkansas number one industry. i talked about my truck and my wife has been on television talking about our marriage. as a positive message is what i believe word out there and i'm very disappointed whenever i think the negative ads just turned voters off and that is a concern. >> are you worried about about kind of the underpinning of the onslaught of the negative ads? the majority of them i've looked at every added that the campaign has produced and it has been positive more or less. are you worried about everything else overshadowing its? >> the wealthy out-of-state friends spent millions trying to convince you of something i'm not misrepresenting the facts and distorting the truth, lighting about me and my record and i've been disappointed about that. i want to talk about my positive vision in the future of the state and improving education, creating more better paying jobs for the middle-class families, bringing the jobs back to arkansas, the lower and fair

taxes. my senior citizens bill of rights, my veterans better plan. those are the things, those are the reasons i'm running. and all of those plans are based on life experiences that i had growing up in southwest arkansas and places like prescott and emmett and hope and now i love this state and i know we can do better. >> we went from talking about the ads to producing a couple. >> even if you are you concerned about the amount of ads and the senate race overshadowing? >> let me just come back to what mr. ross is speaking out. our ads have been positive, and he is talking about an ad from an out-of-state group that we do not have any control over. but you played the add-in which he attacked my character and whenever i look at that happening i'm thinking does this encourage any 18-year-olds to vote? does it encourage people to participate in the political process and between that force we have an obligation to make sure people say public service is good and we are encouraging

that and negative advertising doesn't work that way. so i can't control the senate race and i can't control the out-of-state i can control my own message and that is what i want to do and mike is right. it's about how the vision for what we are going to do for middle class and the tax cuts, the veterans what we want to do so that is what we are going to be talking about. >> it's almost as a poor me. if you can't control the ads that are being run by the republican governors association on a fairly and untruthfully attacking me when, you know, he came out with this ad. my wife is a pharmacist and spent 14 years going to work everyday building a successful business. she would get up at midnight and get medicine for sick kids. it's america. she sold her business for a profit in america. imagine that. he attacked her for that. for him to say that isn't me that's the republican governors association, you know when that began airing? when the chairman of the republican governors association association wasn't arkansas raising money for congressman hutchison's campaign. he could have said this isn't

fair they've done three stories and two editorials and the house ethics committee reviewed the seven years ago and said there is no truth to it but he didn't. he let them continue to go after my wife and i think he owes my wife and apology right here and right now. >> do you control the democratic governor association adds that they run attacking me? you know better than that. i have no control over those ads and it is illegal to coordinate those that i don't know anything about the facts or the sale of your pharmacy. i will let you answer those questions. i've never attacked you on that issue. if you remember me attacking you on that or any way tommy right now. >> we will look more to the future. let's move onto health care. the affordable care act past four years ago and last year arkansas republican legislature passed a private option, come from his medicaid expansion pleases with income on private

plans, federal tax dollars to do it. figures show we have 200,000 people receiving coverage under the private option. most are going through private providers as we mentioned a smaller portion are doing the traditional medicaid route. it opens up a divide among arkansas republicans in the legislature. mr. hutcheson we will start with you. is it a bit more opaque about the future of the private options and what happens if you're in the the governors office? >> i'm in the best position to negotiate with the legislature and to stand up to president obama's administration as to what we need to do in the future. i position myself to make sure that we can measure the costs clearly without any question in my mind that private option on hospitals. it has certainly expanded health care in arkansas so those are the positive things that any governor has to look at the cost for the future down the road when i'm governor we will have to pick up 10% of that.

>> what's your impression on costs right now? >> they are unpredictable. they came out with a report that the private option might cost more than the medicaid expansion. you also still getting the numbers as to what the insurance rates are going to be so we are still measuring it and so i think that a governor has to be careful -- >> does the legislature lead the way? >> i expect to lead the way working with the legislature. it's handy that about republicans that helped draft the private option and opposed it have both endorsed me so i think i can bring people together as well as the democrats and say let's figure out the right way for the future but then also i mentioned we have to request some waivers not just accepting the status quo trying to do it better we might have to ask for more from washington and stand up to what they might be saying. >> i wholeheartedly support the medicaid expansion of the private option in arkansas.

