right to left. >> senator, we did talk about some. we expect, although there are periods of time there is a vacancy and the court functions 4-for or someone decides not to participate in the decision process, especially but especially for the amount of time this year, it really, it just works the process and it leaves us, if you are looking at it from a liberal and conservative scorecard, it depends what the lower court did and so we could name some that are on the docket right now where from a liberal point of view it's going to lead in place a lower court thing and we say wow, we might have lost that girl that's not a good way to do business but that's what it is and professor green made

clear which as we know as lawyers which is sometimes because it's partly thebusiness of the court , very heavily the business of the court to resolve differences between circuits from well, those are left in place and you have different law in different parts of the country so it's a very big point. >> anybody else? >> we are potentially talking about twofold terms of the court in which it's unable to decide closely contested but would have been five four decisions and become thai decisions and as professor edelman said that leaves divisions of authority in the

lower courts which it's the job of the supreme court to resolve the supreme court has multiple responsibilities and one of its core functions is to resolve those disagreements and it leaves the law in a state of uncertainty. >> the choice here is to deliberately choose to leave the court in this circumstance but it's a different circumstance that was presented for a nominee and there's some thought that was considered and rejected, not quite the same cut line of thinking but there's a decision and a cost to thecourt and now the question becomes what's the benefit? there's no grand principle at stake here. there's no benefit other than partisan is him . >> i think the dysfunction that would be created in the next year or two in the court is to be taken very seriously but my own view is the stakes here are much higher than that the states are the fact that we have had and develop a tradition through the confirmation process for supreme court nominees which is quite consistent and has worked quite well and this throw that into chaos. and that the long-term implications of this, i think, are extremely dangerous and severe and i think that frankly, members of the senate should think about this in those terms. when the south seceded, lincoln didn't say oh, let him go. i think this is like that. i think this is a moment when

it's really important to stand up and see the stakes are extraordinarily high. they go to the real rule of law of our constitution of the government. >> i guess there's a part of us that believes that even when the legislative branch goes in the direction that a lot of people don't want to that somehow this branch of government would be walled off from that and it's not the branch that doing it, it's the other legislative branch not doing its job. i guess the other question i had on the deadlock question i , emergency matters that come before the court. i don't know if you've already spoken about that but anyone can assess that. >> it's the same point to your liking the boat and if you need five votes and the way it confers its 4 to 4, then there's something that really needs to be done right there decided and you can't pick up so yes, that's a key point it

may be worth reiterating the fact that there's no exception to the senate's duty here. there's no opportunity for them to take time off if god for bid there were a war or something like that we would expect our leaders to be on call. and that's not a time to say well, this branch is not to defend this country. that's not a choice. that's a duty. and the same thing happens here, i think. there's not the choice to abandon your job or if you make that choice toabandon your job, somebody else should fill your slot. >> well said . thank you medicare. >> thank you very much and i neglected to go through all of your credentials. we still have a lot of reporters here and people i know that are watching on the live stream and on c-span and i didn't do it at the beginning because we had so many senators here and i wanted to get to that but to be fair to all of you and our listeners and people that are here, they

understand these are experts on the court like no other. we have professor stone who is dean of the chicago law school, he's law clerk to supreme court justice william brennan and in recent yearshe has served as the chair of the board of the american constitution society . we have peter edelman who was also law clerk to supreme court justice arthur goldberg, he's been on the faculty at georgetown, he was also counselor to hh secretary shalala, legislative assistant to senator robert f kennedy. you can't get better than that. michael gerhard who is with us from north carolina. a distinguished professor of constitutional law, served as special counsel assisting the white house on justice stephen breyer's confirmation hearing in 2005, he advised several senators on president bush's nomination of john roberts as

chief justice. he testified as an expert witness in a confirmation hearing for justice samuel alito. he served the special counsel to chairman patrick leahy and the senate judiciary, committee for the nomination of sonia sotomayor and elena kagan. finally jamaal greene, we are so pleased he could join us. in addition to being the vice dean for intellectuallife at columbia , he teaches and writes in the areas of us constitutional law and beer he and the federal courts, comparative constitutional law from 2007 to 2008. he served as the alexander fellow at new york university school of law. it was a law clerk to justice paul stevenson the supreme court . he received his a.b. in economics from harvard, earned his ged from law school in 2005 when he served as the article editor. so these are heavy-duty professors and i've also heard from a more conservative leaning professor who believed

the same thing, that the constitution is the constitution. that people have a duty to do their jobs and i'm sure like all of us, our colleagues were as shocked when justice scalia died. that happened. but when people things happen you have your job to do. and that is really what this is about today. it's about a constitutional duty, solemn oath that people take to do their jobs and respecting not only the history of this country but really the basic constitution on which our country is faith and our government is based so i want to thank you for taking the time to join us. there were several comments made on the need from professor stone to continue standing up. you have seen the democrats in the senate be very clear from our most liberal senator to our most conservative democrat that we believe that the constitution is clear.

and there's a duty here. the republican side, you have heard a few senators say they think that we should have hearings, that that is part of our duty for advice and consent since 1916 as you pointed out. and before that, the senate still advised and consented in its own way but no one refused to meet nominees or said we wouldn't move forward with the process. we move forward with the process so i want to thank you so much. we don't think this is going to end. we are going to continue this. we have gotten millions of petitions and emails from people all over the country that say they want to move forward with this and the american people won't be silent so thank you very much. .

[inaudible conversation] south

carolina democrats head to the polls tomorrow. theculmination of months of campaigning by former secretary of state hillaryclinton and vermont senator bernie sanders. the charleston post and courier reports the most recent polling data shows hillary clinton has a 28 point lead over senator sanders ahead of the primary . some of the nuts and bolts of the primary tomorrow , the story says voters there are required to bring one of five forms of identification to their polling place in order to cast their ballot. polls are open from 7 am to 7 pm and we have wine rallies with both of the candidates this afternoon. hillary clinton is scheduled to speak at south carolina state university in a historically black college in orangeburg. our live coverage of her rally in a little more than half an hour at 4:40 5 pm eastern on our companion network c-span

and senator sanders is also speaking in order tobird and another historically black college called clapham university and that's getting underway at 5:30 p.m. eastern here on c-span 2 . c-span's campaign 2016 is taking on the road to the white house and saturday is the south carolina democratic primary. our life coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. eastern with election results and speeches from the democratic candidate, hillary clinton and bernie sanders. we get your reactions phone calls and to join us saturday for life coverage on c-span, c-span radio and c-span.org. >> book pds the 48 hours of nonfiction books and authors on c-span 2. here are some of the programs on for this weekend. saturday at 7:30 pm eastern, david randall of the national association of scholars talk

about some of the books incoming college freshmen are asked to read before the first day of class. sunday at nine on afterwards, former nsa and cia director michael hayden gives an inside look at national security in his book playing to the edge. american intelligence in the age of terror. he is interviewed by james will be, former cia director in the clinton administration. >> metadata is literally the outside of the envelope for electronic communication and as you said, american law enforcement traditionally has been able to look at the outside of the envelope. the supreme court decided that the fact of yourphone call , who you called, when and for how long, also was essentially the outside of the envelope. >> watch tv all weekend every weekend on c-span 2, television for serious readers. >> now hearing on the safety of the nation's food supply focusing on the possibility of an attack on us agriculture and

the resources needed to prevent one security, agriculture and food supply experts testified before a house homeland security subcommittee. >> the subcommittee will come to order. the subcommittee is meeting today to receive testimony regarding efforts to defend our nation's food and agricultural sector. now recognized for an opening statement i want to first say this is my last subcommittee hearing i will be chairing. technically i've actually handed over the gavel to my good calling here, mister donovan from new york but since we had planned his hearing we decided to do our change of command ceremony at the end of the hearing so it's an honor to have been chairing this subcommittee and working with my colleague, ranking member mister payne.

