in your article you mention several cases in which a bank allowed older people to repeatedly withdraw large amounts of money and presumably when that was out of the presumably when it was out of order for that particular person, and actually did nothing to investigate whether fraud was involved, and perhaps didn't even notify anybody until the point at which the person attempted to get a loan from the bank. so, what should be or is being done to encourage banks to take a more active role in intervening in these situations? >> i don't have that much information on this except that there are some banks that are making it part of their company-wide effort, such as wells fargo, i understand, where they're letting -- educating everybody to be a reporter. in not every state has the same law in terms of who is supposed

to be a -- has to report when they think elder fraud is happening. it varies from state to state. but there are companies themselves that are taking it upon themselves to do this, and i think -- i can't speak in great detail about what the bankers associations are doing but there some banks that are saying, if you think there's something going on you need to speak up right away. and not wait until time goes by. but certainly more education at all levels from tell at the. the teller is offer the person that sees the senior taking out the money, and it's a fine line between letting them have control over their money and putting up a red flag. we also think it's a good idea for family members to have a relationship with the local bank, often seniors do go to local branches. they don't -- i don't know how much they're doing their banking online as opposed to other population groups, but often seniors go to the bank,

especially if they're talking out a large amount modify. they go to tell sore it's good a good idea for the families to have a relationship with the bank so that this kind of conversation can be -- >> i have a feeling if that woman who is trying to help her son will purportedly in peru and needing help, even if the teller would have said, she might have shared that story. oh, my grandson is in trouble, and i'm trying to help him, it just seems like those kinds of conversations even could help. i don't know how one enforces that. however. one other question for you and then for professor wallace. i think some people think that these might be small scam operations, but you pointed out that actually some of these are fairly big-time operators, and i wonder if you could talk about

that also built. >> so we look at something called the jamaican lottery scam, which you may have heard about. this is -- it operates not just out of jamaica but other foreign countries as well. costa rica, israel, canada. this where people are called, elderly people are called. they have a list, the scammers have a list they've collected. it may be because somebody has responded to something in the mail, and then they've sent something become, their name, maybe a phone number, maybe even some money, and these lists are created, and these scammers get ahold of these lists and they know now this is somebody who has already responded once to a mailing, and so then they will call these seniors, and they are very, very organized, they know how to get seniors emotionally. they know how to draw the senior in and often use threats and these thing goes on for months

and months, and people lose hundreds of thousands of dollars. so they're very organized. >> mr. wallace, your testimony mentioned the breaking digital barriers program at michigan tech. that could serve as a national model. what are some of the common themes you observed in serbs -- seniors who have taken the course and will these trends be reflective of seniors nationwide. >> certainly the anxious kite site and fear of adopt egg technology is a profound one, and we need to balance this concern about fraud, which is absolutely legitimate, with a -- something that encourages them to explore in a safe way. and so finding that balance is really a key issue for us.

0e we till struggle but we look at ways to relate it to their life offline. what do you do to be sensible and safe and secure in your regular life? can you transfer those kinds of skims -- skills over the digital world? that's one thing that is -- >> i do want to say that -- let's see. 35 -- the pew research center reports 35% of americans age 65 and older currently use social media, up 27% from 2014. so more and more people are. and in 2014, pew reported 59% of the sage group using the internet with 71% going on daily. so, we're seeing more and more seniors -- >> especially in our area it's vital for them to go online because so many of their family members live far away now, and

so it's a tremendous asset for them, really a lifeline. so it's important for them to adopt this technology. >> thank you. i yield back. >> chair recognizes mr. mullen of oklahoma. five minutes for your questions, please. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and thank you both for being here. professor wallace, what gave you the idea to even start this up? just taking a look at you, i'm very impressed -- not by your looks -- i'm very impressed by the idea that you would take this initiative. was this something driven by you, by your students? what made you even think of this? >> one driving force is that the type of material that i teach to our students involves understanding users of the technology that they're

developing. so, our students are going to be developing the software that we are going to be using in just a few years. i want them to understand what regular people are like, and certainly people who don't have that kind of deep understanding of the technology that they do. very often what happens is software people will develop software for other software people in mind so we need to have a broader view of what the user is going to be like. one thing wanted to insert here, i got a message from one of my colleagues in breaking digital barriers. this is not exclusive lay senior problem. digitallet literacy is something that is a people across age groups. we work with people who are younger than i am so by definition they're not old, who struggle with the technology.

and so the general this is a larger issue that impacts seniors greatly, but also i think we need to keep in mind it's a broader issue. >> thank you for seeing a need and then i'm assuming that once you started down this path it became a passion, because the amount of work you have put into this, this wasn't just a class project. did you get personally involved in it to some degree, surprisingly? >> yes. i think it's fair to say that everyone who participated in it, students, faculty, take a personal interest in it and it's the kind of work that is so much fun that it doesn't feel like work. apart from the learning that goes on in our sessions, it's also a social session, and it's a way for generations to meet

and work together in a productive way. it's just a lot of fun. >> thank you. i hope i say this right. mustanger? >> yes. >> now, kind of the same question applies to you. this isn't -- the wasn't exactly your background. you just started down this path, and one door opened to another and now it's almost a passion if i'm seeing that right. was there something that led you down this road? >> i would say it is my park but i am a personal finance editor, a senior editor in personal finance at consumer reports. this is actually the second piece we have written on this two years ago we wrote about scams or -- should i say fraud committed by family members and people that the seniors know. this one is more about scams by strangers. but, yes this, feel very strongly about it. and consumer reports and consumers union, retirement security is very important to us. i write on all sorts of

retirement issues, so i'm very interested. but it just -- you can't help when you speak to these seniors, even one or two of them, you have to get drawn in because it is just -- it's heartbreaking, and there's so much that we can do, i think. >> if you could take maybe two things that you would like to see for maybe their has to be a required personal interaction, has to be something signed before you can do it. i don't -- what would you give this panel or this hearing -- what would you give us two suggestions to say, work on this. >> well, believe it or not i think this stop senior scams dramatic group was very empress receive. the only one i know of in the country and i don't think it's particularly different to fund a little theater group in all communities in the country, where they could be communicating to each other. this is senior to senior.

gets the actors out of the house, isolation is a major part of this, so getting people out, getting people into the community to talk to each other is very important, and there is that communication. so that's -- i just think dealing on a grassroots level can make a difference, and i think that was reflected in many other of the statements. what else? i think just supporting the work of -- the ftc is doing some wonderful work. the "pass it on" really is a very useful and again grassroots effort, and i think the cfpb's collection specifically -- specifically collection of an neck totes from -- anecdotes from people is very helpful. i they don't always know what the age is of the -- aim right, they don't collect the ages of all the people who report, but certainly if they're people are reporting about problems with reverse mortgages they know that

somebody is 62 and older, but the more we can get in anecdotes that helps me as a reporter and just helps in the collection of data. we need more data. >> thank you for the work that both of you do. mr. chairman issue yield back. >> chair thanks the gentlemen chair recognizes the gentle ladyom inside, five minutes. i was at ib tech community college a senior administrator and i was there during the recession from '07 to '11 i must say the college and community colleges exploded in enrollment during that time period because so many people were laid off of their jobs, of all ages, but particularly those who were 40, 50 years old who had gotten laid off their jobs, needed to come back to college because they had no digital literacy skills and they couldn't even apply for a job online because of that digital literacy or illiteracy.

how would you encourage -- however are you talking about this? obviously this is a nice platform for you to publicize, but how are other communities -- are they taking up your baton and doing what you're doing or are you a unique program in the country? i'm really not that familiar with the various programs and then secondly, what are some of the strategies you're using that are actually teaching the seniors? >> we're certainly not unique. there are several other efforts in this regard. i want to include senior net, cyber seniors, generations online, a lot of groups doing similar kind of work in this space. >> do they actually go into the communities like you are doing

are or the more online educational tools. >> they're variety of approaches. some of them truly working one-on-one. so i don't want to claim that we're the only ones doing this kind of work. obviously this is a tremendous platform to raise awareness. i was also invited to the white house conference on aging over the summer, which also gave me a platform to speak out about this. and certainly within the state of michigan there's been a tremendous amount of interest that has come up from that and so we are working now in conjunction with other universities. i feel like it's a very easy mod toll implement, and what we're in the business doing right now is codifying what we do at michigan tech so that we can distribute that to other schools and give them a leg up on the whole process.

