looking at how to use others like them in our researchers in the community to come in and help us in other areas with that in mind, we did an exercise yesterday about how to share this across the oem. i could've never imagined this two years ago, getting everybody to share. i want to start with you, how's it going? how do you see the transition occur with information sharing across the oem's? >> i think what you're talking about and organizing and coming together as an industry, the trust started there. just so we could understand what the common goal was and tradition into this is not a competitive space for the industry. this is a collaborative space.

taking that onto actually formalizing it and then the next step of increased trust of sharing information, and then, yet another step of sharing best practices. those best practices from a lot of different places. that ability to share and trust is key to anything that we do. that respect within the companies is pretty important. >> steve, can we declare success? we are sharing information. >> i think almost. you are never done and you never know what you don't know that this kind of a paradox in all of this that we are all fierce competitors. but we are doing that, were

organizing skating and working. we know that an attack on one is an attack on all of us and that is how we stand united. >> to jeff, to the vice chairman, how, how do you see the maturity levels. how we work together as an industry to bring everybody up? we have some large oems that have a lot of resources. they are dispersed geographically with a complex supply system producing cars, how do you really open up what you are doing at gm and share it across the industry with that culture? >> i think that's the best part, when we talk about being fierce competitors, we are, we compete we compete for everything in the automotive industry so as mary

discussed cyber security, that's not a competitive advantage. we want everybody coming together and bringing the best they have. you see this in our committee and in the best practices of all of the spread best practices aren't becoming the lease, denominator of what the auto industry can do. we are sitting around the table, all of us with differing capabilities, stronger in some areas a weaker and others but challenging each other to figure out what is the best thing we can do for the safety and security of our customer. >> josh. >> what's the perception been? how do you see the research community in the future and as a voice in this environment, how do you see researchers playing in this? >> historically it's been a contentious relationship between researchers and software industry. now that the auto industry wakes up and found themselves in a complex system, we launched a five star framework and in that open letter to the auto ceos, we

essentially said you have been perfecting safety for a hundred years. we will be safe or sooner if we work together. you are seeing much more collaboration, but even if we capture all the best practices from the private sector, many companies have lost. they have had credit card stolen or several stolen so those industries adopting world-class best practices fail every single time. the failure failure rate is about 100%. in your world, that would not be an acceptable launch. when we are talking, we have to be even better than the best in the private sector.

that's why building the trust and having high trust, high collaboration relationships from the researcher community and the best from the ecosystem is critical. if there is a crisis to trust economist vehicles, that province is saving a hundred plus souls that we lose every day. we want to see that happening soon, but if we shatter that confidence, we, we will postpone or delay that effort. >> talking about information sharing, this is one feed coming in about cyber. what what are some of the others and how do you work with that? audi all work with government deeds, how do you work with researchers, academic institutions, how do you see this environment growing? who isn't in this environment that you want to have in the discussion? jeff, why don't you explain who you work with in the larger set.

>> we have said this publicly, we collaborate with government institutions in academia and consumer electronics. even researchers, lets me talk about coordinated disclosure. i know we will have a panel on that later so i won't dive on it but josh and i in the calvary, when we launched our program, we reached out to people to talk about what we were going to launch and whether or not it will be well received by the research community and the lessons learned. we aren't experts on these types of collaboration, we are experts in the automotive industry. understanding this is really important to us. whether their government institutions or agencies or consumer electronics, they all have lessons learned that we can benefit from, and i think that's the premise today, bring everybody together from all the

different facets of industry and really learn from each other to do what's best for our customers >> we also have the deployed fleet which is overwhelming but less approachable. we are doing a good job sharing best practices on, but we also have the emerging better practices. i hate the term best practices because at best we have good and were looking for better. we are trying to pull together academic research, prototyping, reference architectures, we may not have the correct supply. with those types of things we are trying to get to figure out where we should be focusing on thinking that cars can talk together and self heal. as a five-star we basically have

the information but it's failures on current fleet. with a five-star we set the basic five things you tell your customers and tell your researchers you won't sue them for helping you avoid failure, how do you capture, study and learn from that? how do you have a prompt and agile approach and how do you contain and isolate two critical systems from a noncritical system? it's going to take until 2025 until we can get those foundational ready postures and that will built enough from the foundational element. i think what you're doing is amazing and we need to keep another i on what we need to do to pull in. >> i want to go to that point about the future of the best practices. i want to make sure we baseline. steve you are in a headquartered

company. what is different about some of the organizations that you will work with them might be different? is it any different because you're headquartered in japan. >> it is and it isn't. i think all the automakers are global now so you have supply stations all over the world in r&d all over the world and you have organizations all of the world. sometimes your parallel organizations and sometimes you're groping for who's in charge of this area. you have places with developed engines and electronics and telematics so i think that's really the biggest challenge you have at the moment. you mentioned earlier, just the input of information, that the other one. you've got so many avenues to receive information and how do you sort through what you're getting. >> great. academia, can you give us some

insight on who else to deal with? >> typically it's been academia in the u.s. for us in terms of the kind of research we are looking at, we think we need to engage and we are engaging, but that's just typically how it is because a lot of this has grown out of the u.s. the ingenuity of a researcher or hacker is typically here and other areas, but not so much in japan but it's a global global problem and you see this coming from everywhere. the challenge is to leverage all of that and to steve's, how do you pull all the information in and sort through what is relevant for what is icing versus what is not. >> that's a great point, how are you getting this intelligence? once you get it in, what to do with it? >> that's challenging and it's also a challenge in the industry

as a whole, just step outside the automotive industry and the industry of security as a whole, it's a challenge because there's not a lot of people who are doing it. there's so much information in so many people who are doing this kind of research, either coordinated traditionally through university or someone like that or independently. that is where you see a growth industry programs because there are people out there who can do this research but they don't know where to go so to coordinate that helps bring it in and that some of it and helps filter out some of the noise and get it to the right people. it's a difficult problem that we are all trying to work on. there are independent folks, there's government, pulling all that in as part of the challenge, things like the

committee can help with that. where do we start to leverage some of these organizations to help do the research or commission the research down the road for those things that are coming? security is going to enable it, they're not going to prevent it. that's the key point. we have to leverage security to enable all of these features that people want and ultimately improve safety. >> does that make sense on where to go now josh? >> three years for the calvary. >> wow. is it different now, you kind of know who to go to? we didn't have any relationships initially and i think we have high trust relationships and their reluctant. information sharing is something, someone had an accident and were speaking about and how does it happen and how

do we prevent future ones. if you work, you are still reacting after the fact, maybe you have a little bit of headlight before something bad happens but if you have vulnerability disclosure, you put it out for your two and you might get three months or six months or nine months or four years before this becomes a public thing. it really becomes, if you want to get ahead of it, you use this welcome mat, if you really want to get out there you start inviting researchers on your prototype before they ever even. we went from adversaries different emmys and high trust teaming. >> jeff, how do you disseminate the information? howdy avoid the noise? how do you find that needle in a haystack? >> there is a plethora of

information and i think it was well described so i won't reiterate that. it definitely takes a well-funded well resourced organization. you have to be able to take in all that information and figure out what's important but there was a reference made with the eye stacks helping that. i truly believe that. what's happening as you have all these various information feeds coming in, you have oems and suppliers and partners on different levels of maturity and what's happening is, even if someone doesn't have a court disclosure program today, the people who do are getting that information and sharing it. to make this real about what's going on, we had a a board of directors meeting yesterday it was all great stuff. we had a great and fairly heated conversation even in that meeting around information sharing and intelligence that we are getting and it's amazing because you look around the table and the intelligence of some people may not be important

but others it might be really important and that's all based on varying levels of maturity so we are learning from each other. : what do you do change that. this is information about what might be broken, what might go wrong and that takes an entirely different way of thinking and an entirely different organization. this is kind of a state into the public. you would be foolish not to accept all the free help that is out there. there are people that stay up all night and they are just intellectually energized by finally these kind of problems your why not welcome them in?

>> to that point, i'll keep with you, i mentioned the beginning of my statement the culture shift. why has that happened? you've been there since the beginning. remember the very quiet first meeting we had. when no one really talked what has enabled the culture shift. is a government pressure? is it the future of autonomous vehicles. what is it that made it happen? >> a lot of it is just the commonality. we share decades of experience. over time, i mentioned this to administrator rose coming some time ago. don't talk to them, don't talk to them, you're going to get in trouble. you will not get in trouble talk to someone we have enormous things in common with. things change very quickly. >> was reducing? you were there in the early da days. >> it's kind of going down --

it's just change in the mindset has changed because i think there's for all those things you said, but i think one of the core things whether it's government a researchers or whatever it is, that really spun us all is only an understanding and educating really everyone that yes, this is a problem that might happen in the future. to steve's point, we are good as an industry at knowing what's happened and then addressing that. now we are shifting to how do we know that something might happen and getting people understand that that that happen. i think what's really done it is some of the research, some of the demonstrations that made it real. fortunately, it made it real prior to anything serious happening. >> given the conversations, this

occurred to me, if we want to have even more information and get even smarter faster, i think if you watched recent events were had the first battalion with the self driving technology and one of the things that really piqued my interest is the idea yes, it's is doing and investigation as well as in stb. one of our five stars is to evidence capture. that's one of the topics that looks really hard to do as an entire industry. we have a real gap and a vacuum to deal with privacy preserving the safety investigating supporting that is meaningful capture that make accurate or it could be telemetry data so we can see tampering for months or hacking attempt across large fleets of vehicles. if we really want to get in front of not the current information sharing but the proactive information sharing, it's going to have to become a

priority for us to figure out how to get past all those historical reasons we haven't done this. i think that might be the next turn th of the crank him not to sharing information we have but ensuring we have information to be as best equipped as possible to detect and respond to avoiding things. things. >> how do we make sure we share information but it gets enhance of the right people? we're getting to the point, publicly to put us at risk. are we at that point? we've had this discussion over the past week or so. how much do we should publicly and how much do we share within isac. isac. >> josh gauntt he would've natural ask the question, when you welcome the research into isac. i'm going to trust that before you even ask. so the isac is really, you think about this. you talk about one year ago.

i get to the question i want to address this. the isac toward a year ago. really we strategically sat down as a board and said we can't let this thing imploded. it can't implode upon itself if we move too fast and effectively people and can't figure how to get operational. it's been really methodical how we done about this. it's important we took that step. oems first, now strategic partners and suppliers, the associations, research community, all these things. if you talk to department of transportation, even expansion be on light duty vehicle. i think it's important that we take our time, do the right things and be methodical about how we approach. let's get but how much we are should the executive summary was released yesterday. the intent bias is to show as an industry how we coming together, how are we going to write best practices? to what steps are going to write

their we haven't completed all the best practices yet. the executive summary is the document that is informing how deep and how wide those things will cover. in releasing the document there's a lot of questions out there about will be released our best practice guide? quite frankly there's a couple things that haven't happened first. we have to finish writing the best practices guide. nhtsa india keep is also that they're going to release the best practice document and quite frankly we want to be informed by the document so. i think it's important and just to reiterate, the methodical approach the isac is taking is actually very quick in my opinion how fast we're moving in this case but we're doing it very intentionally and we're being very careful in how we are approaching this. >> josh gauntt what parallel have you seen?

>> one of the things i was so exhausted for years, we were looking at anywhere bits and bytes meet physical systems and cyber safety. we've had significantly more progress working with the connected medical device deals or infrastructure, and that we have had incredibly fruitful relationship with the fda. it's amazing how many parallels there are between this industry, between health care and medical devices, between even aviation. a little overlapping and so this gets ahead on information sharing to things like your isac. it's a really diverse set of categories that get into that. but i think in some ways there's things this group can learn. they put up a post market guidance for medical devices in january. and it, i'm eager to see what nhtsa does with their pending recommendations but in it they are essentially almost requiring

disclosure programs and incentivizing creation of the. one of the things they're doing is saying it inadequate making disclosure program and into the medication within 30 days or so, you don't have to go through the painful public recall process or the regular. it's sort of a carrot and stick. whether to use make sure those things happen that you don't really need heavy-handed regulation. i think we should create more opportunity to take some of the best and brightest exemplars of medical manufacturers like johnson & johnson and the best writers on this community. i think we can learn from each other more overtly. >> steve, you mentioned meetings with nhtsa. sometimes you in d.c. visiting so you often -- a special of the board means, but what's the perception that what we're doing as an industry now with the

isac, what is your perception of what we've done? >> it changed 180° in the last year. the regulators seemed industry come together. they are seeing concrete results. i welcome their comments about the release of the executive summary. i think, the fire is taking off on its own and that's a good thing. >> bently, what do you think? >> i think it's been positive. maybe there is some doubt as to how fast or how much of it we would be able to do but i think we have been pretty successful at moving, actually frankly more than i thought we would. it's good progress. especially in the industry after something like this we are not used to collaborate like this. i think it's pretty impressive. >> let's talk about best practices. how deep are they going to go? are we really going to talk about giving the potential to

every car should have, where is the line on this thing puts on the going to go down to diagrams? what does it look like right now? >> first of all they're going to be prescriptive and i think that's really important because of best practice by design shouldn't be prescriptive. it needs to be adaptable. we talk about. we are all fierce competitors. what does that mean? we do things different. that's important we do things differently. at the same kin time the best practices have to be adaptable to what we do and how we do things enter companies, but i think one thing that really hit hard on that one, this is something that's very much energized me is activities and best practices, the idea of lease, the nominee for best practices, not what we're talking about in the isac. these best practices are going to be hard to meet and that's important to there is something to attain for.

they are not something that any organization as they said today will be. and effect i would even argue, josh, you talk about data capturing i will relate that back to david intrusion in the cybersecurity since. there may be technology. we made the put something in best practices today that technology doesn't even exist today to solve. what does that mean? that's great because all it does is it challenges us and our partners out there to help us create the technology to solve the problem so we can improve the security posture of her because. all those things put together, it's a really, really energizing activity going on in the isac early best practices. >> what i'm hearing you say, we are not just looking at vehicles that have been on the road for 10 years. would look at the next 20 as well. >> the ui does one of the problems. going forward, the features that the market wants and with a level of connectivity,

disruption is not acceptable. >> if we wrote best practices we could all meet, we would've failed. and then we would just have to write more, right? so that's why there are more aspirational than they are achievable necessary right now. >> you should all be commended for this because other sectors, i'm on record as saying about him a card industry. i did a multi-you attack announcing it was essentially the no child left behind act for information security. what they did is by focusing on specific prescriptive controls with technology and trends that move so fast, it was outdated before the ink dried. i like that you're focusing on the objective instead of specific controlled that might need a bigger focus on something aspirational versus something in the rearview mirror. i think you are going to need help and i agree with you completely.

there are not even available technologies for somebody -- for some of these. it will take us easily five to 10 years to even touch some of these best practices. we have a window of exposure that we need to close very, very quickly. >> the important point, there are things you can do today. i agree, it creates a whole ecosystem, a whole transit vehicle 10 years all the way to architectures. >> you might at best get them. i like the aspirational part. >> also it's important, it's not a compliance checklist. this is a compliance model to raise to the lowest. i think what's the best part of the best practices is don't assume this will get slipped into a compliance, doesn't mean

you're secure. that's the mindset we have gone into this. this. >> i think we should commend our regulator around their taking the same approach. it's a best practice approach. it's aspirational. it's adaptable best practices and very collaborative with the auto-isac and best practices. >> i think we would to some questions from the crowd. i didn't see the mics. we can do some questions that people have any questions. i'll try with th allies to see anybody wants to raise their hand. notecards? okay. >> if anyone could please write equation for notecards, we will pick them up speed as we are collecting and i will continue with another question. there are many supplies and others in the room. how do they get involved in this ecosystem? how do we pull the meant to be part of the conversation?

was a good weight to get connected? i'll make a plug for the auto-isac.com website but what of the ways with isac for you all, what's the way to get involved in the conversation if you're not already, steve? >> sort of go to the website to contact us. goat to the companies you work with, the vehicle manufacturers. get involved. >> partial answer is the very first, we had about 35 phone calls in the first week after we published the five star to artists ago. the first several were dealers but i think what we forget is when we're talking to oems, some of these things that make it on the news for the vehicle were actually not built by them but we are having a fumble and the field and off between ashby leadership for people like gm, tesla, fiat.

as you get these it is often come prepared introducing because you may not have permission to incentivize bugs in the supply chain. we need to push past that quickly. i'm working with many of the tier one suppliers and emerging tech providers to help them get a disclosure program publicly or privately because this isn't ecosystem. i don't want us to drop balls between our general counsel because we don't know how to do a handshake. if your supplier i would highly encourage you to put information or work out provision with your oems, participate in the programs they're launching but also made launched her own and i will be happy to help. >> first question that is the future concept of the isac to be kind of vulnerability disclosure program for the entire industry? right? your thoughts. >> i would be happy.

i don't think it's ever going to be the only place we get frankly. i think it will be broader than that. we have to look at that as a really good source but certainly not the only source. >> really, talk about the vulnerably disclosure and coordinated disclosure. the best relationship and that is between the research and the company they are working with. the auto-isac is a place for every company should learn from what that oem for the supplier whoever it is is seeing based on the research and analyzing it and sharing it with the industry. you talk about all the time information sharing and analysis center. we like to share information but it takes a person is knowledgeable about the design to analyze it and provide actual intelligence back to the other oems. as the isac simply rolled until everybody has a program, i think in the end the program at each individual company is important. >> i think it has to be a

backstop. these companies are so different and having a disclosure, is not enough. you have to have a team that can feel it, to analyze it, process it, fix it. you are going to want to set those terms and one of the beauties is you are going to set the terms to throttle the scope to turn the mechanisms in a way you know you can handle. i would discourage overuse as the point of contact. >> even a coordinated disclosure program isn't the only come it's a great way, and importantly, but you are going to have relationships. you can have relationships directly with researchers as well. >> you need to do it soon. it makes it so it's no longer a crime to research on vehicles or medical devices as of october. even if you don't want to have

one, building some muscles and capacity now with your own programs before a spike in the surge of bugs come in is probably -- >> great question we didn't have done. holding the best practices. what stand overlooking out, was this done in a vacuum or did we look at best standards and map them? steve? >> they are all in there if you read through the executive summary. it will reference in each area some of the details that they are built upon. >> how did that go? why did we pick what standards? do you recall because you're in the room as well. either one. what standards do we look at? >> it was to look at things the route of their come as an example in this framework, it was, there's a lot of work that was put in that that was vetted

out quite a bit over a couple of years. and so that was a good one to look at. incorporating the other ones as well. we did want to just say here's the best practices of what the members of the isac do. it's what else is there out there? anytime you're building any kind of security platform or strategy or anything like that can you not just looking at what you got. you are looking at everything else because there's a lot of people who have done a lot of work in other areas that they can and do the work for you in that sense when you're leveraging what they're doing. so certainly it wasn't done in a vacuum. it was never intended to. >> some great questions. we will not get to the mall obviously. great questions. one thing i will answer them so as we go to get the auto-isac summary today? if you go to automotive isac.c isac.com.

