campuses because that's what i believe. i have filled every a position available within the democratic party from 14 up. my counter, move to the city, it became the word chair. i was teacher for five terms, count each of her fortunes, treasurer of the state party when i was 21, served as executive director. served four terms as of the vice chair of the national democratic party and i am now in my fifth term as the chair of the new hampshire democratic party. and i am serving as you all know in my fourth term as president of the state chair association and serving as one of the dnc officers. i went through that just because there are some people who might not know, but that's not really my record. my record i like to talk about is what's happened in new hampshire in the last 10 years. when i grew up in new hampshire, republicans laughed at the idea that they've had to compete with the democrats. the election was a republican primary. the last 10 years in new

hampshire, 11 out of 13 statewide races democrats have one. five out of six gubernatorial elections we have one. three out of four u.s. senate seats we have one. nine out of 12 congressional races we have one. nobody in new hampshire history has ever seen a track record of 10 years like we are now having. we for the first time in our history all for memories of our congressional delegation are democrats. never before. even before the civil war. [applause] >> jeanne shaheen, maggie hassan, and others will also be the first all-female democratic congressional delegation. [applause] how did we do that? well, we had the success because it was about the grassroots. in 2014, it was mentioned that turnout was down. it wasn't down in new hampshire because we invested in the grassroots. we didn't wait for the money

from somewhere else. we knew nobody was coming in on a white horse and we decide we're going to raise the money ourselves and we're going to invest and do it. and what we discovered after the election when his senator after u.s. senator and the deep purple states are dropping like flies, how did jean jean become only the second democrat elected u.s. senate? how did maggie hassan get elected when she was outspent two to one? we went and did a deep dive. so small state, saying tv as, say mail, everything. what everything. what was the difference? the difference was we would look, there's one committee right next to the other and the turnout was genetically different. why the heck is that? it was how many local people were actually knocking on the doors and making the phone calls? to work again this year. we were the only purple state to pick up a u.s. senate seat. we did that because of what we do on the ground in new

hampshire, and that's what we need to do in every single state. we have fought back. i want you to know that every time the republicans in new hampshire have a success, we take a right to them and we bounce back the next election. that's exactly what we need to do to donald trump and every single one of those republican officials whether in state legislature, governor, congress or the white house but we need to stand up, fight back and not be shy we need to be bold when we push back. my record is about inclusion and fairness. when my secretary of state was saying bernie sanders could be on the ballot in the new hampshire primary because he was a democrat, i told him i would take him to court. then it was a challenge father i went before the valley commission and i said bernie sanders is a democrat and he needs to appear on the ballot. i escorted bernie to the sect of states office when he fel felt o make sure that he appeared on the ballot. if i had not taken that to make

sure is on the ballot, how different would this have occurred? the people of ne new hampshire,o present the primary voted for bernie sanders. their boys needed to be heard and a need to be respected and that is exactly what we need out of the dnc. first off i want to reject the notion that we cannot appeal to all voters. i will never be part of the party that in any way backs down from our historic struggles. if people want to call it identity politics, you can call the identity politics that i got involved as an eight -year-old because of inequality and that is the cause of the democratic party. we will simply never back down. the dnc has a lot of work to do. we have to restore public trust, democratic base needs trust, activist new trusts and the elected officials need trust. we have an attack on voting rights.

the redistricting challenges, the hacking, now we're living in an allegedly post-truth society, but we need to get our own house in order first. we need radical change. yesterday before the executive directors i went through a 15 point part, some of which you have heard from my friends but we will post it on my facebook page in the coming days and you will hear exactly what it is. it is based on reform, respect,, accountability, transparency, engagement and empowerment. since there are so many dnc members are mostly everyone here is, i want to talk about what i believe we need because went to get our own house in order. before we expect the voters to trust us, we need to make sure that we put those safe measures in. here's what i'm going to do. i'm going to call it the dnc empowerment project. a unanimous vote of the other eight offices of the dnc cannot

overwrite any decision of the dnc chair. all dnc hires of over 100,000 dollars must be approved by the dnc officers. all dnc contracts of over $100,000 must be approved by the officers. all dnc loans of any amount must be approved by the officers. all transfers of 1,000,000 dollars or more must be approved. each officer receives a monthly financial report political report, operation report. executive committee. the executive committee of this organization, the dnc executive committee must adopt all dnc fund-raising policies. presidential debate schedule and criteria must be approved by the executive committee. quarterly financial reports, operational reports to the executive committee and the senior staff must appear before the executive committee reportedly and give a report other department. the full deviancy. dnc. an annual financial report, and operation report. we need to make our meetings more interactive. i am sick and tired tha. i've been on this committee

since 1999, and we get talked at. we don't get asked anything we need to be able to participate. that means in the caucuses. it's the full dnc and we'll have a lot more to talk about that. the convention, the idea that we have 20,000 activists at our national convention but nothing about training them or engaging them or in some way communicate with them so that they are warriors for us and our causes. it doesn't make sense and we need to look at reviving the idea of the midterm convention and conference to engage and empower more people and make sure that we can bring up a lot of our best. i will be a full-time dnc chair. when i say full-time i don't mean 40 hours. i mean 2470 for those of you on the afc see or know what i've done in new hampshire, you know when i say 24/7, i mean 247. i ask for your vote. i hope to earn your vote in the coming three months. i think that we can do this together, all working together.

i think we can go out and win. thank you so much. [applause] >> thank you, raiment. thank you to all three of you. now it's time for question and answers, so we're going to do this a couple of ways. we have the two middle aisles here and we have two great volunteers, maureen from nebraska, alan from florida. alan from florida. are going to be our volunteers today. what i would like for you to do is, if you are a member of this committee, and you would like to ask a question, please sign up at the microphones. i will -- of our volunteers control the microphone and give it to you when i call on you, but but we will do this in an orderly fashion. while that is happening, the first question asked is going to come from me for all three of you.

perception, we know, perception is reality in politics, right? and for many the perception of this election was about rejecting what many voters see as the establishment. in controversy within the dnc during our primary, whether we like it or not, created a very deep schism within our party, and faith in our party was broken. so how do we begin to heal these divisions and begin the process of restoring trust in this part is that we love so much? jaime? >> well, i think the first thing is that we have to get rid of this idea that there's a trend one democrat or a hillary democrat or an obama democrat. as long as i've known myself i have just been a democrat. a democrat that is been fighting for equality and opportunity for all regardless of what you look like, how you look at the background or experiences or where you come from.

that's the first thing. my experience, many of you know i worked on capitol hill for a while. my job was to work in the whips office. i had to get 218 votes every time a bill came onto the floor. i had to get that vote in a very diverse caucus that was made up of progressives, blue dogs, white caucus, hispanic caucus what have you. and the way that you do that when you only have a 15 seat majority, mind you, when you do that is that you have to first understand that we went because where a party of addition and not because we're party of subtraction. but we also went because we understand diversity is our greatest strength and that we have to appreciate it and we have two respect it. folks know in south carolina that the way that i laid is by bringing everybody together,

listening to all voices. that doesn't mean i'm going to agree with all of the voices that speak up, but it does mean they know they are heard as they know their respected. at the end of the day they know their part of the process in which we make decisions. i think that's how we have to deal in this party. people need to feel as though they are being heard. they need to feel as though they are being respected. they need to feel as though that they matter. and i think a lot of that comes from the leadership, but a lot of it also comes from people seeking that it's just not words, but there are also actions. i think that's the first thing, whomever takes this role in the dnc chair needs to sit back and figure out how you bring all these people together and how do you translate that you respect them, and that they have someone who will listen to them. >> thank you, jaime.