i will remain on the subcommittee but will chair the border and maritime subcommittee which is quite important for my district and looking forward to continued leadership opportunities. back to the topic at hand. throughout the congress, the subcommittee on emergency preparedness response has taken a deep dive into the world of biological terrorism. we held hearings to assess the biological threat, understand the scope of the bio defense problem and examine federal programs aimed at tackling some of the bio defense challenges. our oversight thus far has primarily been on the human impacts of biological terrorism. today we are going to take a different perspective and look at the impact to the nation from a terrorist attack on or natural disruption of our agriculture or food systems. an aggregate terrorism attack with impact the most basic of human needs. the food we eat. furthermore, the food and agricultural sector is important to our nation's economy. us food and agricultural accounts for roughly 1/5 of the nation's economic activity.

attributed 835 dollars to the us gross domestic product in 2014 and is responsible for one out of every 12 us jobs. in my home state of arizona, ranching and agriculture contributes about $10 billion a year to the state economy. and an intentional attack or national disruption of us agriculture or food therefore would present a serious threat to this nation and cause major economic damage on a number of levels.there will be cost related to containing disease and destruction of livestock, compensating farmers for loss of agricultural commodities and losses and other related industries and trade embargoes imposed by other nations. intelligence indicates that terrorists have discussed vulnerabilities in various components of this sector. food and our culture is an attractive target to terrorists because many agents are easy to obtain. minimal technology is required to execute an attack and our food travels across the country and world quickly and efficiently. furthermore, even if there are

few human casualties, and agri-terrorism attack would undermine public confidence in the government, increasing concerns about the safety of our food supply as well as the effectiveness of biological defense planning. this goes to the heart of what we know. groups like isys are trying to do. terrorized by all means possible. we only need to look at the impact of the highly pathogenic avian influenza, a natural event, to see how devastating and intentional attack against our food or agriculture could be. last year's outbreak was the largest animal health incident in us history. resulting in over $3 billion in economic losses and the slaughtering of 48 million birds to stem the spread of the disease. 18 training partners banned all imports of us poultry and products and an additional 20 training partners include imposed partial basketball this outbreak and its rapid farm to farm spread highlighted the challenge the sector faces related to effective bio

security especially during a large-scale response. we must ensure we are able to assess our level of fairness for any disruption to us food or agriculture. our goal today is to gain a better understanding of what government along with academia and the private sector are doing to reduce vulnerabilities of the food and agricultural sector to a terrorist attack. we hope to gain a better understanding of the scope of the problem and identify ways in which we as members of congress focus on homeland security issues can prevent attacks and improve our readiness and our ability to respond. i hope to hear about information sharing with the government. things like the fusion centers different are you getting threat and risk information you need? i want to understand or connect as this to the human health side of things. rr curator bio surveillance systems integrating human and animal plant data to form one true picture? with that, i welcome our witnesses and look forward to your testimony. the chair recognizes the

gentleman from new jersey, senator payne for any remarks he may have. >> thank you madam chair. and good morning. to all here. i'd like to thank subcommittee chair miss mcsally for holding today's hearing and i wish you the best of luck as you take over the subcommittee on border and maritime security. biological threats are evolvin . as these threats evolve, so does our perspective about how we can best protect against the damage that they inflict. this subcommittee has historically focused on human health impact of biological threats. i am pleased we are expanding the scope of our oversight to include the impact to us agriculture and food supply. i represent the 10th congressional district of the state of new jersey and my

district is not known for its rolling fields ofcorn, hog pens or open cattle ranges . it is however home of the port of newark and newark liberty international airport. customs and border protection agriculture specialists at the airport clear up to 20,000 passengers every day. at port newark, one of the busiest ports on the east coast, inspectors inspect imported food, items, marble slabs, tile and wood packing material, all of which can carry insects and other snails that could harm our domestic agriculture. yet just this week i heard the cpd employees in my district about insufficient agricultural specialist staffing. the port of newark and newark international airport are top-performing ports with top interception numbers in severa , first in the nation in size

but i am concerned that unless the staffing challenges are resolved, there is a risk that a new foreign insect could go undetected and do harm to the agricultural industry and the safety of the food supply. although i recognize that we may not be able to stop every dangerous insect or pathogen from entering our borders, we must be vigilant with that said, i also recognize that there are domestic risks to agriculture in the agriculture industry and the food supply related to natural disasters and emerging diseases and bad actors. last year for example, an avian influenza outbreak was responsible for nearly $400 million in losses to the egg and poultry industry and consumers paid the price at the grocery store.

although the avian influenza was a naturally occurring event, the financial losses sustained served as a sobering example of the economic damage that a similar incident could inflict. the food and agriculture industry is valued at nearly $1 trillion in the united states and it is critically to open the american people without question. that is why the federal government has designated the food and agriculture sector a critical infrastructure sector since 2003. although there are multiple efforts to enhance the security of the agriculture industry underway at the federal and state level, aswell as within the industry , significant challenges remain. for example, earlier this month this subcommittee held a hearing on the department of

homeland security's struggle to achieve a national bio surveillance capability to collect and analyze bio surveillance data related to human health , animal health and plant health. unfortunately this dhs national bio surveillance integration center has struggled to effectively execute its mission for nearly a decade to the detriment of efforts to improve the agriculture bio surveillance capabilities. i will be interested to know what, if any recommendations the witnesses have to improve the national bio surveillance capability in that regard. additionally, i would be interested in understanding how information related to emerging diseases, emergency planning for natural disasters and terrorist threats is shared with stakeholders in the agriculture industry and whether the information is actionable. finally, i am eager to learn from our witnesses how the private sector financial

institutions and nongovernment entities play an active role in enhancing bio security protocols for the agriculture industry as a whole. i think the witnesses for being here today. i look forward to hearing your testimony. and madam chair, with that i yield back my time spent night ranking member payne. members are reminded that opening six may submitted for the record.we are pleased to have a distinguished panel on this important topic. doctor doug meccas is a north carolina state veterinarian, a position he has held since 2014. prior to that, doctor mack is served as the branch chief for food, agriculture and defense at us department of homeland security where he provided oversight and management of the departmentimplementation of homeland security presidential directive nine , defense of the united states agriculture and food. integrating the efforts of other dhs components and coordinating those efforts with appropriate federal departments and agencies, tribal state and

local governments and the private sector. doctor tammy beckham is dean of the college of veterinary medicine at kansas state university, a position she assumed in 2015. prior to his her current position, doctor beckham served as director for the institute ofinfectious animal diseases , i department of homeland security center of excellence in college station texas where she led the iied's effort to perform research and develop projects to defend the nation from high consequent foreign animal emerging diseases. did i say that right? i was a premed biology major in college. my professors would not be proud of me. anyway, doctor beckham also served as director of the texas a&m medical diagnostics