the executive summary is posted there that you all, for glass questions is there as well. so what's, what do the oems can what you all expect from the suppliers on cybersecurity, sharing information? supplies of information about threats and vulnerabilities. what's the expectation whether they are isac members or not. steve? >> well, if you are a member that's a different situation but i think don't keep any secrets. it only gets worse. >> jeff, what are you seeing? >> you can look at it from an oem supplier partner relationship respected or the auto-isac. we are working very closely with our partners to put various requirements in place, to have a strong security posture are connected and even safety critical systems that exist in our vehicles. the partnership with the

suppliers extremely important. it's that require partnership to provide the right security posture. really secure lifecycle developments throughout the development of the product. even when it is launched because it's out there for many years. that partnership is important that i can't even begin to talk of all the ways. open communication is important or the suppliers and the partners are becoming members of the auto-isac just like the oems. if you see things in your violent you should be reporting it through the information sharing portal ensuring that intelligence and it may not even affect the manufacture today but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be reported such that if you're in the future development of something with another supplier that might be tangible to us as well. >> you mentioned lifecycle and i think that's one of the biggest challenges because most things in an automobile over the lifecycle, there's no intervention. you've got systems in the cars now. cars last 20 years these days.

things are going to require changing an improvement, and the development team has to have that kind of history and experience. typically what happens if typically what happens is you have the developer team compared done, they launch and move on. once you get past three or four years it's hard to go rooting through the organization when you have to go back to fix something. with these technologies it's probably even more so. >> not trying to put anybody on the spot but it strikes me beyond the tier one, beyond the oems are potential sources of threat and risk and harm and the people you're inviting in, one of the reasons we have the star number five, critical systems or noncritical system is one of your threat vectors is an inner circle already. i lovingly call it a government mandated backdoor because a lot of these aftermarket devices,

whether it's -- these things you can buy from these -- coded kickstarter says companies, once they are on that in these vehicles, the unfettered access to everything else. that may also be a source of vulnerability, threat. we might, if you haven't already we might want to factor in some way to capture that. >> that makes a good point in working with suppliers. first we have been working with supplies for a long time and we do better safety requirements, through quality requirements and performance requirements. now we are bring that into security requirements. and then had we test that? we are also bringing in a new sort of nontraditional supplier. not automotive a traditional supplier of folks are doing connectivity. there's people who got the pipe between the human, the customer and the vehicle. so those are folks who are not typically thought of as

automotive suppliers to bring them into the fold is also important. >> will be ever had a truly secure and safeguard them 100% cybersecurity? >> no. that's why we focus on failure, readiness. all systems fail. are you able to notice them to avoid them can work with others, contained in? all systems? >> i would say at any moment in time, yes. in seconds, milliseconds. [laughter] beyond that, no. >> jeff? >> i agree with josh. no such thing as 100% secure. >> 5%. >> strong capability. >> can't engineer your way out of this? >> in no discipline. >> one thing we didn't address on this was privacy. we have a privacy principles

that were created by year and half ago. how does privacy play? there's so much data on the vehicle coming out about her own personal lives. is there going to be considered as part of the best practices? >> i was just going to say that yes, it is part of it. it's very important but i think there are two aspects to it. is what you click in what you do with it. that's the important part. there's all kinds of diagnostic information that's collected about the car. it's collected at the car level but what you do with it is important. >> go ahead. >> i was just going to say what we did with the best practices, was about protecting privacy but is included. privacy is a component. it's information that is a specific type of information you are trying to protect. >> i'm going to say something controversial on purpose but i'm getting very frustrated.

i love my privacy, and i'd like to be alive to enjoy it. and a concern i had in the periphery is become a more important concern is that if we're not careful we are going to have corpses with a privacy impact. there are times when some of the desires cannot capture data, to not share data, not do intrusion detection, to avoid evidence capture. there are times when these things will need attention that we need to be very mature, to have hard conversation to to get the right balance. because it's entirely possible that the privacy advocates, the cyber safety advocates may delay the necessary choices we have but i don't think it has to be a fight but if we are not really aggressive in pushing through the discomfort historically, we have to talk about what we want as an industry. >> i have a slogan for you.

you can't embarrass a corpse. >> not of what i said discounts the importance of privacy. in fact, if you want a piece of contrast on monday or tuesday, germany probably the most privacy conscious country on earth is now putting out mandates for a black box for vehicles. it doesn't have to be identical to airplanes but it's the most privacy sensitive conscious country on earth realizes the importance. we have to have the conversation. i'm willing to start helping that conversation. >> i will relay the privacy aspect back to the best practices and cybersecurity posture. josh, you talked about the privacy aspects so i believe that aside, but data privacy is all about the protection of data. cyberthieves practices provide controls, not just provide safety for the customer but also to keep their data private. it's the same controls that keep

you safe is what keeps your data private and those are all encompassing in the best practices. so again, not easy to attain, but absolutely covered in the best practices so that we can learn from each other on how to do better. >> if we design them both we might get it right. >> our previous speaker said many times we will see more disruption that the next five years than we've seen in the last 50 years. i have seen more disruption you'll have created in the last two years so thank you for your leadership in thank you for a great conversation and being part of it continues to push the industry forward. ..

with no opposition heard. the official election will occur when the hundred 15th congress gavels in on january 3. you will need 218 votes. the ap reports republicans will likely have to hundred 41 seats next year. and today's tunes around washington dc marching to protest donald trump's election. they met at the renovated box hotel. reporter mark lieberman tweeted this video. after marching on the supreme court, the protesters walked around capitol hill past the cannon house office building where some congressional staffers cheered them on. they also got a fist bump here from someone watching on the sidelines who told them standing up for what they believe then they marched back down capitol hill to the

city miss tony and where they moved on to the washington monument and very list locations around washington dc. back up on capitol hill the u.s. senate returns today to finish out the remainder of the hundred 14th congress. senators meet at 4 pm eastern about an hour away for general speeches, and a debate on authorization of a library of congress oral history project. off the floor, senators will elect their party leaders and newly elected senators are in town for orientation. >> we are asking students to participate in this years student video documentary competition by telling us what is the most urgent issue for our next president donald trump and the incoming congress to address in 2017. our competition is open to all middle school and high school students, grades six through 12. students can work alone or in a group up to three to produce a 5 to 7 minute documentary on the issues

selected. a grand prize of $5000 will go to the student or team with the best overall entry. $130,000 in cash prizes will be awarded and shared between 150 students and 50 teachers. this year's deadline is january 20, 2017.at inauguration day. for more information, go to our website, student can.org. >> pbs news anchor gwen ifill died this week. she was 61 years old. three years ago she gave a presentation on having a career in journalism . it is an hour. >> everybody, my name is jim gordon, i'm with the department of comcast which is a cable provider in the washington metropolitan area. we are pleased to join with c-span on this students and leaders project. it's been a busy month of may as we get ready for i think was called summer which is coming up. this morning, the job that i

have is to introduce somebody you all know but i have something to tell you you might not know. your assistant principal, brandon men who's been here a few months, in case you know is going to summer school this year yes, i'm sorry to inform you that he's got to go back . and spend a little time. he's been good this year but he's actually working on his phd which is great in educational leadership which ties into what we are talking about today, students and leaders. he's a student, he's clearly a leader so after spending 10 years in the dc educational system, is going to go on and do some more things. interestingly, i was reading an article by michael dell, mike dell is the founder of the dell computer company and he said the one thing he looks for in leaders within

his company's curiosity clearly, your assistant principal, brandon eatman demonstrates curiosity to go above and beyond so he can deliver back to you all a quality education. it's my pleasure to introduce brandon eatman, thank you . [applause] >> good morning.the capitol hill cluster school is comprised of peabody and early childhoodcampus , lack of elementary campus and the stuart-hobson stewart museum middle campus. our school is named after alexander pace stewart who served the city of washington dc for 54 years as a teacher, supervising principle, director of intermediate instruction and superintendent of schools. stuart-hobson has a unique museum program. the school has a partnership with the smithsonian and uses the museum as a learning and enrichment. this morning, our distinguished guest is the moderator and managing editor of washington week. she is also the senior

correspondent for the news hour with jim lehrer. please give a warm stuart-hobson welcome to miss gwen ifill. [applause] >> thank you. thank you mister eatman. i like that unison then you had going there, hello everybody. i'm very happy to be here. i get a chance to take a break from worrying about all the little details about iraq and all the names i can't pronounce and tell you a little bit more about my career and the favorite part for me is taking questions from you so one thing you have to understand that we journalists , we think it's really important to seek questions and i'm going to pretend this is a press conference so that you guys are going to take notes. even though i've been told you done a little research in advance so not too worried about that part. i have to tell you that i wanted to be a journalist

specifically, a newspaper reporter ever since i was your age. i always wanted to write and my problem was i wanted to write and i wrote stories and i wrote fiction and i wrote reports but i really didn't have any discipline to finish on time so i needed a deadline. in my house when we were going up, we always had newspapers, we got an afternoon newspaper every day and we would read the newspaper and my father was very involved and the minister was involved with civil rights activity so he was very engaged in the civil rights movement in the 1960s and he was marching in protest and he brought current events home. so from a very young age i recognized the things that

are happening in washington and the government might have some effect on me and i could make the connection to people who wrote about it or talked about it on television my reading in the newspaper. my first mission is i never, ever wanted to be on television. i didn't like tv. i didn't like tv journalism that much. i wanted to be in the newspaper, i like the smell of printed newspaper. i like the feel of the newsroom. i like the romance of newspaper writing. and when i got to college, first of all, i knew i wanted to be a newspaper reporter. never had it out and when i want went to college in boston, it was a small women's college and i figured this is the best. but then i thought at least it was in a city where there were other colleges so there were places to go. i was pretty sure i could survive that and i did, it was a wonderful situation for me to be in where young women could learn that they could speak up, confront things, be in charge and there wasn't any kind of competition and we could do the social thing and other campuses around the

city. when i decided i wanted to be a newspaper journalist when i was in college, it was helpful because we had internships and were able to go into different places and try out what we wanted to do for a living so i got interested in newspapers. i did an internship in public relations and an internship at a local television station and i didn't like it at all. i didn't like television, it seemed too shallow for me i pursued my desire to be a newspaper reporter. i left, i left college and got my first job, i was in college in boston and got my first job at the boston herald american which at the time was the number two newspaper, still is in boston. the boston globe is a big newspaper, the boston herald is the second and they gave me a chance to get a job. i'll tell you how i got this job though. i worked there the summer of my junior year in college which means the next year i was going to be a senior and graduate and start looking for jobs. at the time, there were not a lot of jobs but i figured i was different and i would get the job i needed. i was working at the photo

department at the boston american at the time and in the photo department, in fact in the entire newspaper there was no one there to look like me. college educated, black young women. they had never been exposed to anything like this and they didn't know how to treat me. when it became clear that i didn't bite and i did the job and i was pleasant about doing the job and i was good at it which was really, not a difficult job. it involves getting coffee and running errands. they said she can stay, she's fine. at the end of my time there i discovered one day when i came to work and in my workspace i saw a little note that was apparently directed to me but i didn't know what it was. i picked it up and it said nigbor go home. you have to understand something. when i looked at that note, i thought it was for somebody else. i couldn't imagine this could be for me because they all liked me so i went to my boss and i said steve, look at this, what do you think this means?my boss was horrified. his bosses boss was

horrified. at some point it dawned on me that this was pretty bad stuff and they knew who had done it that they didn't want to expose him because it was an older man was going to lose his job so everyone began to apologize to me and say you know, if you ever need a job when you get out of college we will hire you to have a job. we are so sorry this happened and i thought why would i want to work with these races ? i will get out of here and pursue my life somewhere else . i started looking for a job and there were no jobs anywhere else so i ended up going back to this place and saying, did you say you have a job for me? they provided. it was an entry-level job. i guess i got my first job out of guilt from the other people who gave me a chance to get in the door and prove myself. i knew if i got in the door, they would always be happy they got me.

i worked there altogether for three years. i started as a gopher which means you go for this, you go for that. i became a copy. i worked my first writing job in the food section of the boston herald american because it was the first writing job opened up and it seems to make perfect sense because i could cook. i had no idea how to cook, never do did it. new how to make macaroni and cheese from a box on a good day. they said you can be a food writer and i said sure, i can learn what i don't know. so i did it. on the job, i learned what i don't know. people would call and say how do you cook turkey, how long do you cook a turkey for thanksgiving? i didn't know, i would make it up. i would make up the temperature, the seasonings, the amount of time you kept a bird in the oven and my reasoning was if they didn't call back they would be either dead or it was fine. so i learned something about common sense.that sometimes common sense is what needs to be applied to your work. we don't always make it up obviously but in that i learned a lot about this and

something i knew nothing about before which applies today. every lesson you learned early on pays off. when i left boston american i learned and moved to boston and got my second job with the boston son, a job that taught me a lot about journalism because i was for the first time going in as a working reporter. i wasn't the kid in the corner, i was going to be allowed to cover city hall and politics and government. that was my first exposure and i loved it. i covered campaigns with people who are running for mayor. i covered city council and people who were going to jail for accepting illegal money under the table. i went to the statehouse in annapolis and covered the legislative session and i really got to meet a lot of people who chose public service and did it for the right reasons. it's one of the reasons that until today i feel like politics and politicians because i met so many politicians early on were doing it for the right reasons, not the ones you hear about all the time were doing it to rip you off or

were are trying to cut corners. i'm people committed to public service and that impressed upon me the importance of public service and the people who actually could be doing other things but decides important to represent so i worked in baltimore for another three years and then i came to washington and my first job in washington was with the washington post and i worked for the washington post for seven years. i went from covering once again, i started covering pittsburgh county, politics and government and the interesting thing is in prince george's county, it's the interesting thing about this region is everything is always changing. everything was on the verge of changing. the country was about 50-50 black-and-white which means power was changing and people were taking jobs for the first time and that means there was conflict and conflict is always good for the news business because it's like when chickens fly theory of journalism which is

if a chicken walks across the street, that's not news. but if the chicken picks up and flies, that's news because it's unusual. that's my thought about what was happening early on in the prince georges county schools and in government and as i stated covering montgomery county, i covered districts. i covered the first, i guess it was the first administration of marion barry which was interesting at the time and i did that for my first several years of the post and then i went to the national staff and covered the first presidential campaign. this was 1988 and none of you were probably born, so depressing but it was very exciting. there was an open seat as you might remember at that point in 1988 , nobody was running for the presidency, the president was leaving and they had someone taking his place so there were eight

democrats running. i spent all of my time chasing after them all and trying to figure out who is going to be serious. i covered running for president, i covered bob dole who later ran again in 1966 forpresident. al gore who ran the last time and lost or whatever you think happened .and i covered his campaign and so i got to meet a lot of national politicians. travel to most of the states of the union, not to stay there long because you would usually bounce into a place and talk to people maybe, listen to the candidates again. i spent a year traveling in small planes and big planes with candidates all over the country. it was a really remarkable experience but i got a chance to see the country not from the air but also got a chance to talk to people. i spent a lot of time covering jesse jackson's campaign in 1988.

this was the second time he ran for president, ran for the second time in 1984 and even though he was the most disorganized candidate i've ever seen, everywhere he went people showed up by the thousands. they would show up in the middle of the night in paul's for springs california, the last place you would expect to find. they would show up in the stadium and he would always have young people there who were excited and he always gave amazing and compelling speeches so even though we were often overtired, because of the organization of this campaign, we got little sleep at night or we didn't know when we would see another meal but they locked us in a room where there were thousands of young people saying i am somebody, that woke you up. it was an amazing experience. he ended up staying in the race that year all the way through to the convention. it was the first time i ever cover the national convention even though i grew up watching television. it was really exciting because there's nothing that says american politics like the floor of a national convention. that year, michael dukakis ran his nomination. he went on to run a really terrible campaign and was

defeated but, by george bush. but in the end, he really ran . it was a fascinating, close up way of watching acampaign. i covered my first campaign for the washington post and then i let the political be a while to cover housing and urban development . at the time, jack kemp was the secretary of housing and urban development . but a lot of things happened. it turned out for years and years, through his administration people have been ripping the government off and it was only now clear to the extent this it happened and it happened on my watch so i got to spend a lot of time covering what we usually would later call the hud scandal. covering these things that had gone on in many cases years before and people went to jail for this. the other interesting thing about covering housing and urban development is that once again, whatever it is you bring from your background to whatever your work is, it always will

inform you. i lived when i was growing up in buffalo new york for a short time in public housing and living in the projects was not an enjoyable experience but years later when i was covering people who were living in public housing and were trying to make ends meet, i got who they were. i understand what their situations were, what their choices work in a way other reporters didn't get because they hadn't had that experience. every experience i had in my life informed me of the time i got to journalism. i looked at the washington post for, i went on to congress and worked altogether for seven years and i left and went to work for the new york times. the new york times, the best newspaper in the country, in the world perhaps. i had a wonderful opportunity to cover congress and my second presidential campaign which was bill clinton's campaign. i started covering that in early 1991. when i say started covering, i meant flying on tiny six seater planes with him around

the country with other two other reporters and we get to know people really well, especially when you hit turbulence and we would land places and i would watch him and frankly i didn't think he had a chance. he was a small-town governor from arkansas. i met him a couple times and thought he seemed pleasant enough but i couldn't imagine he was going to win. but it was a wide open race. he had a chance at least on the democratic side to stand out. as his campaign gathered force, i may have been the last reporter to realize he would win because i was looking at so close up i couldn't really see it. the other part was that as you probably now know, bill clinton had a habit for getting into trouble. no matter what happened, there was always an old scandal that would come to haunt him and just as he was hitting the smooth sailing, somebody would come out of the woodwork to say 20 years ago i made a bad land deal with him or 20 years ago i had an affair or something