>> what are some strategies that you have found that have worked best when you are teaching? >> well, i as i said in my statement, having tutors model their own behavior, and speak out loud about it is an important piece of it. so having an experienced computer user say, well, looking at what is on the screen, well, in this case, i'd be thinking about this, and i would be worried about this and i would want to try out this. and working out what is going on in their minds, saying it out loud is an important piece of that, to articulate that this is a process just like working with any other kind of aspect of life you have to weigh the pros and cons and think about things in a sensible way. for instance, the looking at junk mail that you get in your mail box compared to a scam by e-mail. that brings it back to familiar

territory, which i think is useful. say this is not something entirely new. it's different, and you have to learn how to use it but it's not entirely new. i just want to say that miss sanger and i are in solidarity that education is an extremely effective and low cost way of dressing this problem of fraud online. a little bit of education can go a long way to stem the problem wes see. they take immense amount of time and effort to cure later. >> now we focus on education of our young, of the children getting online but we don't spend nearly enough time educate seniors. miss stanger, every time i visit my parents consumer reports is front and center. i do want to ask you, are there enough in your research

available and accessible tools for seniors to report -- have you found in our research are there enough tools and do they know what they are? >> i think the last part of your question is the important thing. there are plenty of tools. we have several in our article several places where people can report. obviously aarp is very involved and have their scams and fraud page. the cfpb, something called the financial fraud enforcement task force. stop proud.gov where you can report. on the senate side they have a special commission on aging hotline and that's a good place for -- you can call up and they'll tell you where to go for help. i think a lot of people, their first -- the first person they might go to report it to is a police, local law enforcement, and my understanding is that there could be more training will law enforcement. i spoke with prosecutors prosecy

there's still police who win somebody says to them i've been scammed and this person called me, that the cop says, well, is thinking to himself, well, that was kind of stupid. why did you do that? and they have to be trained. i understand that the justice department is getting involved in training local police to spot elder abuse, not just financial elder abuse but also physical abuse and emotional abuse and so forth. so, at the very local level, where people are doing the reporting, think there has to be better training. in some communities, some large communities, there are task forces. in seattle issue think in san diego, where different groups have come together and really created a public space and that can help in san diego, there's a fellow named paul greenwood, who is a assistant district attorney, i think, and he is

very well known and one of the people that we profile was involved in a scam, got caught -- he didn't get -- he sent money in a scam, and then he thought better of it and told a friend, and the friend winds to paul greenwood's office, and paul greenwood, working with i think it was wells fargo, was able to stop the payment he was making to a scammer. so it can work if people report it quickly and can they know where to go. and on the local level, i'm not sure that always happens. >> thank you. thank you for your efforts in protecting our seniors, both of you, appreciate it. i yield back. >> chair thanks -- recognizes the gentleman from kentucky. >> thank you for being here, and i guess a lot of us prepared the same kind of questions so it's very similar. i was going to ask you the biggest take away but what -- in your article, but what do you think was the machine -- there

is a common threads? you said isolation. things that people are isolated. she phone rings, they answer the phone and engage in conversation. fliss something -- there is something we should be looking for, things that were common? >> so, one common thread is that they -- well, in many of them, they were acting, saddlely, because they -- sadly because they wanted to provide for children or grandchildren. they thought this would be great. i'm getting these wings and it can help me -- the priest that we -- father ortiz who we profiled, he was hoping to get the money and use it to fund a school. the scammers know this. they really know how to just push those emotional buttons and that is sad. the oldest people who were scammed, people in their 80s, i've been told and seemed to be true from my research -- they get scammed for bigger amounts

of money. younger people are a little more likely to report and maybe they don't go as far, but it's in general because people really were -- they really trusted these scammers at some point, and they -- the other major thing is they were told, don't tell anybody. and so i they kept it to themselves because they were afraid of what would happen if they did tell, and that's why they were scammed by someone. finally, when -- either somebody caught on or they thought, this isn't sounding right, and then they report it. so it's a secrecy. >> i guess another question, what should we look for -- -- a friend who had an older brother that was being scammed, and for several hundred thousand dollars and he was going to try -- couldn't get him to stop. and there's no legal way because he was an adult.

have you seen that-were some of the other family members saying, don't doing this, this is a scam, and they keep going? that's the trust they build. i didn't think about the case you just said. the trust they built with the scammer. >> that's right, and -- >> on oxymoron, trusting a scammer. >> it's true. unfortunately some of the worst cases, the repeat cases, they develop a relationship with this scammer. and sometimes -- and relatives are saying, no, you can't do this, dad. and, no, no, in, this is -- they trust the scammer more than they trust the adult child. i'm at a loss to know what to say except that once -- if a senior can at least be told, you know what? they -- if they can be shown some of the things that are not -- that don't make sense, then maybe they'll start to realize, oh, you know, this web

address that doesn't seem right. doesn't have a.gov at the end. right? you know, some of these things that seniors may not think about. the urls and that somebody younger knows about, just knows. the popup that says, microsoft says that you have a problem with your computer. click here. well, a lot of younger people -- not all but a lot of younger people know, i'm not going there. but somebody who is not as familiar won't know, and so it is just education. i did this special -- the victim specialist in los angeles said that with some of the victims that she dealt with the actually wrote down something, like a script for them to put next to the phone so when somebody called they knew what to say. it requires real profession. it's almost an disk for -- an addiction for some people sadly. >> professor wallace, i know

mr. -- you were asked questions and -- never got your answer -- what trends do you see in your online program? what are the trends and are there some sessions more popular than others? >> trends? well, certainly a trend toward mobile devices now. we get a greater variety of types of devices coming in, which makes it harder for us to keep track of -- we're not familiar with all of them ourselves and so it takes a little while to learn. actually that speaks to one thing i think that we try to get across to our learners, is that we don't know everything. even the tutors don't know everything but we have ways of approaching something new. so it maybe it's a new device or could be a new web site or service. and so we have ways of looking at it, checking it out, making sure it's legitimate, and moving

on. so, there's certainly a greater diversity of those in terms of the actual physical devices and also really in terms of the kinds of services people are using. so that means we have to teach them a more agile way of approaching the technology. can't just teach them how to use gmail in its current form right now because if we lock them into that, it's going to change. interface will change over time, and so we need to be teaches these deeper skills. again, getting back to the idea of, what kinds of approaches do you use in the physical world to ensure yourself that this is something legitimate and proceed from there. so those kinds of techniques. we try to transfer them over to this digital world. >> i appreciate you guys doing

this. my time expired so i yield back. >> chair thanks the gentleman. the chair is going to recognize himself for five minutes for questions. did let the other members go first because i knew we were coming upon a vote but looks like we've got enough time to conclude this, and adjourn the subcommittee before we go to record our votes. ms. stanger, i wanted to know from you what sort of response have you had since publishing the article in consumer reports? >> people seem to de -- people in the elder justice community, people who deal with lawyers -- lawyers and people in communities, worker -- they're very happy it's out there because they think it gets the word out. the people in the -- apparently the ftc called this little drama

group to congratulate them and maybe they'll work together. that would be great. i haven't looked at the letters we have gotten so i don't know what readers are saying. we just hope that having it on the cover of a national magazine will get people to think more about it, and think about it in their own lives. >> certainly drives the interest factor. professor wallace, you may have noticed that you have arrived in a digital-free zone. it's ironic because we are the principle committee in the united states house of representatives that deals with technology and communications and they provide us a pad of paper and a pencil. so, there's room for improvement. but i just wanted to ask you, in the healthcare space we have something known as syndromic surveillance where, for example, tissue sales and decongestant

sales at a drug story may be an early tip-off there's a flu epidemic in a community. there is any way to use that kind of surveillance in your world where there is an increased level of scamming activity? i can remember as a kid reading in the newspaper, i don't -- do they used to call them pigeon drops where someone would come to town and take advantage of people and you'd see an article in the newspaper about there's some scammers in town so be careful? is there any way now in the digital world you have of getting tipped off and then getting the information out that there is an uptick in this type of activity? >> boy, do not know of any effort in that regard, but you have given me a great idea to take back to my faculty colleagues at michigan tech who work in that space. if it doesn't exist right now issue think that's a great idea. >> i don't even know if it's possible but i also did not know -- ms. stanger in your

article about the little scratchoff money cards. people have. i didn't even know you could do that. so, i don't know if there's any way of watching that kind of activity, and that almost seems like legalized money laundering to me. >> i understand the green dot card doesn't have the capability anymore, so i think they're trying to eliminate that. but the scammers come up with new things. somebody told me that now the iphone cards, cards that you can -- or -- i don't know -- something -- >> apple pay. >> something is being used -- i don't know if that -- the scammers move on. they move on to new payments and figure it out unfortunately. >> they're much more facile than the united states congress. both of you have mentioned and it's come up, the isolation factor, and how that is used and

almost monetized to reach -- to take advantage of people. hard to know how to overcome that except that making families aware that is a r population. >> it's ironic because the isolation is something that really motivates their computer use in -- at least in our case a lot of people don't have relatives nearby and so a great way to communicate is through social media...