i thought that was a lot of good in there, man. i appreciate your answer. i would say that we have to listen. we have to really listen. that means we have to go all the cost of this community, urban, n communities, suburban communities, rural communities and listen. i think this is a process that every dnc member can help lead in their local community. we need to sit down with our labour friends and really listen. we are really good about raising money from them but do we really listen to what they're telling us? and i think we need to have some real listening sessions, but not just led by the dnc chair. they need to be decentralized with the dnc chair going around shut up and listen to folks, not just tell people what's going to happen. i also think we've got to get the resources to the people at the grassroots level. that's trusting folks. once it looks like everybody in

washington, d.c. is for controlling other resources and doesn't get them to the people who really can use them closest to the voter, then quite honestly even though you haven't said i don't trust you, you have shown you don't trust them. and so you need to spread it out and get it to the folks closest to the voter. one way to listen to folks is to help karen clark when louisiana. [applause] i'm going to tell you, i get donations coming your way. i've got a faul fall baking comg away and i try to get down there. and i hope all of us do that. because the truth is you want to show can you care about what she thinks? you listen to what she says. and may i please speak for you by saying, she sang give me some help, because whistle of a shot

in louisiana to win. am i right about that? so let's start like right now, you know? i think -- [inaudible] well, she said pass the hat. i don't have a problem with that. back i has a santa claus hat over there. that is of the thing, listen to people, go around listening, really empower the dnc members to be the leaders not just in dnc here when we're together but when they are spread across the united states. dnc members can be saying hey, we're going to conduct a listening session, we'll have a chair or the vice chair, and will just take in your views on what's going on, and send those resources to where they are most needed because we trust our leaders to distribute those resources in the right way. so there's more, but that's enough for now. >> thank you. spinning i touched on this a little when i talked about restoring the trust. i think really we dealt with

five issues that really destroyed the trust of the dnc or the democratic party. one was neutrality. i have the experience of serving as a chair of new hampshire now through two heavily contested presidential primaries. not one instance of me not being completely neutral. you can ask anybody who worked on any one of those campaigns. there is not a with of favoritism. when someone says they're neutral they damn well better be neutral for real. the second, the fundraising agreement. that was highly controversial. guess what? maybe the entire executive committee of the dnc had a role in that conversation. we might want to flag a little bit of that. the debates. again, maybe if the executives at the dnc had a role in that we might have been able to say, not sure if israel is the right thing to do. superdelegates. there are ways to make this so

that the states reflective of the votes. it is something o that the grassroots want to do something we have a commission that will be working on it but i'm committed to making it work. there are ways to make sure that those who are delegates reflect the votes of their state, and i am committed to that. the state conventions. i watched the videos what happened in nevada. i heard the stories about what happened in maine. we had a leadership in washington who decided to do nothing. and so i took the podium at our meeting last night and said hell no, here's what a program is. we're going to get the leadership of the bernie campaign and the hillary campaign and i will go myself to every single one of those conventions. i went to wyoming. i offered to go other places. it is tough in saying we don't need to have near riots at a state conventions, but the party needs to provide leadership with

that. that's a letter record has been and exactly what i would do as chair of the dnc. [applause] >> we have a question over here. >> question -- if you could, when you're asking a question if you could say your name clearly and where you're from and your position, that would be great. >> state chair from indiana. thanks for running and sharing your time with us. anyone in this room at least on this to third site and all of our dnc members are accountable to our organizations. i want to just start by saying we respect that we need to be accountable for what the dnc provides us as organizations. if you can speak, let's fast-forward to 2019, 2020 and can you speak to the dnc would or would not and probably would because we all have to prioritize, adjust resources and

still not i guess make some states are not traditional battlegrounds feel like they've just been dropped off the earth? this is not a pejorative statement to any current or past actions, but this is an issue i hear a lot about at home. how do we maintain the level of 50 state strategy? not just money but the money is critical and i appreciate it and i want to be accountable for it. it's not just about money talk about how the dnc will have to adjust resources when we get into the presidential cycle and look at those battleground states, but how do you strike that balance with non-battleground state versus battlegrounds. thank you again? >> why don't we start with congressman ellison? >> i pay proud minnesotan bu bui was born in michigan, and we didn't think michigan was about a grant state but it was.

my thought about your question is that we've got to regard every state as contested territory where we are going to fight and promote resources to develop the vote in every single county, and every single local party unit in this country. one of the things i hear common agreement on is that we've got to strengthen the party at the grassroots level because once which is so we're only going to invest resources in battlegrounds and spend money in battlegrounds, we have shrank our map as to where we can win. we cannot be a party that is trying not to lose. we've got to be a party that expects to advance and that means investment. i also think that we would talk about, we need to be consistent over time with the resource. because again if you are working

around to develop the voter, you will be able to get the results that you weren't able to get. it's kind of like, i was telling, it's like you whatever -- if you're going to have a good garden party you are going to have to water the grass and fertilize it long before you ever going to have that party. and if you want to raise the boat and increased turnout you're going to have cap and long-term commitment and a durable commitment to the party whether or not it's in a so-called out a grant state. that is how i think we need to apportion money. clearly there will be places that it's closer than others and we might have to make some decisions and be flexible, but there should not be one part, one inch of the continental united states can any of the states come in the territories

or democrats abroad that we say we have written you off, we are not going to invest in you. we need to stick with that. so thank you.applause. >> again, we have to stop with all the windowdressing around here. maybe it's because i'm the youngest person in the room and i don't have the history and i rely on those of you who do. but let me just say this. this needs to be the very last election cycle in which the presidential candidate takes over the dnc. [applause] because the dnc is just not about winning the presidency. amen? >> amen. >> because even red states sent to u.s. senators to congress. red states send members of

congress to congress. and so, and red states have legislators who draw the line and make a determination. so when we ignore red states, we are in essence saying republicans, you just take those two u.s. senators and you just take all of those webs of congress that this into washington, d.c. when those people have a right the same laws that impact all of us in red states or blue states or purple states. our thinking has to shift. because my friends, let me tell you, if you haven't realized this, the republicans thinking has shifted. they are investing money in all states on all levels. and if we continue to only think of this presidential thing as the only operation, the only goal for the dnc, will continue to have, what did i say, 33 governorships that are

republican our mentality has to shift. we have to be more than just a presidential party. and so that means we have to budget. we set the budget and say that we're going to dedicate this amount of money for state parties and whatever, then that is what the budget, regardless of the presidential election comes up in 2020, we have a commitment. we made a commitment to our state parties, our territories and the democrats abroad and went to stick to that commitment regardless if you are a blue state or if you are a red state. at each presidential candidate when the company try to to get the nomination, they need to understand that. the power is with us. it's not with a presidential candidate. if we build an organization, a strong organization with a strong foundation, it doesn't matter if you have a political phenom like barack obama who

comes along once in a generation or you have a policy wonk like hillary clinton. you win because your foundation is strong. we haven't invested in the foundation of this party. and that has to be our number one commitment. that has to be our sole focus over the course of the next few years. so again, that's my idea here i ain't going to windowdressing anymore thanks, jaime. raymond, before you get started, if you have questions please line up at the microphones. one writer in funny, the over here in front of alan. if you have questions please line up so that were not chasing folks around the room. raymond? >> thanks, rick. the best part of always going to alaska i don't have to repeat everything. my first subject as going to say is no more turning over the checkbook to the presidential campaign. it is absurd that's what we do every time. and when you get a chance to

look at my 15 point program you will see that it doesn't matter if you're a red state or a blue state or a purple state. it doesn't matter if you're a target state or not a targeted state. when you look at that map of the counties, i believe perhaps rhode island is the only state that is entirely blue. there are red areas of every single state. they are democrats that need help in every single state. part of that is having field offices, permanent community centers we need great and that i talk about. listen, the presidential campaign has enough money to do their targeting. the governor, the dda, the dccc, they can pick winners and losers, not the democratic party pick with got to get out of business of following what their leads are. we should be about electing democrats in every single state, so thank you. [applause]

>> good afternoon. my name is louis l roddick on the president the young democrats of america. and the other dnc members from my organization represent thousands of young democrats and hundreds of chapters all across the country. there are those of us who believe that youth engagement, securing the youth about means more than hiring young people to work in campaign offices. it means more than hiring young people like me to run campaigns. it means actually engaging young people so that they are leaders of the party and engaging young people so that they run for office. so my question to each of you on the half of my membership is, what each of you pledge to put together a real plan for millennial engagements and

turnout in election years? and if so, what does it look like? >> raiment, why don't you go ahead and start? >> thank you for the question. it gives me an opportunity to keep pushing and some my 15 points. youth engagement, according to the most recent study is that it was done across the country, according to what people are saying. it wasn't in new hampshire. we have same-day voter registration so we can actually track where college kids register to vote. it was the margin in new hampshire. that's why hillary clinton one was because of the youth vote that turned out in new hampshire. that's because we're long-term programs working with them. maggie hassan defeated kelly ayotte for the senate because of that. carol shea-porter defeated frank ginza because of the youth vote. that's how we win elections in new hampshire. we know what we're doing.