laboratory where she provided leadership for its two full-service laboratories and to poultry laboratories and directs one of the highest volume animal diagnostic labs in the country. previously, doctor beckham was director of the foreign animal disease diagnostic laboratory, part of the department of agriculture's animal disease center in new york rovers responsibilities include managing the diagnosis of animal diseases, overseeing diagnostic tests for a nationwide animal health diagnostic system and coordinating efforts with the department of homeland security and national animal health networks and other entities. doctor bobby a court has been a consultant for the national pork producers council since 2004. prior to that, mister e court served as administrator for the department of agriculture animal and plant health inspection services from 2001 to 2004. as a fist administrator, mister e court was responsible for protecting us agricultural health from exotic tests and diseases, administering the

animal welfare act and carrying out wildlife management activities. mister accord served as a physicist associate administrator from 1999 to 2001. wired to that he served nearly a decade as deputy administrator for a fixed lifetime services program. doctor brian williams is an assistant professor at mississippi state university department of agriculture economic struggle doctor williams focuses on the areas of commodity marketing, production economics and agricultural policy. since joining the department he has served as a member of the mississippi state university disaster response team where he has focused on assessing damage to the agricultural sector after natural disasters. the witnesses full written statements will appear in the record . the chair recognizes doctor meckes for five minutes. >> german mcsally, ranking member payne, i am prepared in this response and communications. my name is duck meckes and i am the director of the veterinary

division of the department of agriculture and consumer services. the division serves the poultry industry, the livestock industry and manages and operates for veterinary diagnostic laboratories in north carolina. thank you for the opportunity to speak today about north carolina's ongoing efforts to prepare for, respond to and communicate with stakeholders during agricultural emergencies. north carolina and george's robust agribusiness industry with contributes nearly $80 billion annually to north carolina's economy. 67 percent of that figure is associated with animal agriculture. industry accounts for 17 percent of state income and employs 16 percent of the workforce. chairman mcsally and ranking member payne have spoken knowledgeably about the food and ag sector and i will not that. but my contributions to the food sector to the nation, in january 2004, homeland security presidential directive nine was released and established the

national policy that agriculture and food systems against terrorist attacks, major disasters and other emergencies. included in hsv nine were 18 line items provide guidance to address then identify gaps in our nation's ability to identify agriculture and food. 12 years later, gaps remain in our efforts to fulfill the hs b9 directives. i will north carolina's concerns over three of those gaps today. federal, state and local response capabilities, availability of vaccine for foot and mouth disease and the national health laboratory resources. a line item 14 of hs the ninth directs participating departments and agencies to ensure that the federal state and local response capabilities are adequate to respond effectively to a terrorist attack to major disease outbreak or other disaster. even before hs p9 my

predecessors recognized the need for such capability.and that need was precipitated by a series of events in the state in the nation and internationally for in september 1999, hurricane floyd made landfall in north carolina and that resulted in $813 million in agricultural losses. in february 2001, and outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the united kingdom caused the crisis in ouragriculture and tourism and finally, 9/11 brought new concerns of attacks on agriculture and food systems , the likelihood of agri-tourism, the deliberate introduction of plant and animal disease for the purpose of generating fear and causing economic losses and undermining social stability took on new meaning. in the midst of these events, north carolina's veterinary division launched an effort to meet the challenges of food in the 21st century. as a result, the emergency

programs division was created within the department to reduce the vulnerability , minimize the impact of any natural or man-made disaster, disease or terrorist attack and facilitate a rapid return to normalcy. today, the meat emergency programs division within north carolina has reached maturity and has more than fulfilled it's all hazard response mission. development of this capability has been funded by state and various federal grants. $18 million in state funds, 7.3 millions in federal funds, a relatively small investment over the years. consider what similar investments might have meant to states or family affected by hp ai. minnesota experienced 1.6 to 1.8 billion in economic losses as a result of hp ai on 180 premises. continued federal state funding will be necessary to maintain current capability to develop new capability, to train, to exercise, replace equipment as needed. unfortunately funding for north carolina's emergency program division continues to decline

in places the state preparedness and response capability at risk for north carolina's second concern, line item 18 a of hs pd nine 62 the necessity of developing a national veterinary stockpile containing sufficient amounts of animal vaccine, therapeutic products to appropriately respond to the most damaging animal diseases. most in the minds of states with significant animal agriculture production is the possibility of a foot and mouth disease outbreak. certainly that case in north carolina, home to 9 million homes. besides, the structure, the efficiency and extensive movement inherent in us livestock industry will present unprecedented challenges in the event of an outbreak. control of such an outbreak in wife's livestock will require tens of millions of doses of foot and mouth disease vaccine. however, there are not tens of millions of doses of foot and mouth disease available, not anywhere inthe world.

because there is no excess production capacity , current production meets daily needs and there is no excess capacity. the reality has been evident since 2004 when the national veterinary stockpile was created but there has never been sufficient funding for the stockpile to and mouth disease vaccine.if andy remains, north carolina's agriculture greatest threat, the pork industry, the economy, communities businesses and families in north carolina would be devastated by a foot and mouth disease outbreak. a collaborative effort includes all stakeholders must be initiated to develop and implement a plan for establishing effective stockpile. north carolina's third concern is diagnostic laboratory capability. line item 8 directs departments and agencies to develop a nationwide laboratory network for food, veterinary plan health and water resources that

integrate federal and state laboratory resources. the national animal health laboratory network was created as a result of this directive and is now part of the nationwide strategy to coordinate the work of all organizations provided animal disease surveillance and testing services. north carolina's veterinary design diagnostic laboratory system is a part of and effectively surveilled for an diagnosis diseases every day. however, state and federal support of and fulfillment for the nations laboratory system are necessary to optimize capability. an absence of full funding was recently noted in the bipartisan report of the blue ribbon study panel which stated the non-has struggled to maintain even $10 million worth of annual funding. it's appropriations cut over the years to pay for other programs. as a result, laboratories are unable to meet the threat and eliminate positions in testing capacity for foreign animal diseases. after struggling for years to obtain sufficient funding,

congress in 2014 authorized a specific funding line for $15 million. now none must be funding this operating level to meet the need. thank you for the opportunity to speak today on behalf of north carolina about issues concerned and related to the defense of food and agriculture. i'm happy to address any questions you may have. thank you doctor meckes. the chair recognizes doctor beckham for five minutes. >> good morning chairman mcsally, ranking member payne and members of the house subcommittee on emergency preparedness response and communication. my name is tammy beckham and i'm the dean of the college of veterinary medicine. thank you for the opportunity to you about the role academia a's in defending our nation's agriculture and food. as i testified before you today, the us has reaped the

benefits of a robust agriculture industry that provides them with access to a safe, abundant and affordable food supply. gary elements that make the us agriculture system robust and productive it more vulnerable to a national or intentional introduction of a biological agent. perhaps now more than ever, our agriculture industry is at risk from a variety of threats that have the potential to severely disrupt our economy, food supply and cause harm to our public health sector. threats to the sector can come in a variety of forms to include a natural or intentional introduction of a foreign animal emerging or disease. many of the agents on the list of those most likely to be utilized execute and agri-terrorism event such as swine fever or ebola are readily available in countries throughout the world and in particular in countries in which terrorist groups such as the islamic state, local, and others who intend to harm the us today. studies indicate the impact from a natural introduction of any of these agents could lead to public health implications

with the most recent study completed by research at kansas state university predicting the cost associated with foot and mouth disease outbreak could result in a total of $180 billion in losses. our ability to defend us livestock industries from these threats is dependent on a coordinated collaborative and comprehensive approach involving state and federal government, law enforcement industry both livestock and academia. since 2002 with the formation of dhs and the result of hs pd nine and 10 the role of academia and supporting the homeland security in this admissions have run. academia and in particular land-grant universities play a unique and critical role in supporting the defense mission. working with federal partners we can form cutting-edge research, develop countermeasures and solutions and technologies that can support our industry during peacetime as well as during a disease outbreak.