was always waiting.he would say he smoked marijuana but he didn't inhale. and after a while you began to think when is he just going to go sliding off and crash and burn and he never did. he was the most resilient candidate i've ever covered. he had a way of popping back up just like that and he never ever stay down so that made him compelling. it was exhausting but compelling to cover. when he got elected president i followed him in the white house . for the new york times which was an unparalleled experience. you get to sit on the front row of history, ask the questions you want to ask, challenge if you want to the people who are in power and it was not lost on me once again as in the beginning of my career that there were a lot of people who looked like me that were doing this and i brought that and it was very important that i was representing not just myself but a lot of other people and that my mother and my father were proud of me that they

were also conscious had trained me in a way that i could be in this situation and not be afraid to ask a question and make them answer it. so that was very exciting. and after i started working for the new york times, i would occasionally do television. i would show up at a talk show, be on meet the press and explain my experience covering bill clinton and after i've done that for a while, i started doing a show called washington week which is on friday nights as a panelist and i would show up on friday nights and i would ring my notebook of all the things i could get in the newspaper, i talk about on friday night after i've done this for allow, tim russert who is the moderator made me a day or and suggested i come work in television full-time. my first response was i don't want to do that, i don't like television. this is my perfect job, i get to do tv on the side and he dared me. in the end, i began to

realize one of the things about my career and my life is that when someone gives you a chance to do something that's brand-new, something that scares you, something that the new chance, how can you say no? what i didn't do was burn bridges. i said to the new york times i want to try this but i may need to come back in case i fail and they were a little taken aback by that fact that i would leave the new york times to work in television but on the other hand i think they got that i needed to try something, that i couldn't turn down the opportunity to try something new. i was fortunate enough when i started thinking about television that other networks came out of the woodwork and offered me a chance for a job so it became clear to me that i needed to do this, this is something i couldn't turn away from when i went to television, it was a big leap to go from being at a quarter writing with a notebook to being in front of the camera, learning how to make yourself up , what close to where an understanding people often

might not hear a word you say but they will say where did you get those earrings? i like those earrings. i get this today from people who ask me. and after a while you just figure a way how to do your job, how to take your story not exclusively with words. how to compress all the information and make the story the most compelling you can make it and still try to be a good journalist which is to know sometimes it can be a challenge if you watch a lot of journalism what passes for journalism on television these days but i was lucky at nbc. assigned a reporter to me. we are still friends today who taught me television. he worked there for years and he just taught me how to do it. he taught me how to talk on television, write for television, taught me how to report for television. i didn't spend as much time looking for the little telling details that i always would flesh out but got lost in the ether of a television story. and i worked for nbc, i covered another campaign, the 96 campaign for them which

was a lot of fun traveling the country but this time not for the candidate but covering issues and being able to pick and choose where i would go. i covered congress, i cover the impeachment of bill clinton which seemed to be poetic, it came full-circle on his career and it was a fascinating time. somewhere along in there, i was still doing washington week and pbs approached me on w pa in washington and they said you know, our current moderator is leading leaving. would youlike to be moderator of washington week ? i said i liked the job perfectly fine but i'm not interested. somehow they conspired to focus on the news hour and come to me and say i tell you what, if you work for pds, you can work part-time for washington week and part time for the news hour at which point once again, it was an offer i couldn't refuse. i was not only going to work for the news hour which was a fascinating place to work

because you do in-depth television journalism in a way they don't do anywhere else anymore but i would also do friday night and i called washington week my standby. it was all the smartest reporters i knew which would sit around the table and talk about what happened and would pick their brains for the interesting behind-the-scenes information. i knew if i can do this job i would have reporters they well, the president said to me or well, went when i went in the press room this is what they said to me. it would bring behind-the-scenes things you would not otherwise hear and combination of the two jobs proved to be the best experience ever for me because i get to literally, when i get to work in the morning at the news hour, when i leave there they will come to me and say okay, here's your assignment. yesterday they said we want you to do the assignment about iraqi reconstruction and the leaders of iraq area usually this means it's something i don't know a thing about but i did research and by the end of the day you have to be an expert. during the war was often

something everyone knew about a running story, we followed it every day and knew what was going on but on a story like this, more ordinarily you're getting something brand-new every single day and you are figuring out a way to not do this on television but inform people at home who are coming to you for the full story. so that's what i do now, i work in the news hour mondays, tuesdays and wednesdays and on thursdays and fridays i work for washington week and when i'm not doing that i talk to people like you. i will stop there and take some of your questions because that's the part that i really enjoy some questions. yes. can you tell me your name? >>. [inaudible] >> look at me sweetie, you need a microphone. >> did you ever think you would be doing what you are doing? >> i had lots of people who

didn't like what i was doing. my experience when i don't like what i'm doing, i put my head down and keep doing it and do it until i get something i like. the fact is, every career, every life journey is a series of ups and downs and you have to tough it out sometimes. you have to decide if this is your ultimate goal. is it worth it to you to keep pushing through? if it's not, you probably take about something else to do. but most of the time my experience has been even if you are having a bad time or you are angry about something or you feel like you are not being appreciated, just tough it out and it will pay off in the long run. you have something you have to accomplish, you have to know what you want to do and the downside of this is just the way it's supposed to be and that's okay. next? yes. class as a journalist, what

do you think is the most important contribution you have made to society, the country or the world? >> as a journalist, was the most important contribution i have made? that's a tough question. one of the things that journalists do is set back. they are observers. we're not activists. we're not people who say i'm going to change the world even though at our heart we are idealists. we think there is a right way or a certain truth that we are trying to get to the bottom of me know when things are wrong, we like to expose that and when you do that well, you feel like you are doing something for the world i don't get up in the morning and say today i will change the world. and happens in 1 million different ways and to me as a journalist the best way to change the world over time is to provide more information and make sure people know what it is that going on around them. make it interesting enough for them to want to know and not get caught up in the distraction and when i say distraction, i mean, you know as well as i do that oj and

chandra levy and winona ryder or whatever courtroom story of the day is, is not really changing the world. this is why these fun soap opera stories are fun to watch but they are not in the grand scheme of things important. the o.j. simpson verdict in itself as a murder mystery, i didn't find it to be a very compelling story but after the verdict came out, as a social residence of how america reacted along racial lines it was interesting but to me that was a way you talk about that story. even though i have no problem people who do what i call other stories of the time, you know what? whatever drug, it's important that you are paying attention to something that is happening but i'm happy that i don't have to do that at pds. i think i get to talk about stuff that has greater impact and more lasting in important ways and because of that, i think that's what journalists

bring just to the environment, even if we are not personally changing the world. yes. >> a leader is the person with the ability to guide and provide information, do you think you are a leader? >> i think i'm a leader in that the truth of journalism is that we have a lot more power to decide what it is people know then we admit. the big decision really about , people always say for instance that journalists have bias in something. i don't think bias is interesting. i'm not going to write a story that says this is the way you should believe but the stories you choose to cover and the stories we choose not to cover send priorities. if you pick up the paper every day and you see no stories about public schools, the omission of that decision not to cover that story is as

important an agenda as the decision to make a big story about the first death that happens at a school. i think journalists have a lot of leadership responsibility because they have to decide and they can set the agenda. the new york times makes a lot of other news organizations look right. they all pay very close attention to new york new york times news decisions and that's what you find out in hearing about that on the nightly news so there's a real connection there but that's the information kind of leadership, setting the agenda, setting the tone traffic journalists have to take seriously. yes. >> my name is teddy. in some countries, journalists who criticize the country face imprisonment. have you ever felt your assignments have put you in danger? >> know because fortunately i

work in the united states of america. i'm curious about that. my sister works as a foreign service officer in bogota and in columbia, journalists have been routinely hunted down, stopped, murdered for writing stories which take certain competing factions, government and otherwise to expose them. the same thing has happened in haiti and around the world and throughout the african continent. journalists whoare doing the same job i do every day their lives in danger . not the same thing as if i'm standing on a street corner interviewing somebody, that's not real danger. someone won't let you down because of what you do for a living, that's not dangerous. it does happen around the world and it is something which remains a huge challenge and something that we can't be unsympathetic to. i personally am fortunate frankly to be able to practice journalism in a place where the constitution

protectswhat it is i do . but that's not the same as in countries around the world so no, not in that way. i should say however that during the last war, reporters were embedded with units in iraq. two of the reporters who died were former colleagues of mine, michael kelly and i worked together at the new york times and they were both incredible journalists who wouldn't have been anywhere else and clearly put themselves in the line of danger in order to bring home a story effectively . in our homes and living rooms in our magazines and newspapers in a way that i would not have had access to had david not gone across the desert and attack to something he never seen before. michael kelly who cover the gulf war thought he had to go back to cover this one to see the other sides of this and

these men gave their lives in order to bring this information and put themselves in harm's way to let our children behind so i honor the journalists whowill take that risk. >> yes . >> i want to know what can i do as a writer to become a wonderful journalist like you. >> your sucking a heart you sean? you know what, i think that the real ingredient to being a good journalist's curiosity. you should never run out of questions to ask. you have to write at end of every opportunity whether it's writing for the school paper or writing book reports, writing fiction, whether it's just writing poetry, just right. working with words, learning how words can tell a story even if it's your own personal journal. something to keep track of

your life. you will never regret putting it down on paper and everything you write could lead to more questions that you want answered and if you have to have curiosity, you will always end up with an amazing story. there's no such thing as a bad or stupid question because in my experience, the one question i was too embarrassed to ask was always the one that comes back to hot me later. it's the one person information i wish i had so always ask, even if you think they will think i'm stupid if i do. those are the bare bones of becoming a journalist. yes. >> i'm kaylee richardson and since you spoke in many lectures and share your views , have you ever felt like you had to hold back because of your audience? >> yes. . kenny wants to know if i've ever held back on any thoughts. here's the thing. i don't think my job as a journalist is to tell you what i think about things. my opinion shouldn't matter to you. i am here to be a disseminate or of information, not to tell you what my opinion is. there are journalists who are

opinion journalists who write columns or who appear on television and it's their definition is to be opinionated, to tell you they don't like the president or that everybody is a road, that's not my job.i job is to build as much of what i think other than my professional ability to make a judgment about what's important and what's not but you will never know when you are watching me on television when i think about an issue. you may see me sometimes roll my eyes on washington week about a particularly absurd statement someone made but you will never hear me say that guy is an idiot. that's not my job. that doesn't mean that i don't secretly somewhere deep down believe things, you're just not going to hear the from journalistbecause it's not what i do and it's not what i think i should do. yes. >> my name is dominique and i would like to know did you ever have trouble speaking in public western mark .

>> i've been a photographer a long time, they had to shut me up but i'll tell you what, the interesting thing is i don't have trouble speaking in public now. when i get nervous is when, i use to get nervous when i felt like anything could go wrong. something was out of my control. if i was doing something live on television and things could go wrong, i would feel nervous. or when i feel like i have a really important point to make and it's so important i can't find the words. that makes me nervous but being in front of a camera doesn't make me nervous. in general, being in front of crowds doesn't make me nervous and after a while, growing up in a house where we always debated things around the table, where we played word games and we would debate that and we would come home on holidays and debate whatever the issue was, i grew up in a house where if you didn't learn how to talk and defend yourself you would be run over so as a result, i think that's how i learned how to not be too nervous. >> you have a microphone, do

you have a question? >> if you were not being in journalism what kind of job would you consider? >> if i was toretire from journalism what kind of job what i consider? great job , because i never thought that far ahead. i think i would like to preach and you will hear that a lot from journalist because one of the things we do or we think we are doing when we tell these stories is teaching, sharing information. making the world a better place by letting people know more and that's also what you do in a classroom. i don't know if i want to do it full-time. the duty of being a writer is you can do it anywhere, it's a completely portable profession so i love the idea of writing books or writing something in my little college, my little writers college cottage and teaching too, not just doing one thing that several things. i can't ever imagine not

writing. that would be the best part and writing about things that matter, not just issues. yes. >> my name is andrea. how do you prepare yourself for an interview? >> that's my cousin's name read i will give you the honest answer. i prepare myself for an interview by reading everything i can get my grimy little hands on. i read every story written about someone, i read everything favorite. i read every, i'm trying to think of an example because that's the best way to tell it. when i was, during the war or right after the war, after everyone was deciding what was going to happen in iraq, someone walked into my office and assigned me a story about the rise of the shiitemuslims in iraq. i knew nothing about this . i didn't know the history of its and during that day i

read everything i could. i had three books on my desk about islam. i had colleagues like farnsworth who works for the news hour story for karen, did a lot of books on shiite muslims sending the information and i just immersed myself as much as possible. but once you immerse yourself, what we do is we tried to then have experts on the program were going to question and ask about the situation. what you trying to do is know enough so that you can not look stupid, obviously but also know enough that you can then pull out from these people, we pre-interview all our guests so we have a general idea of what they have to say and we select the guests based on part their interviews and what they told us. one person thinks and issues wrong, one person thinks an issue is right, we want to make sure that we are somewhere in the middle and want to make sure we have all the points represented and that is my job to steward it.

if i'm interviewing an offer for a book which is one of the favorite things i do, i read the book and as i'm reading the book, i'm underlining and outlining and dog urine pages, things that are suitable created that's the best part about interviewing authors is when you read a book, by necessity you get inside the story and to then be able to have questions and ask the author, the person who wrote the book is very exciting. it also gets you an excuse to write and read books i might need to get to. there was a pulitzer prize-winning biography of wpb give wise. and it was one of those books i met get to and would sit on my night table but because i was going to interview the author, i knew i had to read it and i read it so closely and so intently knowing i had to interview him that by the time i got to the interview, i was telling him things in the book he didn't remember writing and that was a plus for me because i got to ask questions and learn even more

than the book told me. soimmersing yourself in the subject matter and once again as i said, no dumb questions. not being afraid to ask . >> my name is danny. >> danny. >> there are many journalists such as ... [inaudible]. >> as a journalist, which one do i think? >> i worked for ben bradley. then bradley actually hired me indirectly, he was the boss at the time when i was fired there. and i have nothing but incredible admiration for him. not only stewarded the newspaper during a critical reputation making time during watergate but he was also one of those newsmen who was very direct , very question and was always walking through the newsroom barking at people on the other hand he was pointing out things that are good about what he does. he has this instinct, he

could look around the newsroom and see who had and who didn't and who could get it and i foundthem fascinating to be around . if i could grow up to be aben bradley, that would be fine by me . but there are also other journalists and i should point out journalists are historically black publications around the country who broke incredible barriers down for people of color. this is the sort of thing where there were so few of us and you were not being allowed into majority white rooms and these people decided they were going to do their own interpretations, make sure our stories get told and that's important. yes. >> did you ever think you would succeed being a journalist? >> i never thought i would fail.and i think i would be doing what i'm doing now? number i'm surprised i'm doing what i'm doing now. i'm pleased i'm doing what i'm doing now but i honestly

didn't think ... is this going for a while? there we go. i never thought i'd fail, it never occurred to me i would fail but i swear if i had spent my entire career as a newspaper reporter, i would have been content with that. my aspiration so i did that wonderful position of having accomplished more than i set out to which is a great position to be in and i try to remind myself of that a lot, even when i'm having a bad day. yes. >> hello, my name is bernie and i'd like to ask who was the inspiration or a mentor for you? >> every place i've worked i found a different set of people do inspire. partly because the newsrooms are the kinds of places where there's always someone doing something you want to aspire to but i have to say that when it comes down to it, the people who inspired me for

instance, the young lady who asked the question about whether i thought i would speak, my parents made it clear i was going to succeed. i never questioned that. and in the end, my parents by setting the standards really high for me with my brothers and sisters made it clear that this was accepted. it would not be accepted if you fail but also, my parents are immigrants. they chose to be americans, they did what i considered to be an amazing thing in uprooting yourself from everything you know and coming to another country so i have an example in the home area i also have the example of leadership in the home because my father is a minister who led congregations every time we lived in. he was a leader of people everywhere he went. in addition to that, my father somehow neglected to tell my sister and me that girls weredifferent . in other words, we were taught we could achieve as much as our brothers and it was expected of us as well so these things come together, i think it begins at home. that kind of leadership idea

of what you can accomplish and what you can follow through on and even though i can give you the names of all kinds of mentors in public life and people i consider to be and i admire, in the end there were people who shaped my aspirations it had to be in my own home. >> i see somebody they handed the life. >> your question already got asked. does anybody else have a question? okay. >> good morning miss ifill, i am the principal here at stuart-hobson middle school. my question for you is a several part question. i really enjoyed listening to you speak. you are rather inspirational the way you talk about when you come to where you are. i wondered if you could talk about your education, experience or attitude, which

of those things has been the most significant in getting you to where you are and making the choices you made around your career. >> that's a good question and my instinct is to say all three but that in the end, you can't use your education and you can't take advantage of your experience if you don't have the attitude of succeeding. if you think that people are going to mock you, if you think you are not going to be able to break through, if you think you are going to fail, if you walk in with that attitude, peoples know that. they see it read a no. and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. but if you go into any situation, especially the scary ones with a certain attitude of success, that is what impresses them. when i started interviewing people for jobs along the way, people who work for me and people who were in turn, even to this day i'm still more impressed by people who come with an attitude than people who come with a transcript because having, sometimes some people don't

take tests well and that doesn't show up in their transcript. some people are interested in the subject at hand but some people have this incredible personality, his ability to break through and his confidence and to me, that carries you through a lot of other questions and i had experienced, it's important. it's important to know what you're doing and do it as many ways.it's important not to overreach and be out of your debt. it's important to getthe correct education, to do what you need to do and but it's also, all of that is done , you also need to carry with you the confidence to actually accomplish it. yes. >> my name is keith and my question is when i see you on other talkshows, [inaudible] >> i'm glad you asked that question because they are talkshow host and not journalists.

the question was what i think about talkshows, oprah, and over is the most reasonable of the three. she actually accomplishes and is about something. i could go on and on but they are not journalists. the distinction is because entertainers you know, are there not to bring you anything except a hoot or a laugh or on my goodness, look at him, he had her. people who are journalists are dealing in facts, they're dealing and information, distilling it in important ways and you have to separate it out. what i do is not what ricky lake does. what jim lehrer does is not what jerry springer does. it's different. there's room for all that as long as you are also getting factual information and you can make a distinction. >> yes. >> my name is malcolm glover. thank you for being a journalist. >> the advantages are you get to see the world, you get to

ask any question you want of anybody want. you get to influence in an interesting way what the agenda is by deciding what's important and putting it on page 1. the disadvantages are that sometimes if you feel strongly about an issue, it's not your place to say. i don't think, i know journalists who have marched in political marches. i don't think you should. i know people who have expressed their opinions about the war. if they are a straightahead journalist and not an opinion journalist, i don't think you should. if that's a problem for you, you real really feel that your view is so important, you should become an opinion journalist and that would be a limitation for people. it's not a limitation for me because that's not what i feel i want to do. it doesn't feel like a conflict for me to do what i do and i think the advantages so much outweigh the disadvantages therein that's what i've always wanted to do. yes. >> my name is alicia.

