quorum call:

quorum call:

a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: i ask that the quorum call be vished. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso: i have six requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have approval of the both the majority and minority leaders. without approval -- without objection? the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso: i ask unanimous consent that the senate stand? recess as if under the previous order. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso: thank you, madam president. the presiding officer: the

senate stands in recess until senate stands in recess until

education secretary john king sent out a letter to students explaining administered decision to close the school in parsing ultimately we made a difficult choice to pursue additional oversight in order to protect you, the students and taxpayers will potentially worst educational and financial damage in the future if itt was allowed to continue operating without increase oversight to better serve students. massachusetts and elizabeth warren tweeted remarks about the school sank the only people responsible for itt tech collapse other execs who suck students and with thousands in debt and useless degrees. she followed that with this. it's time to focus on helping

itt tech students. the real victims get downloads canceled or finish programs in schools that care. senator norton with dick durbin came to the floor earlier today to respond to the fallout. he railed against the student loan debt being accrued by students and the lack of quality education be offered i for profit schools like itt tech. his comments are just over 10 minutes.an >> i have come to the fore for many years and now to alert the american people to a looming crisis. it is a crisis involving for-profit colleges and universities. many people were not even aware that there was a difference between public and private universities in the for-profit sector. but there's a big difference. i have said repeatedly and sadly it's still the case. there are three numbers that tell the story about for-profit colleges and universities.ol

10, 10% of students graduating from high school no to these for-profit schools, schools like the university of phoenix, the0f broad, and rasmussen and kaplan, 10% of the students. 20. 20% of all the federal aid to education goes to these for-profit schools. why so much?ber because they charge so much in tuition. but the big number is 40. 40% of all student loan defaults are students at for-profit colleges and universities. 10% of the students, 40% of the defaults. wide? for several reasons. first, these for-profit colleges and universities are recruiting young people were not ready for college. they don't care. s signed up. sign them up so these for-profit schools can walk with her pell grants, and with them into student loans that senth thousands of dollars for each

student back into these for-profit schools. many of the kids finally wake up to the reality that they are not ready for college or that the debt very queuing is too high, and they make a terrible choice but an inevitable one. they dropped out of. so they sit there with a debt and nothing to show for it but s wasted time. or they stick with the program. th for-profits school taken to the quote graduation and then they find out the reality, that thers diploma for for-profit colleges and universities in many cases is worthless, despite all the debt and all the time wasted. mr. president, yesterday one of the worst actors in the for-profit sector, itt tech announced it was closing after years of exploiting students and fleecing taxpayers.of in the postmortem many of focus on the department of education's decision a couple of weeks ago to prevent itt tech from rolling

any new students using several student loans in addition to other restrictions. but the roots of the itt tech that ms. stretch back much further than that. this is a company that literally robbed from the inside. the story of itt tech like that of corinthian another failed for profit college, is really the story of the for-profit college fo industry. for-profit education companies consumed by greed, fed by students who are understandably trying to make a better life for themselves, and enabled too long, for too long by poor federal oversight and it congressional inaction. like corinthian before it, and many for-profit colleges still today, itt tech charged it's a students too much intuition, provided them to little in the form of meaningful education, and left them with crushing

debt. the amount of springfield, illinois, -- in my hometown -- we have them all. every time i would drive out there and take a look at the huge itt tech sign on the sideo of the mall, i would think to myself, i know what's going to happen. the school is going to lure in hundreds of unsuspecting students from this area, saddled them with the debt and give them worthless diplomas, and probably itt tech when they will go out of business. it happened. a in my hometown, and itt tech student seeking an associatech degree in information technology, computer and electronics engineer and technology, computer drafting and design or paralegal studies could sign up with itt tech and expect a two-year program to cost him $47,000.

$47,000 for two years at itt tech in springfield, illinois, for an associate degree. if they went a few miles away to lincoln land community college, they could get an associates degree in fields like information technology, f computers and electronics for $3000. 47,000 at itt tech, 3000 at lincoln land community college a few miles away. and here's something to think about. at lincoln land only one in 50 students end up being unable to pay back the federal student loans. one in 50. itt tech, one in five. you were 10 times more likely to default on your student loan if you were to itt tech instead of lincoln land community college for the same degree. wide? the difference in tuition.

$47,000 in debt and itt, $3000 of debt at lincoln land. according to one recent brookings study can itt tech students tentatively, tentatively, the students oh more than $4.6 billion in federal student loans. and the itt tech is going out of business. how much is being paid back by the accumulator debt to itt tech, this for-profit college? according to the same brookings study, minus 1% of the balance has been repaid in 2014. how is that possible quick how could it be a negative number? because the interest on the teaf the debt is accruing faster than the payments being made by students nationwide. the students are being fleeced. least by a fly-by-night for profit college that should have been closed long ago.f individual students often havein

no chance of paying back their debt. if taken on huge debt for a worthless diploma from itt tech. in 2009 itt tech's five year default rates on student loans was 51%. northern have the students undet defaulted. marcus from illinois understands it. he was recruited by itt tech two or three phone calls of it until he finally signed up. unt he wrote -- he relented to the pressure to sign up. marcus graduated in 2003. itt tech and spent months looking for chip months looking for jump at the student debt he incurred, it's too much to even keep track of. i will never be able to pay it back..t he says he didn't wish itt tech on my worst enemy. many of these are proper colleges are approved by our t federal government to issue pell

grants in student loans. is it any wonder that students like marcus and they are legitimate schools, and they turn out to be nothing but fleecing operations by these people who were raking in the millions of dollars. like corinthian before it come and many more for-profit colleges still to come, itt tech has engaged in unfair to set toi abusive practices to lureig students into their programs, false promises, high pressure tactic, flashy advertisements. yesterday when it announced it was going to close, itt was under investigation by, listen, 18 states attorney general bickett has been sued by massachusetts and new mexico at this moment. and new mexico attorney general found itt place students and those without the knowledge, also state the number of credits, credits a student needed to take to pushing even further into debt. failed to issue refunds of tuition and fees and compliance with federal law, and many other