our ability to work in each segment of the development pipeline provides expertise, perform research to address questions and act as a hub for capabilities are just some of the attributes that make academia such a strong and vital partner. to our outreach mission, we work to educate producers, stakeholders and the public about novel technologies, policies, threats to the sector. we have strong relationships with our stakeholders that are built on trust and understanding and perhaps most importantly to homeland security provide a venue for a brokered, unbiased discussion and communication between the state and federal government and our agricultural sector. academia is in a unique position to facilitate discussions between the private and public sector and works to bridge the communication and trust gap so that solutions can be found. simply stated we are capable of acting as a trusted partner in what can sometimes be a very complex relationship. the college of veterinary medicine are applying what is arguably the most important

role in homeland security and that is teaching training and comparing the next generation of workforce. our graduates do indeed understand the role of animal health and state of the nation system and recognize that veterinarians serve as the first line of defense in identifying emerging diseases. i would be remiss not to mention that on a site adjacent to the kansas state university of medicine, dhs is constructing a national bio and agora defense facility." collaboration between the case edm and its partners presents an optimal opportunity to further strengthen resources for addressing the threats to the us agriculture and food system. there is a need to allocate adequate resources as well to address the nation's vulnerability in this area efforts such as the dhs centers of excellence, students receive resourcing , additional funds should be provided for agora defense focused research and avenues such as the institute for food and act, the national institute of health and lastly

but certainly not least through increased funding for programs that will be housed within the bio and aggregate defense facility. with construction of a state-of-the-art 1.2 $5 billion facility is critical to ensure a stable and appropriate level of resources and funding for the training and diagnostic missions that will be housed within your current budgets for the ars and vhs do not account for the planned expansion of the programs in research diagnostic and training that will occur in the new facility so i urge you today to increase agency program budgets in the future for the mission so efforts for the full potentially of the facility and partnerships to include the natural animal health laboratory network can be achieved in summary, addressing the threat posed by the intentional or unintentional introduction of high consequence disease is a collaborative process. the role of academia in this challenge is but one component of a broader solution preparedness is and will be dependent on a holistic all in

a price approach and solving the sectors complex problems and supporting our livestock and allied industries will depend on a strong private partnership that is built on trust, collaboration and result and finally, chairman mcsally and members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to you today and i look forward to your questions. >> thank you doctor beckham. the chair recognizes doctor acord for five minutes. >> manager woman, ranking member payne, members of the subcommittee the us department of agriculture, the agriculture industry and the food supply have been at great risk from disease. that risk has continued to increase over the years because of increases in travel, tourism and trade. each passenger handbag, each piece of luggage brought into the united states poses a risk. every partial parcel mailed to the us postal restaurant bar large volumes of commodities and products a wide range of

countries are transported legally and some illegally to the united states every year by different conveyances, all of which may be carrying a disease or hitchhiking past .now the country faces a new risk. terrorists weatherizing disease to inflict harm on the us economy. of particular concern to the livestock industry is foot and mouth disease. it's a highly contagious disease affecting all clothing moved animals. the structure of the us livestock industry makes the us particularly vulnerable to a large-scale foot and mouth disease outbreak. there are estimated 1 million things and 4000 daily in the united states, some over long distances and there are numerous auctions, fairs, exhibits that concentrate large numbers of animals in a single location. those movements and concentrations provide opportunities for just one infected or exposed animal to infect many others. the us industries also concerned about african swine fever that has reared its ugly

head in russia, belarus and eastern european countries that border russia and those other countries. it's a disease for which there is no means of control. as doctor meckes mentioned, there is an insufficient quantity of foot and mouth disease vaccine. a his change of policy on navigating an outbreak from calling all exposed and affected animals to one of vaccination in all of the smallest of outbreaks.when discussing how this policy would be implemented it became apparent that there is not enough vaccine to deal with an outbreak and there is no capability of producing a sufficient quantity to deal with an outbreak in the us. the livestock industry has made it clear that the solution to the vaccine shortage must include a contract for a vendor maintained bank that includes antigen for all 23 fnb pipes that are circulating in the

world and that a contract be awarded for search capacity to produce sufficient quantities of vaccine in the event of an outbreak in a vaccine heard. there are gaps in the us bio security system and most outbreaks, the first a problem encountered is the lack of bio security which contributes to the spread of the disease. one solution to this problem is that in addition to text exercises, federal and state agencies need a more robust review of bio security measures in each section of the agriculture industry. we need more robust scrutiny of imports. federal agencies are relying too much on the ports of entry as the first line of defense against pest disease introduction. more emphasis must be placed on what happens during processing production of products in the countries of origin. we had an outbreak of a kind diarrhea in the united states in 2013 and the means and methods by which that introduction was brought to the

us has never been discovered. if that gap in the security system is still open, it's open for fnb and all the other diseases as well. we have a serious problem with animal traceability in this country. it's inadequate for the use in an animal disease outbreak. it's not even recognized as adequate to meet the requirements of some of the major us trading partners. many of the shortfalls identified today are the result of lack of adequate resources. risks to us agriculture and food supply have increased dramatically over the last few years and have now been exacerbated by the threat of terrorist targeting agriculture production. at the same time, funding provided to meet the country safeguarding system has been reduced. we simply can't have it both ways. in conclusion, there seems to

be a global growing consensus that there are serious flaws in the country's preparedness to deal with threats to the us agriculture and food supply. the bipartisan report of the blue ribbon study panel on bio defense highlighted the need for improvements in the system for protecting us livestock heard and the nations food supply. a lot of information has been gathered from that report from the hearings you have held, from hearings held in the department of agriculture. excuse me, by the committee on agriculture. there's a lot of information that has now been developed and it seems that from the perspective of the national pork producers council and largely the livestock industry, it's now time to take action and work with the obama administration to fill these gaps and let's not continue to just look, let's act at this point. thank you and that i'd be happy to answer any questions. >> thank you mister acord. the chair recognizes mister

williams for five minutes. >> chairman mcsally and members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to appear today to talk about the risks that our nation faces from agri-terrorism. as an economist at mississippi state university i spend a large portion of my time researching ag market and the impact that shocks can have to those markets. our country's ag and food production system faces many challenges today. one of which is the risk of a major disruption to the system. it is essential that we be prepared to face the threats to prevent and/or minimize the impact they may have on our food system. as mentioned by my fellow witnesses, our poultry industry faced the devastating avian influenza outbreak in 2015. in iowa alone, 30 million layers were lost in 1.5 million turkeys were lost resulting in a direct impact of $658 million. other industries are also impacted. this is known as a multiplier effect and that multiplier

effect resulted in a total economic impact of $1.2 billion in more than 8000 jobs lost. on a positive note, some of those losses in iowa were partially offset with increases in sales and other states. mississippi along, a producers in the state saw a 40 percent year-over-year increase in sales. keep in mind those increased egg prices were passed on to consumers so there's a negative on that side as well. prior to the avian influenza outbreak, the poultry industry already had several bio security measures put in place by companies such as sanderson farms and tyson who own the birds and contract the producers to grow and raise the birds. state and federal agencies also help to develop those guidelines. despite all these measures that were in place, the industry was not prepared for an outbreak when disaster struck. in the time since the outbreak,

industry leaders, state agencies and federal agencies have come together to develop a plan to quickly and efficiently address future outbreaks. this can also be applied to act agri-terrorism and provides a framework for other industries to work from. one benefit of agriculture is that production is spread over a wide area. as a result, natural disasters and other disruptions are quite common but typically have minimal impact. for example, the snowstorm a month ago that hit the state of nebraska, iowa, colorado and kansas all but shut down the meatpacking industry for nearly 2 days. yet the markets didn't respond tothat shock . another example, a similar snowstorm earlier this year in texas and new mexico killed more than 30,000 very callous and caused significant damage on the local level.