out of all the stories you've covered, which was the most important or stood out to you the most? >> it's hard for me to say which was the most important because everything seemed like a big deal at the time. i was covering the impeachment of bill clinton, it seemed huge. this would be the first time a sitting president would be impeached area a couple years later, you look back and you say what was all that about? it's hard for me to say what was important because the whole definition of the news is that it keeps changing. it was a big deal at the time but no longer. but important to me is not necessarily the biggest, high profile story. important is the ongoing ability to explain to, to educate, to inform and that can't be boiled down to one story. they can sometimes be boiled down to an interview i deal with the young person on the street corner or the mother of the child who was killed but it can be important to talk to the special security advisor or, even though some

of these seem like by definition important, a lot of them are important in, sometimes sitting in a coffee shop in indiana and talking to someone about tax cuts is more important than talking about the head of the senate finance committee about tax cuts because you're talking about it in a more real way so i don't categorize it that way because important depends on where you are sitting. yes. >> my name is emily kitchener. i was wondering who were you hoping to confirm for your career, why are you trying to influence those people and how do you plan on influence. >> i only tried to influence my bosses let me do the stories i want to do. i don't sent out to say i want to change minds, i want to change the president's mind. i don't do that. i do set out however to influence the direct world around me. and i think sometimes by telling important stories you can do that. i do have a special interest in politics and i think that

voting and being engaged in public life is very important but i think the more ways i can find to tell that story in a way that asked people that's compelling, in a way that they understand is more than just a game, i'm influencing public service and publicinterest but as far as cutting out to change minds , it's not what i'm about really. yes. >> my name is kelly costello and i was wondering if you've ever been intimidated by the people you've worked with because they are so influential and so well advised on what they are talking about. >> yes. you're intimidated but then you work right through it. it turnsout they are intimidated by you to . i hope so anyway. and you just move through it. intimidation doesn't last long. you just find a way to assume that they are intimidated by you, assume that your questions once again aren't stupid. and that they are the ones, that's the best about being a

journalist is you are the one asking the questions. . you want to be a politician? >> no. i'd rather be asking the questions and they as a result are more intimidated by you because they are the ones that provide the answers and that the joy of it. it's one-sided but it's what i like. yes. >> my name is zachary and have you ever been denied a chance to interview someone you really want to do? >> all the time, every day. the fact is, every reporter has a hip pocket list of all the people they like to talk to were important to them but the truth is, most of them don't want to talk back or is not to their advantage to talk back. every day the president as it was in his office or his press secretary's office of reporters would like to interview him and they will talk to you but it doesn't mean you stop asking. it doesn't mean you take no for an answer and it doesn't mean that you pick and

choose. this is always true but in the program i work in now, my boss is the one who does all the interviews. most of them. if it's the president or the secretary of state or secretary of defense and they come to do an interview in the newshour, they usuallyare going to talk to the internet which is fine . but there are a lot of people i like to interview were not on that right. what a chance to interview all the time and that is something that influence the voices i hear from so it depends on what your goal is and what your aim is on what you are trying to. most of the time, it's not very frustrating. yes. >> my name is philip bar ã and my question is since you began your career, have you felt that you have somehow improved? >> i hope so. because i was doing not very good in the beginning. i have improved every day, i hope. the truth is, you have to

every day assume that there's more to learn, otherwise you get bored and you get tired. you wonder what am i doing here. i tried to, a good day is when i come home saying i know something i didn't know before. or just learning a new technique about how to get elicit information or meeting someone new who was interesting and helpful and can help you with your job or bringing something to a conversation , we've been having conversations in our office about how to cover the scandal of the new york times involving the reporters who made things up. when we had these discussions in our meetings, it's very freewheeling. everybody gets to contribute and everybody has a different worldviewabout it. i worked with the new york times, somebody else has another view of the cover media issues all the time and we get to exchange that . so everyday that you feel you contributed to that or to the discussion or how we cover what we are covering is a good day.

>> how we know more questions? >> my name is sonya. i was wondering if it was always worth it to you to be a journalist with all the risks. the people in cnn who have died. >> it is worth it to me because people who take the risks, i was talking earlier about mike hollis, they are doing it nobly and it is worth it to them. i don't know that most of what i do put me in harm's way. once again, i don't feel that because i cover, i'm a journalist in this country but i never indirect harm's way for no one's trying to print me but it depends who you are. if you are a blend responded in a war zone, you are at greater risk and you take that into account when you're deciding what to cover. boston globe reporter elizabeth new ford who was covering war, conflicts and

she will goes everywhere there's a conflict, she was killed last weekend in iraq. there are risks that you take and some of them seem worth it and some of them don't but it's an individual decision. no news manager send someone into a dangerous situation without giving them the option. and i've never been in that situation. >> i've been tasked with watching the clock and i need to know if there are any final questions at this time. if not, i'm going to ask mister eatman if he would make some closing comments. >> thank you mrs. smith. in closing, i would like to thank all members of comcast, c-span and especially our speaker today miss gwen ifill . [applause] this has truly

been an inevitable and enlightening educational experience for the students of stuart-hobson and anytime you are in the neighborhood, you are welcome to come visit us.>> that you. >> unfortunately for you guys, it is time to receive with the rest of your instructional day. let's give miss ifill one more round of applause for a job well done.[applause] >> thank you, that was fun. it was really interesting. >>. [inaudible conversation] >> back up on capitol hill, the u.s. senate returns to

the remainder of the hundred 14 congress. senators meet now for general speeches and at 5:00 they will start debate on the authorization of a library of congress oral history project. off the floor, senators will be electing their party leaders and newly elected senators are in town for orientation.lain, dr. barry bla, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal lord god, you have told us in 1 thessalonians 5:18 that it is your will for us to be

thankful in every circumstance. so today we thank you for the orderly transition of governmental power and for the substantive contributions to the liberty of president barack obama. we are grateful for his labors of faith, patience, and hope. we are thankful for his dependence on you. lord, we also express gratitude for the limitless possibilities available to president-elect donald trump. may he receive inspiration from your declaration in psalm 75:6-7

that elevation comes neither from the east, west, south or north, but you are the sovereign judge who puts down one and lifts up another. lord, we give you our thanksgiving for our lawmakers, old and new. bless and keep them in all they think, say and do. and finally, we thank you for the life and legacy of gwen ifill. we pray in your merciful name. amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the

united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senate majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i understand there are two bills at the desk due a second reading? the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for a second time. the clerk: s. 3464 a bill to provide incremental increases for the salary thresh held for c exemptions. h.r. 0694, abact to provide for the six month delay for the department of and so forth.

mr. mcconnell: i would object to further proceeding en bloc. the presiding officer: objection having been heard, the bills will be placed on the calendar. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, i understand there are appointments -- appointments were made during the adjournment of the senate. i ask they be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: well, mr. president, you know, we've had a regularly scheduled election in this country every two years since 1788. this year's campaign was long and it was tough. i think everyone is glad it's over. i think americans are ready to come together and move the country forward. as president obama reminded us, we're all on one team. this is an inaugural -- this is an intramural -- excuse me. this is an intramurals

scrimmage. we're not democrats first. we're not republicans first. we're americans first. we're patriots first. and now, as you put it, we're all rooting for the president-elect's success in uniting and leading the country. i again want to congratulate president-elect trump on his victory. i again want to thank the american people for placing their trust in this senate majority and in the house majority as well. speaker ryan and i had productive discussions with the president-elect last week. we're both looking forward to working with him. but first there's work to be done in the current session of the senate. we'll welcome some new members beginning with orientation this week. we'll bid farewell to some dear colleagues. we'll finish the work that remains before us.

so welcome back, everyone. we still have some work to do, and with some cooperation from both sides, we'll get it done. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. reid: i first appreciate very much the prayer of admiral black. he always does his best to set the tone, and i appreciate the tone that he has done his best to set this morning -- this afternoon, i should say. so i appreciate very much him and what he does. i welcome everybody back. we've been gone quite some time. we have a lot of work to do the next few weeks and we'll do our best to get it done as quickly as we can. just a few words about gwen ifill. it really was too bad that she died at age 61, a woman who is really someone who broke

barriers. every step of her life was something new and inspirational for those around her. i watched as often as i can "the news hour" and i will miss her. i thought she had such a fine way of presenting herself and the news that she did. every night she would do the nightly review. she was just a really good person, and i'll miss her. i think we all will. mr. president, i've been in politics for five decades. i've not seen anything like we're seeing today in america. the man who lost the popular vote by two million votes is now president-elect. the man who lost the popular vote by two million votes or more is now the president-elect.

his election sparked a wave of hate crimes across america. this is a simple statement of fact. but it raises critical questions for us as a country, as a nation. how do we respond to the election of donald trump? democrats want to work with mr. trump when we can. i understand that because democrats like to get things done. it's why many of us are in government, i think most of us, in the first place. for example, democrats have been trying for decades, multiple decades to get republicans to invest in our deteriorating infrastructure. what kind of a makeup do we have there in the infrastructure? $1 trillion? $2 trillion? some say $3 trillion. it's really in bad need of help and repair.

it's an automatic job creator. each time we tried to do something over these decades on infrastructure, republicans obstructed. so if we can finally get republicans to make the job-creating infrastructure and investments we've been seeking for years, that will be welcome for the senate and the country. if trump wants to pursue policies that will help working people, democrats will take a pragmatic approach. democrats have a responsibility to improve the life of americans. all lives. but we also have other responsibilities. we have the responsibility to be the voice of millions of americans sitting at home, afraid that they're not welcome anymore in donald trump's america. we have a responsibility to prevent trump's bullying, aggressive behavior from becoming normalized in the eyes of america. especially the millions of young people who are watching and

wondering. for example, sexual assault is now a laughing matter. we have a responsibility to say it is not normal for the kkk, the ku klux klan, to celebrate the election of a president they view as their champion with a victory parade. they have one scheduled. in other words, we have a responsibility to lead. outside this senate chamber, you can hear hammering. we have workers hammering on the platform for the inauguration ceremony. it will take several months to do it, but it will be done right. in 65 days donald trump will step on to that platform. for four years he will yield the loudest and most powerful microphone in the world. but even as those workers hammer away on trump's platform, even

as we as leaders accept the results of this election, we must also give voice to those who are afraid, because there are many that are afraid. indeed, a majority of americans oppose donald trump. many of my republican colleagues in this chamber oppose trump. trump will be the first president to take office having lost the popular vote by two million. every day for the past week the majority of american voters have awakened to a difficult reality. not only did that man who lost the popular vote win the election, but his election sparked a rise in hate crimes, threats of violence. since election day, the southern poverty law center has reported hundreds of incidents of harassment and intimidation. at last count, 315, from their calculations. overwhelmingly hateful acts on

muslim, hispanic, the african-american, antiwoman, anti-lgbt, antisemitic and anti-asian. i heard these stories from friends and family. my and my wife's physician is a pakistani american of muslim faith. we think so much of him. we've known each other for 35 years. the day after the election, my friend was in a is restaurant in las vegas having dinner. a man approached him in a threatening manner. he said where are you from? he said where are you from? the man that approached him said i'm local. the doctor said so am i. that same night in another restaurant in las vegas a pakistani physician was having dinner. a man walked up to him in the

same manner and said where are you from? he said i'm from pakistan. he said why don't you go back. one of my staffers has a daughter in middle school. i've known that little girl since she was a little baby. the day after the election, the principal addressed the entire student body in the school's p.a. system because two incidents had occurred that he wanted to talk to them about. in one incident a boy yelled at a la -- at a latino student telling her she was glad she was going to be deported. in another, a boy yelled a hateful term at a african-american student. the boy justified himself by saying he used that language now that donald trump is president. in spokane, washington, the

martin luther king center there was defaced with the same hateful word. those are only a few examples of what people close to me have related, but these kinds of disturbing accounts have been heard across america. i have here, mr. president, a compilation of these incidents. one of is from nbc news. another is in another publication. hundreds of incidents in the last few days, and i would ask they be made part of the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: that that was just

entered into the record, those references made are awful, are hateful, they're frightening, they're scary. i invite any of my colleagues to read these horrible acts, and i invite any senator, democrat or republican, to come right down to this floor today and defend any one of them. these examples of hate and prejudice. i don't believe anybody in this chamber wants to defend the hateful acts that have been committed in president-elect trump's name. they lead to one unavoidable conclusion. many of our fellow americans believe that trump's election validates the kind of boring, aggressive behavior trump modeled on a daily basis. how do we teach our children that sexual assault is abhorrent by a man who dismisses language

as locker room talk. we fail to bear trump accountable, we all bear responsibility for normalizing this behavior. here's a letter from a seventh grader from rhode island. she wrote it the day after the election. i will read a direct quote from the letter, a seventh grader. "i'm extremely scared especially being a woman of color that the president of the country that i was born and live in is making me feel unsafe when i actually shouldn't feel unsafe. it's even scarier because this man who is now the president of the united states of america has said such rude, ignorant and disrespectful things about women and all different types of people is now in charge of our country. i want to feel safe in my country, but i no longer can feel safe with someone like donald trump leading the country." close quote, end of letter. our president is supposed to make people feel safe, but on wednesday, a seventh grade girl woke up being frightened to be a

woman of color in america bus donald trump was president-elect. if we ignore her voice and other voices, this seventh grader will be left to conclude that we as a nation find her fear acceptable. how do we show her that she doesn't have to be afraid? the first step is facing reality. no matter how hard the rest of us work, the main responsibility lies within the man who inspired the fear. president-elect trump must act immediately to make america like that seventh grade girl feel that they are welcome in his america. healing the wounds he inflicted will take more than words. talk is cheap and tweets are cheaper. healing wounds is going to take action, but so far, mr. president, rather than healing these wounds, trump's actions have deepened them. in one of his very first if not his first official act, he

appointed a man seen as a champion of white supremacy as the number-one strategist in the white house, the number one. everybody else under him. according to cnn, and i quote -- "whites, nationalist leaders are praising dump's decision to nams decision to name steven brannon as a leader. in the same article, they say they see bannon as an advocate for articles they favor. qoas clothe. according to poverty law center, bannon was a main driver with the white nationalist propaganda mill." close quote. when asked to comment on bannon's hiring, kkk leader david duke told cnn, again, a quote, "i think that's excellent." close quote. court filings stated that bannon said -- again another quote -- that he doesn't like jews and that he doesn't like the way

they raise their kids to be whiney brats, and that he didn't want his girls to go to school with jews." close quote. that's a court document. by placing a champion of white supremists a step away from the oval office, what message does trump accepted to the young girl who woke up wednesday in rhode island afraid to be a woman of color in america? it's not a message of healing. if trump is serious about seeking unity, the first thing he should do is rescind his appointment of steve bannon. rescind it. don't do it. think about this. don't do it. as long as a champion of racial division is a step away from the oval office, it would be impossible to take trump's efforts to heal the nation seriously. so i soy to donald trump take responsibility. rise to the dignity of the office of the president of the united states. instead of hiding behind your twitter account, and show

america that racism, bullying, bigotry have no place in the white house or in america. i yield the floor, mr. president. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will be in a period of morning business until 5:00 p.m. with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. mr. cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i came to the floor to talk about the election of november 8. the opportunities that we have working together going forward to turn the direction of the country around. unfortunately, to find myself sitting here listening to the latest tirade by the democratic leader against the president-elect and his team.

surely he's entitled to his opinion, but he does nothing to contribute to the healing of our country after a very polarizing, hotly contested election by continuing to pile on the president-elect and his team. we had an election. the american people voted. the american people chose their next president. but to come here after the election, after the american people have spoken and made that choice and continue to disparage these choice for the next president, as well as the leadership in the house and the senate, really just smacks of -- well, we used to call people like that sore losers, but frankly what he does is also contribute to the coursenning of our -- coarsening of our

discourse in the debate in the senate. i had to check with the rules of the senate to see whether rule 19 which covers the terms of debate would cover the president or the president-elect because certainly when the senate rules say that no senator in debate shall directly or indirectly by any form of words impute to another senator or to other senators any conduct or motorrive unworthy or unbecoming of a senator, certainly the democratic leader's comments, although not technically within the ambit of the rule, violate the spirit of the rule and the sort of debate and discussions that we ought to be having here in a civilized and civil and dignified sort of way. and i realize the democratic leader will be leaving the senate at the end of this year, and i hope that we can return to the sort of civil and dignified discourse and differences of opinion that we surely will have from time to time about matters of policy.