>> it's off topic, but you referend that facebook was for old people. [laughter] what's up with that? [laughter] >> i'm just, i'm just echoing the sentiment of my children who say that young people don't use it anymore. >> so where are they? if they're not on facebook, where are they? >> they're going to tell me. >> they will tell you, okay. it's in development? all right. i will yield back the balance of my time x seeing that there are no further members wishing to ask questions for this panel, i do want to thank our witnesses for being here today. before we conclude, i would like to submit the following document for the record, a story by ms. stanger in the upcoming issue of "consumer reports" magazine. without objection, so ordered. i remind members they have ten business days to submit additional questions for the record, and i ask the witnesses to submit their response within

ten business days upon receipt of such questions. without objection, the subcommittee is adjourned. >> very good, thank you. [inaudible conversations] >> every weekend the c-span networks feature programs on politics, nonfiction books and american history. saturday night at nine eastern, politics and internet experts on whether social media hurts politics and its effects on campaign 2016. and sunday evening at 6:30, texas legislators and other officials look at the hispanic vote in the 2016 and 2018 elections. and this saturday on c-span2's booktv starting at noon

eastern, it's the 27th annual southern festival of books in nashville featuring nonfiction author presentations including kristin green on a virginia town's reaction to the supreme court's brown v. board of education ruling, actor and producer wendell pearce on how hurricane katrina impacted his family's new orleans neighborhood and cecilia tishie remembers the life of author jack london. and sunday afternoon on "in depth," with economist walter williams as he shares his life and career and responds to your calls, e-mails, facebook comments and tweets. on american history tv on c-span3, saturday evening at six eastern historian don doyle looks at the world view of the american civil war and the perspectives of foreign-born soldiers who joined the cause. and sunday morning at ten on oral histories, an interview with supreme court justice clarence thomas on his upbringing in the segregated south and the influence of his

grandfather on his career. get our complete weekend schedule at c-span.org. >> being lady like does not require science. why should my husband's job or yours prevent us from being ourselves? i do not believe that being first lady should prevent me from expressing my ideas. [applause] >> betty ford spoke her mind, was pro-choice and a sporter of the -- supporter of the equal rights amendment. she and gerald ford openly discussed her battle with breast cancer. she struggled with drug and alcohol dependency, confronting her addiction defined her post-white house years. betty ford, this sunday night at 8 p.m. eastern on c-span's

original series, "first ladies: influence and image," examining the public and private lives of the women who filled the position of first lady and their influence on the presidency from martha washington to michelle obama. sunday at 8 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span3. >> next, house minority leader nancy pelosi talks about the two-year budget deal, the 2016 presidential campaign, climate change and the impact of social mediaen on politics. -- media on politics. also the importance of women in politics and advice to students interested in public service. all part of a conversation at george washington's school of media and public affairs. >> ladies and gentlemen, would you please welcome steven knapp, the 16th president of the george washington university. [applause]

>> good morning. it's really a delight to welcome you to the george washington university for a conversation with house minority leader nancy pelosi on power, politics and leadership. we really are delighted to welcome leader pelosi back to our campus. she's been here a number of different times. she has represented what is now california's 12th congressional district since 1987. her distinguished career reached a high point when she was elected in 2007 as the first, and so far the only, woman in history to serve as speaker of the house. we're very glad she's here to engage our students and our university community on the critically important subjects of leadership, women in politics and the role of the media in our democracy. today's event is part of the conversation series now in its eighth year that is one of the signature events hosted every year by our school of media and public affairs. the school is currently celebrating its silver anniversary, marking 25 years of training the next generation of media and public affairs progressals. the -- professionals.

the school has more than 3,700 alumni, and there are many more anniversary events planned for students, highlighting issues important to the future of media and politics. and now it's my pleasure to introduce frank sesno, today's moderator. he is, in addition to being our director, he is the emmy award-winning journalist who joined george washington after 21 years at cnn where he served as white house correspondent, anchor and washington bureau chief. he's interviewed five united states presidents, thousands of political, business and civic leaders. and here at the school of media and public affairs, he leads a faculty of nearly two dozen world class professionals who engage in scholarship and teaching on journalism, political communication, strategic communications and digital media. ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming to the stage frank sesno. [applause]

>> thank you very much, president knapp, for that warm introduction and for your leadership of the george washington university, and good morning, everybody. >> good morning. >> okay, great. welcome to the school of media and public affairs, to our silver anniversary event, a conversation with nancy pelosi. our times was pretty good because the leadership on the house arranged a budget deal just so we could have them here today. [laughter] our goal here is to train future journalistses and political communicators with our ba and masters programs, as you know. our conversation series is an effort to bring the real world in and to engage people at an intellectual and practical level so we can see what you're study something be what we're researching, how that actually plays on the national and global stage. i hope this conversation -- i know this conversation will be illuminating and even inspiring to our students and others who join us today. another way that we help our students through the 25 years

that we have been doing what we're doing -- and this is new -- is with something we called smpa can, the career access network. and we've launched in this to mark our silver an resterly. as president knapp -- anniversary. as president knapp mentioned, we have 3700 alumni now. and what smpa can is doing is to help students afford to do unpaid or underpaid internships so they get that critical first rung on the ladder of career success. and we are building this over the course of this next year, and for those of you who are aware of it, help us do it. for those of you who don't, learn more about it, because we're building something that's important. we're very pleased to have with us here today a couple of special guests who i'd like to shout out. from our smpa national council, our impeccable chair, char weems.

[applause] also one of our national council members, heather moran. heather, thanks to you as well. [applause] our national council helps support us philanthropically so that events like this can take place, and that is so important for all of us. now i'd also like to thank one other special friend who's here, and that is ed scott. ed, please say hi to everybody. [applause] ed supported us a few years ago, inspired and supported a project called face the facts usa for the 2012 election cycle where we had a group of undergraduate and graduate students put out a fact a day, a hundred facts leading up to the election, and it was a great success. ed, thanks again and thanks for being with us. so now i'd like to introduce our guest, democratic leader of the house of representatives of the 114th congress from 2007-2011, first woman speaker of the house, first elected to congress in 1987, now representing california's 12th district which many of you may know at least largely as san francisco.

a proud italian-american, in fact, we hatched the idea -- [applause] [laughter] >> there's one person clapping in the room? that's the only italian-american we have here? i don't think so. [laughter] in fact, we hatched the idea for today's event when she was on campus for a screening of a pbs documentary called "italian-americans." in 2013 she was inducted into the national women's hall of fame. she still has the distinction of being the highest ranking woman politician in american history. ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming nancy pelosi. [applause] and i should say as well we're joined, i think, by some college democrats. is that right? [cheers and applause]

[laughter] college republicans may be here too, and if they are, i hope we'll hear from them. there is a mic here, we'll have some questions later. thank you for coming in. >> my pleasure. >> for taking time out of your day arranging budgets and ex-im budgets. >> at 11:37 night we finished the budget and took it to the rules committee, so how perfect. >> something to celebrate. >> how perfect. >> i thought maybe we could start a little differently. could we start with a game? >> whatever you wish. >> okay. [laughter] let's play a word association game. i have ten names or topics -- [laughter] >> right. >> i'll give you a name or topic, you get a one-word response. okay? >> okay. and then do i get the same chance at you? [laughter] >> oh, absolutely. [laughter] you can ask me how great george washington university is. ready? budget deal. >> hooray. [laughter] >> debt ceiling. >> hooray.

lifted. >> john boehner. >> terrific. >> ooh. >> yeah. >> okay. i'll come back to that. freedom caucus. be. [laughter] >> isn't free. >> donald trump. >> performer. >> ooh, okay. ben carson. >> dangerous. >> wow. >> just came to my mind. [laughter] >> climate change. >> absolute. >> russia. >> careful. >> careful. and you were careful with that. [laughter] taxes. not texas, taxes. [laughter] >> investment. >> investments. okay, we'll come back. paul ryan. >> hopeful. >> oh, okay.