with six state reps under the age of 30. we had on staff, promote of any other state young democrats organizations had a full-time executive director. we did. we invest in youth. we make sure that they're engaged and involved at every level at every state and they are never not at the table. >> congressman? >> thanks a lot for the question. i really appreciate it. we absolutely all have to think about how we can engage young people in this process as leaders here not just staff, although for sure staff but also leaders. and i think that i will make a pledge to you, that that plan is there. let me tell you what i've already pledged. what is i think the college gyms have to have a budget. i was told young college republicans at 5 million bucks and the democrats didn't have a budget. we've got at least let them go

toe to toe, right? we've got to be there for them. i also will tell you that i think we should have a focus on college kids but also on noncollege young people. react like everybody goes to college. a lot of people don't. i've got three sons and a daughter. my second son went to hamblen university for semester and said i'm going to go be a full-time artist. and that's what he does for a living. the bottom line is we have to be at the apprenticeship programs. we've got to connect with like the afl-cio has a program called next up. and it's all young people, some of them are pretty politically sophisticated. some of them are due to the whole thing but they have this big conference they bring young people to every year. we should partner with them as much as we possibly can to say look, if you are fighting for fight for 15 an 15 if you're fig for immigration reform, if

you're a member of black lace matter or any of these organizations, the democratic party ought to have come ought to be contesting for a little bit of your time and attention. not that we want to take you away from the scrape groups but we want you to know at the end of the day if you want to fight for 50 get past the law. that means you to elect somebody to do it. maybe you, right? so these are the things that i'm prepared to pledged to write down. i think our labour friends and give was a lot of good advice on how we can get kids were in a partnership programs. also veterans. a lot of our veterans, particularly afghanistan and iraq. i have another son. he has not gone to college at all. he went straight into the military from high school. he's getting out and about two or three weeks. he's looking for what he wants to do. we've got to be able to talk to our young veterans because a lot of those guys have some advice on how we can connect with young people across the board. so thanks are making sure that

we promised to you that that will be a top consideration. those are some of my ideas. i'd like to get more of yours. thank you. >> take you so much for that question, and thank you for all that you guys are doing, again on the front lines of this party. so if you look at the history of this great nation, all of the great changes in this country have happened because of young people, from the founding of this country, young people. from the civil rights movement, young people. in this next phase of the civil rights movement it's been led by young people. when i was 23 i was the youngest, one of the youngest nonprofit executives in the country when i helped to run a nonprofit called college summit which helped other low income young people get to college. took it from an organization

which is worked with a few hundred students to now working with about 17,000 young people all across this country getting them into college. when i was 29 i became the first african-american and youngest executive director of the house democratic caucus and the 200 years plus of the house democratic caucus which is the oldest organization in the house. i was the first african-american and youngest at 29. at 36 i became the youngest state party chair in south carolina. for the democratic party. and if i am elected chair at 40, i think i will be the youngest dnc chair. so i know about providing in people with opportunity and allowing them and giving them the opportunity to succeed and excel. and that is what i do each and every day in south carolina. you talk to any of the young

democrats in south carolina, my president and my 90, i've spent so much time with her. right now i'm writing about actually with the republican friend called climbing the hill, how to build a career in congress to make a difference. because that's what young people want to do. they want to make a difference. they want to be a part of this. they want to build their future. it's important we do that. we have invested so much in young people in south carolina. my third vice chair is under the age of 35. that's what i'm proposing that we create and under 35 dnc vice chair position because i believe that young voters need to be at the table. in addition, in south carolina we have the fellowship geared toward young people, training them to run for office not just to be the field staff but to run for office as well. one of my candidates who ran against mr. benghazi himself, trey doughty, was 26, and he went toe to toe and we trained in and we help them on debate

prep and it made me being with pride. that's what i'm all about, empowering young people so that they can be their own future. and so i'm willing, not only pledge, that's my life history. that's my life story. so i end this with you. >> thank you all. jackson? >> are we good? thanks, rick. washington state democrats and the vice president for the western region for the afdc. there's 13 states and the western region, about a quarter of the individuals in this room and it's good to see the 3-d representing the south and the midwest and the northeast of our country. i'd like to ask you as we talk about grassroots efforts in building the party and drilling down on those experiences you've all spoken passionate about the work you've done in your region but as we know it's different in different parts of the country. my question to you is could you

speak a little bit about your experience, your knowledge and your plans for working with states and the western part of the united states? i think oftentimes there's the feeling were either considered a very large blue cash register or small red state that is a flyover state. we deserve more than that. with constituencies in the west that extend across borders. we have challenges that are unique and i would just like to do a little bit about your experience and plans for that. thank you. >> jackson, as i said said i worked in the house with the house caucus. that means representing, working with representatives from all of the states, and so understanding, when you have to get your aching foes, sometimes votes come on the house floor that some members just can't take. they can't vote the way the leadership wants them to vote

because of their constituency, and cultural aspects of things that just don't fly in their area. one of the things that we have to do a better job of and we have particularly and some of western states is, and i think with the party begin to talk about these values but then our words betray us -- excuse me. but her actions betray us. is that in some western states have a lot of native american communities, and i've been doing some work with the kellogg foundation and they do so much work in native american communities. and it's a date. what's going on right now with the pipeline, it breaks my heart. it absolutely breaks my heart that we as a party, we are not standing up. [applause]

>> and so, i mean, again, we can't just talk about this, folks. we've got to be about it. we can't just talk about it. and i, to this point, and again, i love the president dearly but it's time for some leadership. i know we only has a few more weeks, but it's time for some leadership. cory booker who is my man, i know he stood up and said -- but it's time for some leadership from this party to stand up and do what's right for the people. and so jackson, just know that coming from a red state that is always the stepchild of the democratic party, or at least it's been for the past, what, since the '60s, 70s, i know what it is to just be used for

certain aspects and not feeling appreciated. so i want you guys to know that this is a commitment from me, not only for just blue states and the states we need, but for all the states. you have a partner in the who will work each day and every night doing what we can to do what you need to be done. and so that's my commitment. [applause] >> thanks, jaime. let me tell you, i am firmly committed to elevating the voice of our western brothers and sisters. i spoke at the state democratic party at utah, and it's actually think i've done that now twice, was very honored to be out there with my brothers and sisters in nebraska. i think -- there she is.

how are you doing? talk about pipeline. there's the original pipeline fighter over there. [applause] absolutely. >> at actually i have written letters asking the president to divert the pipeline and spoke at rallies about it. also spoken and tried to save it. we've got to get into conversation with some of our folks and labor on the other side of that debate to try to get us into some sort of a conversation. because we have construction workers and native communities and water and environment, and it's complicated. the democratic party should be a source for getting us in room and coming out holding hands together, never sacrificing where we stand on the issue of the environment and sovereignty rights. and let me also, i've been to nevada, spent five hours. i have stood with democratic party many times, but there was

really differences that i saw in philadelphia. i want to speak at the breakfast and folks had very different sharp differences. they said would you come out memorandum of understanding and the unity agreement? i said i absolutely will do that, and then weeks later got on a plane come went to nevada, sat in a room for five hours into it came up with a memorandum of understanding between bernie sanders and clinton supporters. and was glad to do so because i think that something whatever state, i mean the ansi chairs should do, is understand the conflict is part of human existence and we need to sit down and help people sort of conflict out. so that's why i did that. i campaigned in colorado quite a bit. whenever western states, and in arizona and in washington state was really happy to go out to

help her when her race in seattle. so give a hand to her, y'all. [applause] selected just say that i've spent the time and will spend the time. if we consider, texas sort of the southwest state, then there and campaigned there and actually went up to help chairman hannah joseph work for a city council person, right? so it's not just the federal office. we are working on the granular level so that's been my commitment. i've been come as a put my feet on the grant and spent time supported candidates, sent money and give it up myself to help up resolve conflict. i think in the west, the state of california -- i think i've run out of time but i'll tell you more in a little while. >> thank you. i promise i didn't pay jackson for that question but i'm glad