deceptive practices. the consumer financial protection bureau is suing itt tech for predatory lending. this was a for profit college with the blessing of the department of education. and there are many more, sadly, just like it. mr. president, despite what happens to students and families, the people who worked at itt tech are not going to suffer in this bankruptcy. kevin and daniel were to itt execs. they receive $515,048, and fitzpatrick and 112,348. than in 2014, kevin was paid more than $3 million in totalnt compensation. i think that's more than any college president in america. and this man was paid that amount of money by itt tech,

because students came in and signed up for their worthless courses. these are the same two individuals the sbc says violated many security laws in the fraudulent scheme at itt tech. accreditation for itt tech or for the profit industry takes care of it. they credit their own schools. it's time for us at the department of education to stop playing ball with it. true to form "the wall street journal" called the collapse of itt tech and execution carried out by the obama administration. the for-profit words and for-profit colleges and universities are such a sybron song for "the wall street journal."re." they don't even have a good sense to recognize crony capitalism when it comes to the for-profit colleges andol universities. these colleges and universities of the most heavily federally subsidized businesses in america today.aying mr. president, i'm going to close by saying there's more work to be done.

this is not the last shoe to drop.thousa corinthian left so many thousands of students with worthless diplomas and, sadly, worthless student debt. they didn't do anything for the same things happening at itt tech. who are the losers? the students, their families, s and the taxpayers. when the students can't pay back their loans, that taxpayers of america lose. this itt tech is a billion dollar baby when it comes toxp penalties for america's taxpayers. when will the senate and this congress wake up to the reality of the disgrace of the for-profit colleges and university industry? >> we could hear more about this this afternoon and is there when lawmakers return from their party lunches at 2:15 p.m. eastern for further consideration of the water resources bill. you can see the senate on c-span2. elsewhere, we're live from the

house foreign affairs subcommittee hearing looking at violence in south sudan. the civil wars been raging in that country since 2013. you ca can see that by the to te eastern on c-span3. also led its remarks in supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg. she's been at the church university law center this evening and that's not 5 p.m. eastern live on c-span3. for campaign 2016, c-span continues on the road to the white house. >> i will be a president for democrats, republicans and independents. >> we are going to win with education. we're going to win with the second amendment. we are going to win. >> live coverage of the presidential vice presidential debates on c-span, c-span radio app and c-span.org. monday september 26 is the first presidential debate live on hofstra university in hempstead, new york. on tuesday october 4, vice

presidential candidates debate at longwood university in farmville, virginia. and on sunday october 9, washington university in st. louis hosts the second presidential debate leading up to the third and final debate between hillary clinton and donald trump taking place at the university of nevada las vegas on october 19. live coverage of the presidential vice presidential debates on c-span. listen live on the free c-span radio app or watch live or anytime on demand at c-span.org. >> president obama remains overseas visiting south east asia. he is the first u.s. president to go to laos and along with gathering information with philippine president come hillside a telephone meeting with 350 young leaders from the 10 countries that make up the association of southeast asian nations. [cheers and applause]

>> thank you. thank you so much. [speaking in native tongue] spent it is such a pleasure to be here. and everybody please give a big round of applause for that a great introduction? [applause] so it is wonderful to be here. i've always wanted to visit. it is sad that this is where the buddhist smiled when arrested during his travels. and i can see why. because it is beautiful and relaxed. i've just come from seeing wat

xieng thong -- ca get i said tht right? sort of. and it was beautiful. and the entire area is a spectacular. i want to thank everyone at souphanouvong for hosting the here today. i want to thank the people of laos. i've been deeply touched by the hospitality that you've shown me. this is my 11th visit to asia as president of the united states, but it's my first visit to laos. in fact, i'm the first united states president ever to come here. and with the kind that usually come i am sure i will not be less. of the presidents want to come as well. and i promise you i will come back when i'm no longer president. [applause] added to think about when when i come back at in a president, i won't have so much security. [laughter]

and i can sit and relax and have some food, and i won't be so busy. now, whenever i travel around the world, i spent a lot of time doing business with world leaders, and i meet with the presidents of big companies. but i try to balance spending time with young people like you. and i gave a long speech yesterday, so i'm not going to do a long speech today. i want to have a conversation with you. i want to hear what you have to say, but i'm just going to make a few remarks. i think you know that this part of the world means a lot to me because i lived in indonesia as a boy. and my sisters half indonesian. she was born there. she married a man whose parents were from malaysia. my mother worked in southeast asia for most of her life, working with women in villages to try to help them get more money through selling

handicrafts and developing small businesses. as i drive around here, it's very familiar to me. it reminds me of my childhood. and my commitment to defending america's ties to southeast asia is very real. that's what i'm the first u.s. president who is regularly met with asean leaders. that's why we are working together to promote peace, protect human rights, encourage sustainable development, advance equality for women and girls, and to meet challenges like climate change and other environmental issues. while presidents and prime ministers can help lay the foundation, it's going to be young people like you who build the future of this region and the world. here in southeast asia, almost two-thirds of you were born after 1980, which makes it feel very old. [laughter] and laos, half of you were born

after 1995, and from rangoon to jakarta, ho chi minh city to kuala lumpur, everywhere i go i see the energy and optimism of all the young people who live here. i have seen your desire to resolve conflict through diplomacy and not war. i've seen your desire for prosperity through entrepreneurship and the rejection of eruption. i've seen your interest in promoting social harmony, not by discriminating against anyone in the community but by upholding the rights of all people regardless of what they look like a what religion they belong to. and because your generation is the most educated and because you are all connected through your phones, you have more power to shape the future and any generation than we've ever known. that's what i've made connecting our young people a cornerstone of american foreign policy.