regardless of how you feel about the affordable care act the only part of that arkansas has any say over is the medicaid expansion and governor bb or twist of the legislature and creativity innovative market based bipartisan solution known as the private option. fast forward one year and we are ranked number one in america. we reduced the uninsured rate in arkansas by half. nearly 200,000 people and i might point out out the these are working kansans who don't work. they already get traditional medicaid of these are the people trying to do the right thing and stay off welfare but they are working the jobs with no benefits and i'm going to fight to protect it. congressman hutchison here he spent a year saying he was still reading it and then he went on npr radio and said the only thing good about the option is that it put the spokes as he called them on private insurance and would be a simple process, he said, to take them off the private insurance as opposed to the traditional medicaid. this is a lifeline to our rural

hospitals that that is why every hospital in the state supports it. a 200,000 arkansans are going to be in the trade and skilled workforce to bring more better paying jobs to arkansas. and as governor i will be a leader. i will tell you right. right now where i stand on the issue. he continues to dodge it. he will not give you a straight answer tonight. yes or no do you support the private option? i do. >> in-depth diatribe that we just heard, you will notice that there was never one mention of what it costs and i think that any governor has to be responsible to look at the cost of the taxpayers when we do good things and clearly the private option is doing good things out there but i would be responsible as a governor and leader in the states to pledge 100% support without modification without looking at it closely and the cost down the road forever children and grandchildren so my pledge to the voters is that i work for the legislature to get the right solution and to get a

solution that we can all afford and also to push back to see how we can improve it. it's not about the status quo or just accepting what we have been doing. mr. ross would have accepted the medicaid expansion surely as it was. we never had a private option because he would have supported the medicaid expansion. it was the republican leadership that said we ought to look at it in a more innovative fashion. >> when we talk about a lot of these issues and success of the past governors, your predecessors all the way back to clinton have come into the office through state governments both of you gentlemen have been involved but it's removed for some time now. >> we've never been involved in the state government. i spent ten years balancing as a state senator. >> from your point of view how do you force those relationships and get moving on something as important as the buddha picture that you haven't worked with? >> first of all if i could respond to congressman hutchinson i mentioned numerous times tonight we are going to balance the budget first.

but most of the most the state ever pays under the private option is 10% and we will be able to afford it because of the jobs that it creates. 200,000 people having jobs and healthcare sector any economist will tell you that it was more than pay for itself. and i've committed to protecting protecting it and still, right here site, several opportunities. he will not give a straight yes or no on whether or not he supports these 200,000 working arkansans keeping their health insurance. look, i've got a history of being bipartisan. congressman hutchison has a history of being hyper partisan. when i was in congress, i chaired the conservative democrats. national journal consistently listed me as one of the most independent members of congress. i earned an a+ rating from the national rifle association. i have a history of working with democrats and republicans to get the job done, and that is exactly what i will do as governor.

>> i'm sorry. am i going to fast for you? i was right to slow down. i will apologize. >> yes you are going a little bit long. now, one when you talk about bipartisanship i'd been in the state government. i've worked in state government, it worked across the aisle. if you look at my history, i have the ability to do that. i would be happy to address these more as the next question comes along. >> we will be back after a short break we are going to look at the twitter reaction to the debate. so far far but talk it's not about topics in the quickfix segment. here is a live look at another party for asa hutchinson and also in northwest arkansas many supporters up there. [inaudible] you are watching the broadcast of the presentation of the arkansas governor debate. >> you're watching the arkansas

governor's debate in downtown little rock. >> you are looking live at another wash party this one in little rock downtown. we do want to welcome you back to the arkansas governor's debate. we've been asking you to share your thoughts on social media tonight using the hash tag #argov. it is trending up right now, the candidate is making an impact with you and why he? here's some of what we're hearing tonight. let's take a look here at montgomery who says what is hutchinson wermiel for the delta since he delta since he wants to govern the entire state? next, we have asa hutchinson's tax plan is immediate and not down the road like mike. look at the gershwin tax, never completely gone. josh says look mike ross can't name any businesses that he would contact or has contacted

to move to arkansas if elected governor. thank you for your comment. and asa will turn arkansas into kansas with his unrealistic tax plan. we can't afford that. look at kansas today. a snapshot, here's another comment we want to share with you tonight. 75 k. a year with about a larger family? tax cuts for middle-class, small business, true bull class, 125,000 is still middle-class. and that is a snapshot of what we are seeing tonight in the conversation on social media. let's send it back to you. >> thank you very much. before the break i posed a question to the candidates about working with the legislature getting back in the state government. you've got to get shortchanged on the times we want to give you plenty of time to address that. >> you all are terrific and when you look at experience and i think my experience does lend itself to work with all the legislature -- throughout the legislature. i know not only have legislative executive steering. president bush appointed me to

have the 9,000 member agency and helped set up the department of homeland security. i was under the secretary and had to meet 110,000 employees. an older works with the legislative branch. and so, that experience as an executive leading large agencies as well as legislative i think that helps move the state legislature. i've already talked to them and i think it's very important when you work in a bipartisan way it is and to say here to the opposing party this is what we need you to help on where to support after you've drafted it. we need to bring it early in the processing that is what i would want to do whether it is a private option or whether it is computer coding or a whole host of things we need to address including the crime problem that we faced. >> we are looking for 32nd responses let's start with the minimum wage on the november 4 ballot. obviously you talked about the support for the measure.