he did ask it. in my eight years as president of accr been to everyone since at least two times. some noted a dozen times. i come every single time. i have to take that back. i have never been to hawaii in the last eight years. and if you want to send it, i'm willing to go new year's sounds pretty good. no, i've been there. there is never been a committee or a meeting that did not include western states in the conversation. and to cut it real quick, if you have any concern about my commitment to the western states you should talk to that chair of the western states democratic national many caucus who is supporting my candidacy. >> thank you, raymond. i think with a couple more questions but i want to maybe be more of the productive, provocative question asker since

apparel with some shy audience members. [shouting] >> there is a line? spelled okay. okay. they are sitting down, all right. go ahead. >> is that on? my name is ryan ramirez. i'm the chair of the native american council, and here for the dnc, from belcourt north dakota. [applause] one of the few. we also have deborah holland from new mexico who is a first american state party chair. [applause] my question, some of what was answered but i would encourage you guys to make sure and include us in your comments when you talk about different groups, not one of you talked about native americans. you didn't talk when you talk

about latinos, asian americans, african-americans. you've got to include -- that's a big thing in terms of our community. that was something to present obama did on the front end and really garnered a lot of support. i do want to see us go backwards in terms of the messaging in that place. so i ask and i humbly ask that you include us. and don't forget about us as the first americans. and then secondly, i was going to get to the decoder access by one. i don't think it's simple, it is a complication between labor and tribes. it's a simple issue. it's about civil rights. it's about human rights. it's about the right to have clean drinking water. it's not a complex issue. it's something that -- [applause] -- we as a part and as a people need to stand up for. when you see our indian brothers and sisters at the getting bitten by dogs, being hosed down

by water hoses in freezing temperatures, that ain't right. that's a simple simple thing. it's not complex. i beg to differ with you on that, mr. ellison. it's not complex in the least. it's simple. it's a fundamental right for tribes to be able to defend themselves and to have access to clean water. everybody else in that community needs clean water. they deviated it to protect the city. why will they not protect our reservations? i appreciate the time but i did want to again just echoed that it's not a complex issue. it's a simple issue. thank you. [applause] >> if i may, i absolutely agree with you, which is why i've spoken about in my own city of minneapolis which is why have letters of contesting and disputing the pipeline. and the been on record and i like to send those to you. i am on record standing with you and with the protesters, bu buti

really do want to tell you that it's absolutely unfair and environmental injustice abuse to deviate the line towards a native community and run the risk of their water when you made a decision to avoid and white community. i think you're absolutely right. the treatment of the protesters has been abysmal. you're right which is what i spoke out at public rep rallies and sign the letter. i do want to tell you though that i have had people come into my office and tell me, the workers are not to blink or we didn't design it if we didn't do this, it's not our fault. we are trying to make a living. cap there be a way for the democrats to try to drive a win-win conversation? were not talking about the company. i don't give a rip about them. what i'm telling you though is, you know, i have an long, strong

record of fighting for indigenous rights, if i middle jessica i start a group in minnesota which includes native americans and i've been up to several reservations fighting for these issues. but we are being, we have another part of her democratic coalition, people who are workers, union members, and i'm just saying we've got to create and if i'm where we can have a conversation. i hope you agree with that, because i don't think any of the protesters have any animus towards the workers. i just think that we've got two great and abundant where we can come together and have a valid conversation. so that's what i want to share with you. i'll tell you that you are absolutely right when you say we got to lift up native american struggle that's why peggy's plant again, that's why susan allen, state legislators in my state. i back then.

i helped them win and that also throughout the state of minnesota. but my only point was not that the more issues are complicated. you're right, they're not, but we have this worker issue that i think went to talk about it. >> thank you, ryan. i enjoyed serving with you on the executive committee the last couple of years. and it absolutely is empowering to hear you being mentioned. i did not actually go through the litany of the people because i believe in all. i know what it's like, according to new times the first openly gay guy elected to the state legislature in american history, i know what it's like when i hear lgbtq mentioned it as a first come only the second openly gay state chair, the first one to lead this organization and the first openly gay person to be a vice chair of the national party. i know what it's like and i know what it feels like and i apologize if you didn't feel that you included by us. but our support is, i'm going to

cosponsor, i have cosponsored the resolution for tomorrow's -- the pipeline. because i believe we all need to stand with you. but also we are also leading an effort because once we were told that was important to the native american community about the jefferson jackson dinner. the state by state by state has household and we've removed those names. we have gone gone, different sts have gone with different names but we understand the pain of the tragedy that occurred with the trail of tears and we agree that it's inappropriate for us to celebrate that. ..

as a grade said, we were tussling with the even in south carolina. i guess it wasn't even a test so because unanimously we decided to get rid of the jefferson jackson dinner. i got blowback from folks, how dare you and one person send andrew jackson was born in south carolina and i said so was john c calhoun and, i mean, what is that mean to me? when my brotherhood-- brothers hurt, i hurt. away and my sisters hurt i hurt. at that's what we need to be as a party. it's not about revising our history or what have you.

our history is our history when you have to learn from it so you don't repeat it, but at the same time we don't have to continue the hurt and injury from that and so i stand up with you, man. i'm with you 100% and whatever i can do in the fight, just know i'm here. >> thank you. >> hello. on the martha landing, the chair of the democratic party of wisconsin and i have a simple question, but one that's incredibly important because i think if we had answered in this election we would be having a different meeting and a very large celebration and it is, how are you worked to engage or should i say reengage voters who are from the industrial midwest? >> the from the industrial midwest, i can tell you that

what we have to do is sit down and listen to people about the economic pain they have been in with plant closings, people who are hoping the plant does not close and even when they threatened to close the plant and they don't they're asking for wage concessions and people are dealing with this day in and day out. in the some states have governors not accepting medicaid expansion and in the eight-- age of trump none of us may have that and in the industrial i think people should know we don't consider ourselves a rust belt. we are not rusted out, but we are up and ready to go and the other thing about the industrial midwest is that we are very diverse and i don't just mean racially. i mean, geographically diverse. we have some folks in rural communities, urban communities, but addressing this idea of deindustrialization that has taken place over the last 40

years and has flattened our wages has been a real a serious issue. i think as a democratic party we should be loud and proud about collective bargaining rights, i mean, the fact is collective bargaining started in wisconsin and in yet wisconsin is one of the places most under attack and the public employees, we all remember when you guys so valiantly stood in there to fight against scott walker and the whole world saw your courage , but you have to have a democratic party that stands with you, so i think we should change our language. i don't think anyone means it in a bad way when they say fly over a rust belt, but we need to enrich and enhance ourselves like the comments about making sure we talk about our native communities in the key partnership we have with them. we also have to talk to parts of our country like the midwest and the south to make sure that we never contribute to someone

feeling the left out, lost, second-best, not included and i can tell you that's if we invest in the grassroots on the ground in wisconsin, michigan and iowa and minnesota, if we do that and we prioritize voter turnout in 365 days a year, we will get those folks back and we will win all of this country and in the midwest. >> listen, i think a lot of the pain felt in the midwest is also pain being felt in the south as well. very similar. textile industry in south carolina was hit hard and so we have to pivot into the two other types of industry and tourism became one of them. now, some manufacturing has come back, but we also at the same

time and when we spoke, the three of us spoke to our friends and i mentioned this, we don't have very many unions in the south and there is union presence down there, but it's very very small. it's a very small footprint and then we have at the same time we have unfettered demonization of the folks who work, who are union members by leadership. nikki haley has called union members thugs and everything else. as my grandma would say, everything but a child of god. you know, it's hard to push back and this is what my message was to friends in the union and the

labor movement, that-- that y'all got help us. it's hard to push back if you are not down there and working with us down there, if you are not trying to grow that area. so, many of the pains you guys feel are the pains we also feel in the south and i can say this, you guys know my background by now. i grew up in rural south carolina, mom 15 years old when she had me. grandparents, my grandfather worked in construction, had a fourth grade education. my grandmother worked at one of those textile plants that was shuttered. she had an eighth a grade education. i know what it's like to be on food stamps. i know what it's like to have your lights turned off. i know it is like to see your wages not increase or if they increase is a nickel increase or 10-cent increase.

while the price of goods continue to go up, the price of clothing continues to go up. i know what it's like to lose ground. that's what a lot of folks are feeling. a lot of folks say, does a black man from rural south carolina understand what a white man from world south carolina is, limited the least segregated places are the rural communities because those same black people and same poor white people are shopping and going to the same places altogether because they all broke together, so yes, a black man from rural south carolina does understand what a white man or white woman from rural south carolina is going through and guys, there's a lot of pain still being felt. when you have unemployment in some these areas that are still in the teens and so i'm in there i'm in the fight with you.