three years ago we launched yseali, young southeast asian leaders initiative. what began as a small group of young people is no network of 100,000 young people from all 10 asean countries. and, in fact, across africa, the americas and europe we now have nearly half a million young people like you in our young leaders initiatives worldwide. and her goal is to empower young people with skills and resources and the networks that you need to turn your ideas into action, and to become the next generation of leaders and civil society and in business and in government. we have regional exchanges, workshops, online networking, hands-on training. we've offered grant competitions to support your efforts. we've welcomed hundreds of you to the united states to study in our universities and experience our state and local governments, and to in turn, spend time at a companies. i even hosted some of you at the white house.

what we wanted to do is to hear from you and for you to your from each other how you can share ideas and practices and hopefully forge partnerships and friendships will last you a lifetime. and i've been so proud to see how you've made yseali such a success. some of you have started projects to teach summer school and help farmers markets grow. some of you have worked to increase civic engagement. some of you have been involved in economic development projects so that no country in asean is left behind in today's economy. and i know that closing to develop in capping innovation and in impactful ways is what you're focused on at this yseali summit in laos. and that's wonderful because whatever sector we work in which all have a role to play when it comes to things like educating our people, lifting committees up from poverty and protecting the environment for future

generations. i also understand that yseali alumni come together to plan an event called younified but today it service across the region on december 3, and that will be the third anniversary of yseali. so i could not be more impressed with all of you. this is change that's happening on a global scale. young people are taking over. and i want to help it sustain itself. so today, i have a few announcements to make of that focus on what you here to talk about, and that's devoted across the asean region. first at a time when english is a language of business, science and network world, it's very important that young people have english language training. and that's why today we are launching english for all. does the program will bring more english teacher to countries including laos, dream or other educators to training -- to

america returning. we're going to offer opportunities and resources to of anybody around the world learn english on the website called englishforall.state.gov. [applause] second, we'll focus on making sure that every girl earns a quality education. in too many countries now women and girls are not getting the same educational opportunities as men and boys. and research shows that when girls get an education that onto the grow up healthier, not her children will grow up healthier also. not only will she become more prosperous under community will become more prosperous. and that's what yesterday i announced that let girls learn is a program that in working on but more important my wife is working on. is connected to more countries, laos and nepal. today we are announcing the new

u.s. asean leaders -- u.s. asean women's leadership academy are yseali to each of this program will offer leadership training and mentoring for emerging women leaders from all 10 asean countries. countries. because we a partner with simple multinational companies to sponsor this academy we are going to be up to empower women to take their place in society for decades to come. so we are very excited about that. [applause] so that's what we are doing. but ultimately it's up to you as role models to inspire young people across this region. and before the questions, i just want to highlight two of my role models whose stories have inspired me and i think will inspire you as well. the first is mimi sae-ju. where's mimi? there you go. there is mimi. [applause]

>> so mimi grew up in a lisu village in northern thailand. yseali broader to our cinema than in the united states, she met similar native american tribes. and in the experience the reminder of her own people. so she decided to show my people that ladies and america are doing the same thing with them. so she founded the lisu heritage culture center to promote and preserve the indigenous history of for people. she sells handicrafts made by lisu women what's helps them are living and make sure that the culture lives on a future generations. mimi, is that some of stuff that they're making? you should model it for us. [laughter] it's very nice. beautiful. [applause] and you got that out in montana though right? [laughter] excellent.

there you go. i like that. you got a nice cowboy hat. [applause] >> the second person i want to introduce is dissa ahdanisa. [applause] after her experience in america through yseali, she said when it came back home i realized i loved the united states not because of the fancy stuff, but because of the people and because of their kindness. and so i want you to know that the american people feel the same way about you. but it was actually her time volunteering in nicaragua a few years ago that center on a new course. when they she happened across a café for the deaf. sandefur she went to work for new language, in this case, a te sign language spoken by the waiters and waitresses.

she came to realize that the café was a great way to empower people with a disability or she visited schools for the deaf, made deaf friends. last year and then opened the finger chalk café in indonesia to provide job opportunities for the deaf community. and i've been told great things about the café because my receptionist come as you know in the white house, a wonderful young woman named leah, she visited earlier this year. she is deaf and she is the receptionist at the white house. so when you come visit the white house, she's the first person you meet. and she signs. she wanted me to tell you how proud she is of you. so congratulations. [applause] so dissa such what your country to be where people can achieve dreams without restriction. where her daughter can be who she wants to be and that's part of the people with what she's doing. i'm in spite of what dissa is

doing because here on my final trip to asia as president i want to make sure that all of you keep on in spite of others the way these two young women are inspiring people in the countries and around the world. and because we are in laos i'm going to finish with an inspiring story i heard last year about a lao woman named thongvone sosamphan. i shared it with the yseali fellows i welcome to the white house. i hope you don't mind me sharing it again. were issued? is she here? i wasn't sure if she was here, i'm going to tell her story anyway. so as part of yseali, she spent time in the city of atlanta. she visited the memorial and said on one of my heroes, dr. martin luther king, jr. and she said she was struck by what this great civil rights leader said. he said, police most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?

and that question made her think about the true meaning of leadership. an issue of something very beautiful. leadership is inside you. as one can be a leader, because everyone can serve. you don't have to of a college degree to lead. you don't need to know more than others. all you need is a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love. and that is what i see in all of you. and as long as i think you keep on kind answer that question that dr. king asked, what are you doing for others, and i'm sure you'll be extraordinary leaders in your own country. and you always have a friend and partner in the united states of america. so thank you very much, everybody. and with that, let's take some questions and comments from the yseali network. all right? [applause] >> what i'm going to do is, i think with microphones in the audience, and i will call on people. i'm going to go, i'm going to

call on boys and than girls, and back and forth so that it's fair. and when i call on you, if you did a traditional self. tell us where you're from and tell us what you're doing. and then you can ask the question. okay? so let's start with this young lady right here. yes, you. here's a microphone. [applause] >> hello, mr. president on your big fan actually. i'm from indonesia. it's a pleasure that you can coming. i question is, in your opinion as a father and as a president, how important we, as youth, to take a role in developing countries development and changing? and also, how do you measure it? thank you. >> i'm sorry, what was the last? >> how important youth role is in developing country development and how you measure it as the president and as a father. thank you.