let's start with that. is he hopeful or are you hopeful? >> we're all hopeful. first, now that we've played your game -- [laughter] >> yeah. wasn't that fun? >> i don't think some people will think so, but nonetheless, it was fun. usually it's joe biden. sincere, wonderful. really it is an honor for me to be here at george washington and in the presence of your very respected throughout the world, certainly in our country, president, president knapp. thank you for your kind words earlier. [applause] thank you, provost, the for your leadership as well. and this school. and you, i mean, i've known frank a very long time, because i was involved in human rights in china around the time of tiananmen square but for a long time after that one when frank was at cnn. so i've just watched what has happened here at the george

washington center for media and public -- what's the exact title? >> public affairs. yeah. >> this is fabulous. congratulations on your silver an resterly. >> well, thank you, thank you, thank you. we'll talk about some of what's changed over 25 years later on. let's talk about in this budget deal for just a minute though because i think this is a very big deal. it's a two-year deal, it takes us to 2017. it gives paul ryan -- who presumably is going to be the new speaker -- some running room. white house says members of congress from both parties should support it. will democrats support it? >> yes. >> you're going to support it? >> yes. >> you're telling them to support it. it'll pass. >> well, i'm presenting the facts of it, and i think it will -- by removing the uncertainty of lifting the debt ceiling, honoring the full faith and credit of the united states of america, by honoring a principle that we've had all along which is whatever investments we make for the future, it has to be equal between defense and domestic. in the bill we also present a

increase in medicare part b payments for seniors. this is of importance to your families if not to some of the young people here, as well as addressing the disability issue, extending the solvency of the disability insurance part of social security for a long time and preventing a 20% cut in that. so in terms of disability and medicare, we've corrected something that was going to happen, and now it won't. in terms of the debt ceiling, very important. and then in terms of the balance in the budget that we are not going to -- this has been a debate that we've had for a long time, that every time we want to lift the caps, they're constraining our investment, people say, well, let's just spend it on defense. but our national security and our strength is measured in the education and well being of our people. the innovation that springs from the classroom puts us

qualitatively ahead and in our research to keep america number one, and that means also in the defense of our country. and the defense of our country, we take an oath to protect and defend. that's our oath of office, so it's our first responsibility. but, again, the defense of it is not just military might, however important that is, but it's also in the strength of our society. >> does -- this isn't exactly the grand bargain that boehner was looking for some years ago, but as i think it was one publication i read today, it is a big deal. does this change the politics and the dynamic on the hill because it takes some of these issues and resolves them for two years and there is going to be a bipartisan vote, or so it would seem, to get this thing passed? >> well, this is a budget. next we have to do the actual bill, the appropriations bill. more on the subject than you may want to know, but this is the blueprint for how we go to the next step which must be accomplished by december 11th.

>> so you think it changes the dynamic going to that next be step? >> yes. well, it establishes the framework, the 50/50, the firewall that you can't take from domestic to spend more on defense. so it has pay-fors. speaker, speaker boehner wanted to have the pay-fors first before we understood what we could invest in. so we did the pay-fors. we did -- that created the top line of what these investments will be. and that is the framework that is handed to the appropriations committee to write the appropriations bill and pass it by december 11th. >> what does it mean -- >> and this is, makes us hopeful about how that will proceed, yes. >> right. so i'm just curious to what you think this means. we hear people talking about gridlock in congress, about how nasty things have gotten. and, in fact, the freedom caucus, there are plenty of people who have criticized this process already, actually including paul ryan himself. >> right, several times. >> it's got to be open.

so does this change, does this change the dynamic? >> well -- >> or is it just a gift from and to john boehner? >> well, in terms of -- you have to understand where we are. within the past few weeks, our speaker said he was going to step aside because there were elements in his own caucus which said unless you shut down government because the continuing resolution contained funding for planned parenthood, unless you shut down government, we're taking the gavel. and he didn't let them do that. he walked away himself. but this is historic. this is a very big deal. you cannot let 10% of the congress, say 40 members or something but they have enough to create the 218 that a speaker needs to be elected, to say unless you shut down government, you're no longer speaker. this is, this is stunning.

and it's harmful to the institution. and because he did the right thing by keeping government open, he knew that meant that he had to -- they would vacate the chair and over and over again. now, we headed back, of course, because for the institution you don't want a speaker being overturned by -- >> you had his back. >> we had the institution's back. you know, this isn't good for the institution. so we'll see how they proceed from here. but we have to be hopeful. you always have to be hopeful and optimistic. and to paul ryan's credit, he knows the issues, and he knows the rules. and that makes it easier to negotiate. >> as i mentioned, the freedom caucus has criticized his budget deal. heritage action today was calling boehner a rogue agent in doing this whole thing, and there's some discussion that this could actually hurt ryan coming in. do you see this deal hurting ryan in any way?

>> oh, no, i don't, but i'm sure there will be those who will say that. and just the language, rogue agent, tells you something about the lack of civility that is going on in their caucus. i mean, we all come this beautiful president for whom your university is named, the patriarch of our country, how great he was. and when he left office, he was suspicious of political parties. one of the things that he cautioned against as he left office was to be aware of political parties that were at war with their own government. and i think we've come as close to that as ever with certain elements in the republican party. all of us come to try to find common ground, to stand our ground when we can. that's what we do. you try to find common ground. but to come and think that you have every idea that you have is the only good idea, well, maybe

monarchy or something like that might be better for you. but not respect anybody's opinion and be condescending of even those within your own party to the tune of using language like -- what was it? >> rogue agent. >> you said it. [laughter] >> so -- i didn't say it, i just quoted it. [laughter] so let me ask you about, you have what you just talked about, that dynamic, and john boehner is leaving and all the tumult over the next house speaker that followed. we have donald trump and ben carson out on the campaign trail galloping away with support in the republican party, bernie sanders who is definitely an un-candidate in many ways, a democratic socialist with serious numbers on the democratic side. you've been in politics for almost 50 -- what the heck is happening here? [laughter] i mean, it's just, is america mad, confused, alienated? are you guys just getting it terribly mucked up? >> i think that elections are always about the future. so whatever it is that somebody might be unhappy about, they

want to see what is there for the future. and there's absolutely no question that as we look to the future, we have to see a path that takes us to ending a lot of the inequality in our system. >> do you think that's what this is about? >> fairness and opportunity -- >> anger over inequality? >> i think it's anger over the fact that paychecks have not increased for decades. the purchasing power of middle class paychecks has not increased. the aspirations and hopes that people have for their children, their education, their families, the pension security of parents that they're freer to invest in their children, the security of retirement security of seniors so that parents can look to their kids rather than having to take care of -- it's all connected. and let me just say this. in 2008 america's middle class was deeply scarred by what happened then. what happened because of the

greed -- and i don't paint all on wall street with this brush -- but what happened there, what happened there severely, severely hurt the economic stability of america's working families. their homes in some cases were underwater, their pensions were down, they were living off their savings, their jobs were uncertain, the ability to send their children to school was in doubt, and it was terrible. and it was wall street hurting main street, that's just the way it was. i'll go more into that if you wish, but just to fast forward to now, all of these good things happened when president obama took office to correct that. so much happened. when president obama stood on those steps and took that oath of office, so many things were worse than they are now. the deficit was $1.4 trillion, it's now, like, almost a trillion dollars less, $70 billion -- a trillion dollar

rejection, reduction in it. a 70% reduction in the deficit. unemployment was around 10%, it's now around 5%. stock market was flirting with 6, 7, now it's flirting with 17. 10,000 points more. the auto industry was on its heels with the investment that is the democratic congress and the president made and opposed by many on the other side, if i may just be allowed a partisan moment, now the auto industry is blossoming. and because of that and other enthusiasm and entrepreneurship in the private sector, this is almost the 70th straight month of private sector job creation. some of it springing from public initiatives, incentives, some of it just the private sector which is a strong engine in our economy. but what is -- and the list goes on. 17 million more americans having access to quality, affordable health care. >> but, wait, wait -- >> and then, and one more thing.