this is a united states senate, for heaven's sake. this is where those differences are supposed to be debated and litigated and discussed. and then we vote. but those sort of recriminations that the democratic leader keeps coming back to just strike me as inappropriate and uncalled for, and rather than contribute to the sort of healing of our nation that secretary clinton -- who, by the way, had more to complain about than the democratic leader does in terms of the outcome. she ended up on the short end of the stick. or the president of the united states, president obama, the sort of comments they have made, the sort of gracious comments recognizing the importance of a peaceful transition of power from one presidency to another. that's the sort of tone that i wish we would hear more of here in the senate and in the country generally, not to pour gasoline on the fire, as the democratic

leader continues to do. it is true that the -- we had an earth-shaking event occur on november 8, the election of donald j. trump as the 45th president of the united states. the reasons, i believe, that mre the american people want change, and they're eager for washington to tackle the big challenges that we are facing as a nation, from trade barrieror threats abroad to a stagnant economy here at home, and they're looking forward to a -- an administration that believes that the rules apply to all of us equally. in other words, equal justice under the law. not that a separate set of rules apply to the washington elites or those who can get away with it. that a different set of rules apply to them than apply to the rest of us in the country. they want equal justice under the law. they want restoration of the

rule of law, something we haven't seen in the outgoing administration because of an overpoliticized department of justice, among many other reasons. i personally look forward to working with the president-elect in the years ahead to address issues that are important to my state and to families across the country, and i'm grateful as well that the american people have entrusted such a big task to republicans who will lead both chambers of congress. in an election year that no one could predict -- in fact, almost every prediction i made was wrong -- but in an election year when very few people were right about their predictions as to the ultimate outcome, we see a clear theme emerge. people want something different from business as usual when it comes to politics. they want us to shift gears, and they felt it was necessary to get the country back on the

right track, and i agree with them. i'll note the one thing that the american people didn't want to change, and that is the republican majority in the united states senate, and that led to the re-election of republican senators in states like ohio, pennsylvania, wisconsin, in addition to a new member of our conference from the great state of indiana, and i look forward to welcoming all of them, as well as our new democratic colleagues, to invite them to work with us to try to meet the challenges of these times and to work together to solve the challenges and problems that confront the american people. but it's very clear that the american people wanted a difference -- wanted a change in the white house. they didn't want to change republican majorities in both chambers of congress. they didn't want to do just that. voters were able to cut through the noise and see what we have been able to accomplish so far, not that they were -- gave us

the good housekeeping seal of approval, but they have seen a difference in the last two years under republican majorities in the senate that apparently they saw enough that they liked that they wanted to keep us in the majority. they've seen a senate that's prioritized the american people, and it's carefully and methodically returned the united states senate back to the basics of doing our job, which is legislating, and that includes passing key pieces of legislation through congress like the first multiyear highway bill in a decade. now, i'm -- i realize that doesn't excite a lot of people, but it's the basic fundamental job of the united states senate and the congress to legislate, to deal with our infrastructure needs like the democratic leader talked about. we actually did deal with some of our major infrastructure needs by passing the first multiyear highway bill in a decade, which is important to our economy, to public safety, to the quality of the environment. that represents a substantial

accomplishment. we also passed the first education reform law since no child left behind, which was admittedly controversial, but we've repealed the common core mandate and devolved more authority back from washington, d.c., back to the states, back to our school administrators and parents and teachers where it belongs. we should have learned by now, mr. president, the hard way that when somebody's got a bright idea here in washington, d.c., that hasn't been tried and tested across the rest of the country in the laboratories of democracy known as our states, we're likely to get -- just as likely to get it wrong, which ir one or a for that is obamacare. trying to take one-sixth of our economy and transform it in a way that doesn't get the buy-in of both political parties, much less the american people, only to see those promises not kept

does nothing to promote public confidence in their government. so we did pass the every student succeeds act which does send some of that power back home, and we've done a number of other things, including one that i am public proud of, which is to help root out human trafficking and protect the victims of this heinous crime, the first major human trafficking legislation passed perhaps in 25 years. where more resources are now available to the victims of human trafficking so that they can begin to heal. we have proved that we could get some things done. not as much as we would have liked, but some substantial things. as the presiding officer knows, lifting the crude oil export ban has been very important to the energy producers here in the united states and will go a long way to making sure that they get a fair price for their product on the world markets. it will also give us a chance to help some of our allies around the world for whom -- or against

whom energy is used as a weapon by people who would cut off their supply to electricity, oil and gas and other energy sources as a way to keep them in tow. we also passed major legislation to address the growing opioid edmonton hurting families across the country. under republican leadership, the senate saw all 12 appropriations bills passed out of their respective committees for the first time since 2009 and the first balanced budget passed since 2001. unfortunately, our democratic colleagues saw fit to filibuster those appropriation bills, which is why we are here in the waning days of 2016 after the election to try to make sure that we pay the bills and keep the government up and running in a lame-duck session. this is not a great way to do business. and this isn't our first choice, but because of the filibuster of those appropriation bills, even though they passed out by

overwhelming bipartisan majorities and represent policies that are agreed to by both political parties, here we are. well, we've also had more participation by members of the senate on a bipartisan basis in the legislating process. more votes on attempt amendments, more than 250 during this congress. this is because of the determined leadership of our majority leader, senator mcconnell who has seen fit to give -- to restore the power to committee chairmen, to have the freedom and flexibility to lead their committees while allowing members on a bipartisan basis to contribute to that legislation before it comes to the floor and is subject to further action. and the result is i believe the creation of solid legislation that will stand up over time, not partisan ramming legislation through because you can do it but building consensus and

trying to address problems in a step-by-step basis. so with the election now behind us, the senate can begin looking to next year eager to finish our work this year, which i'm sure we will shortly, but looking to what we might be able to do with what the american voters have given us in terms of majorities in both houses and president-elect trump. as i said i look forward to working with the new president to improve the lives of the men and women working day in and day out across the country. this is an exciting moment for them and for us and good news that we've been provided this opportunity. fortunately the senate will continue to have the major role to play. over the last few months we spent a lot of time talking about what was at stake in this election, and at the forefront was the united states supreme court. so i look forward to hearing who president trump will nominate to fill the seat being vacated by

the death of justice scalia and i hope the senate judiciary committee will take that nomination up on a timely basis and that we will quickly move forward once the nomination is made. but we have a lot more work to do, madam president. over the last eight years, the obama administration has been marked by a go it alone attitude. remember, the president stead he had a phone and a pen and he was quite prepared to act and not consult with congress. and of course that rutted in a flood of -- resulted in a flood of executive orders and unilateral actions which won't live out his term of office. i'm confident president-elect trump when he becomes president will reverse many of those executive orders, and we will work with the administration to repeal many of the overregulation -- much of the overregulation which is strangling small businesses and our economy. so going into this year's

presidential election, we all knew that the president-elect would have a decision to make, either to shore up president obama's policies and further those -- some regulations that were created by his administration or rip up those that are in place or put in place unilaterally and instead work with congress on a bipartisan basis. after all, we are the elected representatives of the american people. it's in our nirm desire to -- firm desire to unleash the sleeping giant of the american economy, and i believe we can given the outcome of this election. so fortunately president trump appears to be eager to work with us to help grow american jobs and strengthen our economy and make sure the next generation is better off than those before it. that means, as i said, pushing back on harmful regulations that have -- promulgated by -- for example, by obama's

environmental protection agency, and it certainly means repealing obamacare, a law that was jammed through on a party line vote and has not worked as it was promised to work. so we have a lot of work ahead of us, and we also have a mandate, i believe, from the american people who are sick and tired of business as usual and are ready for change and for a government that works for them and not against them. i look forward to being part of that change and i'm grateful that the american people have given us this opportunity to serve. madam president, i yield the floor and would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. wyden: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: i ask unanimous consent to vacate the quorum. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: madam president, last month the democratic staff on the finance committee put out a report documenting the staggering shortage of treatment

services in america for those suffering from opioid addiction. this report surveyed a cross section of american communities and found that there is a yawning treatment gap keeping so many from getting the help they need. nearly 90% of americans suffering from opioid addiction, according to the most current analysis, are not receiving the treatment they need. 90%, madam president. the treatment gap is caused by a shortage of available treatment services across the country, and even where these services do exist, they're overwhelmed by demand. this gap is straining rural communities that are already struggling to provide other essential medical services.

asking these communities to provide care when they're stretched in such incredibly thin ways forces them into impossible choices. the result is even more lives in america are lost to opioid addiction. earlier this year, after congress passed legislation called cara authorizing anti-addiction programs, members did an awful lot of celebrating, an awful lot of victory lapse, and -- laps, and fired off press releases. but that program didn't put a penny -- that act didn't put a penny into these essential treatment programs. and i just wanted to come to the floor because we're looking at another crucial time to help those suffering from addiction.

the press releases don't do anything for people suffering from these horrible illnesses who might turn next to heroin. and when nearly nine out ever ten addicted to opioids aren't getting treatment, clearly there is much more that needs to be done. so it is critical in this lame duck session to follow through with funding. now, i've been encouraged, madam president, by several of the conversations that have taken place over the last few days about finding a path forward to ensuring that there be real funds for treating opioid addiction. but i've seen some of these debates before. i've been encouraged before only to see once again the chance for progress stall out. and i'd like to note that i

believe that there is a special reason right now to stand up for patients in making sure that they have access to treatment, that they have what they need. in the next few weeks, the congress is going to consider another piece of legislation called the 21st century cures bill. this will be a bill designed to encourage research and scientific development of new pharmaceuticals, fast-tracking the development of pharmaceuticals. i don't take a back seat to anyone, madam president, when it comes to supporting innovation in scientific research. in fact, early in my senate days, i chaired the senate science subcommittee. so i know how important it is. but, at the same time, this

piece of legislation will also offer a great benefit to the large pharmaceutical companies in america, so that congress will be considering the cures bill with the backdrop of so many who are addicted to opioids not being able to get access to treatment and they're going to be concerned about how there'll be more research for new drugs, and we want to see these cures, and they're going to ask, how are we going to be able to afford them? we want the cures, but we also want to be able to afford these medicines. and every time now you look at a football game, you see dozens of ads for blockbuster drugs, but

americans watch those ads and say, yes, we want those cures, yes, we want the scientific progress, but please, congress, think about policies that are going to allow us to get those drugs. so it's no wonder why a recent editorial pointed out that it was cheaper to fly round trip to india for a hepatitis-c treatment than to get it here in the united states. people see these bills piling up. if they're able to afford their medications today, they're saying, are we going to lose access tomorrow? so here's the bottom line, to me, for the fall, madam president -- here les the poment line for -- here les the bottom line for -- here's the bottom line where where we ought to go: yes, we should support medical breakthroughs and research into cures. but let us not keep the patients

out of the debate. let us make sure that we add the find $ $-- funds needs for treatment for those who are addicted to opioids, and as we look at the issue of cures, let us also look at policies to make sure that people can afford their medicines. the finance committee has been looking at these issues. for example, recently i raised a serious objection when i learned that a panel meant to be studying thousand turn the tide on -- how to turn the tide on opioid daks was -- addiction was stocked with people. we blew the whistle on that and four nominees to the panel were dismissed. so we've got a lot to do this fall, madam president. i know the time is short, but, yes, let's promote these new cures; yes, let's make sure that

people who are addicted to opioids have new opportunities for treatment; and, as we look at drug development, let's make sure that we don't see so many americans on the outside looking in as prices go up and up and up. there's more work to be done on both fronts: ensuring access to new science, ensuring access to treatment services, ensuring access to affordable medicines. that's what we ought to be focusing on this fall, and with that, madam president, i yield the floor.

a senator: madam president, i had a a ask unanimous consent that the bill be reported, that the gold stash families voices act be -- gold star families voices act be reported. the presiding officer: morning business is closed. under the previous order, the rules committee is discharged from and the senate will proceed to consideration of h.r. 4511, which the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 4511, an act to amend the veterans oral history project act and so forth. the presiding officer: under the previous order, there will now be 30 minutes of debate equally divided in the usual form. a senator: madam president, i am pleased to be here to talk about that bill -- this bill. first of all, following up on what my friend just talked about on opioid abuse, i want to particularly thank you for the leadership you had on that issue. mr. blunt: it really is, as the chairman of the

aappropriating committee that looked at this really before the year we had any legislation, it was largely your effort that made us triple the amount of money that we were committing to this cause over a year ago. and i thank you for understanding this and advocating for it. mr. blunt: because of that, last year we had 284% increase in the money committed to that. we doubled that amount again this year. so assuming we are able to move forward with the labor and health and human services bill this year, it'll be virtually a 600% increase and we're already halfway that and that first half was largely because of your understanding of this issue, and i'm grateful to you for that.

on the bill that's before the body today, i'd ask my colleagues to join me in supporting the gold star families voices act. the legislation passed the house unanimously in september. i hope the senate will do the same today. in 2000, congress created the veterans history project at the library of congress. that project was designed to collect and catalog the stories of american war veterans. the purpose of the project was to -- quote -- "preserve the memories of this nation's war veterans so that americans of all current and future generations may hear directly from the veterans and better appreciate the realities of war and the sacrifices made by those who served in uniform during wartime." to date, madam president, the veterans history project has collected the oral history records of over 100,000 veterans who have served in the military

since world war i. 100,000 stories preserved that wouldn't have been otherwise. as important as and extensive as that project is -- as important as those 100,000 memories are, today the project only includes firsthand narratives. now, what does that mean? that means that only people that are telling their own story are included in the stories that we have created and have been able to secure because of the veterans history project. this eff -- this excludes the stories of veterans who didn't return from the battlefield. the men and women who lost their lives defending this country, this legislation would ensure that the stories of veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice would now be included in the archives. and how would this work? this bill would allow the family members of veterans who are missing in action or who have

died as a result of their service to participate in the project and tell the stories of their loved ones. immediate family members who can participate include parents, spouses, siblings and children of veterans who were not able to tell their own story. we wouldn't be who we are today if it wasn't for the acts of courage and selflessness of our fallen heroes. we owe it to them, but we also owe it to their families to know of their names, of their, of deeds, of the honorable service they gave the country. and we need to preserve those families. the families of these fallen heroes are in the best position to share their stories so that future generations of americans may never forget the people we owe our freedom to and our opportunity to that have not been able to tell -- have their story told up until now. i think this legislation will

make a great program even better and hope my colleagues will agree. i want to thank the american gold star mothers for fighting to make this bill a priority and i'd like to thank congressman chris smith, who introduced this legislation in the house and who's been its ultimate champion. i was happy to be able to lead this bill through the rules committee, and i urge all my colleagues to join me today in helping to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice and make sure that their stories and those of their loved ones become part of this historic record. thank you, madam president, and i would yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. vitter: thank you, mr. thank you, madam president. madam president, i rise today to bring up two key priorities, two important unmet needs which i hope this body and the u.s. house will act on immediately, and certainly by the end of the year.

the first is the steve gleason act, which we passed last year, was legislation i drafted which passed last year but for a limited period of time, and we need to make that permanent for reasons i'll explain. and the second even broader need is to ensure that victims of the recent flooding in louisiana, many, many families whose lives were devastated in really incalculable terms get the aid they need. we made important progress on that before the elections with the understanding that we would clearly revisit the issue between now and the end of the year. first, the steve gleason act. as i said, madam president, last year i'm very happy that the senate and the house passed my legislation, the bipartisan steve gleason act of 2015.

and it provided immediate relief to a.l.s., or lou gehrig's disease, and other similar patients who needed the help to make sure they had access to important, really life-changing medical equipment. i first heard about this need in 2014 when thousands of patients and patient advocates and others came to congress in order to bring attention to the devastating consequences of what was then a brand-new medicare policy. the devices they were concerned with are critical for patients who have lost their ability to speak, to communicate with friends and family and doctors, to call 911 in case of emergency. a.l.s. patients and others with similar debilitating diseases. these patients are locked in, unable to communicate.

and it's only because of really miraculous relatively new devices that they can communicate with caregivers and the outside world. in most cases this involves their using a computer screen and key pad where they literally make eye contact with the key board on a computer screen, type out a message and then the computer, through a computer voice, articulates that message to caregivers, family, doctors, and the outside world. because of a medicare change, an unprovoked, unnecessary change in medicare policy, many of these patients were denied access to these life-changing devices. the devices were literally confiscated in thousands of cases. they were not allowed to use this technological miracle to

make them more fully independent. thank goodness, enter steve gleason, a super advocate for the a.l.s. community, an a.l.s. patient himself. steve's a former player for the new orleans saints. he famously blocked a punt during the first game in which the saints reopened the super dome after hurricane katrina, and tragically a few years after that he was diagnosed with a.l.s. himself. just as he gave the city of new orleans a rallying point around which to rebuild after the devastation of hurricane katrina, through his organization, team gleason, steve also gives the a.l.s. community and their families hope and a rallying point with his motto "no white flags." i believe steve's wife michelle summed up the cause of a.l.s. patients like steve and their loved ones succinctly when she said -- quote -- "what causes me

the most pain is the loss of his voice. i love hearing his voice. i want him to talk to me and to our son rivers. this disease takes his body. to take his voice just seems unfair." close quote. and of course, this is what this life-changing device and this similar medical equipment helps plug the gap about. and this is what the horrible reversal on medicare policy, why it caused so many problems. steve and i worked together on legislation that would reverse that policy change and would give folks with a.l.s. their voices back. steve was my guest to the state of the union speech in 2015. that day we met with secretary of health and human services sylvia burwell, and we were able to build major momentum resulting in members on both sides of the aisle and both houses of congress coming

together and eventually passing my steve gleason act of 2015 which became law on july 30 of last year. senator klobuchar from minnesota and senator king from maine were especiallily supportive and aggressive in getting this bill to the finish line, and i thank them again for their partnership and their support. the act reinstated the long-standing medicare policy to offer immediate relief for patients experiencing incredible difficulty accessing the important life-changing equipment i described. and so that steve gleason act of 2015 was a huge win for thousands of a.l.s. patients and their families and caregivers and others. but we need to make this act permanent. it's of limited duration, as it was passed last year. we need to make it permanent.

it's as simple as that. and we need to do it between now and the end of the year. and so i encourage all of my colleagues to come together as we did last year to take this commonsense step to empower these patients to be in touch with the outside world and their family and their caregivers. literally give them voice. literally empower them as steve has inspired and empowered so many others with a.l.s. madam president, i also rise to talk about another key unmet need that's even of broader scope. and as i said a few minutes ago, that is the urgent need between now and the end of the year to pass emergency help for the recent flood victims of louisiana who were devastated by the consequences of that

enormous flood. madam president, because there were lots of other things in the news at the time when that flooding happened in greater baton rouge and acadiana, a lot of folks around the nation don't fully understand the gravity of that flooding. it was way underreported in the national media. it was way underappreciated and not fully understood by us in the congress. we've solved some of that in the months since then, but still to this day so many americans don't understand the gravity of that flooding. the flooding i'm describing a few months ago in greater baton rouge and acadiana is the fourth greatest we've experienced in a decade or more, only behind

hurricane katrina and super storm sandy and hurricane ike, the fourth-worst natural disaster by any reasonable metric like fema individual assistance. louisiana had over 114,000 homes with a verified loss. 114,000 homes. let's do a comparison to understand the scope of that. in 2016, missouri had horrendous flooding, very serious flooding, and i certainly supported an appropriate response there. but that was about 2,500 individual registrations. south carolina had even greater flooding in 2015. that was 26,000 individual registrations. northern and central louisiana in march of this year had major flooding. that was 40,000 individual registrations.