>> well, i think that young people historically have always been the key to progress and development. because if you think about it, old people like me, we do things the old way. we have, we are trapped i own experience -- by our own experience and we look to the past so often. we think this is how things always should be. young people, they are looking to the future, and so they're able to say, we don't have to do things the old way. we can do things new ways. and that's what creates new ideas, new businesses, new ways of organizing people, new ways of treating each other with more respect, rejecting some of the old habits. think about the u.s. relationship with laos.

for nine years, there was a secret war in which the united states was dropping bombs on this country. and i just this morning came from an organization that is taking explosives that did not detonate, and trying to remove them from the countryside. so if you are an old person that maybe your image of the united states. if you're a young person, now you think we have the opportunity to work with the united states in a different way, and that creates new opportunities and new hope and new relationships. so i think the challenge is for young people is to find the skills and the resources to put your ideas into action.

because it's not enough just to dream about i want to educate everybody in my country, or i want to build a great do business. you actually have to do the work and you have to have plans. it's hard. and so part of what we are trying to do is to provide resources to young people, but also help them learn from each other so that maybe there's a program. we just learned from dissa, right? she saw a program in nicaragua and now it's in indonesia. so now maybe somebody in africa visits south east asia, and they have a new idea about sustainable agriculture. right? and part of what we want to do is to make sure that people are exchanging ideas all the time. and that's very edible. all right? good.

i said i was going to call on a gentleman first, right? this young man in uniform. that's a very fancy uniform, the weather fight out from and what -- [applause] >> good afternoon. i'm from ireland. and my question is, in the next 10 year, what do you expect asean people to think about u.s.a., and why? >> well, my hope is, is that the next president will continue my policy of meeting regularly with asean leaders. we are working on a whole range of different issues, from how can we help develop health care networks so that people are getting better health care, but

also so that we identify if there is a disease and we can stop it you for it starts spreading, to disaster relief, so that if there's a typhoon that there's local capacity to respond quickly, to economic development, education. and some of these programs, they will take some years before they are approved. and my hope is that 10 years from now, people will look back and they will say that the engagement and we begin with asean now has developed so that we have a very mature and deep relationship in all areas. and i believe that the united states is and can be a great force for good in the world. but because were such a big country, we haven't always had to know about other parts of the world. if you are in laos, you need to

know about thailand and china and cambodia, because you're a small country and they are right next door and you need to know who they are. if you are in the united states, sometimes you can feel lazy and think we are so big we don't have to really know anything about other people. and that's part of what i'm trying to change, because this is actually the region that's going to grow faster than anyplace else in the world. it has the youngest population, and the economy is growing faster than anyplace. and if we are not here interacting and learning from you, and understanding the culture of the region, then we will be left behind. we will miss an opportunity, and i don't want that to happen. okay? good. [applause]

all right. this young lady right here. >> thank you. thank you, sir. i'm from singapore. i like to ask since then i've been so much to you, how will you ensure that yseali continues after used about? >> well, it's a great question. there are two things that we're going to do. first of all, we are working with the state department, my foreign ministry, so that yseali continues after i've left. the program to bring student members of yseali to the united states, to maintain the networks, we are trying to institutionalize that so that it continues after i'm gone. what i'm also going to do is in

my own work as an ex-president, i'm hoping to continue to work with young people through my presidential center. and so one of the components that i discussed with my team is how i can continue to interact with the yseali alumni, and we can share ideas and i can continue to meet with you and we can work on projects together. so i'll continue to stay involved. but the yseali program itself we will continue to run through the state department. and i'm confident that it will continue to do great things. [applause] so since were in laos, let me see a allow young man. -- lao young man.

sabaidii. thank you for visiting us. i want ask you, if one thing, only one thing, can be change in asean, especially in laos, what kind of change the want to see? and how will you contribute to that change? thank you. ..

making sure that include girls and not just boys. because if you look at the countries that are successful, let's just take asean as an example. the country that has the highest standard of living in singapore. singapore actually has very little. it doesn't have natural racers is being a passport, but it is a tiny country. and yet, economically it is very successful. why is that? part of it is because the education levels are extremely high and as a result, companies from around the world, they are interested in locating in places where they can find a workforce

that is creative and smart and can do the job. so, it is wonderful if you have natural resources. it is wonderful if you are a big country with a large population. but ultimately, how successfully country is will depend on whether it's people have the skills and education and the vision to be able to use those resources effect simply. we are going to continue to work with all the countries of asean asean -- greater education and greater training. it's not always the high-level college degree. technical training, training of the trade can be valuable as well. this is not just for asean. this is the united states as well. in the united states, we have

some of the best universities in the world, but one of the things i've been emphasizing as we also have what are called community colleges. they are not four-year universities. they are typically two-year degrees and you can be very successful go in there and find in a specialized trade or learning a very specific skill that companies are hiring for her. and we want to give young people a range of options. not everybody wants to study and a classroom and become a lawyer or a doctor. but it is also very valuable if you have some really skilled electrician. we talk about high tech and it is true that the people who are designing software for the iphone are the best engineers, that there are jobs in computer

science or you don't need a four year degree. you know ,-com,-com ma coding is not that complicated one to learn how to do it. so we want to make sure that at every level, young people have the ability to access a great education. and if we are able to do that, i am confident asean will be successful. [applause] go ahead. >> okay, hello. i am from indonesia. i'm asking a question on a half of the online ideas here this is a question for my friend from niche also. america is a very big country with different tribes and their religion and also raise spirits how do you unite dad side by side and accordance of the united state models?