yet nationally, the milk futures only increase for a week before we turn into their previous levels. one of the great threats from agri-terrorism we face is the introduction of something that could shut down our export industry . as an example of this is in 2003 when we had a cow test policy for bsc in washington state that shut down our export industry on 80. it took seven years for exports to return back to the level they were before that positive test for bsc but despite that shut down in exports, the capital markets were not impacted on a large scale. moving on to our product industry, with fruits and vegetables the biggest threat we really face is something that can potentially harm us as humans, the introduction of e. coli or salmonella.

our fumes and vegetables are typically outdoors, in the ground, many close to the ground so they are susceptible to contamination whether it be a natural birds or introduced from terrorists. while thereis a system in place to detect and track these introductions , they are still definitely room for improvement. road crops are less susceptible to natural disasters. the damage must be on a large scale to have a significant impact on the nation's economy. the biggest threat we face right now is drought or widespread drought as we saw in 2012. the 2012 route took nearly 3 years for our nations road crop industry to get back to normal levels. other thing to keep in mind on that side of things is that conditions have to be nearly perfect at the field level for a terrorist to introduce a

pathogen that would take hold and spread and so the likelihood of that is not very high. in conclusion, past incidences of disruptions have shown the us ag sector is remarkably resilient. in most cases it would be difficult for a producer to input damage on a large enough scale with the exception of possibly our foot and mouth disease and some of these diseases in the livestock sector to cause a national impact. what is really key to minimizing these effects is to take measures to keep them at a localized level. if these impacts are at a localized level, our ag sector has shown a remarkable ability to bounceback from these types of incidents . >> thank you doctor williams. chair, i would recognize myself for five minutes for questions. a lot of them stewing here but

i want to be efficient with my time and give my colleagues an opportunity to ask questions this committee has been focusing on the fusion centers and information sharing, not just between federal partners but between federal state and local . not just on the government side but with private sector and others that need a place or maybe can be a place regionally or statewide to come together and get the information they need on threats and sharing information in both directions. i'd love to hear perspectives from any of the witnesses on whether or you have been invited or involved in any of your fusion centers or whether that's an area we also need to improve to be inviting members related to agriculture industry to address the agri-terrorism threat, have that information shared at these fusion centers? >> chairman mcsally, i will our situation in north carolina. as i indicated, the emergency programs division came into being in 2002 and have been

intimately involved with law enforcement, with our emergency management response teams all across the state of north carolina with the fusion centers and again, i would suggest that the emergency programs division model might be something other states would consider because it's taking the burden of trying to manage that piece of agriculture and food defense off our veterinary division and that this group focuses solely on what's needed for response and of course we are integrated with them on a day-to-day basis in all activities so in answer to your question, north carolina does have input and does receive input from the fusion centers and the emergency management . >> is that all virtual or do you have somebody invited their horses there if something were to break out with cpps for you to have somebody there or how does that work? >> in our preparing for influenza we actively engaged

immediately our emergency operations center for the state of north carolina and we had on the incident out of that cente . >> okay great. any other witnesses care to comment on the fusion center? mister acord? >> to my knowledge there's been no discussion or contact from the senators with the pork industry. i haven't heard of any. i can make you aware of one circumstance where communication is not good and that's with the national animal health laboratory network. the challenge we have there is that most of laboratories communicate with each other and that's a serious consequence of not being able to immediately post what you find in a laboratory in minnesota or iowa or in kansas and that has to be fixed if we are going to have an effective system and it currently doesn't work .

>> interesting. doctor beckham? >> that goes back to surveillance and having the ability for systems to communicate with each other to include the laboratory systems as currently stands right now, the ability for those last two message test results and communicate with one another as doctor acord said is not as robust as it could be. in addition, getting information from the veterinarian state and help official or two other officials that need to have that information, right now there's not a really robust system out there for that. there are efforts underway that are all of enterprise effort from the industry to the state health officials the federal government that have been funded by the department of homeland security and are being coordinated with usda to develop surveillance systems that can talk between each other in the diagnostic labs today, that's still underway

and has not reached its full potential much less even broached the idea of communicating with our public health sector so. >> we have here in two weeks ago taking a look at bio surveillance systems and particularly looking at the national bio surveillance integration center so is that the place, there's a lot of shortcomings to that but in nevada in a perfect world is that the place that should be integrating information into way and across regionally as well? i think there's some challenges associated with that and some of the challenges our willingness to share information and someone has to act as a trusted agent which is what i would do in my testimony of the industries i believe are willing to share information but that information has to be protected and there has to be clear policies and procedures on how one will react to certain parts of information so

those things need to be worked out and i think one of the projects i have worked on in academia with industry was headed that way so you can get people to share information but importantly, you've got to give them something back for it. they can't give you information and you not give them anything back so it's a two-way street. there has to be good communication and trust so i'm not sure that indicate is the place for that. i would let my other witnesses comment on that. i can sure tell you that academia is a good place or maybe another party that can act as a trusted agent would be a great place to hold information or to share information. also, one more thing. the unique thing about some of the systems out there now is you don't even have to hold the information. you can reach back and gather that information and only use it when you need to. therefore it stays with the owner of the information and so

that's another way of getting access to information and being able to utilize information but not storing information in big databases which can be very scary. >> as you were saying that it made me think of a parallel that we had a challenge with cyber security and information sharing among the private sector and government and we passed legislation out of this committee providing some protections to the private sector to build that trust and liability issues so there could be sharing of what the appropriate information is. i wonder if that's a model to look at for a similar challenge within this industry. i have more questions but i'm out of time so i will go on the second round and i want to give time to ranking member payne for five minutes. >> thank you madam chair. this question is for all this is. what is the biggest gap in our ability to prevent and mitigate the effects of an angry terrorism event and what is the most critical investment we can make to prevent such an event.