how important is it to support this measure? >> i signed the petition to get it on the ballot and i support increasing the state minimum wage. congressman hutchinson opposed raising the minimum wage and he said he was against it in this campaign. then he said that he's for it. as asa does, asa does. working families deserve a pay raise and i'm going to be working hard to make sure that we increase the statement on the wage. someone working 40 hours a week 52 week never takes a single day off and earned 13,000 a year. >> in 30 seconds i support the minimum wage and i will vote for the ballot initiative contrary to what mr. ross said we need to raise the minimum wage from day number one when he was still undecided and so i supported. we had a debate about the process and i will be supporting the minimum wage increase which

is historically done periodically. but what we have to talk about more than the minimum wage, that is a base for. we've got to be able to have a stronger great arkansas and my rate arkansas and my initiative will help us do that. >> we've seen advocates across little rock asking the candidates to community first option. do you support this? >> i said that those to because the six apart does that live at home independently. this is very personal for me. my mom had polio when she was a year old and spent more time growing up and rent hospitals than she did at home. i understand the challenges that those whose face disabilities and i believe they need more choices, not less less and i believe they choose to live independently they should be allowed to do so. >> and i agree the choices are important. the csc zero is one part of the affordable care act. obamacare and the states have an

option. not very many states have accepted that option and the cost is still an issue that you have to deal with in this but it's certainly something that we need to look at. and i do support more options for those that qualify. >> let me switch real quick. we would be remiss if we didn't start with prisons and crime. is a new prison inevitable, and how does that play into the overall what you feel the state needs on that? >> this is where i want to use my experience. probably no one has been governor of arkansas with the kind of law-enforcement experience i've had for being a federal prosecutor to leading large law-enforcement agencies. we have a drug problem, we have a crime problem. we have to change behavior. we have to lock up violence and look at alternatives for those that might fit into the rehabilitation program with accountability. we need to inform the parole system. is it an eligible?

not under my watch. i know that as a recommendation that is being studied but don't get ahead of ourselves we need to look at every creative opportunity and every option before we do that and that would be my approach. >> kind of the same question but an inevitable path. we have nearly 2,000 inmates backed up in the county jails and some 72,000. that comes at a price tag of 15 to 25 million a year to operate it. i think the jury is still out and i'm anxious to see some studies work with the legislature but if we do about whether we build a new prison or not i want to see meaningful reforms to the kernel justice system. we need smarter sentencing. we need alternative sentencing. for some nonviolent and for some first-time offenders. we need more drug treatment courts either in treatment courts. it is going to require more probation and parole officers to double at a fraction of the

cost. >> we are going to move a long. thank you for coming and discussing things. it helps the voters out there. as we end this broadcast we want to give you time to directly appeal and looked right at the camera and talk to the voters out there >> thank you. and i appreciate all you've taken the time out to listen to us debate tonight. it's so important to what we are trying to accomplish. i started out with what can we do most to help to grow the middle class and their income level in arkansas and that's my passion is economic growth and job creation. i have a very specific plan that will actually work for arkansas. it is asaplan.com and it is a plan that includes lowering the tax rate. we can be more competitive. three are education classes. we need to make sure that we

offer education including computer science if 20% of the students took computer science and coding, there would be 6,000 graduates a year that would move into the economy for that capability it could dynamically change the economy of arkansas with a very low cost investment. we need to reduce regulatory burden. i have been blessed in arkansas and served the two presidents in the positions the highest honor i could have as a public servant would be to serve the people of arkansas as your next governor invited here asking for your vote and look forward to the closing days of the campaign as we tell what we want to do for the state of arkansas. thank you very much. >> mr. ross? >> bob, david, thank you for thank you for hosting channel four and nbc for hosting this date this evening. i would like to begin by saying hello to my mom and dad and all

of my family and friends back home in the data county growing up in a small town. i never dreamed that i'd be sitting here in the debate as a candidate for governor of this great state. and it's happening. it's happening for one reason. it's happening because i had the opportunity to receive an education that is second to none. that's what i want for your family and for your children. that's what i want for your grandchildren. i have a positive vision for the future of the state and it starts with education. my parents were schoolteachers. i'm very passionate about education because i believe that is how we create more and better paying jobs. that's how we move the middle class and allow more people to become part of the middle-class in this state. job creation, i want to be the biggest economic ambassador this state has ever had. and the way we do that is by having an educated, trained and skilled workforce. number two i have a plan for the lower and fair taxes and i want to implement the plan exactly the way that the governor took the sales tax off.