we're talking 114,000 homes with verified loss. that's comparable to the loss in new york state from super storm sandy. in super storm sandy, there were 124,000 homes with verified loss in new york. about the same number. again, we're talking about 114,000 homes in louisiana. now, that was not all of super storm sandy, just new york. i'm not counting new jersey. that was another significant number. but that gives you a sense of the magnitude we're talking about. i want to thank all of our colleagues and our colleagues in the house and president obama for proposing the beginning of an appropriate response. and before we broke for the elections, we did pass significant emergency funding to go beyond the normal help in the stafford act and other statutes

that pertain to fema and related agencies. and about $400 million was sent to the flood victims in louisiana. but by any metric, that can only be the beginning. in fact, president obama at the time and congressional leaders at the time pledged that this would be the beginning and we would come back now, between now and the end of the year, finish an appropriate response. i mentioned losses in new york caused by superstorm sandy. just a little more losses on homes flooded than we're talking about in louisiana, and yet new york received $8.6 billion related to that in emergency cdbg funds. we're not asking for near that amount, but that gives you a

sense of the magnitude of the need and certainly the requests the governor and others from louisiana, certainly including myself and senator cassidy, have put forward is fully justified by the numbers by the metrics. so i would simply ask all of our colleagues here in the senate and all of our colleagues in the house to do the right thing, to look at the facts, to look at the figures, to look at the numbers and to make the appropriate response as we have in every other disaster previous, as we did in the lesser flooding in south carolina, as we did in missouri, as we did certainly with superstorm sandy and ike and katrina and rita, et cetera. no special treatment. just look at the numbers, look at the metrics, do the right thing. our requests from louisiana is

fully in line with that and fully justified by that precedent. it is a serious natural disaster. it was woefully underreported, so it is important that we all learn more about it, focus on it, understand the magnitude of the loss and ensure that we respond properly and adequately for now and the end of the year. i look forward to continuing to work with all of my colleagues, starting with senator cassidy, to do just that. thank you, madam president. with that, i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. a senator: i'd ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be

vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order the clerk will read the title of the bill for the third time. the clerk: h.r. 4511, an act to the amend the scret rans oral -- veterans oral history project act and so forth. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the question occurs on passage of h.r. 4511. a senator: the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 97, nays are zero. the bill is passed. the senator from south dakota. mr. thune: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president,

there's no doubt that the election we just went through was a combative one. emotions ran high on both sides and still running. this is hardly the first time that this has happened in american history and it won't be the last. take the election of 1800, for example. that campaign between john adams and thomas especially jefferson was no picnic either. it was emotional, hard fought and full of partisan attacks. each side alleged the other would bring about ruin to our young nation. in his inaugural address, thomas jefferson specifically addressed the contentious process the nation had just come through, but then he said the following, and i quote -- "but this, meaning the election, being now decided by the voice of the nation, announced according to the rules of the constitution, all will, of course, arrange themselves under the will of the law and unite in common efforts for the common good." let me repeat that, mr. president. "all will arrange themselves

under the will of the law and unite in common efforts for the common good." end quote. that's the key, mr. president. that's what separates our nation from tyrannies and other oppressive forms of government. in the united states, we may have contentious elections, but at the end of the day, we accept the results of a move forward for the common good. that doesn't mean we give up fighting for what we believe in. of course. but we fight within the law, not outside of it. our form of government endures because as a nation we respect the rule of law. but there is another thing to remember about elections, mr. president. not just the obligation that we have to accept the results and move forward but something else. what president obama reminded us of the day after the election -- that we are all americans, that at the end of the day, we are all on the same side. and i quote, everyone is sad when their side loses an election, but the day after, we

have to remember that we're actually all on one team. this is an intramural scrimmage. we're not democrats first, we're not republicans first. we are americans first. we are patriots first. end quote. that was from president obama the day after the election. we are indeed, mr. president, because we are americans who believe in god-given freedoms. what unites us is greater than what divides us. in the coming days, i look forward to working with my fellow americans from both parties to meet the challenges that are facing our nation. mr. president, if there's one thing that this election made clear, it's that this economy is not working for american families. in one cnn exit poll last tuesday, 63% of voters rated the economy as poor. that result shouldn't surprise anyone. the last few years have been tough for american workers. job creation has been sluggish. wages have been stagnant. economic growth has lagged far

behind the pace of other recoveries. and opportunities for workers have been few and far between. it's no wonder so many hardworking americans feel like they have been left behind. for the millions of american workers who are discouraged by this economy, i want to say thi. republicans hear you. and i promise you we are going to act. growing our economy is going to be our number-one priority next congress. there are a number of things that we can do to get the economy healthy again. we can reform our tax code to reduce the burden on american families and businesses. right now, our nation has the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world. more and more american companies are focusing their business operations overseas because the tax situation is so much better abroad, and that means that american jobs are going overseas with them. we have lost our competitive edge in an increasingly global

economy. instead of pushing corporations out of our country, we should bring our nation's corporate tax rate in line with those of other countries to keep more jobs here in the united states. another big thing we can do is repeal some of the burdensome government regulations that are weighing down businesses. while some government regulations are necessary, every administration has to remember that regulations have consequences. the more resources, individuals and businesses spend complying with government regulations, the less they have available to focus op the growth and innovation that drive our economy and create new opportunities for american workers. over the past eight years in particular, businesses have had to devote far too many resources to complying with government regulations, and that's left them with few resources to dedicate to growing and creating jobs. another thing we need to do is address our national debt which is which has nearly doubled over

the last eight years. that debt, mr. president, is a drag on our economy. it slows growth and reduces economic opportunity. it's time to get our government back on a budget. another way we can help lift the burden on american families is by repealing and replacing obamacare. the president's health care law is broken. the promise of lower premiums and affordable health care has given way to the reality of giant premium increases and massive deductibles. it's time to give the american people health care reform that actually works. mr. president, another priority in the new republican congress will be national security. americans are rightfully worried about the threat posed by terrorist groups like isis which has spread violence and devastation, not only in the middle east but across europe and beyond. we have even experienced isis-inspired terrorist attacks on american soil in san bernadino and orlando. more recently, there were

attempted bombings in new york and new jersey, and anizes-inspired stabbing attack in minnesota. -- and an isis-inspired stabbing attack in minnesota. republicans are committed to keeping isis abroad and keeping americans safe here at home. we intend to make sure that our moarmt agencies and the nation's military have the tools they need to defeat terrorist threats, and we will make sure that our military men and women remain the best equipped and the most prepared fighting force on the planet. another key component to keeping americans safe is securing our borders. we must have secure borders and policies that encourage legal immigration while discouraging illegal immigration. and then there are the other priorities we need to address, confirming a supreme court nominee toll judge based on the law and the constitution, protecting religious liberty, encouraging investment in our nation's infrastructure, and more. all the americans who voted for change in this election to every worker who has felt left behind

in this economy, i want to say again -- we hear you. republicans hear you. we're going to fight for your priorities here in washington. we are committed to earning the trust that you place in us on election day -- placed in us on election day. mr. president, the election is over, and it's time to take up the work of governing the nation. our nation is facing many challenges, and it's time for all of us, democrats and republican, liberal and conservative, to unite to address them. if we work together, i firmly believe we will once again be able to say, as president ronald reagan once said, america's best days are yet to come. our proudest moments are yet to be. and our most glorious achievements are just ahead." mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: will the senator withhold his request?

mr. thune: yes. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. flake: a lot like indigestion, the desire for earmarks keeps coming back up. tomorrow afternoon, our colleagues in the house will vote on a provision to overturn the congressional ban on earmarks. as someone who helped put that ban in place, i believe it's important to explain why it is very much still a necessity. consider the following. the teapot museum in north carolina, an indoor rain forest in iowa, bridges to nowhere in alaska, a sheep institute in montana, a woodstock museum to

commemorate the 1969 concert in new york, a $350 million rocket launch site in mississippi that was moth-balled common completion that has been derided as a tower to nowhere. the weather museum in punxsutawney, pennsylvania. these are just some of the more infamous pork projects that were tucked into bills in congress here during the bygone earmark era. i believe during the last -- during the heyday of earmarking in 2006, there were some 16,000 earmarks spread around among the appropriation bills at that time. now, members of congress briefly touted the outrageous matter in which billions of dollars were being spent on obscure parochial projects, earmarks where the currency of what was dubbed the favor factory by a superlobbyist

who would eventually go to jail for corruption. earmarks were used to reward campaign donors and political supporters and to buy and sell the votes of politicians. the deciding vote was -- that was necessary to pass obamacare, for example, was secured with an earmark for nebraska derided as a cornhusker kickback. now, republicans lost control of congress in 2006, in part as a result of the public disgust for the corruption within the favor factory. when republicans retook the house of representatives in 2010, a moratorium was put on congressional earmarking which the senate also adopted, and that remains in place to this day. but now some republicans in the house are pushing to reopen the favor factory by lifting the moratorium, promising this time it will be different. now, taxpayers ought to know that these promises are simply hogwash.

having spent years fighting against earmarks, i am disappointed that one of the very first votes after this election will be on a republican-led proposal to bring back earmarks. congress should instead immediately pass legislation to make the ban on earmarks a permanent statutory prohibition. after all, you can't drain the swamps by feeding the alligators pork. with our national debt approaching $20 trillion, taxpayers expect congress to focus on cutting the wasteful spending and unnecessary spending instead of pigging out at the trough. and one of the worst parts of earmarks are that we spend our time here when we're earmarking, not providing oversight for the massive appropriation bills that get passed here. that's the worst part of it, is that we spend time doling out this, what amounts to a small portion of the federal budget,

but that takes so much time and effort for members and their staff to just secure that small bit of money that we aren't spending the time that we should providing oversight on the rest of the budget. that's the biggest crime of earmarks. so i hope that we will instead of bringing them back actually pass a statutory prohibition that will remain. with that, mr. president, i yield back. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, like the majority of americans who supported the democratic candidate for president in the most recent election, i was dispinted by the results, but last wednesday, i publicly congratulated president-elect donald trump. i believe the bedrock principle of america is that we select our leaders and then come together as a country to try to find common ground and move forward. on election night, the

president-elect said, and i quote -- "now it is time for america to bind the wounds of division. to all republicans and democrats and independents across this nation, i say it is time for us to come together as one united people." mr. president, i agree with the president-elect's statement. during the campaign, the president-elect, donald trump, used incendiary and offensive language about immigrants and immigration. i condemned those remarks at the time and i remain concerned about their impact on our nation. but all americans have an obligation to give this incoming president a chance. i am hopeful that he will keep his promise of election night, to bind the wounds of division, to bring our nation together. if he does, i look for opportunities where we can work together. as a first step in bringing our nation together, i hope mr. trump will change his rhetoric and his approach to

immigration. as the president-elect knows, we are a nation of immigrants and immigration makes us stronger. like me, mr. trump is the son of an immigrant, and when mr. trump takes the oath of office in january, the united states will have a first lady who is an immigrant for only the second time in our history, and the first time since 1801 when president john quincy adam's wife, louisa katherine adams, was first lady michelle obama. during the campaign, mr. trump pledged to deport all 11 million undocumented immigrants, but in an interview with "60 minutes," he recently said he wanted to focus on deporting undocumented immigrants with criminal records, and he acknowledged that millions of undocumented immigrants are -- quote -- in his words, terrific people. i'd like to speak for a few moments about some of those terrific people. these words are important to me.

i listened to them carefully. mr. president, it was 15 years ago when i introduced a bill known as the dream act. my cosponsor at that time was senator orrin hatch of utah. this bipartisan bill recognizes the fact that many of the undocumented in america were brought here as children. they didn't make the family decision to get in the car, to head for america. adults did. some were only infants about you they came to this country and they've lived in this country since. they go to school in america. they stand up and pledge allegiance in the classroom to the only flag they've ever known. they speak english. they believe their future is in this country. these were the dreamers. and our bill said give them a chance. if they finish school and they have no serious criminal record, give them a chance to earn their way to legalization and citizenship. well, for 15 years this bill has been pending.

sometimes it passes the senate. sometimes it passed the house. it never quite passed both chambers in the same year. and so it is still an aspiration and not legislation. it was six years ago when i wrote a letter to the president, president obama, joined by senator dick luger, a republican from indiana on a bipartisan basis we asked the president of the united states to protect these young dreamers who grew up in america from deportation. these kids deserve a chance. we've invested if them. we've given them a good education in american schools ndz it makes no -- and it makes no sense to squander their talents by deporting them to countries they barely know. the president, president obama, responded. he established the deferred action for childhood arrivals program known as doca. doca provides temporary, temporary renewable legal status to immigrant students who

arrived in the united states as children. approximately 740,000 of these young people have come forward and signed up for doca. doca has allowed them a chance without the fear of deportation to contribute more fully to our country as soldiers, nurses, teachers, engineers, police officers. doca is based on the dream act. it gives these undocumented students who grew up in this country a chance to earn their way toward legal status. it is clearly legal like every president before him, president obama has had the authority to set immigration policy and the supreme court has repeatedly held the federal government -- that the federal government has broad authority in this area. doca is not just legal. it makes sense. the department of homeland security only has enough funding to deport a small fraction of undocumented immigrants so the president, our current

president, and the president-elect say let's focus on those who might cause harm to america. i agree with that. it's just common sense. but at the same time, our president obama has said why would we want to waste resources deporting young immigrant students who grew up in this country and are making a great contribution? during the campaign president-elect trump pledged that he would end doca. i hope that he'll reconsider that position. i've come to the floor over the last several years to tell the stories of these dreamers. i can give speeches all day about who they are, but some of them have the courage to step up and really tell america who they are. and today i want to speak to you about one of them. his name is oscar kanaho, jr. in the year 2000 when oscar was only 5 years old, his family came to the united states from mexico.

oscar grew up in park city. it's a small northern suburb of chicago in my home state of illinois. he was quite a student. in high school he was a member of the national honor society, an illinois state scholar. he received several advanced placement awards and graduated high scal making came cup laudee. here's what he said about his high school years. my spairntses always instilled in me the value of an education which is one of the main reasons they decided to leave everything behind in mexico and come to the united states. i dedicated myself solely to my education to honor the sacrifices my parents made. while it -- it was because of those outstanding academic achievements that he was admitted to dar dartmouth colle, an ivy league school in new hampshire. he's the first member of his family even to attend college. oscar has excelled at dart moth. during miz year, he received outstanding achievement and contributions to the college in

the areas of fairness, respect for duty, and citizenship. oscar serves on the student board that judges violations of the honor code. he cor founded and codirected the college's first immigrants right organization and now he's in his senior year at dartmouth. he wants to be a teacher. he's applied to graduate school with the institute of recruitment of teachers at philips academy. he wrote me a letter and here's what he said. when i received doca, the threat of deportation had been lifted and i felt like i could actually achieve my dreams. doca has allowed me to work for the first time and the money i earned goes to support my education and my family. oscar and so many other dreamers have so much to give to america. if we eliminate doca, oscar will lose his legal status. he'll be subject to deportation at any moment. and he could be deported back to

mexico, a country where he hasn't lived for 15 years. will america be a stronger country if we lose oscar? or if he stays here and becomes a teacher? i think the answer is very clear. i hope that president-elect trump will consider that this young man is in a different category than someone who came into this country and committed a serious crime. this is a young man who did just the opposite. he led a good life. he was successful in high school. he's gone to college without any federal assistance whatsoever. he doesn't qualify for a penny. and yet he's excelled and still despite all these struggles, he wants to give back to this nation, the only country he's ever called home. losing him would be a loss to america. and i would appeal to the president-elect think long and hard about the future of this country. realize that he and i, the

president-elect and myself as first generation americans have to understand that it's immigration that has brought so much by way of diversity and talent to this great united states. we can't shut down doca. that would be horrible. it would mean 744,000 young people like oscar protected from deportation would wake up the next morning wondering if that knock on the door was the last they'd hear as a resident of america. i'm going to fight for oscar and the 744,000 who qualify for doca and the dreamers like them who came here as children and simply ask for a chance. mr. president, there's real division in the senate and the house, in the country when it comes to immigration. but as i've told these stories on the floor almost a hundred of them now, i've noticed a number of my colleagues from the other side of the aisle say that really is a different situation. this is a young child who should

be given a chance. now is the time for america, this nation of immigrants to heal our wounds that divided us during this election. i hope and pray that the president-elect by word and action in the coming weeks and months will truly bring us together. mr. president, i ask the second statement i'm about to make be placed in a separate part of the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: well, mr. president, for 16 years broadcaster harry carey was the voice of the chicago cubs. he wasn't in yogi berra's league linguistically. harry could turn a phrase. holy cow was one of harry carey's signature lines. another legendary line that made every cub fan jump for joy was it might be, it could be, it's a home run. harry loved baseball. he loved chicago. he loved the cubs but most of all he loved the cub fans, those generations of fans who packed wrigley field every year almost

certain that their team would lose but hoping for a miracle. harry carey once said of the citizens of cub nation and i quote ," this has been the remarkable thing about fans in chicago. they keep drawing an average of a million three a year and when the season is over, they've won their usual 71 games. you feel those fans deserve a medal ," harry said. well, harry pass away in 1998 but like every cubs fan, he believed until his final breath that the chicago cubs, those loveable losers would one day reclaim the title as major league baseball's world series champions, a title they held and won in 1908. well, mr. president, harry carey was right. the day came. miraculously in the early morning hours of november 3 in the 10th inning of the 7th and designing game against the gritty for middable cleveland indianas, the chicago cubs won the 2016 world series.

that heart stopping game seven in fact, the whole series was a contest for the ages, and one the cub fans will be talking about for generations. let me say it again. the cubs improperrable come from behind world series championship marks the first time since 1908 that the cubs won the series. there are 1 -- their 108-year drought wowd a world serry -- world series trophy marked the longest losing streak of any team in any sport in the united states of america. but all those years of dashed hopes and deferred dreams are history. the curse of the billy goat, the omen of the black cat all dead. fly the w, hoist the trophy. the 2016 chicago cubs are the world series champs, the very best in baseball. they posted the winningest record in major league baseball with 103 victories to 58 losses and they finished 17 and a half games ahead in their division, ahead of the st. louis cardinals, always a for middable

baseball team -- for middable baseball team. it was the most wins since 1945 and the first time the north siders won a hundred games since 1935. in post season play the cubs launched a 9th inning comeback against the jiengtszs in four games. then it was the dodgers. after losing in back-to-back shutouts trailing the dodgers 2-1 in the series the cubs rallied to beat the dodgers in six games and claimed their first natural leaning championship in 71 years. for generations, the world series has broken many a cub fan's heart. after winning the fall classic in 1907 and 190 #, the cubs -- 1908, the cubs went on to lose the world series in 1910, 1918, 1929, 1932, 1935, 1938, and 1945, their last world series appearance until this year. and yet defense history and against reason as the 2016 world

series began, cub fans dared to believe. maybe this was the year. their faith was tested. the cleveland indianas are a great and gutsy ball club. they took an early commanding control of the series leading the cubs 3-1 in the best of 7. then the magic started. with their backs to the wall, one defeat away from elimination, the cubs roared back to win the final three games of the series and brought the world series trophy home to chicago. they clinched the series in game seven with an 8-7 win in extra innings. the game was tied 6-6 of nine innings. the suspense was heightened by a rain delay as the 10th inning was about for start. the rain stopped the game for 17 minutes. the cubs scored to runs when they came back in the top of the 10th in a double and a single by miguel man tear row. the indianas scored a run in the bottom of the 10th but it wasn't enough. the final score cubs 8, indianas