>> our problem in any one of our communities, not just in the rural areas, but inner cities as well is that we show up weeks before the election and expect how to somehow miraculously connect to the voters. they are smarter than that. the dnc has this new tool called the building fund and where we can take dollars that don't count against anything else, let's raise the money in the building fund. in my 15-point plan i went to work with every place. there should be a field office that i like to call a community center in every single congressional district across the country because i found in new hampshire-- we had 27 regional officers had more than half are not paid by anyone coming out of washington. they were local people raising and helping. it was a partnership between the state party local people to make sure they had on office. we rented them early and develop

them across the states because they can become community centers. people, and they see it. it becomes part of their families, visiting with their friends. it's a place to go. let other organizations coming and utilize it. if someone is doing a postcard to protect women's rights, let them come in and use the tables and chairs. if it's about voter protection let them come in. invites people in. we'll have a conversation in the community. we need to get back into the union halls, the church halls, communities across the state. we are too much of the guys that are in the basements in washington or some other place telling us analytics-- no, no, no screw that. we need to start talking to people. if we talk to people they will understand what we believe in and they will be with us on election day.

>> thank you, raymond. we will move into one minute answers for the next several questions. one minute answers. >> this is not a yes or no question. you all talk to briefly-- >> do you want to introduce yourself. >> kerry tepper from colorado. you all talk briefly about unity between bernie and hillary people and we have to bring ourselves to get. the grassroots are already starting to do that. these are not new ideas. we are beginning to have little meetings between us. we are doing things with each other, so that we are unified. of the important question i have for you is the unity commission. do you have an idea? i think we are under a time deadline that members need to be appointed shortly. do you know who you want to

appoint and if you don't are you going to let us know or will you be appointed because our time deadline? i very very interested in this commission what your plans are for its. >> i'm at trying to remember if the apartment have to be made before february 25. there is a part of me that to believe it has to be and it will be donna brazil's appointment. oh, mr. roosevelt. was i correct where was i wrong? >> by the terms-- this is jim roosevelt. by the terms of the convention resolution that appointment are to be made by the next elected chair of the democratic national committee.

>> well, you already know where my commitment is. a lot of the problems that we had came with a lack of understanding and appreciation or i think we need to make change to how we do our process and i believe the charges to simply look at the issue of superdelegates and look at how primaries are governed and how caucuses are governed and all of that to work and i think there is enormous amount of work that can be done to make people feel respected and included and that's why i offered those refer -- reforms to the dnc. [inaudible] [inaudible] >> since i thought donna was making the appointment i had not given any thought to it, but sure.

>> well, let me tell you, no, i don't have any specific people picked out. on tried to get us away from that sort of thing. i think we need to have people that are interested to identify themselves and i think we ought to get a diverse group of people who can represent all different sides of the debate because i think the democratic party should be democratic and i just want to say that one of the most important things we can do for ourselves as a dnc, democratic party, is not just to be fair because we have to do that, but to also appear to be fair and set up transparency so that everyone knows what's going on, how folks are chosen. and they had a shot. we can't guarantee you will get in there, but you will at least be able to participate and i think that this is definitely a real reform we have to make,

transparency, accessibility and inclusion. >> i also thought that donna was making the appointments. nonetheless, i agree with what keith said wholeheartedly. we should have a process for people interested. my big yacht is they have to be people who want to be unified because there's a lot of people who don't want that. they want the conflict and back-and-forth and i just don't have any time for that. as my grandma always told me if you get respect you have to give it and what i have seen, i had to someone tweet i guess we have cameras here so i can't use the f bomb, but they basically told me when i was thinking about jumping into this process that i needed to stem the letter f down folks, poor black man from south carolina, my entire life people

have been telling me to sit down that ain't happening anymore. i'm not going to tolerate it. we have to respect each other. we have to respect each other's background and points of views. we are all different and that diversity is our strength, but it creates issues as well. so, whatever or whomever we pick they have to be people who understand that, that that is the greatest strength of this party and this nation. thank you. >> thank you, jamie. ellen. >> my name is deborah holland, state charm woman of new mexico and thank you all for allowing me to ask a question. i don't know if it's as question as much as a comment. after i won my election in 2015,

about five minutes later i got a facebook message that said, congratulations you are one of three native americans on the dnc, so currently we have a caucus of three people i mean if you are calculating-- i guess i should say i'm a very proud member of 10% of a native of voting population in new mexico, and a lot of native communities in new mexico have up to 40% unemployment and they still get out to vote and they vote 90% for democrats, so i think that we are all missing a tremendous opportunity if it we are really really working to engage those people and so first i encourage you to keep that the native americans with the dnc year-round. don't suspended because we don't have an election year because those folks need to be engaged year-round. secondly, if we are looking at

the population of our committee here, we should have at least 20 native american members on this committee, so i urge you all to work and i know you can do that. there are a lot of state parties and i know some state chairs tremendously engage with their native of voters, but we need you, our leadership, to do more to make sure that we get to those numbers up and i'm sure there's other ethnic groups who need representation on this committee, so i'm not sure if you want to answer that war if you just want to take this as a comment, but that's what we need. >> i just want to say, i think it's critically important that you made that point. i'm certainly committed to increasing the native voice in the dnc and supporting native folk. i think it's critical, but i also want to say to you,

congratulations on a pretty good year in new mexico in what otherwise was a tough year across the country. there were bright sparks and new mexico was one, so thank you for your leadership. >> in addition to increasing the native american representation on the dnc, we need to increase it in congress as well, i mean, and in our elected offices all across the country and a so i'm that commitment with you. thank you, deb. >> in 1998, convention jesse jackson and part of that unity budget require-- required we all agree to create a series of appointments to the dnc to make the dnc more reflective of the democratic party and of america. it has been an important first, second and third step for many of our communities onto their.

there was a time, actually, on the dnc we did not-- [inaudible] >> i announced and some of you may remember that i voted no on every single appointment to the dnc executive committee. then i was like okay. we need a transgender member of the dnc and that was the first thing i said. you have all of these appointments and we need to make sure there was someone on their. i know believe we have three on the dnc. absolutely, we need to use those appointments and power to bring in those people to make sure the dnc reflects the democratic party and who we wanted to be. >> sarah-- senator karen carter peterson.

thank you for all you are doing to help us with the december 10, election. thank you. so, we are speaking about diversity and i would like all of the ladies to stand up, please. stand up to show you are here and present. those of you that will be voting in february for the next chair of the dnc, do you see all of these wonderful ladies? they are voters. you have not mentioned to us yet, but here's your opportunity to tell us because you know the gender gap is getting wider width of the democrats and we don't like that here we did not raise the ceiling-- we don't like that and we are very frustrated. i was in north carolina before the election doing a lot of work i saw a wonderful woman offer herself for the u.s. senate and she came up short. now, the governor race, governor elect cooper did really well and

i was perplexed because i went to a lot of those rallies and i saw deborah and i was like what is going on and then josh stein one. to you in the ag race in the gubernatorial race, but we couldn't win the u.s. senate race. we need attention, just like other caucuses do, our women's caucus need to retention and we would like to hear more about how you will focus on as. >> you have one minute. >> your check will be in the mail. thank you for that question. i have elected more women to office than any other state party chair in american history. we have power to democratic women as governors and now us senators. we had the first female majority legislative body in new hampshire after the 2008 election. i just want to throw one thing in there because the women have

been my base and that's why i have been reelected each and every time because i believe-- there was almost two thirds executives women because they felt they had a chance to be involved. there is something i brought up to the rules committee two years ago and because maybe we are unique in new hampshire, but i still think because i get a lot of pushback in new hampshire, women are the only the only part of the dnc that has a ceiling. i do not understand why it's not a floor and said of a ceiling. wire women limited to only 50%. we could have 100% african-american, lgb q, but women cannot be 51% of the body, cannot be 51% of any committee, cannot be 51% of the convention. of that is wrong.