>> okay. i'm going to give you one more thing. >> what hasn't happened is the middle income paycheck has not increased. and the consumer, a lack of confidence still prevails. we are a consumer economy. we have to have consumer confidence for people to spend, to inject demand into the economy, to create jobs. the lack of that has, in my view, contributed to some of the, shall we say, unrest amongst democrats and republicans. >> okay. so the list is legit, those numbers speak for themselves. but if things are so great, you're saying people feel so lousy simply because paychecks haven't changed? i mean, people -- >> yeah. that's one of the reasons, yeah. >> but there's another historic tradition that this country has which george washington knew about too which is distrust of government. >> well, that's a healthy thing. >> okay. a lot of the distrust of government we hear around the country and on the campaign trail also reflects distrust of big government and regulation

and interference. and so it's not all and only about paychecks. some of the anger that's directed at washington directed at what people view, fairly or unfairly but certainly view, as interference. isn't that right? >> well, if i just may, you sound like the idealogue talking points of the heritage foundation. >> no, no, no -- [laughter] i was in colorado, i introduced myself, said where are you from, i said washington d.c. don't blame me, i justly there. [laughter] >> the fact is what are we talking about when we talk about regulation, clean air, clean water? what are we talking about? >> talking about businesses having to do more paperwork. >> you know what? a lot of that is state. in other words, we should look at all of it. we should subject everything we do whether it's an investment in terms of dollars, whether it's a tax initiative, whether it's a regulation, subject it to the harshest scrutiny. have common sense prevail. but this whole thing of

anti-government, the debate about the amount of government is as old as our country. >> exactly. >> older. and that's a legitimate debate. and that's where people come down on the spectrum, more or less government, how much national, how much state, how much local. and i think if you read this new book on madison where he -- i don't want -- it's very interesting how he thought that the central government was really important to keeping our country together. so there's a role for all of it. and there is also a role for having suspicion about is it working, are we getting our money's worth, is it doing what it needs to do for us. you can capture that and say it's all about government regulation and that's why the people are out there for trump and for bernie, but it really most of the time relates to how it affects them. tip to kneel said all

politics -- tip o'neill said all politics is local, it's all personal. how does this affect me, my family, my financial stability and the rest. and other people hijack that with something about regulations. if we have regulations we shouldn't have, get rid of them. but that includes a lot of things that oh people think -- other people think almost every day we are doing away with regulations that relate to the air you breathe, the water you drink, what's in the food that you eat. and i don't think that that's really what the uprising is out there about, clean air, clean water and food safety. >> let's talk about the uprising. when we were playing our word association game and i mentioned trump, you said performer. >> uh-huh. >> interesting thing to see in the polls now, ben carson has exceeded trump in the last two polls, you called him dangerous. but is trump fading? what do you think is happening? >> i don't know. i want to talk about the democrats. [laughter] >> i'm not going to let you off

quite that easy. >> i don't usually even get involved in democratic presidential politics. let it play out, let the public work its will. but as far as the republicans are concerned, let them figure it out for themselves, and then when something happens, we'll be prepared, and i'll be happy to relinquish my title of highest ranking woman in politics in america. [applause] ..

>> you are a sizable number of americans who know that you can have your funds in the numbing process but at the end of the day somebody has to get the job done. >> it requires some. >> and hillary clinton when she walks into the oval office, let's assume for a moment -- [laughter] when she walks into the oval office shall be one of the best prepared people to walk into the office in terms of her service and leadership innocent of the united states, as secretary of state, being involved in the white house in the years that she was there. she's extraordinarily talented. she knows the issues are i say to the shia young people here

who are future presidents of the united states. what is your vision? what is your purpose? why would you want to be president or speaker put anything? what is your vision? what do you know about it? if you decide you want to go into politics what drives your engine? isn't about climate change, equality, what is, what drives your engine? what do you know about it. so people can trust your judgment. you are making speeches about what do you know and do they trust her judgment? do you have a plan to try to get some of this done? do you think strategically? in addition to your judgment and knowledge do you think strategically? when you articulate that you will attract support. and so many times with excellent people who are of the intellect-based authentication, the knowledge, the judgment strategically, and they don't make the emotional connection.

i think she does all of the above. >> you spend time with her. what's her vision speak with you can invite her and she will talk to you about it. >> you can help us with that. >> myself, my purpose is that i, i have five children and nine grandchildren, but when i was raising my five children it just, i couldn't handle the idea that did so much opportunity, so much attention. cannot even talk about economic attention. just talking about everything. and that one in five children in america goes to sleep hungry at night, lives in poverty in america, the greatest country that ever existed on the face of the earth. when people say why'd you do this, it's the one inside. is the one in five, because this is such an underutilization of humanity not to invest in our children. how do you explain that?

if you put that around the whole world, the whole world, children around the world. so that's what, i pray for them at night, the next i did not. i donned the suit of armor, the nails for breakfast and get ready. so the one if i. sometimes when people say, what is this so important and that's so important just look at a particular issue or the particular race for congress? it all comes back to the one inside. >> leader pelosi, we are as we mentioned a school of media and public affairs. we are looking at our 25th anniversary and if we think about what's changed immediate 25 years, it is pretty breathtaking. just in the last 10 with iphones and social media and twitter and facebook and google and all that. >> some of that in my district.

[laughter] spent this could get really interesting. but from your perspective and from governance, from trying to get the job done, of these changes in media, there's greater role for citizens, is much more rapid transmittal of come instantaneous, right? at 11:37, united budget meeting. how i said complicated, messed up, eased your job? >> i think it's, you may not agree with what he had to say but i think it harkens back to our founders. in those days people knew what was going on. they really did spend and it took a letter three months spirit they did it. they got it out there and the democracy. imagine what they did. imagine what they did. this group of people, this band of brothers, they decided they

were going to declare their independence from the biggest military force in the world, the biggest navy, the british. they would declare the and attendance and their declaration would be founded that all people are could equal, endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. this has never happened in the history of the world. the word got out. >> they didn't have twitter. >> the word got out because people were paying attention, and they put it out there. and then they wrote the founding documents. thank god they made them amendable so that they could be amended to have a more perfect union. but this was remarkable. you think of commonsense, thomas paine, and you go to lincoln's speeches. lincoln's speeches, his famous

speeches. the word got out because people paid attention. they wanted to know. they were interested. look at teddy roosevelt and all that he did, although he is muckrakers as a negative term, it was a positive term as it turns out. and all that he did just people paid attention. and then so while people come after world war ii all kinds of, people were not paying as much attention. civics used to be amended or subject and then he became an elected. nobody even knew, most people didn't take it and he became just some people who are paying attention to all this. so it takes us back to the same alertness that the people had the beginning of our country. they wanted to know what was happening because they knew it affected them. so i'm thrilled with the real-time communication. sometimes it isn't, shall we say, embedded for truth or fact

or something like that, -- vetted for truth. so they have to deal with that. but you wouldn't throw it away because of that. >> we talk about this a lot here. it's a much more democratic media now. citizens have access to one another. citizens have access to you in ways that they haven't had before. >> it's all positive i think. even his holiness, pope francis, when he came, in a speech in congress he talked about transparent, he didn't say transparency. he said openness. transparency and openness are so vital to a thriving democracy. there will be differences of opinion and there will be misrepresentations either because of lack of knowledge or because of intent to misrepresent. but the fact is, public, that

our bosses that have access to the information. they follow the things they're interested in, and i just find it to be so exhilarating, so wonderful and i think our founders would be very proud of democratizing of -- >> totally leapfrogged over the traditional press, that's the point. maybe ben franklin would've been a tweeting from the constitutional convention. that would've been interesting. >> but i think, i think you need the investigative reporting. you need the substance of that you provide because that's what is lost in the real-time spin that's the challenge because we have lost some of that. so the new models for getting that back to. >> that's why your media and public affairs. >> exactly. i'd like to talk to you about climate change. imagine when the pope came to

congress, he called for action, he called for courageous and responsible efforts to take action. the pairs climate talks are coming up next month. you led the way with cap-and-trade which passed in house but failed in the senate. what's next? >> the next is pairs and today you saw the catholic bishops and cardinals in the red put out a call to action for paris to produce real decisions that have the force of law, not just nice things to say. it was a very, very strong statement. just connect that to you mention, we passed a bill. when we passed our bill it was a wonderful thing. we had hoped the senate to do something that 60 votes, although difference of opinion on the size between the democrats and republicans. but here's the thing. we ha have at the table groups f people who really were not used to sitting across the table from

scientists and evangelicals, labor and environmental us and the business community. every different side of issue. some of them very conservative, but not all evangelicals were at the table, but those that were had their own papers that were written up about this that this planet is god's creation and i agree, and we have a moral responsibility to be good stewards of god's creation. and in doing so we must be careful not to hurt the poor. and that's exactly what the catholic bishops said today. the poor are the biggest part of climate change affects the. there's environmental injustice, and they had done the least to contribute to the climate crisis. they are talking about worldwide. it's so urgent.