>> early detection. early detection is key so we got to know something is here, we've got to be able to localize it, keep it localized so early detection, bio surveillance and health laboratory network, the investment of these laboratories, the investment of that infrastructure is absolutely critical. you heard earlier today vaccines are an issue for foot and mouth disease. i will take that one step further. look at the funding we put into hhs and the strategic stockpile and compare that to what we put into the national veterinary stockpile. we do not have the funding to prepare this nation to respond with vaccines and diagnostics we need so i would say that's a large gap as well. for me, it's early detection and the countermeasures to

respond but the funding has to be there similar to what we see in a human side of the house. if he we have a disease encouraging we've got to have the capabilities to respond and the resources allocated before . we cannot be reactive, we have to be proactive.

the vaccine bank. that is a pittance compared to the lost we would serve with a foot and mouth disease outbreak. >> i would mirror what dr. beckham and mr. acord said. the key is early detection and taking care of things as soon and as quickly as possible. the quicker we stop the spread of any disease the less economic

impact we will have. to me that is the key. getting on top of this and doing everything to have a response plan in place whether it is vaccines or other measures to get on top of this and prevent it from spreading. >> mr. acord, in your testimony you acknowledge every passenger and handbag entering the united states has the potential to import a disease that could harm the agricultural industry. in your opinion, is the united states doing enough to keep diseases and pests out of the united states and what should be done? what more should be done? >> well, i think the effort has improved dramatically to address this issue. we are looking at an almost impossible job when you -- i spend a lot of time at the miami international airport and i take

pork producers there all of the time so they can see what intercepted at the port of miami. in a few days you have a mountain of intercepted material. it is unbelievable what people want to bring in and they have lots of opportunities to declare they have something but they don't. one passenger from venezuela was bringing her grocery store in her suitcase. thank goodness for the dogs. one of the positive things happening and i never thought i would say this but moving the agriculturalal inspectors to the border patrol was a smart move. those inspectors tell me the improved enforcement authority they have through the custom's laws has contributed to them doing able to do their job greatly.

we have to spend more time at the country of origin and the country departure rather than the border. that is our second-line of defense. we will have pooput more people in these countries if we expect to have any possibility of finding out what is going into these products in the first place. like i said, it is about the ped. however that got in that same pathway is open for something like fmd for which we have no vaccine. we have to direct more resources to country of origin, i think. >> thank you. the their recognizes mr. donovan. >> we would like you to visit newark airport as well. everyone is talking about early

detection. it is almost -- when you think about home-grown products and livestock and imported products and livestock. how are we doing with the early detection? first maybe we could do it domestically. are the people on the ground trained to detect? or do we wait up until someone is sick and identify the origin? how are we doing for early detection? if we are whatever methods we are using now how could they be improved? i open that up to the panel. >> mr. donovan, i would suggest that takes place at the state and local level. the state animal health officials, my team within the veterinarian division is on the ground with pork producers, poultry producers, beef and

dairy producers. we are out there seeing animals, talking to the producers, working close with private practitioners. that is where we will detect the disease the earliest and that should be the case. we are in touch with everything going on in our respected states. dr. beckham worked closely to develop a program called enhance passive surveillance which was a means of identifying diseases earlier in animal agricultural production. it was almost like an emergency room visits that were recorded and tracked on a day to day bas basis. we have the make sure that capability exist. i am going to suggest that dhs has a unique role in all of this and of course i am drawing upon my seven years in the office of affairs but the usda has a significant regulatory responsibility and dhs has a threat reduction responsibility

and should work to enhance capabilities all across the country in preparedness and response. a perfect example of that is the center for domestic preparedness and the agriculture emergency response training. fema discontinued funding for the program after five years because it was perceived as a non-issue for the country. it remains an issue and will be an issue. dhs should step up and appropriately so work on the threat side, prepared side, and response side with states all over the country. >> doctor? >> i would ecoh that saying the vets we are training are the first line of response. early detection is multi faceted and dependent upon the producers recognizing something is wrong,

calling out the veterinarian and through this system we have the capability of collecting the information on multiple devices and bringing it in and having veterinarians have the capability to share that. if they see something unusual in one area they can share it and ask if anyone else is seeing this. this the kind of system we have to develop and implement if we have an early detection that is relying on the first responders and producers. >> is it more difficult to detect a disease in our agricultural products than it is in livestock? it seems like there may be more sin -- signs >> you will see clinical signs. exactly. >> i would agree with dr. beckham and dr. meckes. i think the private practitioner

is going to be the first to find a foreign animal disease in the u.s. the pork industry spends a great deal of time talking to our producers. we have education material they are provided that encourages them to report any unusual conditions to their local veterinarian and their state veterinarian. we have a foreign animal disease d dignostic training at plum island where they are trained to recognize the symptoms of disease. that could be expanded to include a larger number of people because it is unique training where they actually get to see the disease. these animals are infected with foot and mouth disease so they can see first-hand the symptoms. >> i think we have a start.

that is how i would characterize it. >> my time is expired but if we have a second round i would like to talk about doing the inspection for the import. i yield my time. >> i recognize ms. coleman from new jersey for five minutes. >> thank you very much. i have a number of questions which have been prompted from listening in and out. we talked about protection and talking about elimination and vaccines. i want to go before that. are there standards that people who grow crops have to follow? people who grow livestock have to follow? are there standards to ensure these products are being grown and these livestock are being bred and surviving under certain standards that are for safety? is there such a thing?

and if so, who is responsible for policing that or monitoring that? what is the process for that? >> i say first and foremost the marketplace drives those standards. if you are a producer of pork, if you are a milk producer, beef producer, a dairyman producing milk every day, you want to meet those market standards to be assured your product can go to market. >> are there standards you can only grow in this signed -- kind of soil? if it is livestock they can only be bred under certain circumstances? fed under certain circumstances? ways you would prevent diseases and things of that nature as opposeded to waiting until something happens and having the capacity to detect it? i want to know if there is any such thing. >> in the pork industry we have

a pork quality assurance program that sets some standards that determine issues like animal welfare, animal monitoring, those kind of things. that does exist and there is a great deal of education of producers that goes into implementing that program. >> when monitors that that is actually happening? are they federal standards? >> no, ma'am. they are industry standards. i would suggest there would be an absolute opposition by producers to be confined by any kind of federal standards as to how they produce or raise livestock and produce crops. i think the industry would view that as unamerican honestly to see that. >> even if the goal is to make

sure live stock and vegetables are produced in a healthy way so you don't have these various diseases. >> i don't think you can regulate industry or production of anything to that extent. there are not enough resources to monitor how that is done. and quite honestly we can pass all kinds of regulations but it is the ability it enforce the regulations that makes a difference. >> i was kind of trying to get at that also. are there standards, who moni r monitors and who should be monitoring and you are saying such thing is not viable in the industry and i know the producers would probably resist it but i am wondering does government have a role in that and if so, what would it be? i can go into other areas but i think you mr. acord you said

there is no vmd vaccine. that means there are none in stockpile or non exist because there is no vaccine? >> there is a limited availability of vaccine. >> so there is a vaccine but it is not available? >> at plum island disease center is where the u.s. maintains their bank and that is the bank for north america. canada and the u.s. and mexico use it. the ani -- antigen is stored there and shipped into europe and manufactured and shipped back to the united states. it has such few strains. the problem is the antigen has a shelf life. >> that is what i was going to ask you. >> after five years the potency of vaccines goes down and after ten years it is not all that effective honestly and the companies don't want to touch the manufacturing at that point. >> one thing i read is there are so many entities and agencies

involved in this whole discussion we are having today, madam chairman, and i need to understand what is the most efficient involvement of agencies and the most efficient collaboration that could take place that is information sharing and not impeding or not delayed because there are so many cooks in that pot. i will have to wait until the next round but it is something we should explore. >> the chair recognizes mr. walker from north carolina. >> thank you, madam chairman. insider threat seems to be a significant danger to the food and agricultural sector. if there was an attack would they be able to establish a chain of command?