>> thank you for all you have done to elevate the voice of women and i share your commitment to, but you know, senator i just want to recognize that in it this year where we had a chance to elect the first woman president of the united states the most renowned misogynist ever won the election this is something that we all really need to stop and contemplate for a moment. we live in a world that is sexist and unfair and all of us have to have a commitment to eradicating this and i wanted to let you know that if i'm elected chair, i will use whatever power i have in appointments to make sure that the woman's voices elevated strong and equal, but

more than that we will accrue women candidates to run and win all over this country. i was so proud to see a young woman in my congressional office be elected to the minnesota state legislature and i'm committed to that in the long term, so thanks for raising the issue. >> i was raised by a single mom, so i know the power of a woman. and i'm married to a powerful one. yield and harvard graduate and probably the smartest woman i know. i'm going to make some news here. i know that we have been throwing around some things about whether or not we will have a chair or whether we will have a cochair. let me just say this, if we do go to a cochair model then it needs to me one man and one woman.

that is what we do in our states and that's what we need to do if we are truly committed. again, i am tired of the words and it's all about the action. so, if we are going to go to that, then that is the model we need to do for this party as well. >> yes ma'am. >> hello. on the incoming chair of the nebraska democratic party. one of the things i really ran on was promising folks in our state that the democratic party would lead on issues, not just candidates. we have to be in the streets showing independents and democrats that we have a backbone and when it comes to the issues like the keystone xl pipeline, dakota access pipeline , there are about 10 democrats that stood with us.

of a lot of the democrats nationally said nothing while our native brothers and sisters are getting hosed with water by ranchers getting their land taken away back in the domain for private gains, so i want to know what issues you guys will talk about? was the issue you really care about that's important to democrats that's not being talked about that you will elevate and the national level? >> can i follow up to that since we are running out of time? in the coming years, if you are elected party chair in addition to what our new chair from nebraska has, how will you lead our party and opposition to the truck administration, but also appeal broadly to the aspirational hopes and dreams of americans because they are not necessarily the same thing. >> they keep for that question and let me tell you i'm very proud to have opposed the keystone pipeline end of the day

code access pipeline. i will tell you this, the issues i think are critical, it's so hard to pick between just one, but we have got to address this economic malaise that so many americans are suffering through, but that's a bundle of things. that's minimum wage, a fair trade agreements, i was a clear opponent and fought tirelessly to into the transpacific partnership and will five more to make sure that our working people of this country don't see their jobs go way. healthcare access is now on the line. they are talking about repealing it right away and i think we need to go back to having mass rallies and gathering democrats in local communities and washington, but all across this country to raise their voices and really rally against that year of trump. i bet you we could attract nearly-- literally thousands of

people if we would create a resistance movement and i think, by the way, this will attract people all over and appeal to the broad nation because trump said he was to talk about jobs in this other stuff, but he will deliver any. we will stand against it and i think it will get us back in the majority in the short time. >> i believe we need-- that's how we will get the young people , you know. i know you all have heard be say this, i should not be the youngest person that your state central committee meetings. there shouldn't only be one or two people with naturally brown hair. we need to engage young people. and people will come to our meetings if there is an action item and there's nothing like a

gathering of people. that's why we go to church every sunday or saturday wherever we go. we go because we want to get together and feel good and that's why we meet is to be a collective and be part of something together. that's what makes us americans. why we have gotten away from doing that i cannot understand and that's why talked about the midterm conference or convention let's open the doors and let everyone come in. let everyone have a voice in the party. let's showcase these phenomenal people. there is the rally on january 22 in washington with the million mom march and i absolutely believe that has to happen not just in washington, but across the state of new hampshire. we want a couple thousand people from your community's. people can take a stand against what donald trump stands for. >> i just want to say time limits are discrimination against governors because we

take a lot of talk. we should get like an extra five seconds or something. three things, the greatest threat to our democracy right now, political gerrymandering. greatest threat to the growth of our party right now, young people. why? because they align with us value wise, but they don't align with us in terms of identifying themselves as it democrats and we have to change that. i have $160,000-- i graduated from law school with $160,000 in debt, $160,000. that is what young people are faced with. we have to help them tackle that. last thing, economic stagnation. credits. i try to get the clinton campaign to talk about this.

in poor communities credit is the biggest barrier to living the american dream and if we don't tackle that can help people with that they never will. >> i have one of those terrible two-part questions. it was like he read my mind. i spent a lot of the last four years traveling around the country and i thought we had a project by which we were going to bow-- go back and look at the cultural identity of this brand, the big d of being a democrat and i founded the together young people, but also people of color don't understand what that means for them and how it has an impact on their life, so they have lost this connection to what it means to be a democrats and you hire political consultants to help us fix that when in reality it's a cultural issue, a part of the cultural fabric of the united states.

how would you fix it and the second thing is i don't really have an issue with much of anything that you all have spoken about today. i just want to know how you are going to raise the money to pay for it. >> i can go. henry, i will be calling on you to help me raise some of that money, brother. seriously, the biggest challenge in raising money, i remember when i became chair and folk said you are a young black man coming after a big trial lawyer and you-- i have raised just as much as he has. the other thing is you have to give people a reason to invest in your party, give them something to invest in. that's why bernie sanders was so easy to attract small dollar donations because people saw him and wanted to invest in him in the same reason why barack obama, howard dean, they gave people something to invest in

and that's the big thing. again, talking to our donors, basically we are venture capitalist. here is a project we need you to invest in and i believe if people site plan and vision i think they will come and invest. the second thing you said, one of the things as i talked about earlier might issue, south carolina democrats care. a going into the community's on level and helping communities tackle the issues they are faced with on a day-to-day basis and we have to at the same time demonstrate what will discourage folks is when they saw the senate doesn't have black folks or latinos were native americans or anyone. that just kills us of the party. so, we have to tackle things like that. >> when it comes to attracting young people to identify as a democrats, i think it's something my dad always said, he

said if you want a friend, b1. when you see young people fight for 15, occupy wall street, all of these movements that are out there in the street demonstrating, the decode access pipeline, immigration fights, the democratic party has to stand with them and be clear we are with you and that means being there and walking that walk in being there. i think that is absolutely true. henry, someone asked me do you think we need to go left or right and i think we need to go deep. build durable trustful relationships based on unity and connectivity and the answers will clearly come. fundraising wise, let's me tell you, henry, you are the man on that. we will definitely rely on you, but i have raised millions of dollars.

i have raised over a million and given it to my state party. it's a time to test case strong message and people need to know what they are investing in. so, thank you for all you have done. we zero you had debt of gratitude, henry, and thank you for your question. >> henry, first off i would ask you to return as finance chair. seriously, when the donors out there whether it's the little old lady that wants to send in her five or $10 a month, she trusts as that we are spending the money correctly not wasting it. when our staff understands that $10 that they just [bleep] away, that might have been a meal for that women and people need to take us seriously and when our big donors actually see an action plan that proves positive getting back out into the communities actually is a hell

of a lot better investment than another $25000 tv ad. we have all of the money in the world to get to the corporate media, the consultants in washington, $60 million in new hampshire was spent by the various groups in the u.s. senate race. 250,000, that's wrong. >> yes, sir? >> my name is ron harris from minnesota. there's a lot of conversation about gerrymandering being the biggest threat, but there has not been a conversation at all about candidate recruitment or development and i would like to hear if you are at the dnc chair what are your plans for candidate training at the

national committee level. >> listen, one of the greatest challenges i thought fundraising would be the hardest thing i had to do as the chair. people will say yes or no and you just keep calling and keep on. the greatest challenge was finding candidates in training as candidates and so we launched the political fellowship. i went to the congressman and said i want to do this fellowship and my goal is by 2020 having 250 young people in the state trained to be the next generation candidates, county chairs or field the staff. we created a curriculum that was not just the nuts and bolts of campaign so they understand that, but what it meant to be a leader and we have done this, six weeks-- weekends, three days intensive workshops in which we go over everything from a-z in