if you travel the world, if you go to the north pole and you see the melting of the polar cap and juicy acidification of the ocean and you see what's happening to the floor and fauna there, you go to china, you see encroachment of the gobi desert. you see the big coastline rising. they don't shoot any part of the polar cap. they affect it and it affects them so whether it's the air people breathe, everybody is affected. this is the urgent. and we passed our bill in '09, we've been told by secretary-general of the u.n. at that time come if you don't do this now, i 201 2012 summer this will be too late. >> what do you hope comes out of paris? >> here's the change. i went, my first when i went to

in rio in 1992, the earth summit, get my language, might a minute into the. when i became speaker i establish a select committee on climate and energy independence. we did that does things for two terms, including making the capital example to the world come an example of green technologies was all reversed when the loss majority, what not to go there. but over a period of time, say 92, then i was in copenhagen the last summit. but those come in those meetings and the rest you talked about developed countries and developing countries. that developed countries should be doing this, this and this. in developing countries, not much to be expected because they are developing countries. fat ho attitude is changed now

for paris. every country should do what it can to save the planet spinning these are some of things we've been hearing from china, india for example,. >> china has come along way and they have done remarkable things. you know, frank, as well as anyone my opposition to china, tibet, hong kong democracy, autonomy, democracy. i fight with them all the time but i work with on the climate issue. i had a speaker climate visit to china and it done remarkable things that are developed in such they are still a net emitter so they had to take more action, and now they have the president, i give president obama's such credit for the patience and attention patty davis with the president of china, worcestershire a couple of weeks ago. i congratulate him on china's commitment not only to what they were doing but for the contribution to the fund helped

developing countries do theirs. but it's no longer we are developing, you use so much, each one of your americans produce so much garbage 100 years ago, that's much more than our poor people do. we have a situation. we had to do with it. we have to do much more by way of conversation by the within our own country, and went to help developing countries to reach their potential. one of the bishops was from -- welcome to some new guinea but representing those countries. the rising sea levels are detrimental. if you study this be for a long time, in alaska, decades ago the elders were saying, it may seem like four years ago holders were saying we see changes in the floor and upon a of our area -- fauna.

it was reported to the site is in the scientists the time said, and it was resistant. as you know there's always resistance right now, so that was anecdotally interesting but not scientifically significant. and, of course, it just accelerated. >> said one thing to pretty much before that resolve wherever they are on the side of the debate is, if you were to have a carbon tax, that would actually substantially changed behavior in nations and all the rest. that's apart from of you approve of carbon tax or not. is there any chance that a carbon tax would happen in this country? >> you have to put a price on carbon. what we did in our bill we did they cap-and-trade. >> would you go back to that? >> i don't know if we could go back to that no. i think carbon tax or understandable to people. >> is that going to be down the line? >> you have to look at -- >> or not even a good idea speak with many of the multi-national

corporation and europe, because europe was way ahead of us in the early part of this century, and he basically said the businesses, the multinational, they basically said just give us a figure and we will work with the. just don't keep changing. so that would have been for the cap-and-trade. you have to somehow or other, and his pope come how beautiful the pope wants to write an encyclical on climate, god's creation from beautiful encyclical and to talk about respecting the needs of the poor in there. he's not a big fan of cap-and-trade. he thinks we have to go another route. you have to go the route that is sustainable policy wise as well as sustainable global. planet wise. so there are different schools of thought but which is conducted come up with the way to price carbon. >> i want to turn to the audience and fight folks

committed cash back if you question for the leader there's a mic right in the middle. i would ask you do not give a speech, to make your questions to saint. while you're working your way up, be brave, it's okay. there we go. tell us who you are. are you ready for some cautious on the ground speak with and. and if you wish to facilitate, maybe put three questions up and then respond because otherwise we will not -- >> i will jot that down as best you can. keeteacher question straightford and off we go. >> i am from sacramento, california, so near you and my question is about california politics specifically. is going to be a lot of change the outcome in our congressional delegation. barbara boxer is stepping down and senator feinstein will do the same. so what do you see in store for the future of california politics on the state level and also our congressional delegation? >> question what is the future of california politics.

i know you spent on nikki usher, i'm a professor at the school. great to have you here. >> my pleasure. >> i have a question, there's been a lot of discussion come in respond hazard a guess how women can't have it all budget kind of had it all. you've had five kids, grandkids -- >> no. >> nine kids and you are coming to become even speaker of the house. so can you share some of your secrets with us? >> and she asked as a new young. i should say. so there's a little self-interest. >> i'm from december system such as want to say thank you for all your service. and i'm a big fan of your daughter's work. he spoke about in the beginning about the duty of america to provide funding for education and also for defense. seeing as we spend more collectively on defense than the next nine countries combined,

and also that we been lagging behind in test scores in high school, graduation rates recently. do you think we found the right balance in the budget for that funding for if not what would you suggest it to have been? >> three good ones. future of california politics. >> first of all do not assume that diane feinstein is not running. let's just put that aside. last week we honored senator boxer in san francisco. it was the best ever event of any i've ever wiki because she is so spectacular, and a hard act to follow really. great legislator. i had the privilege of serving with in the house and to enjoy and benefit our state benefit from her, indeed the whole country farmer leadership in the senate. that's what elections are about. you never really know. look at his presidential, who would have thunk it, right?

but so you know, it's always about, let me just say this and it applies to the other states as well. if we want more women, more minorities, more young people to take the risk of running, because this is a tough sentence. we have to reduce the role of money in politics and went to increase the level of civility. and we just have to do it. and when we do many more people will come forward with their ideas. because you want to win personally. that is to say, you want to advance your beliefs an and your ideas into a patchwork. you don't want to sign up to run for some outside group of dark money that nobody ever heard of comes in and describe just something from i was the outer space but that may not be so bad compared to what they could

compare you to. and so people say to me i don't how you can take the criticism. it's worth it. it's what goes with the public service. and so i hope that many of you will continue to run. we have many new members in our california delegation as it is. >> do you see a rising star speak what do you think i would tell you that right now? [laughter] but i will say this. we have ahead of our future for which is a group of young members, all know old in their 30s going to the campuses and the rest and that is headed by eric falwell from california and we are very proud of them. look, the whole delegation brings a lot to the table. and as my constituents may say, having some seniority brings a lot to the district as well. >> can women have it all? what are your secrets? i may throw into the question, paul ryan.com he's a dadgumm is

a family, he's not going to work on weekends, he's going to spend it with his kids and his wife, good luck. i hope he succeeds without. >> i do, too. that's important but i would hope some of us who have our beautiful valleys about our families would translate that to the public policy that enables other people to give up time with their families. for example, if somebody in the family is sick, be it a child, a spouse or a pair. so we hope this will be an omen a change in voting against sick leave to enabling families to a sickly. this takes us to your question. if we want to unleash the power of women, and family-oriented people, in the political arena, any place in the workplace, in the academic world, in the military, in corporate america, any place, in small businesses and the rest if that's so much interest and that's important interest, you have to value their work, equal pay for equal

work. >> do you have any secrets to share how you did it speak with how i did was i had absolutely no intention of running for political office. very shy, and i was the chair of the california democratic party. i was always putting other people and allow doing it because they really cared. again, the one in five driving the engine. and then this opportunity came along to run for congress. and so -- you won't tell anybody this story i know. so i went, four of my kids were in college. might issue with sequential. that's a whole different world now. i'm from another era with sequential. i raised my kids. i had five children, that they had our fifth child of the oldest turned six that week. so five in six years. i didn't even wash my face much less go out the door.

except to take them to the partisan as possible in the morning, get them out of the house. so i never had this on my mind or anything like that except i'd volunteer, became that you're the party. my advice to you is, that i never thought this would happen, but just be ready. as you go along whatever it is you're doing, take inventory and get recognition for what you do. because there may be something that just happens, that there's an opportunity people come to you or you will be motivated yourself to do something. don't let anybody say you did less because you are also being a mom. put that as a gold star next to your name that you have run home. it's the hardest work in the world, right, to be a mom and balance work and home, to be a dead. i don't mean to just say mom,

but for women especially the primary caregivers we have to public policy that recognizes the value of work, that recognizes the caregiver role that we largely play and have paid come and have sick leave and quality of affordable childcare. >> he asked about the balance between education and the military. >> is a funny thing because some of the scholarship programs that emerged after world war ii were about, they were national security, national defense scholarships. peoplesoft the trick relationship between the education of our people and the talents of our military. so i think it's important education of itself that it is essential to our democracy. our founders want an informed electorate. the education is so essential. but it's also essential to our national security. and by the way, nothing reduces the deficit more, nothing, then

the education of the american people. there is no initiative, no tax credit, tax this, tax back, tax cuts, nothing brings more early childhood education, k-12 higher education postgraduate, lifetime learning brings more money to the treasury and reduce the deficit. so when they say to you went to cut pell grants are we can't do this or that, because we need to reduce the deficit, no. it's a false dichotomy. >> let's try to take a few quick questions to get your answers. >> i'm a student here. i just want to say thank you so much for coming and for the work that you do. i noticed that the sentiment, the prevailing sentiment from the democratic party seems to be the hillary clinton is the nominee is a foregone conclusion. even though sanders has risen in the polls and has gained more donations. so do you think that this

antiestablishment sentiment may stem from the very fact that bernie sanders seems to be not taken as seriously as any other candidate would be? and then also do you wonder if electing such an extreme qualified but favorite establishment candidate as hillary clinton would do more to exacerbate the unrest in the electorate right now than it would to solve it speak was okay, thanks. let's have another one. >> hello. my name is edward i from sacramento, california. thank you for your service. my question is pretty short. when it comes to politics what is your greatest disappointment and what is your proudest accomplishment speak was nice. okay. >> my name is peter. i'm from davis, california, and -- >> oh, my. they are all over the place. >> the freedom caucus says that

the among the principal goals are the implementation of more ground up input in the party. they say they want a democratization of the republican party in congress. what do you believe is the right balance between organization order and ground up input from rank-and-file numbers? thank you. >> great questions. >> the first one was about -- believe me, about hillary clinton. and very appropriate question. very appropriate question, and i have a lot of enthusiasm for the fact that would be fabulous for a woman president. you can estimate to vote for somebody because of their gender but i think this is very qualified person who happens to be a woman. i haven't endorsed in the race.