is there any protocol? dr. beckham or dr. meckes? >> i will let dr. meckes because they follow the state level. >> we follow the same program for any incident whether it is a hurricane or tornado. we spent the last seven months preparing for the introduction of high path ai in north carolina which thankfully has not come to pass. we developed the structure to address every issue associated with an outbreak of high path avian flu. everything from burial and disposal and the movement of lab samples to the laboratory for testing, routing of vehicles so we can keep the business going in the face of outbreak. fema's infrastructure is the

hierarchy we operate under. and every agriculture department across the country is familiar with incident command structure. >> being privileged to the north carolina situation being your home base they are ranked in the top in all areas of the emergency preparedness and commending your work on behalf of doing your work to keep us highly ranked >> it hasn't been my work. it has been my predecessors. i walked into a well-oiled machine to respond to incidents. >> at the state level, you have to have good people to keep the

dr. beckham, it is my understanding that kansas state part under with fema to develop an animal disease outbreak training course. can you describe how ksu is working with fema to push out this training opportunity? >> i think this falls under the biosecurity research institute

where they are using that facility to train veterinarians on signs and symptoms for foreign animal diseases. it is novel use of the facility bringing in veterinarians and providing that training in kansas. it is aligned with what happened at the animal disease center. so the more we can do those kinds of things outside of containment in plum island and demonstrate those types of diseases whether it is using materials or tissues to do that that is at least one component of training veterinarians that can get out there and do that. there are many foreign animal diseases dignostic practitioner colleges around the u.s. there is a foreign animal disease dignostic course at plum island and places at colorado state and

k-state that use different technologies to teach the same kind of information. >> thank you. i yield back. >> the chair now recognizes mr. donovan from new york. >> we are being told votes will be in two minutes. let me ask had question about domestic detection. since we import so many products where is our importation dete detection for products being brought into the country? >> they are asked to provide about the disease in the country, what kind of surveillance do they have,

competent authority and enough veterinarians to deal with the disease. those fundamental questions. sometimes it results in a site visit. most often it is a site visit to go see if what they are telling the u.s. is true. there is a formal risk assessment that is done after that. but there are a lot of products that are getting into this country that are not getting the kind of review in-country they need from the standpoint of the manufacturing of those products. we have a gap in that area. we cannot rely on the port of entry as being the first line of defense. >> you are speaking about cooperative countries. if something is introduced into our imported foods purposefully the help from the exporting country is going to help.

are we doing any detection methods for products coming in aside from relying on the exporting country that you are aware of? >> there is with group within dhs that revuiews product shipping invoices on a day-to-day bases and inspects those who have a great risk. less than 2% of all products in the united states are physically inspected in any form or fashion. someone with less than stellar intentacled -- intent would bring something to the country and not be caught. >> madam chair, i think that was the roll call.

>> in closing, we talked about threat equals credibility but in tent. we have heard from the witnesses the capabilities are there and we know the intent is there for potential agricultural terrorism attacks. in 2002, we had a navy seal team raid caves in finding documents on how to carry out an attack on america's agriculture. to quote tommy thompson in his farewell address leaving in 2004 he said for the of life me i cannot understand why the terrorist have not targeted our food supply because it is so easy.

we are here to raise threats on the capabilities and intent and identify what we can do as the federal government but working with local authorities and academics to address the threats and keep our country, food supply and agricultural system safe and cure. i appreciate the witnesses testimony today. i want to say closing out my final hearing you are in good hands. handing over the gavel to mr. donovan. it has been a a joy to be the chair and we will continue to move forward on these issues. the members of the subcommittee may have additional questions. the hearing record is open for ten days. without objection the subcommittee stands adjourned.

[inaudible discussions] [inaudible discussions] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] >> c-span has been covering presidential rallies today. we are waiting shortly for senator bernie sanders who will be speaking in orangeburg at a historically black college. we will have live coverage getting underway shortly here on c-span2. while we wait we will look at

some political ads that are running. >> our job is not to divide. our job is to bring people together. [applause] >> if we do not allow them to divide us up by race, sexual orientation, by gender, by not allowing them to divide us up by whether or not we were born in america or whether we immigrated, we stand together, white, black, hispanic, gay, straight, woman and man. when we stand together and demand this country works for all of us rather than the few we will transform america and that is what this campaign is about. it is bringing people together! [applause]

>> i have known hillary clinton for 20 years and i am supporting her for president. she is the smartest, toughest and hardest working person i know. if you care about making college affordable, expanding mental healthcare and making those at the top pair their fair share you need someone who will get the job done and that is hillary clinton. i hope you will caucus for her on march 1st. >> now we are live at clapland university a historically black president. nina turner is speaking now and she is part of the introduction speech awaiting senator sanders. we will have a look. >> that is what senator bernie sanders represents. if you don't mind if i give a testimony for you.

this is not necessarily what i planned to say today but i want to share my heart with you to why i am supporting senator bernie sanders. he is a man of the people and doesn't change his message based on a certain audience. he tells the truth all of the time. i have traveled this country both with the senator and without the senator and i can tell you that when we were in iowa before the majority white audience, we had a racial justice form, and on both sides were two ex-offenders, both african-american and they poured out their heart and told the story of how the system is broken, and how the system treats black and brown folks differently from everybody else. and senator sanders did not hesitate in that majority white crowd to talk about institutional racism and how we as a nation in order for us to rise together we have to recognize that racism is in the dna of this country and we have

to do something about it. as a young college student, when he never had his sights of running for the president of the united states, he was arrested standing up against segregation. that is what integrity is about. for a moment, i know we have got folks here from all walks of life, all religions, all genders, all sexual orientations, but just for a moment can i get everybody in the room to be african-american. just for a moment. i want to know how you feel about someone calling you their firewall.

you have to earn the black vote. you don't own the black vote. you have got to earn this thing. for congress woman barbara jordan said what the people want is simple. they want an american as good as its promise. senator sanders is willing to talk about the working poor and middle class and talks about how we as a nation have an obligation to have universal health care. we can do that. we can pay for college education for folks in this country. we spend more money in this

country to keep folks in country. why can't we invest some of the money to educate folks? we can do that because it is right and the time is now. if ow our gay and lesbian sisters are discriminated against we are discriminated against. if flint, michigan doesn't have clean water we don't have clean water. it has been way too long. you know the senator is going to talk about these republicans and they family values. when it comes to making sure women are equal the equal ira act has not been passed. it is ashamed that woman don't

make a $1. there are a million folks in this country who live in poverty or on the brink. 70% are women and children. we have folks asking us to vote for us but they will not stand aup and say women deserve dollar for dollar against a man today. i have never met anybody who said senator turner when i grow up i want to be poor. i cannot wait. but everybody doesn't run the race at the same pace. and that is what president fdr understood and that is what senator bernie sanders understand and that is why he is running. the cause is right and the time is now. so if i could just testify being the oldest of seven children and

young people and season folk and having my mother die at the age of 42 years old with her dreams deferred. my mother never lived to see her oldest daughter walk across a stage or take any oath of office but as sure as i know there is a god in heaven i know she is there saying you go girl, you continue to speak up and speak out for people that don't have a voice. my mama was one of those four way -- poor mamas. there are plenty of poor mamas and dads that need people of the elected ministry to stand up for them. if people are poor they don't want to hear about incrementally. they want to know they have a chance of being somebody who is not afraid, someone who takes to wall street and says the millionaires and billionaires cannot have it, somebody who says our young people are worth the investment, and some people