>> that's a great question. thank you very much. you are exactly right that the united stated historically, unless you are a native american like those who may be met in montana, you came from someplace else. those of you who visited the united states, if you want to return los angeles or new york, you don't know what an american looks like because americans could eat anything. they could be any color, any religion, with a heritage from countries all around the world. and that is our greatest strength. because one of the things that i strongly believe is when people

from different cultures interact, then you are always learning something because will bring new ideas and new tradition. that is why in our big cities in america, you can get really good food from every where and then sometimes people come up with new food that is a mix of different foods. the same with music. if you think about rock 'n roll or hip-hop or any american or jazz, any american music, it is saved land of all these different traditions and that is part of what makes us unique. you know, recently we all saw the olympic. you know, not to brag, but the united states did very well at the olympics. part of this is because we are a big country and we are wealthy countries that we can provide training and opportunities far at leeds.

but if you look at our athletes, there are two things that handout. first of all, more than half of the metals we won more from women. so we passed a law a long time ago that says if you give sport an opportunity to voice you have to give it to girls, too. it is called title ix. as consequence we've developed a really great program for athletics. the second thing is because we have people that come from everywhere, we have people of all different types for every sport. so we have really tall people that play basketball or to swim. we have little people for gymnasts pics. we have genetically, for whatever sport, we have people who fit the sport. that is a good metaphor for why

i think we've been very successful now. the challenge we have for so many different places is that sometimes we've had to deal with racism or conflict between racist ethnic groups, new immigrants -- especially becomes a problem when the economy is not doing well and so people feel stressed. typically when people feels dress, and they turn on others who don't look like them. that is true everywhere in the world. when things are going good, everything is doing okay. people are saying this is the fault of the chinese were the fault of the jews or the houthi

or the japanese. so, one of the things that we try to do is to make sure that we are continually reminding ourselves that what makes it in america is not your race or uris in color, but it makes an american and a set of elite, a creed. our belief that all men are created the old or a belief that our constitution is the law of the land and that everybody has to follow it and everybody is eat all before the law so that if you are a president or you are a janitor, in the court of law, you should be treated the same. we try to promote the notion that the state cannot choose sides in a religion.

we have a very religious country, but part of the reason they are religious is because we don't let the state establish one religion so everybody is free to choose the religion that they practice. and so, these ideas, these principles are the same that need to be constantly strength and and reinforce and i think that ultimately that is where we need to go as a human race. and this is why sometimes we talk about issues like human rights or freedom of the press or freedom of speech. i will be honest. everywhere we go, including asean, some people say why are the americans talking about these issues? this isn't their list. they shouldn't be meddling in other people's business.

and they are also america is not perfect. it still has racial discrimination and it still has it's own problems. they should worry about his own problems. i agree with that and the sense we definitely will have problems we have to work on. we still have discrimination and we still have situations where women are not treated the holy. but i think that over the long term, the only way that humans are going to be able to work together and interact and prospering deal with big problems is if we are able to see what we have in common with each other and treat everybody with dignity and respect and that means that we have had some principles that are not just based on our nationality. they are not just based on our

tribe or religion or ethnicity. at some point we are not going to be able to get him on and we will have more and more conflict because that is human history. you know, this is why we talk about these issues when we travel to other countries as well. it is not because we think we are better than other people. it is because we have learned from our next. that if you don't respect all people or you'd go respect all religions, but also make sure that no matter how religious you are, you respect other people that have a different idea. we learned if that doesn't have been, then we have conflict. and if you look at what is happening now in the middle east, for example, you know,

that is not the problem in the middle east is not primarily a problem of the west versus islam. the problem increasingly is the shiite thinking that sunnis are following the wrong path and vice versa. in theory a common if you are all alight or you are a christian were worried about what the sunni muslims are going to do. and the same in africa where like rwanda, in the matter of just a few of mine, use of countries with hundreds of thousands of people just because of those differences. that has been true in all parts of the world.

we have to fight against and that means we have to be able to promote principles that rise above any individual religion, nationality, race and that is what we've been trying to come up with. not only successfully. not everybody in america agrees with me on this, by the way. i believe that that. okay, let's see, what country has not been -- [shouting] first of all, it is a boys turn first. [shouting] bmr, let's go, right here. [cheers and applause]

>> good afternoon, mr. president. i am from you in our -- and how has that effect did you ration? a mac what is the best way? >> the best impact. >> eyes need. >> how does that affect your admin is ration? thank you. >> well, i don't think i can choose the best project because there have been so many good ones. we have already heard a few here. at the last town hall that we had, it was in ho chi minh city. i had before that.

i'm not sure which one it was. i'm going to point out there is a lao women who had grown up in a small village and she had somehow traveled and give her an education. she became a migrant and traveled on her own when she was very young and because she was so driven, somehow learned english and became part of this ngo, international ngo or applied for with feeley and had become a conservationist and traveled to the united states, learned about conservation practices and then was coming back to rural communities here in miles to help preserve the

environment and sustainable agriculture. i remember just listening to her is her way, we were asking how this affected me and she was tiny. she was about this big. she looked very young. and i thought, if a young woman who was not worn too well. she was not worn to a famous family. she wasn't politically connected. if she could suddenly make such an act, then that means that anybody can make an impact. and that is inspired me as a president because it is not so much better project is any better of the projects you're working on. it is just the point that a major buzz, and each of you ,-com,-com ma there is the potential to change the world.