bernie sanders was my colleague announced. we voted against all of those things that people are subjecting the scrutiny now. he's a fabulous and he is a very important tonic for the country for the democratic party because he has ideas. it's not just that they criticize immigrants or something. he has ideas last night and is a thoughtful person. -- [laughter] and has done a terrific, terrific job of trying people out and hopefully they will be out. he might win the nomination, i don't know that, because of the demographics of how popular she is in the minority committee. >> do you think it is possible to five could win the nomination speaks i don't know. i'm a big fan of martin o'malley's as well spent you really don't think martin o'malley could win the nomination? >> the idea that the put out that he accomplished as governor of maryland, weather was to ask

-- to active dreamers, marriage equality, guns, all of the agenda a lot of nationally, he did spend does hillary clinton exacerbate the an anti-sal shoud sentiment? >> you have to balance it out. in other words, okay, is the person worse, i don't is a troubled but that's what uses a compass the person -- i'm not crazy about this or that aspect but as it balances out, i see the reason to go to that place. and i think that just being a woman, believe me, being in office there will be, there's nothing establishment about being a woman and politics. [applause] but i appreciate what you said. and bernie company is fabulous. >> your greatest disappointment,

greatest accounts would speak with my greatest a compass but without any question is affordable care act, health care. [applause] there's no question the biggest this point is not to be able to pass once again background checks as for gun safety is concerned. [applause] the public wants it. the votes are there in the congress. majority was in the senate but they need 60 votes but i think if we would pass it in the house that would take away the argument in the sense of why shouldn't do this, it's not going to pass -- but that is something we all have to get around, and that is to extend the background checks to gun shows and internet sales and that kind of thing. >> peter's question on balancing ground up and the organizational. >> i don't know how it works in their caucus. i would be the last person to ask him to do things in

republican caucus, don't you think? but from what i can say is quite different the way we are. i have considered myself as leader but a special as speaker we were going to the floor with things to be a weaver, just say you were my caucus. every one of you is an important thread in the fabric that we're going to we. so it's with total respect for any difference of opinion. somehow out of that we had to build a strong fabric recognizing the value of every thread and having consensus. we are not part always going to have unanimity. because still be some people here or there. but we always respect again, it's like a kaleidoscope. sometimes all of us are at one school at all of you are thinking -- >> what is your advice to paul ryan speak was to be speaker of the house. sometimes you have to bring bills to the floor that maybe her caucus is want to vote for.

some of you may know that it should pass, they just don't want to vote for it. and just be speaker of the house and don't let anybody take your gavel. that's what i was telling. >> we are going to have to wrap down in the next couple of minutes i'm afraid we're out of time for questions from the floor. i have two quick questions for you spend i will be here. we can talk. we're in california are you from? spin are you from california? >> no. [laughter] spy was talking with my friend and colleague, mark garrity are used to be a colleague of yours in the house. and i was a question i asked nancy pelosi to work with he had a bunch of great questions which i can't get you a one of them was what's your path back to the majority speak was you want to talk politics. i was trying to avoid the subject. [laughter]

i do think the republicans have been helpful in the last couple of months. [laughter] because it usually the '90s they have with each other, it's like you're going past two homes and you think where should i stop. one place they are just screaming at each other and fighting and taking each other down. the other side has some level of harmony. not total because we are a democratic party, and i think that people with more gravity to a place where we had a respect for what we are here to do. we have a great chairman. we have the 50 anniversary of the voting rights act and the most important thing we need to do is to make sure people see what martin luther king taught us. the ballot, the ballot, the ballot. legislation comes legislation, your legislation. your life, your life, your life. the connection between what happens in elections and the laws can be passed that affect people. so or assistant leader

mr. clyburn is take it is in a political piece of it, the inspirational piece of it and accord of candidates that are coming for what our super. spirit of the wiki the majority i can? >> well, in 2005 win, we won in 2006, nobody thought that we're going to win majority in 2006. you just don't know. elections, i can show you more in a few months when i see who all of our candidates are, but then it's just a question of making the contrast. that i would say to paul ryan, he offers, he knows the issues, he knows the rules. not everybody does. he also offers as it clears contrast. the ryan budget will be a polarizing thing in terms of taking $800 billion out of medicare and giving tax cuts to the richest people in terms of voucherize in medicare, block granting medicaid which by so

much to he to her seniors. the that contrast was always about the issues but what does this mean the american people? myopic be that who ever wins the elections, whether present or otherwise, they will hear from the public, social media to allow for this. they will hear from the public was important to them. not just the cacophony of some who are anti, anti, anti, who are not having a full grasp of what the future is in the country, that we are a nation of immigrants and that women have a role to play in all of us. so i'm optimistic. >> how many students do we have in the room? how many of the students in the room have some idea of going into some form of public service in your future? >> beautiful. what a beautiful thing. [applause] >> you were at john kerry's and doctoral in 1961 when he talked

about passing the torch to the next generation. is the next generation and this is the torch. what is their challenge? what is their calling? what should be their mission? >> it's a funny thing because the more time passes the more the values still dominate. john kerry was such an inspiration to my generation. i was a student at this beach, and then i was leader when we had the 50th anniversary and played this beach in the capitol rotunda. he often harkens back to our founders and what the purpose was for this country. a democracy. i might add they sacrifice their lives, their liberty and their sacred honor in their own words for a democracy can a government of the many, not the government of the money. statue of an important point to make. so when john f. kennedy passed the torch and he asked that what your country can do, you know all of that, it was so

inspirational because he was such a great leader. but also because he tied us to our founding of this incredibly great country. and so i would say that he still remains an inspiration to many of us even though it was more than 50 years ago that we lost him. but our country, this is the greatest country that ever existed on the face of the earth. god gave us the choice, the opportunity to always stay when visiting poor kids in darfur in cancer all over the place, how did god decide we would live in america and they would live in a camp, a refugee camp? i would say his inspiration was america. our inspiration continues to be our great country.

and it's not that a newer, fresher approach to it i'm i think president obama is a beautiful inspiration, and his come the strength he draws is somewhat this country is about. so i have faith in our country. faith in america. have faith in yourself, have faith in yourself because your unique contribution is just that, unique, nobody else can make it. when he spoke he said asked not what our country can do for you but what you can do. country. for me that they do since i i heard was that very next sentence where he said to citizens of the world, ask not what america can do for you but what we can do working together for the freedom of mankind. and that really, the freedom of mankind, is really our purpose in the country in the world budget all harkens back to these people came up with the idea of

freedom and equality. and so i think america continues to be an inspiration. they told us, these founders, e. pluribus unum, from many, one. they couldn't possibly realize how many we would become and how diverse we would be. and abroad our country would become. geographically, from many, one. we take an oath. every public meeting, liberty, one nation, one, remember this word one. one nation under god with liberty and justice for all. that pledge to the flag, one nation under god with liberty and justice for all is really the inspiration of john f. kennedy, of president eisenhower, one of my favorite presidents, president eisenhower, going all the way back to our founders. so there's 20 of inspiration in

what our country is. we cannot let it be sidetracked by xenophobia, of people ignoring the fact that we are by and large a nation of immigrants. >> so your call is to believe in our cause, belief in our -- >> have faith in america. have faith in god. and that faith in god means that you respect the dignity and worth of every person, all created equal, spark of divinity in every one of us, including your self. you have that spark of divinity. how do you spread that spark? how do you make the difference that you can make? you can make it by knowing your purpose, what you like to do. what part of all of the future you want to take a part of. what you know about it, how you think strategically about it, how would you show people what