we are going to balance the budget first and do these things in a fiscally responsible manner as the state can afford. we are going to balance the budget first and fund education, medicaid, public safety and as we have revenue growth, we are going to continue to cut taxes for hard working folks all across the state. finally, i want -- i believe all women in the state deserve to make the same amount of money as their male counterparts with the same education doing the same job. i feel very strongly about giving women in the state the opportunity to be able to earn with their counterparts earned and domestic violence, we are going to send a message loud and clear all over the state of domestic violence will no longer be tolerated at arkansas. i have a positive vision for the future of the state and i hope you'll read all about it at mikeross.com. >> thank you both very much. and i want to thank you for joining us. >> thank you gentlemen. we of course thank you for

spending the night here with us at the arkansas governors debate. you can feel free to continue the conversation on social media and continue to use the hash tag #argov. we will have more during this week's capitol view broadcast. check your local listings for that. you will also be able to view q. as well as any other episode on the capitol view application available in both itunes store and google play. i am ashley. have a great night. ♪ ♪ ♪

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>> it took me two years after i got out to get an appointment. i'm curious the general reason that the whole ba is in trouble is because you have secret waiting lists, and i relatively correct? and that is because you are putting people on the secret waiting lists because there was too many people and not enough providers, relatively correct? >> yes. >> so i finally came in june of this year. i was seen for three minutes by a doctor who didn't ask me any single question about a disability that i was put out four and then i got a letter in the mail saying my disability was cut in half. they didn't ask about my health issues. they spent three minutes asking me what's up and telling me it was disrespectful, not as disrespectful as killing veterans of then they sent me on my way. since i got out of the army, my

wife left me, i moved in with my parents and i couldn't get a job for the longest time. but, telling them that made them think that my issues are all better. so, they scheduled me -- i was in gilbert -- they scheduled me for a primary care provider appointment, whatever you want to to college, late august. i get a phone call saying it's been canceled. in september i get another postcard but it's been canceled and early october i get a postcard saying it's been canceled, so i start calling. and surprisingly, i can't get a single human on the phone. i can get an operator, who i'm sure has been cursed out more than anybody on the planet, because she's the only point of contact to human. so, i finally decided screw it, i'm going into the clinic. i walk into told him i'd had i had four canceled appointments because i want to talk to someone. after walking in a tony go ahead and talk to this guy over here who here who spend an hour answering phones. don't you think it's a little ironic that the reason i had to go to the clinic to talk to someone is because i couldn't get anyone on the phone and then i had to wait an hour for a guy

to stop answering the phone? i couldn't get his number they wouldn't even give me the phone number so i get an appointment, i sit down and talk to one of these advocates people come and they tell me told me that i canceled all of my appointments. so i canceled five appointments and here i am? so, when curious is you got in trouble because you are canceling or not even making appointments were putting people on these bogus lists but now you're being open about it and still doing the same damn thing of canceling, making the patient canceled the appointment insults. the only reason i got care is because i went down there and raised hell. >> you can see all of the town hall meeting at the phoenix va medical center tonight on c-span2 at eight eastern. live tomorrow on c-span2 the family research council's 2014 value voter summit. the event kicks off at 8:45 eastern and keynote speakers are ohio republican congressman jim jordan and south carolina republican senator tim scott.

.. and quite possibly in the americas. we have four speakers and we had 10 minutes and we are down to nine minutes each now so we will move fairly quickly after myself will be dr. luciana borio from the food and drug administration, dr. jesse bump from georgetown university and dr. beth cameron from the white house. i would like to show you just a few slides primarily from the time we spent last august in sierra leon and we have strongly

held opinions based on that experience and everything that i have done over the last 35 years in medicine and research and public health on what i think is happening and what needs to happen to respond to the ebola crisis which is now in west africa but soon maybe elsewhere. this is a sign from sierra leone find everywhere, signs and symptoms of ebola virus. early clinical parts of illness are tied to symptoms that are nonspecific fever diary of and that means they are very much parts of the illness. the signs and symptoms are nonspecific. that means that they are very much imitative of common diseases, much more common diseases in west africa like malaria or typhoid or gastroenteritis so it's hard to know if someone has ebola or they have a much more common diseases such as mar