and you don't know exactly who it is here that is going to make some world changing business or organizations or environmental ideas. but if we empower everybody, we will all benefit from the talents of those people. and this is true whether you're talking about not-for-profit work were talking about business. i just came from china, from the hometown of a gentleman named jack ma, and some of you know is chinese. he is the founder of alibaba. so jack is very wealthy now. but if you listen to jack's

tory, he basically started off as somebody who could get into the top universities, taught himself english because he was interested in getting to america somehow come they came back, started a business that nobody thought was going to actually be very successful. he couldn't get any funding for it. but he had this idea that the internet and computers were really important and now has created the biggest platform in asia for selling goods. if you look at jack ma when he was 20 years old, when he was your age, nobody would have said that he would be one of the most successful business man on earth. just like if you met mark

zuckerburg, you would think you would have would think you would have one of the most facile businesses in history. western politics is also true of government. you know, all of you have enormous potential, but you have to have very specific plans and you have to work really hard and you have to pursue those plans with determination and dedication. you have to try something different and not get discouraged because very few people are successful right away. even most successful people, typically they have some failures that they have learned from and not get discouraged. go ahead. ibm mac

>> you are noted as the only american president who is able to protect such a large area of land and sea. how were you able to reconcile the very idealistic concept of economic sustainability and development without x weighting the environment? thank you very much. >> good question for trade to because asean is so populated here there's so many people and it's growing so fast that you have to ask some very tough question particularly because what we now know is that the models that development that we saw in the last, using fossil fuels are not going to be sustainable. we are not going to be able to

develop whilst the same way that we develop the united states. we have to have a new model because if all of the asean countries and china and india all were using as much oil and gas and coal as the west did when it was developing, we are all going to be underwater. the environment will not survive. so what we have to do is first of all leapfrog over the old models. and what i mean by that is, with more efficient ways of doing the same thing. a good example of that, although this is not in the energy space, but it will describe what i mean, if you travel through asia

or africa, everybody has got a home. but in the west, we had to lay out these lines, all these underground cables and above line telephone pole. that's how we communicate. now it would make no sense to rebuild all those cables. now you just put up a cell tower because we have new technology. what is true in communications is also true in energy. part of what we have to do is develop solar power and wind power and hydropower. we have to come up with more efficient cars, more efficient appliance is and this is part of what the paris agreement was all about, with having each country,

put its own plans for reducing its carbon footprint without holding countries back from their ability to develop and insist envelope here countries contribute to poor countries so that they can develop faster by using new technologies rather than the old one. but i think that every country has to recognize that there is no contradiction between conservation and development if you have a good plan. the problem is often times in order to have good planning, you have to have a government that has skills in identifying, if we put a fact or year, what are you going to do to the river.

if we are going for a see an expansion of population, are we going to build a trained system so people can travel without everybody using their own car. that requires a lot of planning and participation in listening to the community. when we were in vietnam, one of the biggest stories they are was a big area, was this deal? there is some sort of manufacturing come to me that whenever they were doing to the water, it appeared it was killing off of fish. you had days where just thousands of fish were just floating up to the surface. there were a lot of people still depending on fish for their livelihood. that is not a good model over the long term.

so when that fact jury had put in its application to build a fact area, the government may have thought to itself, this is great for development. this will create jobs. it's creating jobs for people in the fact jury and the people who fish, then the total sum of development is lower than it could be. if they planned ahead of time, that maybe had a filter, they might've cost a little bit more. and so part of the things for young people, you're going to have to learn that can be sustained over a long period of

time. the united states is still learning how to do this. we then added a long time. but we used to have terrible pollution everywhere. we ultimately passed laws that the clean air act and the clean water act. we discovered was the new sandals to preserve the environment, that companies will adjust and they will find new and innovative ways to make the same products and make the same amount of funny, but do it in a way that is actually good for the environment. usually, if you see the environment destroyed, it is not because it is necessary for development. it is usually because we are being lazy and not been as creative as we could be and doing it in a smarter, more sustainable way. [applause] any other countries we haven't caught on yet question art

vietnam? okay. [applause] >> that afternoon, president obama. i am from vietnam. i would love to ask you about cdp. in includes four countries in asean alliance. singapore india nam and we expect a lot about the future. but now so far, they have not been ratified. so do we believe even the new president that we could be ratified. >> i believe that will be ratified because it the right thing to do.

you know, we are in a political season now and it is difficult to get things done. congress isn't doing much right now. they are all going home and talking to their constituents, trying to get reelected. after the election, people can refocus attention on why this is so important. but the reason i think it is important is because the united states in the asean countries in the asia-pacific region, together these countries represent 40% of the world economy. the problem we are being is that at a time when growth is slow around the world, if we don't pass trade agreements that create a level playing field, so

businesses and workers are all treated fairly so that their environmental standards, just as we discussed for products that are being sold. if we don't do that, countries are going to turn inward and everybody will be poorer. so, right now around the world, there is some people resisting trade. and in some ways that's understandable because in it bans countries, in wealthier countries, they feel as if the old manufacturing jobs have gone to china in places with cheaper labor and lower environmental standards and lower worker protection. so even though the united state is still very wealthy, there are places where the fact reset was because it moved someplace else. that happened over the course of the last 30 years and people remember that and feel as if

that wasn't good for them. what i've tried to explain his first evolved, if we do not and, we are not going to bring those old jobs back. the factories will not end. if we now enter into agreements with countries like vietnam where we have difficulty selling our products, said he can't create new businesses, hotmail customers and yes, vietnam may be selling shoes and shirt, but we will be selling software and we will be selling, you know, jet engine. so both countries can grow together. one of the problems we've also is being in terms of trade is that the benefit of trade all too and have gone to the wealthy

people who own the companies. a lot of times they haven't gone to the work errs. and so, what i've said as part of tpp, we have asked countries like vietnam that want to be a part of it, to start raising their standards and protections for their workers and allow worker organizations to join together so they have more of a voice in terms of wages and their benefit and the safety of the work place. in fact committed vietnamese government has said it's willing to do that. if standards in asean countries rise, then they are not going to be competing with u.s. workers just for who can pay workers the least or put them in the most basic conditions for that, they will become heating for who is working artist and has the best

product, the best ideas that they will all benefit from. i believe we will get it done, but it's always going to be hard. nothing is easy. maybe there was a time when there was, but it sure hasn't been easy since i've been president. eventually we will get it done. how much time do we have? next question? after having spent such nice things, if i missed the dinner tonight, i'll be in trouble. [shouting] okay, hold on. let's see. bernat hasn't had a question and malaysia and cambodia. that's a lot of countries. we will go really quick.