is in your heart. the best advice i ever got running, this isn't about inspiration but this is about the best advice i ever got running, that was the yourself. the most authentic person you can be, authenticity is what the american people seek. and when they find it they respond to be. so i'm so excited to see so many of you raise your hand to i guess it would be following if you come to this meeting you probably might be interested in public service but i didn't realize so very many. i'm very inspired by all of you. thank you. >> you have a job to do. they have classes to do. you speak of authenticity. i have an authentic a gift for your. >> we will see. we will let you know. [laughter] >> chocolate? >> maybe. i did my homework understand your something of a chocoholic, but only dark chocolate. so we have filled a gw base --

with dark chocolate to take. the gw part to support has to show out of office and anyone who comes in. we are not from california but we are the best university in america. [applause] >> thank you, frank. thank you, frank. i will display this with -- [applause] i will display this with great pride in my office as a constant inspiration that all of you or. please come see us on capitol hill. maybe i will be seeing you there officially sometime soon. you're pretty young, maybe i won't but -- [laughter] and when new members, those of us have been a lot sit back and we say here they come, the fresh

recruits. who among them will lead his body put who will go on to other office? who among them will be president of the united states? made in this room. made in this room. so thank you for coming today. [applause] >> thanks to all of you. and a very special shout out to those for helping to pull this event together. thank you. [applause] >> let's hear it for frank. [laughter] [applause] >> thank you so much. thanks, everybody. [inaudible conversations] >> every weekend for c-span networks feature programs on politics from nonfiction books in american history.

>> a signature future booktv is her all day coverage of the book fairs and festivals from across the country with top nonfiction authors. here's our schedule beginning this weekend.

>> next, a confirmation hearing for a couple of state department post. thomas kennedy be under secretary of state for political affairs and lower hold it for you is represented to the international atomic energy agency and the u.n. office in vienna. the nominees covered implementation process of the iran nuclear agreement. the state department and report on worldwide human trafficking and transparency. >> the subcommittee will come to order. i appreciate all of you --

[inaudible] i will say this. [inaudible] senator murphy and i love deep and probing questions. we have an interesting mix of countries and of interest, groups represented here. and certainly i think we would use this opportunity obviously to learn more about the areas you're going to and the challenges that you going to face here. i'm sure you have the opportunity to tell us what is on the highest thing on your mind as you approach your assignment. so as always we want to thank each and every one of you for your service to the united states. so with that senator murphy. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. we're going to cover a pretty diverse array of issues from keeping the world safe from chemical weapons, national security interest in the near

east and central asia to our investment strategy abroad. so i will match your brevity, mr. chairman, and get straight to the statements from our witnesses today. look forward to hearing and to their confirmation process. thank you very much, senator risch. >> wise decision. mr. morgan, we will start with you and welcome to the committee. would like to hear what you decide. >> chairman risch, ranking member murphy, members of the committee thank you for the opportunity to testify. i am honored to be considered by this committee for the position of executive vice president at the overseas private investment corporation. after spending most of my great and the private sector i've had the privilege of serving at opic for the last 11 inches process vice president for policy and chief of staff and now as chief operating officer. the agency in his 250 professionals example finds efficient and effective

government deliver results for the american taxpayer and for the citizens of the world's most challenging and often fastest growing emerging markets. as the u.s. governments develop and finance institution opic mobilizes private capital to help solve critical development challenges your advancing u.s. foreign policy and national security objectives at the same time. simply put opic represents a commonsense solution for development for u.s. national security and for america's own economic interests. with respect to development of because of out sized impact on global development. by bring to stabilize as a standing force of private investment to some of the world's most difficult areas and poorest peoples. over 40% of the agency financial commitments last year were two projects in the world's poorest countries like rwanda, cambodia and haiti. over 40% or two projects in africa come an agency record to opic also catalyzes critical investment flows to projects and

middle income countries where the majority of the world's poorest now reside. in support of u.s. national security, opec has increased its lending operations to conflict affected areas by over 50% during my time with the agency. today roughly one-third of opic's investments are in conflict affected or buffer countries such as iraq, afghanistan, jordan, georgia, ukraine and south sudan. investments made by the u.s. private sector in partnership with opic are critical components of ensuring that we help build solid economic conditions in vulnerable regions of foreign policy priority. in ukraine were working to support u.s. does is investigating testing investing in agriculture, financial services sector. and jordan one of our strongest partners in the troubled region we are proud u.s. companies support of a opic investments and insurance are providing prod nearly one-fifth of the country's power and water

supply. finally opic delivered strong results for u.s. taxpayers contribute positively to the function 150 account for 38 consecutive years. with 80% of global economic growth expected to occur in emerging markets over the coming decades, opic helps u.s. companies and footholds in fast-growing markets by crowding in private sector investment and enabling america's entrepreneurs and business leaders to join the rights of distinguished americans like my fellow nominees here today represent the best of u.s. values and ideals. mr. chairman, ranking member murphy come on any given day opic has far more demand from american businesses and we can answer, far more shared developmental challenges and far more income increased for investment support channeled through u.s. indices then we can into. filling the role of executive vice president would allow us to respond to this demand a more efficient and effective way at an agency which consistently

delivers on its development commission. i thank you again for your consideration of the nomination of the welcome the opportunity to answer any questions you may have. >> my mistake. i should have invited you to introduce any guess you have. >> i do have my wife, marcia, my son, my daughter is on a camping trip today and couldn't be here. >> she's of the lucky one spirit and my boss is also sitting in the second row. >> thank you so much. we appreciate that. >> mr. ward. we would like to from you would like to introduce the people you have here with you today speak with i have no immediate family here today put out like to introduce the former ambassador to the opcw, was behind and also the brother i never had come robert cadillac who is deputy staff director. on march of both of them here with me today.

>> mr. chairman, ranking member murphy, it is an honor to appear before you today as president barack obama's nominee to be the united states representative to the organization for the prohibition of them at the weapons with the rank of ambassador. i greatly appreciate the trust and confidence that president obama and secretary of state john kerry has shown in nominating me for this position. after decades of negotiation, the chemical weapons convention was signed in 1993 at the convention entered in 1997. since then the international physician charged with improving the convention the opcw, has established itself as an effective and respected international body. opcw inspectors have overseen and verified the destruction of chemical weapons in russia, the united states, albania, libya, syria, and other this states parties. inspectors have conducted

thousands of inspections and national military facilities and commercial enterprises around the world to ensure that states parties are abiding by their obligations. in the fall of 2013 these efforts toward achieving a world free of chemical weapons were acknowledged by the nobel committee and the opcw was awarded the peace prize. despite the historic the competence of the convention and the opcw, chemical weapons continue to be a threat to the international peace and security. the ongoing strife in syria is a stark and tragic reminder that such weapons are not relics of world war i or the cold war. on august 21, 2013, the syrian government unleashed a barrage of rockets filled with the nerve agent sarah and against opposition controlled suburbs of damascus. killing an estimated 1400 civilians, many of them

children. three weeks later under international pressure syria joined the chemical weapons convention. of the great concern, there remains compelling evidence that syria can series -- can just use chemical weapons against his own people. and mission of the opcw, and it is a credit to establish the facts surrounding allegations of the use of toxic chemicals as a weapon in syria, has concluded with a high degree of confidence that chlorine was used in april and may, 2014 against opposition controlled villages in northwest syria. the fact-finding mission is now investigating additional allocations of chemical weapons used in syria. in early august the u.n. security council established the joint investigative mechanism for the purpose of identifying those individual entities, groups or governments responsible for these chemical

weapons attacks. of additional concern, and opcw tactical team is raised a host of issues calling into question whether syria has declared all of its stocks of chemical weapons and associated munitions. the united states shares these concerns. we have a sense of that syria has not declared all of the element of its chemical weapons program and they continue to retain some of its stock of traditional chemical agents and munitions. in sum, syria continues to violate the most fundamental obligation of the cwc against the possession and use of chemical weapons. if confirmed by the senate i will make every effort to ensure that the people of syria no longer face the threat of chemical weapons at the hands of the government. mr. chairman, ranking member murphy, the ongoing chemical weapons crisis in syria as well as the allegations of the use of chemical weapons by nonstate actors in both syria and iraq is

a potent reminder of the essential role of the chemical weapons convention and the opcw in promoting international peace and security. in years to come the world will continue to look to the opcw as the repository of technical expertise. the opcw will face many challenges in the years to come to achieve the promised that a world filled with chemical weapons, excuse they come free of chemical weapons. we must achieve membership. we must prevent the reemergence of chemical weapons. if confirmed by the senate i will work to ensure that the opcw achieve these goals and remains an effective force for promoting international peace. i welcome the opportunity to answer any questions you may have. >> that was very comprehensive. thank you very much. mr. bodek, you've been nominated to be ambassador to libya. could you enlighten us, please. ..

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