7. ben was named world series mvp. it was only the sixth time in world series history that a team had come back from a deficit of three games to one to win a championship. the last team to pull it off, the kansas city royals in 1985. this world series victory was truly a team victory. every member of the team in the organize glaition -- and the organization deserves credit. the cubs manager theo epstein destined for the baseball hall of fame arrived in chicago in 2011 with the challenge of rebuilding an organization that had tried everything to no avail. it took him five seasons three managers and dozens of trades but he won. he said after game seven he was just proud to bring the world series trophy back to chicago. for cubs legends billy williams and ernie banks, ron santo and for the generations of fans who never stopped hoping. and what can we say about the cubs manager joe madden? he urged his players in spring training to embrace the target. when the chips were down, he

never doubted the cubs were the five esteem. while some may view his style as unorthodox, his confidence in his players carried over on to the field. the cubs never pangicked. they got -- panicked. they got the job done. he spent decades in major league baseball before cub to the cubs. with the world series trove gi, he joined a small list of managers to win it in the american and national leagues. he earned the 20125 national league -- 2015 national league making of the -- manager of the year and i bet le claim the title again this year. i want to congratulate the players of the world champion chicago cubs. i would like to enter their names into the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: thank you. i'm growing to wrap up. i see the majority leader is on the floor. i know he's a big sports fan. catcher david ross played the final game of his career, made history with a home run in the game seven to give the chicago cubs 6-3 lead. almost 40 years of age, senior by baseball standards, ross

became the oldest player ever to hit a home run in world series game seven. kyle, what a comeback. tore his acl in the third game of the season, worked his whole season in physical rehab to try to come back, made it just in time to play in the world series. he ignited the cubs' 10th inning rally in game seven and finished the series with a 412 average and two rbis. then ben, the pride of eureka, illinois, the mvp of 2016. i want to also congratulate the cleveland indianas' manager and their entire organization and one of their best and most loyal fans senator brown. as terry said after game seven, they tried till there was nothing left. the epicent -- the epicenter is on the north side of chicago. it reaches across america. cubs' nation has fans in every city. probably the most amazing parade i have ever attended. and i have been to hundreds, was

the cubs' victory parade. they estimated the crowd at 5 million. i tell you what, i think they're right. the population of the city of chicago is 2.5 million, just to give you an idea of how many they drew. 108 years between world series victories brought much heart 13- heart isache to the cubs' nation. part of that joy was listening to jack brickhouse, or just "brick" to his friend. he was the first voice of the cubs, play-by-play announcer. he called names nor the bears and the bulls and white sox. no wonder he is in hall of fame. he was in the broadcas broadcas. this is how brick smows called the play. jarvis fired away. that's a fly ball deep to left, hey, hey, ernie banks got number 500. everybody on your feet.

this is it. then jack brickhouse added a refrain, "weee!" i spicts up in heavening, brickhouse, caray, and countless other cubs' players joined with those who were waiting for that world series. at last they are world champions. i yield the floor. mr. mcconnell: before my friend from illinois leaves the floor, among them the really fascinating stories connected with the cubs was -- was it not the case that they found three 108-year-old women -- i believe one lived in new hampshire -- i read a story about her. then i guess the other two were still in chicago. is that correct? mr. durbin: yes. i don't know if you read the epilogue, that one of those 108-year-olds passed away within the few days of the cubs winning the world series.

mr. mcconnell: satisfied, i'm sure. ready to go ofnlt. mr. durbin: great story. mr. mcconnell: great story. congratulations. dur thank you. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to s. 3110,. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to the consideration of s. 131150, a bill to provide for reforms of the administration of the outer continental shelf of the united states and so forth and for other purposes. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk fnlt. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the mexico. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to proceed to calendar number 543, s. 3110, a bill to provide for reforms of the administration of the outer continental shelf of the united states to provide for the development of geothermal, solar, and wind energy on public land and for other purposes, signed by 17 senators -- mr. mcconnell: i ask that the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent

that the mandatory quorum call be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i have one request for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the minority and majority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 2 are:30 p.m. wednesday, november 16. following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. finally, following leader remarks, the senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to calendar number 543, s. 3110. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: so if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the the presiding officer: the

>> this is the senate's first day back after the election. members approving a measure that would allow the library of congress to congress to record the oral history of goldstar families. the senate holds leadership elections tomorrow. the the chicago sun-times report senator patty murray of washington state who is number four in the democratic leadership may be challenging senator dick durbin in the number two slot. she may be putting herself in play to move up to number three. we'll. we'll cover the senate leadership elections tomorrow on c-span2. on the other side of the capital, house republicans unanimously backed congressman paul ryan to continue as speaker of the house in the next congress. after the senate traveled in this afternoon, outgoing senate harry reid spoke and called on president-elect donald trump to rescind the appointment of steve bannon. the business insider posted a quote from senator reid who said, trump would be the champion of white supremacists a step away from the oval office.e

here senator reid. >> mr. president i been in politics for five decades.ik have not seen anything like we're seen today in america. he lost the popular vote by m 2 million votes and he won the election. so the person who lost the election by 2,000,000 votes is now president. it. o it has sparked a crimes across america. this is a simple statement of us facts. it raises critical questions for us as a country, as a nation. how. how do we respond to the election of donald trump? i think that is worth -- i understand and respect that impulse because democrats like to get things done that's why

many of us are in government. for example, democrats have been trying for decades to getat republicans to invest in our deteriorated infrastructure. what kind of a makeup to we havy their, 1,000,000,000,000, two chilling, some say 3,000,000,000,000 dollars. it is in bad need of help and repair. each time we try to do something over these decades on infrastructure we come against t obstruction. so if we can finally get republicans to get them to work on infrastructure that would be a welcome development. for the senate in the country,p if trump wants to pursue pollock policies that will help,have a

but we a approach. democrats have the responsibility to improve the life of americans come all lives. we also have other responsibilities. we have responsibility to be the voice of millions of americans sitting at home afraid that they are not welcome anymore in donald trump's america.ming we have the responsibility to prevent trumps bullying, aggressive behavior to becoming, normalized in the eyes of america. especially the millions of young people who are watching and wondering, for example sexual -- is no laughing matter. it is not normal for the kkk, the ku klux klan, to segregate the election of the presidentav and he was a champion. in other words we have responsibility to lead. c outside the senate chamber you

can hear hammering, the workers are hammering on the platform for the inauguration ceremony. it takes several months to do it but it will be done right. and and 65 days donald trump. onto that platform, for four years he will yield the loudest most powerful microphone in thet world. but even as those workers -- on trump's platform, even we as leaders accept the results of this election, we have to give voice to those who are pray because there are many who are afraid, and the majority of americans, many of my colleagues in this chamber oppose trump. they are not alone.y for trump will be the first president to take office having lost the popular vote by 2 million. every day for the past week the

majority of american voters have awakened it to a difficult reality. not only did that man who lost the popular vote when the election but it sparked hate crimes, and threats of violence. since election day the senators reported hundreds of incidents of harassment and intimidation, the last count, 315th from their calculations. acts overwhelmingly hateful acts on hispanics on the african americans come on women and lgbt, untidy anti-cement ticket and now asian. i've heard i've heard the stories from friends and family. my and my wife's position on the pakistani american of muslim faith we have known each other

for 35 years, the day after the election my friend was in a restaurant in las vegas having dinner. a man approached him in a from? threatening manner asking where he was from. aer and the dr. said so my. in la the same night and another restaurant that pakistan physician is having dinner, men walked up to him of the same manner as said where you from? he said i'm from pakistan and said why don't you go back. one of my staffers has a daughter in middle school i've known that little girl since she was a little baby. the day after the election the principal address the entire student body in the schools pa

system. because an incident had occurred that he wanted to talk to them about. in one instance a boy yelled that a latina student telling her that he was glad she was going to be deported now that trump was president. a in another instance a boy was sent home from yelling derogatory, hateful, term on an african-american student. he used that language now that trump was president. in spokane, washington martin luther king center there was defaced with the same hatefulset word. of those are only a few examples of what people close to me have related. these kind of disturbing accounts have been heard across america. of i have a compilation of these

incidents from nbc news, anothen is another publication, hundreds th of incidents in the last few days, i would ask that that be made part of the record. >> without objection. >> that was just entered into the record, those references re scary, i invite any of my colleagues to read these horrible acts. i invite any senator, democrat or republican to come to this of war today and defend any one of them. these examples of hate and

prejudice. i don't believe anyone in this chamber wants to defend hateful acts that are being committed. many of our fellow americans believe that trump selection validates that kind of growingvu aggression that trump validates on a daily basis. [inaudible] revealed a whole trump accountable. we have the responsibility for normalizing. here's a letter from the seventh grade she wrote the day after the election. a seventh grader. i'm extremely scared especially being a woman of color that the president of this country that i was born to live in is making me feel unsafe.n

when i actually should not feel unsafe. i should be scared because the man who is now the president of the united states of america has said such a rude, ignorant, disrespectful things of women, and all different types of people is now in charge of our country. i want. i want to feel safe in my country. but i no longer can feel safe with someone like donald trump leading the country. our president this was to make people feel safe. on wednesday, seventh, seventh grade girl was frightened being a woman of color in america because donalde trump was president elect. we have heard her voice and nati the seventh grader left to conclude that we as a nation find her fear acceptable. how do we show her that she does not have to be afraid? no matter how hard the rest of us work the main responsibility

lies with a b in the man who inspired the fear. president trump must act immediately to make america feel they are wi healing the wounds, talk is cheap and tweets are cheaper. so far rather than healing wounds his actions have deepened them. in one of his very first if not his first official acts he appointed a man seen as a champion of white supremacy as the number one strategists in the white house. the number one. everybody else under him. according to cnn, and i quote,ig white nationalist leaders are praising donald trump's decision to to name stephen ban as his chief strategist, ". in the same same article white national leaders say they see bannon as

an advocate for policies they according to -- abandon was a mean driver between a white. [inaudible] when asked to comment on the hiring of a kkk leader, ",ha that's excellent". >> again another quote that he doesn't like jews and that he does not like the way they raise their kids to be whining brats and that he did not want his girls to go to school with jews. ov on a white supremacist step awaw from the oval office, what message is trump sending two young girl who woke up wednesday morning in rhode island afraid to be a woman of color in america.ge it is not a message of healing.

if trump wants to seek unity the first thing he should do is rescind his appointed to steve, rescinded, don't do it. think about this. don't do it. so as a champion of racial division to step away from the oval office it will be impossible to take his action seriously. so so i say to donald trump, take responsibility. rise to the dignity of the office of the president of the united states. instead of hiding behind your twitter account and show america that racism, bullying, and bigotry have no place in the white house or in america. i yield the floor. >> republican donald trump is elected as the next president of the united states. the nation elect is a republican-controlled

house and senate. follow the transition of government on c-span. we will take you to key events as they happen without interruption. watch live on c-span, watch on-demand on c-span.org, or listen on our free c-span radio app. >> c-span's "washington journal" live every day with issues that impact you. the subcommittee chair mark meadows will be on to talk about the election of donald trump. what means for the republican party, quiches on the lame-duck issue. and then the government reform subcommittee brenda lawrence will talk about michigan's rolling campaign 2016 and the prospects for more hillary clinton related hearings. catherine miles will talk about food inspection and why foodborne illness is hard to control. watch c-span's "washington journal" live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on wednesday morning. joined the discussion.

>> note on. [inaudible] >> good afternoon. good afternoon. sorry to break up the conversation. my name is josh and i am the head of bloomberg, and whether it be head of bloomberg intelligence i would like to welcome you to the kickoff of

bloomberg's. a week of briefings and where we'll be talking about the future of work, technology, innovation, law, and government. we cannot pick a better time to talk about any of those topics given the fact that we have a new administration in a new congress coming to town to just a matter of weeks. those of you who don't know is, bloomberg government is about providing washington professionals with the tools and information they need to be successful in their work. with infrastructure expected to be one of the very first things the new administration and congress take a look at we cannot pick a better topic to kick off the bloomberg in the series. once the new administration and congress come to town we will be tracking all of it. whether it's the bills through congress, the rules, moving, moving through the agencies, the lobbying dollars, or the contracts moving through the different agencies. for today we have an exciting

lineup of panelists and speakers. i would like to say word of thanks to her speakers and moderators and panelists for taking time to join us today. i want to acknowledge our partner in today's events, building america's future, in particular my friend and neighbor on this floor, marcia. billing america's future has been great partners to us. they been great partners stress. [applause] as well as sitting about 5 feet away from where i sit so i get to see a lot of marcia. i want to to introduce our first session today. it is my pleasure to welcome to bloomberg and bloomberg government the secretary of homeland security, jay johnson. he will be having a conversation with mcauley from bloomberg news. we it the infrastructure be in the big topic i can't think of

anybody better to have that conversation and kick today's event off the secretary. mr. mrl yours. welcome. [applause] >> a good afternoon. >> thank you secretary for joining us today. were excited to have a care bloomberg. i wanted to start off with a question and then will open up to audience as well and make this interactive. wanted to ask in the run-up to last week's election there's a lot of concerns around cyber security, i know dhs was in touch with a lot of states that had been offering cyber assistance. wanted to know less than a week from then what he saw that it was there any activity, intrusions, any kind of report you can give us after so much

concern leading up to that time? >> let me begin by addressing the elephant in the room and be nonresponsive to your question at least and initially. and that is the transition that we are in. this is my third transition that i have been through. i have been part of the outgoing team in 2000, part of the incoming team in 2008 and now part of the outgoing team in 2016. i can say with high confidence this will be my last transition. i very much believe in the citizen public servant model. i look forward to returning to public life in 67 days. there two things that i would like to point out. one, anytime there's a transition there's a lot of

uncertainty, anxiety, questions about questions about the direction, the new administration will take the government, will they take the government to the extreme left are the extreme rights, or try to steer a middle course. who will lead, who will be part of the transition, who will be in the cabinet, all of the speculation. their two thoughts i there two thoughts i would like to say. one, our government is and has been, this is been true since the day the constitution was issued. our government our government is a system of checks and balances. we are not a monarchy. we are not even a parliamentary form of government. were the prime is part of the legislative branch. we have three co-equal branches of government. they serve as as a check on one another. so that, when a new administration comes in if they have an agenda to take policy to

an extremely after or in a stream right there are other institutions of government that serve as a check on going too fast, too far, and anyone direction. so that the new administration within the executive branch must, inevitably operate within certain parameters. it is called, checks and balances per that's number one. number two, it's important to remember that something in excess a probably 90% of the day to day work of government proceeds unaffected by who the president is and who the administration is. the day-to-day work of government goes on at the gs 13 level, the ses level even, certainly, certainly within our military community. our men and women protecting our

ports, the united states coast guard come our men and women deployed overseas in uniform, our people and homeland security, the 226,000 and homeland security. only a fraction of 1% of the department of homeland security are political appointees. the rest of government goes on day today. now one of the things that i hope and expect will be accepted is pretty much doctrine by the next administration. whoever forms is next administration will be the importance of infrastructure, infrastructure investment in infrastructure security. we've heard a lot from the president-elect about investments in infrastructure which is a good thing, but the security of infrastructure and the security of critical them for structure is something and expect will be accepted as

gospel and accepted doctrine in the new administration and the interrelatedness between infrastructure protection and cyber security. because there is an increasing interrelatedness between physical infrastructure and cyberspace, cyber security. it is critical that the to be seen hand in glove. now to get to your question. election infrastructure. in the run-up to the election beginning in august i made a very public and private appeal to lots of state and local election systems to seek our help when it comes to cyber security, not because we had some very real concerns about the cyber security around the elections structure, very little of it exists on the internet but

because we want to make sure all of the system, some 9000 jurisdictions around the country involved in our national elections. they're there thinking about this and doing the basic things they should do to protect themselves. we had outreach from something like 48 states states which i was very pleased about. we had something around 36 or 38 states ask for and accept our cyber security assistance in the run-up to november 8. we identified some vulnerabilities that i would characterize as not significant, not earth shattering and in connection with the election we did not see anything that i would characterize as significant. there was minor incidents here and there of the type that you

normally expect but nothing significant. as everyone here knows, i believe in the run-up to the election we did declassify very explicitly accuse the russian government on october 7 of meddling in our political process essentially. the director of national intelligence and i made that public statement on friday, october 7. we attributed to the russian government certain hacking that was going on but we drew a distinction then be between what we could say with confidence of the hacking of various political figures and political institutions versus the election infrastructure itself.

we express then and continue to express a great deal of confidence around the election infrastructure. we encourage states to always do what they can to protect their own cyberspace. >> to think we might see some kind of response from the administration to russia before january or by january? >> i couldn't say. >> i want to get to transition. just to wrap up on election infrastructure. appeared you over the years speak about making it part of critical infrastructure, election election systems. want to see where that discussion is an how that would happen. >> i said last summer that we would not designate or determine that the election infrastructure was part of critical infrastructure without a close

collaboration with the state officials that run the process. i said that in august and that continues to be my view. we put it aside for the election as we wanted to, without the distraction of the issue of whether or not it should be considered critical infrastructure. we wanted to encourage states to come forward and seek our assistance, and they did. it is something i will continue to discuss with secretaries of state out there and we will reach an assessment at some point, but not without close consultation with them. >> so getting back to the transition. i want to hear more what your role is, what the processes like, what it is that you will be passing on to your successor. what is currently going on now?