okay, here. [applause] >> hello, mr. president. thank you for those opportunities. i would like to thank you for the initiative and also to your wife that has changed worldwide. my question is what are your views on the future of local health [inaudible] >> well, first of all, my wife a rink will continue to work on nutrition issues. but you know, she is going to probably be more involved internationally as well as domestically than she has been.

now that our girls are getting older, she can travel more. it used to be she didn't like going too far away for too long because you want to make sure the girls were doing her homework and not been properly. but now the day are almost grown, malia is leaving at dosha will be gone soon as well, you will see michelle work on these issues internationally more than she had. in terms of global health, i think they are at different stages. in developing countries, there's just a lot of things that we know how to do. we just do them. disease is that are the result of poor nutrition, not enough to me, nope clean drinking water, sanitation systems that are not ideal. basic, preventive care they don't require big technologies.

preventing malaria, which mosquito net, effective mosquito abatement is that there is a lot of low-hanging fruit, things that can save so many lives. maternal health, working because we have too much infant mortality, so that is one that of issues. a second set of issues had to do with actually prosperity. as people get wealthier, they are starting to get fatter. they are starting to get more diseases that are associated with modern linux. lack of exercise, processed foods and what's been interesting is a lot of these problems like diabetes used to be primarily in wealthier countries. now you are seeing them pop up

in countries like mexico that didn't used to have these problems because of changing eating habits and lifestyle. those are a second set of issues. these are all preventable. the third set of issues had to do with cancer and alzheimer's. and these are issues they really have to do with new science and technology. one of the things i've done as president in the united states is to invest heavily in race urged. now that we have been able to crack the code on human genetics, we think that the time will calm when we will be able to diagnose diseases before they happen. we will be a lot to say that this person has a tendency because of bearish dedication to

get these diseases and develop cures before those diseases kill them. i guess my general attitude would be even as we are working on those diseases that are worldwide and that have plagued humanity for a very long time, because they have a lot of guys who are people now, just a dealing with the things we know what to do, we are just not doing it as well as we should. okay. cambodia. somebody from cambodia right here? this young man. by the way, everybody looks good those of us wearing shirts, you look good, too. i appreciate how nice everybody

looks. >> thank you, mr. president. i am from cambodia and actually my question what they can. if the goals are implemented in the united states, which goals should be the top priority. thank you. >> that is a good question. so, for those of you who didn't hear the question, sustainable development roles that we did on the original set of goals. keep in mind how much progress we've made on those goals over the last 20 years. the number of people we have seen rise out of extreme poverty, the number of people who are now able to have enough to eat. the reduction in infant

mortality has been a remarkable. people are much better off now than they were and we can make similar progress going lower. i've asked our teams to look at where in the sustainable development goals we have work to do in the united states? although we are still value a mac, i was that the areas where we still fall short, there's still too many children of poverty in the united states. they are not suffering extreme poverty as the sort used the in parts of india or china or allows for cambodia, but we have children who are very poor and who still aren't getting enough. that is also connect it to

education and we have a lot of children in a country so well the bat on a day-to-day basis are not getting the kinds of educational opportunities that they deserve. i would say that the way forward for us involves addressing those pockets of poverty and starting with kids. we have enough wealth to do it. the question is whether we have the political will to make the investment in these communities. many which are in inner cities. often times they are poor african-americans are latino who are still held back historically at discrimination and sometimes it is hard or to get the society

as a whole to invest in the kid. but if we are going to be successful, we are going to have her do it. it goes to the question asked earlier. the united states by the year 2050, which is only dirty five years from now, will no longer be a majority white country. think about that. because the birth rate for particularly people of hispanic background, but also in america is much faster, much higher. if those kids today who are poor are provided opportunity, our society as a whole is going to be poured because that will be the work force of the future and that is where we have to make the most. what was the last country? malaysia. go ahead, right here.

>> i am from the state of malaysia. my question is then the people and not my country, but in america it sells. i just said recently that this group of people is to protect the pastoral land. my question is what in your capacity, what can you do to ensure -- [inaudible] and also environmental justice at home. >> well, it is a great question. [applause] as many of you know, the way that native americans were treated was tragic.

one of the priorities that have as president is restoring an honest and generous and respect all relationship with native american tribes. so we have made an unprecedented investment in meeting regularly with the tribes, helping them design ideas and plans for economic development, for education, for how that is culturally appropriate for them. this issue of his pastoral land to preserve their way of life is something that we have worked very hard on. some of these issues are caught up with laws and treaties.