terms of campaign leadership and we just graduated our first class, 32. we start our next class of 47 in these fellows have committed to stay in the state of south carolina and they represent every county in our states. so, that is what i have done in order to build. that's what i want to replicate in other states and across the country. >> thank you and thank you for the questions. i don't want you to fall off your chair if you don't already know this and in new hampshire we have a 400 member house that is up every two years and i been one of the league recruiters for the house for nearly 40 years. recruiting, training, supporting and electing folks, you know, we have 4000 when the civil offices single year in new hampshire. are 24 members-- are governors races up every two years and if there is one thing we have in

new hampshire it is plenty of elections and plenty of opportunities to run for office. is critically important you show them the support you have and that's what we do really well in new hampshire and that's what we have been doing for decades. >> i agree that we have to recruit young people and set up programs to do it took i been pleased to purchase stay in programs where we train people to run for office and also work on campaigns. one of the things i think the dnc can really add value to communities as every time a member of the dnc or democratic party gives in front of a group of people to talk well about public service. i find, ron, when we get up there if the government does not work it does not help recruit people to run for public office. we have got to tell young people holding off running for office

is noble, good, the way good things happen. then we will put them in programs in south carolina and new hampshire and i haven't recruited many candidates for congress, state legislature, city council, but one thing we must do is as a group agree that we are going to all pump up the necessity of life for office with good people in office. there is no dishonor in the same. that dishonor is not trying care >> nick. this will be the last audience question. >> if i learned anything today, it's that we are very lucky with three great gentlemen running for chair of this party. thank you very much. our party will be in good hands. of the one question i know a lot of people have in their minds is based on what's happened in the past with our party and people not really doing this on a full-time basis and having other agendas and running in different

directions, as you all have put forward very aggressive proposals this evening i wear this party should go, are you all willing to make this your number one priority and of the priority of what needs to be done over the next few years to rebuild and take this party into the future? are you willing to make this commitment that nothing else will stand in your way? >> i absolutely will make the dnc my number one commitments. i been having a series of conversations with many of you and i am formulating an idea about whether or not i have to give up my seat or i can be in congress and serve as dnc chair, when i started this conversation i assumed that debbie, tim kaine , governor rendell and other people had done it and i did not think it was a problem, but i recognize we really are in

a new age. so, i'm in the process of deciding this issue of whether i can perform both roles. you ask me will it be my first priority, absolutely. you should know when you are in the minority and there's no democratic presidents, all there is to do is float no one repeals of the affordable care act which takes about 20 minutes on a given day. every other moments i will be at the dnc and working very hard. let me tell you quickly the day after i announced, i went astray to pittsburgh to talk to the dmo left it there and went to california to talk to delegates their. (went to the district next to my new minnesota, then went to michigan and new york. i went to 230 states in the last year and have raised millions of dollars. i appear the media regularly and i will absolutely fight to make

the dnc my first priority, but the truth is that job number one for all of us, all democrats is to get back into the majority and i think i can do both of those things, but i am hearing from you and a listening. >> this is it. this will be my only focus outside of my family. each day, every day, 24/seven. i have known key for a long time and i told him this when i first , when he first called me and said he was going to run and i said keith, i love you brother , and i know you have a lot of passion and energy, but i'm telling you that the members of this committee want someone who can do this 24/seven. glisson, fighting donald trump on the floor of the house of representatives when he's appointed jeff sessions to be

over the justice department and when every single right we have will be a full-time job. that will-- i just i can't see it. i been on the floor of the house and i noticed like and i take it will be a full-time job and again, the question was well, debbie did it. debbie did it. i will leave that up to you guys to make that determination. my big thing is this, we have the president, the vice president. we don't have that now your call we have is the dnc and we need is someone who dedicate all of their time. >> thank you, raymond. >> thanks. i think all of you have seen my work as the state party chair and headed the afc seat to know is my only thing. that my life is about electing democrats because i believe there is nothing more important than making america and the

world at a place. that's how i have dedicated my life. i think this job is a really big important job and so i am not ruling out's if the dnc membership was to bifurcate the position. i would be willing to serve as the nuts and bolts and let's either keith or jade put on the makeup and go on meet the press and do all of the rallies and things like that and lets me work on the grassroots. that issuer decision. will be the decision of the dnc to do that. i can do the whole job or half the job. either way, i want to be there and make sure we are ready for the elections of 2017, 18, 19, 20 and for generations to come. >> one quick comment. >> the question that was just

asked-- >> do you want to introduce yourself. >> i am life from arkansas and chair of the women's caucus with the dnc. the question that was just asked, just want to point out that our rules states that the chair of the party is a full-time position. i guess where some of the confusion has come when we have had the bifurcated system and this kind of thing has been when the head of the party was the presidents and then whatever the president at that time once, then waivers or rules bent, whatever come into play. we will not have that going forth when we do the elections in 2017. so, it's not really a choice. the rules state that the chair of the party will be a full-time

position and i just wanted to make that clear. cigna can i respond? >> sure. >> lottie, i appreciate you making that point and i have appreciated hearing from a lot of our dnc board members. as i said before, i started with one kind of understanding; okay? and as i have talked with all of you it has become very apparent that many of you feel strongly about this and i just want to tell you this, though i love being in congress because it allows me to serve my neighbors, i do think that it is more important to build, strengthen the dnc and the democratic party. so, look, the election is february 24. there's still many of you i have to talk to.

i'm hoping you will allow me and keep your minds open on my candidacy as we continue to talk. i think i have an excellent record, great work ethic, plan that i have demonstrated background of increasing turnout and i know i can be an excellent dnc chair, but we have a few weeks before we have any kind of election and i hope you all will allow me to continue to talk to you, hear from you and get your take on the best way forward because i'm going to do the right thing for the dnc. that's what i'm going to do and so i just want you to know that i think you may understand based on past history how i started out looking at this, but as time goes forward many of you are raising points i have to consider, so with your indulgence i will continue the conversation.

is that okay with everyone? i assure you will i will do the right thing for the dnc. >> thank you. a burning question from the audience. >> burning or bernie? >> microphone right here. >> my godmother over here is starting to ask a question, so my burning question was you talked about more diversity and we need it. my first dnc resolution ever was to get rid of the out large apartments to the chair and they said keep them because we need them for diversity, so i would encourage you all to improve the diversity of our communities of color on the dnc. here is per g with burning questions. >> we work very hard to get a

diversity chair, caucus chairs and this election we talk about this every election about money coming to our community. i didn't hear anything today about the african-american vote, the base of this party. can you talk about it? >> if we could keep our comments to one minute. >> as you know, african-american women where the loyalist vote getters in this election. >> we all know of the importance of the african-american vote to the democratic party. particularly african-american women and when bernie sanders and hillary minton came to south carolina and asked me how do i win south carolina, i told them you need to talk to black women

and you need to talk to black women who are my moms age, middle-aged african-american women. so, african-americans are very important, but we also have other folks in our group that are also very important in terms of our coalition, people of color in our groups that are in our party and we have to do a better job. again, from staffing to the people we use as vendors and i tweeted this the other day, you cannot have vendors create ads for african-american communities and none of the people writing that ads were drafting the ads are african-american. for people of color across the board, so you know where i am on that. >> thank you for raising the issue about african-americans as a critical vote for our whole country and party. lets me just tell you i remember

years ago when you had your african-american caucus in detroit's, wonderful event and i'm sure that that event where you drew people from all of the country really had a pragmatic effect of turning out the african-american vote, so we have to invest in the american-- african-american vote. we can just assume we will have the african-american votes just like we can't neglect that native american vote or women's vote or any one of our core constituencies. look, we got to talk about-- this is a race and justice issue we have to talk about voting rights not just in the south but all of the country. also, police violence has to be an issue we talk about on a regular basis and massive incarceration, so thank you very much for raising that. >> raymond. >> i think that it's important

that we focus on all and that's why as i said in the beginning i did not start listing off each group because if you include and engage every single group and i ask you to look at who the leadership of the acc is in my hiring practices as a state party in new hampshire and within the asc see and you will see when i was a 7-year old kid volunteering it was because of racial inequality and us so we must live it. i was completely furious when i read the story the other day about the lack of african-american staffers in the u.s. senate and i immediately am on the plane out here and i texted donna and said if you are going to go to war with this i will join you. we all have a responsibility to all of the communities of color,

all the people that have felt left out or left behind, everyone deserves a seat at the table. [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible]