>> at some point a transition team will show up at the department of homeland security. they will be very interested in what we do, what our missions are, where we are, what are the existing problems and so forth. pretty much forth. pretty much like i did eight years ago when i showed up at the door of the pentagon as part of the department of defense and coming transition team. it took an interesting turn when the secretary defense was announced they were going to stay on we all thought okay what are we doing. but we did have a role to make assessments on policy direction and so forth. at some point the transition team will show up and meet with component leaders. i will sit down with the transition team to brief them on everything that i see, recommendations going

forward, here the things i think they need to focus on. i know our leadership team will do the same thing. i have given this considerable thought, what i say to an incoming transition team is a respective of who won the election. it will be pretty much the same. here's here's what i think we have achieved. here's what you need to focus on, work still in progress i am proud of the fact that we have done a lot in the last three years to improve how the department, as a department does business. business. we have done a lot for management reform to improve our acquisition process, budget making process adjoint requirements counsel for

acquisition, we raised morale this year which was a big project of mine. the crest 22 component department it was not easy. we had the largest increase in levels of morale than a cabinet department are size this year. so i feel as though we'll be leaving the department at the department better than we found it. we have challenges that remain, i will point those out to the team into my eventual successor. it's important that we do this in an transparent, collegial way for the meta-women of my in my department that we serve and support. and for the american public that we serve. i've told my people they should be transparent, they should be collegial and work in an orderly transition, that's the direction the president wants us to go

over the next 67 day. >> and if i could add one more point, u.s. what is your advice for a transition team, one of my models for management style is make no significant decision without consulting all of the relevant players across the components of dhs. do not make decisions in a vacuum. ensure that you have all points of view and that you encourage people to express those points of view to you. that is how healthy government policymaking and decision-making should occur. i hope the next administration, the next secretary of homeland security encourages a collaborative, open environment in which they are included and for which you make decisions. >> other any concerns in terms of the transition and passing

that upon a time in working with a team or the next administration coming out of a campaign that was not necessarily have many differences within criticisms of president obama. how are you going to smooth it out? >> i take the long view as the student of history with these things. there was a lot of criticism by the incumbent of his predecessor. there is criticism by his predecessor of his predecessor. if you observed president obama and the first lady with president bush 43 and mrs. bush at the dedication of the african-american museum in september, you can see the warmth between them. so eight years ago the rhetoric was pretty sharp. so i tend to take the long view on these things. i believe that ultimately, and i

tend to see the best in everybody. ultimately those of us who come to washington to serve do so because we are interested in the best interest of the country. so i believe that it is important that the next administration rely upon advice from those across the spectrum of ideology and make the best, healthiest decisions for the country, for homeland security and for the public. and by a and large that is how government works state today. >> cells were talk about critical of the structure and wondering what are some of the threats, the that the next a ministration should focus on that maybe you do not get to that you would like to continue to see make it a priority? >> first let me reach you --

read to you a bulletin that we are going to issue tomorrow. i'm making news. [laughter] we went to a new system in december where we now issue bulletins which have a six months month expiration to them. the current one expires tomorrow so we are issuing a new one tomorrow. that is says largely the same thing as the previous one. this is something that the next administration will have to focus on. since the last bulletin issued in june of 2016, don't take a picture of me with my glasses on

the assessment of the global threat environment has not changed. we remain concern about homegrown violent extremists who could strike their homeland. the last bulletin reinforce this. accordingly increased public vigilance and awareness continue to be of utmost importance. this was, for example a critical example a critical component of the swift response to the september terrorist acts in new york city a new jersey. referring to the events of september 17 - 19. the other thing i think it's critical that we more closely aligned the cyber security mission with the protection of critical infrastructure mission because the two themselves have become more closely aligned.

that is why we are seeking from congress the authority to reorganize and tpd which is the national protection programs directorate. it's cumbersome to even say it. we want want to change that into a leaner, meaner cyber and infrastructure protection agency. we need an agency of our government responsible for cyber security and for critical infrastructure. we have been asking congress to reorganize to those two issues. >> i think we can open the floor up to questions and please keep your questions as questions. say her name and identify the organization you are with will have microphones floating around.

>> good afternoon mr. secretary, thank you for being here. i'm peter pies her with pies or associates. i'm. i'm interested building onto the critical infrastructure, you made, the congress and others seem more interested in having the department focus on urban transport networks and amtrak and potential targets like that. i'm wondering what you think the appropriate role for dhs and the rest of the federal establishment is and cooperating with state and local government on protecting particularly urban transport network. >> as a general matter in the current global threat environment i think we need to work more closely, at the federal level need to work more closely with state and local governments, state local law

enforcement, through our grantmaking, through programs such as -- such as this one, security starts here connect, plan, train, train and report, this is something that assistant secretary has been a promoter of. homeland security starts with hometown security. in the current environment we say that we have to be vigilant when it comes to public events in public places that is not meant to refer exclusively to just urban areas, urban transit centers, but we are in an environment and we need to be concerned about new york city,

major metropolitan areas, la, chicago, but chicago, but also places like orlando, chattanooga, scarlet city texas, and that makes far more complicated homeland security environment. hometown security environment. so i have been a big proponent of active shooter training programs, grants, reaching as many communities as we can and that we not focus on one type of infrastructure to the exclusion of others. that way not focus on this particular transit location to the exclusion of others. we often want and need focus your efforts and prioritization in our efforts. we have to encourage medium-size

police force as well as large ones to focus this and focus on multi discipline responses and training and with the private sector as well. because of the nature of the current threat we have to work and we have been working with private security experts and private security forces, sharing information information with private security, private infrastructure. but not to the exclusion of anyone community or one segment of infrastructure. >> i wanted to ask you, during the course of course of this administration, 2.5 million undocumented immigrants have been deported. as a transition team comes in,

what would your advice be about how much that effort needed to deport as many people over time of one year, what would would it take? more people more money? >> and to ask president trump would immediately to poor 3 million people. >> when we talk about a deportation force, we actually have a deportation force called erm, forcing the removal operations which is part of ice. when we talk about deporting the criminals it is actually a current policy. our current priorities are public safety and border security. apprehending those who are convicted criminals in removing those two are apprehended at the

border for purposes of border security. we have focused increasingly so on public safety and border security since the priorities i issued in november 2014. so, i have said to our workforce, focus on the criminals. focus more on the threats to public safety and they have actually responded. we have seen fewer deportations but a higher percentage of those removed from the interior are convicted criminals. that is good for public safety and because i have asked our removal forced to focus more on threats to public safety and function more like a law-enforcement force, we are changing their pay scale so it aligns more closely with the law-enforcement pay scale. that is something i have the next administration will continue to move in the direction toward.

in general we are focused on threats to public safety and the numbers and statistics reflect that. when we say we're going to deport 3 million people, think about that. that is the equivalent of the population of the city of chicago. that is a lot of people. anything you do at a magnitude you have to have funding from congress and you have to have congress to go along. but right now we are focused on threats to public safety and we have been the last two years. >> i was wondering if this scaling up of the operation to be able to do what you have done over six year time frame with

that -- >> work really budgeted to focus on threats to public safety. that is where i believe the focus needs to continue for the safety of the american people. >> we have time for one question if there's anyone else. >> and john with pedestrian.org. the part of the resiliency to come back from something is redundancy. how much effort you take looking at places where there is a single point failure and we need redundancy so we can come back if there is a natural disaster or terrorist incident that takes place. >> assessing, minimizing single points art is basic. whether you're talking about cyber security, project security, protection of critical infrastructure, aviation security, real safety, and it

kind technology. minimizing single points of failure creating redundancy is basic. any assessment of homeland security and i use that in a broad sense, i want to know there are redundancies, efficient, useful redundancies built into any system. i was reassured that in our election infrastructure i will not ask questions, suppose this fails, what you got? there are redundancies built into election night reporting for example. if you email system fails you pick up the telephone. if the email and telephone fails then you can write it on a piece of paper and send it in the nearest

bluebird. there are numerous redundancies built into things like election night reporting and numerous other things. that's that's a best practice. >> where might we see you after january 20? >> i can't say publicly, but but i will say that i look forward to being a private citizen again an anonymous private citizen. i will share one personal anecdote. one of the people i greatly admire in public service is that the secretary of state cyber spans, he's in new york later mayor, one day i was riding the subway and for those of you who are real safety specialist here, i love trains. i love the rails.

i was just saying to someone, i have written every single subway line except the franklin avenue shuttle. one day i was riding the subway in new york and when the last car and i looked over and there, hunched over a a newspaper in a beaten up trenchcoat by himself, was the former secretary of state. i'm going to be him in 67 days. >> my colleague marcia will come up next for the next panel. join join me in thanking secretary johnson today. [laughter] [applause] [inaudible] [inaudible]

[inaudible] >> c-span's washington journal, live everyday with news and policy issue that impact too. coming up on wednesday morning, government reform subcommittee chair congressman mark meadows will talk about the election of donald trump. what it means for the republican party, key issues in the lame-duck session in the issues in the lame-duck session in the republican house agenda. government a form subcommittee brenda lawrence will talk about michigan's role in the campaign 2016. and the prospect for more hillary clinton related hearings. specific -- will talk about food inspection be sure to watch c-span's "washington journal" live at 70 stern on wednesday morning. join the discussion.

>> with donald trump elected as the next u.s. president, milani a trump becomes the second born foreign lady since louisa adams. learn about the influence of america's presidential spouses from c-span's book first ladies. the book is a look into the personal lives and influences into every presidential spouse in american history. it's a companion to the tv series and features interviews with 54 of the nation's leading first lady historians. biographies of 451st ladies 451st ladies and photos from each of their lives. first ladies published by public affairs is available wherever you buy books. >> next, british prime minister speaks at the banquet. she spoke about global leadership, brexit, and acknowledging the results of the election. the event is held in london, it

is 20 minutes. [applause] >> my lord chancellor, my excellency, my lords, chief commoner, ladies and gentlemen we meet tonight in a world transformed, year ago few of us would have predicted the events ahead. the clear determine decision to leave the european union and build a new competent future for ourselves and the world. of course, a new president-elect in the united states who defies the polls and the pendants all the way up to election day itself.

changes in the air. and when people demand change it is the job of politicians to respond. but it is also the job of influence and power, politicians, business leaders, and others to understand the drivers of that demand. i think that if we take a step back and look at the world around us, one of the most important drivers becomes clear. the forces of liberalism and globalization which have held sway in britain, america, and across the western world for years have left too many people behind. let's be clear those forces have and continue to have an overwhelmingly positive impact in our world.

they delivered they've lifted millions out of poverty around the world. they bought nations closer together. broken down barriers and improved standards of living and consumer choice. they underpinned the rule space of international system that is key to global prosperity and security. and which i'm clear that we must protect and seek to strengthen. we cannot deny, as i know you recognize that there has been downsides to globalization in recent years. and that in our zeal and enthusiasm to promote this agenda is the answer to all of our ills. we have on occasion overlook the impact on those closer to home

who see these forces in a different light. these people are modest and low income living in rich countries like iran. they see their jobs being outsourced and wages undercut. they see their communities changing around them and don't remember agreeing to that change. they see the emergence of a new global elite who sometimes seem to play by different sets of rules. and whose lives lives are far removed from their everyday existence. the tensions and differences between those who are caning from globalization and those who fear they are losing out. but they're being exposed exposed to the growth of social media. so if we are to continue to make the case for liberalism and globalization, as we must, we also have to face up to respond to these concerns.

if we believe like i do that liberalism and globalization offer the best future for our world we must know the downside and show that we must make these twin forces work for everyone. when you refuse to accept that globalization and its current form have left too many people behind to your not showing the seeds for its growth but it's for its ruin. when he failed to see that the liberal consensus that is held sway for decades has failed to maintain the consent of many people you are not a champion of liberalism, but the enemy of its. when you dismiss you dismiss the very real and deeply felt concerns of a ordinary people you are not acting to defend your worldviews, but but deny. there's no contradiction between embracing globalization and

saying it has to be managed to work for everyone. indeed as anti-globalization sentiment gross it is incompetent for those in positions of leadership to respond. to make sense of the changing world around us and to shape a new approach that preserves the best of what works and evolves and adapts what does not. that that is the true mark of leadership. not standing inflexibly refusing to change and still fighting the battles of the past. but adapting to the moment, evolving our evolving our thinking and seizing the opportunities ahead. that is a kind of leadership we need today. and i believe that it is britain's historic global opportunity to provide it. so often over a long history this country has set the

template for others to follow. we have so often been the pioneer, the the outrider, that is active to rush in a new idea or approach. we have that same opportunity today. to show the world that we can be the strongest global advocate for free market and free trade. we believe they are the best way to lift people out of poverty. but we can also do much more to ensure the prosperity they provide is shared by all. to demonstrate that we can be the strongest global advocate for the role businesses play in creating jobs, generating wealth, and supporting a strong economy and society. but we can also recognize that whether the minority of businesses and business figures of fear appear to gain the

system and work through a different set of rules, social contract between businesses in society failed. and the reputation of business as a whole is undermined. to show that our departure from the european union is not, as some people have wrongly argued, britain, britain stepping back from the world, but an example of how a free, flexible, ambitious country ambitious country can step up to a new global role in which alongside the traditional trading block, agile nationstates like britain can trade freely with others according to what is in their own best interest and those of their people. this is a new direction. a new approach to managing the forces of globalization so that they work for all. it is a course in which the government tightly have embarked. for over six centuries this very

banquet has celebrated the pioneering brilliance of our nation as a global champion of free trade. now, as we leave the european union i believe we we can show the way forward again. for as long as we are members of the e.u. we will continue to lead the way in pressing for an ambitious e.u. trade agenda, just as we have done in supporting the very welcome recent e.u. canada deal. second, as we we leave the european union will also lead use this strength and size of our economy to lead the way in getting out of the world into a new business with old allies and partners alike. we will use their freedom, that come from negotiated with partners directly to be flexible, to set our own roles, and forge new and dynamic trading agreements that work for the whole world.

that is also why in our negotiations on leaving the european union. we are not trying to replicate the deal that any other country has with the e.u. we are not going for an off-the-shelf solution. all of us here tonight know there's not some choice between hard brexit and software exit. it is about how business and government work together to get the right deal in the right deal for businesses working across the continent. but third, to be the truth chew global champion of free trade in this new modern world we also need to do something to help those families and communities who can lose out. so government cannot afford to take a hands-off approach we have to act to ensure the prosperity delivered by free trade and free market is shared by all. that is way in britain we are developing a new

industrial industrial strategy that will seek to ensure working people in every part of the country can really benefit from the opportunities that trade bring. the people with great new businesses, brilliant new inventions in every part of this country. huge, untapped potential. our new modern industrial strategy will back the strength of every area. the university, the cluster of dynamic businesses, so that all parts of our country and all parts of our society see the benefit is growth. this will not be about popping up feeling industries are picking winners. that that is the job of competition in premarket. it will be about getting britain firing on all cylinders again i creating the conditions where winters can emerge and grow across all sectors in all parts of the country, and for the benefit of all.

i believe this can be a template that other nations can follow. as i argued at my first g20 summit earlier this year, we we need every nation, developed and developing to ensure the benefits of trade are freely shared. this will not just be good for them, it will enhance her own prosperity too. it will be fundamental in maintaining global support for the free trade and open market that we believe in. there is a clear role for government, businesses have an important role to play in this new future. if you listen to some of my political opponents you will be forgiven for thinking that business is part of the problem. i am clear, that for a global britain to thrive in a global economy business is part of the solution.

the recovery sense the financial crisis almost a decade ago has shown that business can achieve with a record number of people and work and more businesses than ever. businesses is also the forefront of driving social change around the world. as i saw first hand on my visit to india last week. british businesses using technology to teach your children to code, and specialist in gene sequencing whose work at help dramatically reduce the cost involved in screening illnesses in india. so the government tightly design critically on the shaman to pro-business. we will not.the will not.the big decisions on which your success depends. whether it is high-speed to, -- we will ensure confidence and stability in our economy by continuing to cut the deficit

and together with the work of our independent bank of england we will support new opportunities for business to create jobs. we will do everything we can to make the u.k. outside the e.u. the most attractive place for businesses to invest and grow. already by showing our commitment to the u.k. future competitiveness we have secured a new deal in the northeast and a groundbreaking agreement with america that whales will not just be the european hub, but rather a global hub for maintaining, repairing, overhauling, and upgrading the f35 fighter aircraft. as i said, through our industrial strategy will proactively support the industries of the future as well as those like financial services where we already have a world leading competitive advantage.

as we rebalance economy across sectors and geographical areas in order to spread wealth and prosperity around the country. but in return, it is right task business to play its part in ensuring we build a country that works for everyone. on the british business which is so often on the frontline of our engagement with the worlds and his actions so often project our values in the world it is seen not just to do business but to do that business in the right way. i know many of you in this room recognize this responsibility. others have voiced their suspicion on what they see is a growing antibusiness agenda. i don't agree. it is because i agree so passionately in business that i say this. asking business to

work with government, to play its part is a profoundly profoundly pro-business because it is fundamental to retaining faith in capitalism and free market. . . . developing the simplest and best form of corporate government that has ever been. my word is my bond. they built houses for members in sickness and old age and continue to lead in broader challenging programs giving over

48 million pounds to charitable causes last year alone. how different their resources, from that small minority who believed they could operate a different set of rules and recklessly damage the entire business community in the process. together, we can forge a modern version of the responsible approach to business that has been championed by our companies for generations. and in doing so, we can preserve and celebrate the power of business to create jobs and prosperity for all. so at this moment of change, we must respond with calm, determined, the global leadership to shape a new era of globalization that generally works for all. we should be confident about our ability to do so. because british leadership is

already playing a pivotal role in meeting so many of the global challenges that affect our security and prosperity. it is within the vanguard of the fight against global terrorism, working across borders to disrupt the networks terrorists used to finance their operations in recruit and which just two months ago the first-ever u.n. security council resolution on aviation security. it is britain that is the only country in the g20 two made its commitment to spend 2% of gdp on defense and 1.7% of gross national income on overseas development. driving forward the implementation of the sustainable development goal to eradicate absolute poverty by the end of the next decade. it is written -- britain that is

a leading member of the coalition supporting iraq to defeat the scourge of da'ish that has agreed to send 800 troops to estonia to eastern europe supporting nigeria in the fight against boko haram and reinforcing its commitment to peacekeeping forces in south sudan, somalia and kosovo. and it's britain that is leading the way in pioneering international efforts to down on modern slavery wherever it is found. time and again, it is british leadership, british hard and soft power that is at the forefront of how the world responds to the greatest challenges of our time. so i stand here confident that in facing these new challenges once again britain can lead that together we can shape a new

approach to globalization to enhance the prosperity of not just some of our citizens but all of our citizens. that together by meeting this national moment with a truly national effort we unite our whole country by making the uk a country that works for everyone. that together we can rise to this moment and sees this great global opportunity of our time to provide the leadership that would ensure the prosperity of your businesses, the success of our country and the future of the world we want to leave for our children. so let us seize the moment and let us do so together. [applause]

[applause]