and so, i can't give you details on this particular case. i would have to go back to my staff to find out how are we doing on this one. what i can tell you is that we have actually restored more right among native americans to their ancestral land, secret site, watters, hunting ground. we have done a lot more work on that over the past eight years than we have in the previous 30 years. this is something i hope will continue as we go forward. that may just say this in closing. this has been a great group. i want to thank the university for hosting us and the people of laos for being such wonderful partners in this process. for all of the young people here, i want to end by telling

you the same thing then i tell young people back in the united states. sometimes because we have so much information all around the world on our televisions, computers, phone, it seemed as if the world is falling apart. that is because we are always getting information about the war here and a terrible environmental disaster there. and there's conflict here in this horrible issue is happening and everybody is shouting and everybody hates each other. you get kind of depressed if you think, what is happening? the truth is that when you look at all of these measures of well-being in the world, if you had a choice of when to be born

and you didn't know ahead of time who you are going to be, what nationality, whether you are male or female, what religion, when in human history with the best time to be born, the time would be now. world has never been help here, never been wealthier, never been better educated. it's never been less violent, more tolerant than it is today. we don't always see that because there are terrible things happening around the world and they are real tragedies and injustice that are hot. it is your job to fix it. but you should never be discouraged because you have more opportunity today to make a difference in the world than any generation before. my hope is you will seize that

opportunity and you will know that you will have a strong friend and partner in the united states of america when you do. thank you very much, everybody. [applause] >> i'm going to come around and shake some hands, but i'm going to tell you ahead of time i can't take pictures because i've got to go. if i start taking pictures, i'll be here another three hours. okay? [applause] ♪

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♪ ♪ >> u.s. senate is set to return to continued legislative business at 2:15. the focus is on the water resources development bill impossible fight against the zika virus. beginning to get it to fit teen p.m. eastern here on c-span2.

>> well, "politico" has a story about deliberations over the zika and congress or senate democrats blocked the gop's $1.1 billion bill to pay for the nations respond that lawmakers eye a must pass federal's

running bill is the next opportunity. as expected, the zika bill failed to pass the bill, the same ending measures failed twice in june and july. a little bit further down, democrats blamed their rejection of the bill on republican writers did senate minority leader harry reid accused republicans of attacking planned parenthood in the bill would not have provided funding for contraception. another reason they objected to the bill would allow the confederate flag to be at veterans administration cemetery's. see the rest of the story and "politico" today. commerce and david jolley demonstrated his concern about the zika virus by bringing mosquitoes to the house floor today and he tweeted, i rise at about 100 mosquitoes from florida. congressman jolley brings the charred egos onto the house floor. congressman paul topcoat tweeted after that, muddling a clean freak guy responds with an attack.

it is just about the least pro-life thing that the house republicans could do, yet here we are. this from house speaker paul ryan when he said senate democrats should drop this artisan filibusters and pass spending. we heard a little bit about the battle of zika funding from leaders today at the top of the sessions running with majority leader mitch mcconnell. due >> the majority leader. >> understand is developed that were second reading. >> the clerk will read the title of the bill for a second time. >> h.r. 3231 to amend title five united states code to protect unpaid interns in the federal government from workplace harassment and discriminationco: purposes. >> in order to place it on the calendar and rule 14 out object further proceedings. >> objection having been hurt, the bill will be placed on the calendar. >> mr. president last night i

took to the water resources development act and import and authorization bills our nation'o waterways. chairman has worked across the aisle with ranking member boxer to crack a bipartisan bill. i hope we can reach an agreement to pass it very soon. on another matter entirely, but nights and that democrats blocked critical funding for veterans for pregnant motherser and babies and for servicemembers. it's not the first time or evenf the second time that they put partisan politics of the american people. it is now the third time. at a time when cases is really a next workable. democrats would filibuster critical funding for defense at a time when threats are growing. it is absolutely inexcusable.

in case they missed it coming years to lay this on the spread of zika. there's now more than 2700 cases in our country, more than 30 of those are likely more mosquito borne cases.ve chos urgency to approve funding for the democrats have chosen to filibuster and case colleagues across the have missed this coming years the latest on the global challenges facing us. or it's korea continues to show signs of aggression with its recent past of another missile. iran continues to provoke our ships in the persian gulf, action commander of the u.s. central command called very concerning. we continue to inspire terror attacks around the globe and then night club in orlando. don't bring these threats and

they have chosen once again to filibuster the defense bill as e well. it makes you scratch your head when the democratic leader has led such a cooperative minority. and what then. in what sense democrats have used filibusters to block the bipartisan appropriation process for two years in a row now. this is not my definition of a cooperative minority. they are filibuster strategy to protect executive overreach that even fellow democrats claim tosf oppose. they've even filibustered legislation designed to help victims of modern-day slavery if you can believe that. v once again, they filibuster to n block funding for control for veterans and for our men and women in uniform. we hear the democratic leaders say he wants his party to delay the filibuster altogether if

democrats win back control of the senate. he is so concerned about this abuse, maybe you should stop abusing it himself. stop filibustering critical resources for saturday. stop filibustering the fundingng of firemen and women in uniform because they count on that. mr. president, i suggest the absence of a quorum.senate >> under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order the son of voters in consideration the notion to proceed to as to wait for it which the clerk will report. >> mission to proceed to consideration.ti the bill to provide her the purp related resources and so forth and for other purposes. >> the assistant democratic

leader.oor now >> mr. president, i believe i have an opportunity to speak on the floor now and in a measure of morning business. i will yield at the democratic leader and they reclaim the floor. he's just arrived under the democratic leader at this point, >> mr. president. >> the democratic leader. >> i appreciate very much my assistant leader for always looking out for me. as he has for 34 years. i appreciated very much. i came together here 34 years ago to congress and i appreciate all he's done over the years and especially his friendship.

mr. president, quickly, it is hard for me to understand how my friend can stand here and talk about zika. it's just what back it would have been. it past year with 89 votes. a compromise zika funding bill. democrats and the president wanted more money. $1 billion flew out of. what did the house. the house decided they wanted to do a few things in under restrict funding for birthvisitd control, remember 2 million women visited planned parenthool blasts tear and with all the problems the zika now, there are a lot more going to be showing

up at planned parenthood. the pesticides in the green water -- clean water act by $500 million, half a billion dollars. .. it rescinds $543 million of obamacare money. it strikes prohibition on the confederate flag, so in effect the republicans in the house decided they would send back this billowedded with poison pills. pills. we just passed a bill that i told you that went over there,ec straight from info research and taking care of the problems with zika. that was it. very simple.li and even though the republicaney voter with a three weeks before,