who say our veterans are worth the investment somebody who says it is time to put our brothers and sisters back to work, somebody who says $15 is not too much to ask for so people can live a good life. the cause is right and the time is now. by me being a first generation college graduate i understand helping folks change the trajectory of their lives. when my baby boy walked across the stage i knew the second generation had been cemented. we need to come together based on what we have in common and that is our humanity. that is our humanity. the cause is right and the time is now. and one thing why do the poor

folks have to wait? what are middle class people waiting? martin luther king said we have socialism for the wealthy but individualism for the poor. that is why bernie sanders is running. the cause is right and the time is now. some folks want to call our candidate a one-issue candidate. i had a conversation with killa mike and said they are calling our candidate a one-issue candidate and killa mike said he is a one issue candidate and his issue the american people. the cause is right and the time is now. don't give your vote away for anybody. do your research. vote for folks who will do something to move the nation. not halfway but all the way. we cannot go from yes, we can to

no, we can't. robert brown said a man's reach should exceed his grab. if we can go to the moon we can do these things senator sanders is fighting for. if we can abolish slavery in this nation we can do it. if women could get the right to vote universal health care can happen, free college can happen, allowing college debt to be lowered it can happen, dealing with the violence against black and brown folks in this country politically, legal, economically, and environmental we can do this. if all of us put extra on the ordinary, extraordinary things will begin to happen. we can to this. the cause is right and the time is now! the cause is right and the time is now. the cause is right and the time

is now! we can do this. we can do this. [applause] >> i think i got us warmed up. when i see feel you got to say burn. one of my sisters said when i say fired up you say ready to burn. can we do that? >> fired up -- >> ready to burn! >> fire it up! >> ready to burn. >> i know senator sanders wants to be hot. when i say feel you say burn. feel! >> burn. >> feel! >> burn! >> come on we will do this one more time. when i say feel you say burn. >> feel! >> burn. >> feel! burn. >> feel! feel! >> burn.

burn. >> feel! feel! >> burn. burn. >> i want everybody to go out and make a difference. we can be here feeling the burn but it don't mean nothing without voting. one woman one man one vote. titles are good. if you don't remember anything else i said except we need to feel the burn and support bernie sanders. titles are good but purpose is better. titles are good but purpose is better. all of us have a purpose. the only thing senator bernie sanders is saying is he wants laudy doddy in the words of my grandmother and everybody to be able to fil fulfill and live ou their purpose. when i say feel you say burn. feel! >> burn. >> feel! >> burn. >> god bless you.

[applause] >> make some more noise for senator turner. all right. all right. we got special guest here. killa mike just arrived. senator bernie sanders is in the building. make some noise. feel the burn! >> feel the burn! >> let me hear you -- feel the burn. >> feel the burn. >> feel the burn! >> oh, man, this guy right here he is going to get you off your feet. he is going to make you want to stand up. we are building momentum for our senator, our candidate, mr. bernie sanders, the next president of the united states of america. do you all believe that?

stand by, friends. killa mike! >> hello. hello! hello! let me pull out the words i

cannot say. you really judge a person by how they treat people when they don't have to treat them well and when it is in their best interest not to treat them well. i am going to repeat that. you should judge people by how they treat people; right? but people who they don't have to treat well or people they could benefit from treating bad. bernie sanders is a white man in america. he doesn't have to care about anyone in the room. bernie sanders is an ethnic person in america. he can say i worry about me and my group because as a young adult he fought for the rights of people that don't look like

him, are not from where he is from, not from this social economic background. and just last week when giving the opportunity to separate himself from a black guy who said something others didn't like he stood on his integrity and convictions to trust americans to say in spite of his opportunity to separate himself to look better this man told the simple truth. i respect that. that means when you are in office and a hard decision is going to be made you will think about the people you talked to at these rallies. as president, he is going to think about women's rights before he thinks of his own. as president, bernie sanders is going to say publically police have no right to murder your children in the street. as president, bernie sanders will make sure that people who work the least of the job among

us receive fair wages so they can be part of the economic climate we enjoy in america. as president of the united states, he is going to unify people based on our differences and not us to separate and be apart. i am for the first time in my life, i am for the first time in my life seeing what civil rights promised my grandmother and that is an opportunity to have someone who doesn't look like me have empathy for and be willing to make policy and make it fair even if it puts them at a regular normal person's level with me. i am looking for the first time in my life at politician who inspite of poplar demand said i am going to stand with someone on an unpopular thing because people deserve free health care, people deserve free education,

people deserve to be paid a wage they deserve, and people deserve to be treated as well as any white man in an america. i am seeing a politician call for true equality by way of politics. for the first time in my life, when you have an opportunity to tell two black girls to shut up and get off stage and you don't, you shake their hands, smile and step to the side and listen, that is a firm difference from turning around and starring at a little black girl and saying shut up, i will talk to you later. you are being rude. or allowing people to say that to her. i am going to tell you the proof is in the pudding. if i can find a picture of you from 51 years ago chained to a black woman protesting segregation than i know 51 years you would hold your hand and

listen to two black girls yell and scream rightfully so as opposed to someone who will tell you to shut up. >> i know that the only person will allow me me to vote is bernie sanders. [cheers and applause] >> next president of the united states of america, bernard. [cheers and applause]

[shouting] >> thank you all very much. thank you very much for being out here today and let me thank representative bamberg and killer mike for their calm and quiet introductions. [laughter] >> and i want to just with killer mike here, you know he's not a killer, he's a killer with -- [laughter] >> i want to thank you for taking the message of social and

racial justice to young african americans, young whites and young latinos. that's what you've been doing for years, i appreciate all that you have been doing. [cheers and applause] >> we came to south carolina from a state far, far away where it gets a little bit colder than it gets here. you may want to visit us in the summer time, not necessarily in the wintertime. and when we came here to south carolina, we knew very few people, that's the simple truth, and the very first polls that were out there had us at like 5% or 7% but in the last nine months we have come a very long way because of your support and we appreciate it very much. [cheers and applause] >> and i also want to thank in addition to representative

bamberg and senator turner and killa mike, i want to thank strong advocates for racial justice that have been on our team. ben jallace, former member of nacp. anybody know west? [cheers and applause] >> cochair of the house progressive caucus. danny glover. danny glover is not just an entire, he spent his entire career fighting for social justice and we appreciate that. harry belifante. i have known of harry belifante ever since i was a kid. again, an example of somebody that's not just an extraordinary

singer or actor, he has been an -- in the fight for justice. [cheers and applause] >> spike lee is one of the great film producers in america. so many great films and i want to thank representative joe niel and alexeneder for their support as well. look, let me make it kind of brief. our country today faces very, very serious problems. that's the truth. everybody grew? okay. and i think -- and the reason that i'm running for president is that i believe that it's just too late for establishment politics and establishment economics in the same old, same old, okay, now when we live in a country which is the wealthiest county in the history of the world, but when african-american

youth unemployment for high school kids, you know what it is, it is 51%. 51%. young african american child poverty is 35%. when we are living in a country with many of you who are going to college are going to leave school deeply in debt, is that the case? >> yes! >> we have to do something about that. not only do we have to make sure that young people are not so if i sophicated with public debt. we should be making colleges tuition free. [cheers and applause] >> we should be providing substantial help to historically black colleges and universities who are doina