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[inaudible] >> i would like to say thank you to all three of our candidates who are running for chair. let's give them a round of applause and say thank you and excuse them from the stage now. [applause]. >> earlier today secretary of state john kerry spoke about the middle east and how he thinks peace can be achieved in the future. during his comments he explained why the us decided to abstain on the un israeli settlement photo last week. here is what he had to say. >> israel's permanent representative to the united nations who does not support a

two state solution said after the vote last week quote it was to be expected that israel's a greatest ally would act in accordance with the values that we share. and to veto this resolution. i am compelled to respond, today, but the united states did in fact those in accordance with our values. just as previous us administrations have done at the security council before us. they failed it to recognize that this friend, the united states of america, that has done more to support israel than any other country, this friend that has blocked countless efforts 2d-- delegitimize israel cannot be true to our own values or even the stated democratic values of israel. we cannot properly defend and protect israel if we allow a viable two state solution to be

destroyed before our own eyes. that's the bottom line. the votes in the united nations was about preserving the two state solution. of that's what we were standing up for. israel's future as a jewish and democratic state, living side-by-side in peace and security with its neighbors. of that's what we are trying to preserve. for our sake and for their sick. in fact, this administration has been israel's greatest friend and supporter with an absolutely unwavering commitment to advancing israel's security and protecting its legitimacy. on this point i want to be very clear, no american administration has done more for israel's security than barack obama's. that israeli prime minister himself has noted our quote unprecedented military intelligence cooperation.

our military exercises are more advanced than ever. our assistance for iron dome has a saved countless israeli lives here we have consistently supported israel's right to defend itself by itself including during actions in gaza , that sparked great controversy. time and again we have demonstrated that we have israel's back. we have strongly boycott investment campaigns and sanctions targeting israel and international fora. whenever and wherever its legitimacy was attacked, and we have fought for its inclusion across the un system. in the midst of our own financial crisis and budget deficits we repeatedly increased funding to support israel. in fact, more than one half of our entire global foreign military financing goes to israel. this fall, we concluded the

store 38 million-dollar memorandum of understanding that exceeds any military assistance package the us has provided to any country at any time and that will invest in cutting edge at missile defense and sustain israel's qualitative military edge of for years to come. that's the measure of our support. >> that was just part of secretary of state john kerry had to stay earlier today. we will show you his entire comments later at 6:40 p.m. eastern on c-span. here's a look at our primetime schedule on the c-span networks. starting at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span a look back to congressional hearings of 2016, including ones on the flint, michigan water crisis and the wells fargo unauthorized account scandal. here on c-span to its book tv programming with authors discussing notable books of 2016

and on c-span3 american history tv with events on world war ii. washington congressman jim mcdermott has been in congress for 28 years, but recently retired and before leaving his job he spoke with c-span about his career and what his future plans are. this is 25 minutes. .. you want to go do it.

in three weeks i will be 80. and i said to myself, my mother lifted 97, my father is 93 but i don't think i think i will have that long. and all the things i want to do, i'm not retiring. i'm just going to go do other things. >> host: what are you going to do? >> guest: i hope to teach. i've got a beginning engagement with university of washington, the jackson school of international affairs. i paint. i am and a process of writing a book. i -- my editor and i been working away on exactly which direction i'm going to go on a book. and there some places i haven't been. i've been in 101 countries in my life but i've never been to portugal. i've only been to barcelona, spain, paris in france. that whole lot of things i want to do.

the various parts of france and portugal, maybe some french cooking. i mean, this is the first time in my life i can do what i absolutely want to do. >> host: using excited about that? >> guest: i've been working since i was 12 and always someone telling me what i had to do and had to go here and i had to do that and i had to do this. for the last 28 years i've had 700,000 people telling what they think i ought to do. now i'm going to kill myself what i think i ought to do. >> host: what did you do when you were 12? >> guest: i was a paper boy. that's where i started. then i worked in grocery stores stocking shelves and do work through college. there's always been demands on my life to perform at this level or that level or do this or do that. the concept of having the freedom to say no, i'm not going to do that.

george miller told me before he left, he said, jim, say no to everybody. because otherwise you will be as busy as you were when you were in congress. so he said just say no. and then you can gradually let things and as it goes along. i'll find things to do the i've people out there already telling me things they want me to do. i have a long list of stuff, but i get to choose. i don't have to do any of them. >> host: why did you start in politics? >> guest: it was accidental really. i was on the way to being an academic in medicine, and was very excited about medicine. but i got involved and i dealt with casualties and then from 1960, 1968-70, and i felt like i ought to do something about my country. i had to try and stop the war. so i got in the legislature and i got involved in the state legislature.

and then i discovered all the things you could do in government. i can see patients one at a time. you say thank you and thank you, thank you. but i can affect 300 million people if i think carefully about what i'm doing, whether it's the environment or its healthcare or its education or its the aids epidemic. i have enormous reach here, so i get taken in by the power of it. and i came back to congress coni mean, i had left politics in 1987 and i went with the state department. i had a wonderful job in africa. and i came back with my brother and said we will do national health insurance, i want back. thatcher passion. let's do it. so i really came back to do that. >> host: your eighth child psychologist, psychiatrist by training. did you accomplish what you set out to accomplish here in

washington? >> guest: well, you know, the quote when i left congress, the one from gandalf in "lord of the rings" where the children ask him, what should we do? what should we do? and he said it's not our snow what the tides of the world are. our job is to clean the rocks in the fields that we know so that we leave for those who follow us cleaner the deal. what they shall have we do not know. i did everything i could in the time i was here to make a national health plan that i thought would work for the american people. is a perfect? no, no. and there's work to be done and they will be doing it, and this all repeal and replace. there will be all kinds of things happening in healthcare after me, but but i could staye until i was 95 and we wouldn't be done because social policy never is perfect. you are always adjusting it.

things are happening. you have to move things around and something you didn't think about happens, i've got to do this. and so i think you have to work for when you were there as hard as you can on what you care about. and at that point you say i will leave it to someone else to fix it. >> host: you on the way to usher the ways and means committee for many years, chairman and top ranking of the health subcommittee. what would you say the highlights of the legislative career were? >> guest: well, before i was on the health subcommittee i was on the income security and family support committee which dealt with the foster kids of this country. so i was the godfather for 500,000 foster kids in this country, and i rewrote the language of foster care legislation. it's called the fostering connections act. i rearranged fostering, foster care for the modern day.

this step was written in years ago and it had not been changed, so i came in a changed it. i did the same thing with unemployment insurance. i changed that because an old days on the men worked and women stayed at home. now you have two people working and you all kinds of changes. so the law needed to be revised. so i did that. i worked on the health care bill, not perfect bill. it's not exactly what i would've written, but we got something done and it's in place and its functioning and a lot more people of insurance than they did. the first bill i did in congress was 1987. i got several hundred million dollars for housing for people living with aids. for a freshman to get that much money in a program that's still going on today 28 years later, billions of dollars on housing for people living with aids. so there's a whole lot of things that i've done that i am proud of.

none of them were perfect. we've had to change some of them, but i think you have to think of the government and the legislation as being like evolution. it changes every day. it's going some different place, and jeff to react to it. never stays the same. that's why conservatives in the end always lose. because the tide moves on and changes things and you have to respond to that change. >> host: worked with several presidents during your tenure. what stories, or do you have a story, working with a president stands out to you? >> guest: well, i mean, one thing i would say about george bush. i think it into iraq was a a terrible mess and all the rest, but he did start pepfar. he started the program to create aids availability for all the world.

we are moving today towards an aids regeneration. if we keep pursuing it. i've always respected him for that. bill clinton and i had a good relationship, and mrs. clinton. because i with you when you first got here in 93 and was here when they were first tried to put the health care bill through. so i got to know them very well. they are wonderful people. mrs. clinton is smart and tough and quick and funny and listens to you, and then tries to, she's a good lawyer. she tries tries to jerking around what she wanted to. my experience with both of those presidents was good. >> host: any regrets of decisions you made during your time here? >> guest: no. no. this is, politics is the equivalent of war without guns. so it's a tough business.