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♪ ♪ are we having a good time? i think we are having a good time. the presentation will continue with the david bloom award which celebrates exceptional enterprise and investigative reporting for the last year with a particular eye towards journalism that is fresh, daring or undertaking in difficult circumstances. ladies and gentlemen, this award

honors the memory of david a correspondent and anchor for abc news. [applause] here to present tonight's award or two of david's daughters, nicole and christine. >> our mom and aid to our eta ar sister sent their best. she's a freshman at notre dame and couldn't get away because of her classes. nicole and i are thrilled to be here as our stepdad, then an hour dinner date peter alexand

alexander. thewe are so grateful that you'e provided us this extraordinary platform to remember and honor our father, david bloom, and we feel fortunate to have been a part of this special evening. the work that every person in this room does is beyond impressive. the david bloom award recognizes those who demonstrat demonstrato encourage and bravery on the job. our dad had a love for news and storytelling just like all of you. he rode across the desert with an intensity and passion and with a strong respect to the stories he was sharing. he also often had a huge smile on his face despite the dust storms that came from being embedded. he was directed to the world's

attention for mattered most at the time. the true stories in difficult conditions of the war. the recount from tallahassee, so some things are okay but it is evident throughout his career he starts to get the most accurate story. story. indians times more now than ever it is a noble profession that needs to be protected at all costs. tonight we want to recognize an outstanding journalist in particular has gone above and beyond for his reporting. this year's david bloom award honors an incredibly brave team who the journalist. in the fall of 2017, quinten sommerville and her cameraman

gave an inside look into the toughest nation after months of violence by us-led coalition forces. this is on the final stages as the battles in the city and the last stronghold of the obama state. the bbc described the ironclad deathtrap the city with civilians facing snipers with no option for for escape and padia was shot in syria. >> very hot and humid. there's a few hundred meters from here. it is critical territory to be taken. it's much more than that.

it reclaims them in the united states. >> before the closing speed to speak to [inaudible] but he didn't survive. he was 21-years-old. >> congratulations. [applause]

in 2017 for the challenges involved in fighting isis congratulations to. [applause] thank you for having me back. i've spoken to some of his contemporaries from 2003 and everybody talks about how he was a brilliant journalist but he was also someone you didn't want as your competition. he was feeling pretty good about

himself. we were not able to broadcast them and the war was lost all on account. that is to tell mps stories from dangerous places to be american audiences and global audiences. i will make a plea while i'm here telling the story is difficult because the way that we fight the war has changed. the main force in iraq and syria and their militia. so it is to look to those forces

earlier to be on the front lines because if if you want your people and audiences to understand, you need journalists there from the very beginning. we are reporting on the bad gu guys. from the british perspective they will admit they have special forces in iraq and syria. we see you. we know you are there. my mom isn't here tonight but i would like to thank her anyway and also my team and ever other panel members but most of all one particular journalist who does amazing work under

incredible circumstances and is banned from coming to the united states. thank you for your commitment to the story without you and your colleagues we wouldn't be able to tell the ongoing battle against the so-called islamic state. [applause] congratulations. our final award of the evening for distinguished reporting on congress was established to honor a distinguished career at the washington broadcaster who has achieved the body of journalistic work demonstrating and expertise of congress. the award recognizes exceptional careers and signifies the admiration of the many broadcasters who follow behind

and benefit from the work of the recipient. here to present the award is a fellow floridian from district 27. [applause] thank you for that kind introduction. iand our panel it says he's buit an enthusiastic following with a comedic repertoire consisting of phone pranks. he's the reason why i hung up on president elect barack obama not once but twice when he called me. i'm still afraid to answer my phone. i am so honored to join all of you tonight and i commend each

and every one of you for your achievements. you are the folks who keep us informed and present the facts during the most confusing and try and time. among us here today is a man many of us have known for years. i've had the privilege of knowing jamie for over two decades may be a little bit longer and he's become a trusted voice for his diligent news coverage both congressional and national. it's been many years as a professional journalist is covered by goings-on and then not goings-on of congress, delegation meetings, partisan

gridlock. she's covered at all wit it alla professionalism and fairness that has become synonymous with his career. he's a shining example of determination and perseverance. in 2016, a radio reporter he lost his voice to a prayer neurological condition which has no known treatment and can create severe breathing and speaking difficulties. he's a radio reporter but despite the condition, he isn't the one to step down in the face of adversity. first through twitter and his bald and later through innovative technology, and this technology allows him to type radio reports and reproduces his words with the voice for which we have all come to know so

well. when wife said to be quiet, he found a way to speak ever louder than before. he's an example for every american face of overwhelming adversity. he's a committed to this great craft and profession of journalism and maintains the highest level of integrity and is the leader in every sense of the word. he's not only a fair reporter but he's a loving husband to his wonderful wife, wonderful dad to his three children and a genuinely nice guy. this is why i'm honored to present him with the prestigious 2018 career achievement award for distinguished reporting on congress and let us take a moment now ladies and gentlemen to take a brief look at his work on capitol hill over the years.

>> reporters on air force one were told this afternoon at this point the u.s. is still trying to figure out what group was put onto the attacks. >> it doesn't matter who's in office were in power whatever is going on in washington is a story that needs to be told. he's always on a hunt for the story and that is the mark of an old-school news guy. this will be the smallest deba debate. >> i remember the last night he was able to be with us it was the night of the indiana primary if not long after that his voice was gone and it never came back. >> he went to johns hopkins and

nobody could put a finger on why he couldn't speak until he got a doctor who gave him the diagnosis where something is firing in his brain that would tell his mouth to move and speak but something isn't making the right connection with the him ao we can't make word the way we make words and it's been just devastating. >> [inaudible]

250 or 300 samples of what it sounded like to create a report and from that they were able to re-create a movement. in the case this one is from wisconsin. they would focus on immigration changes and executive order. >> an example for every american has been afflicted with disease. he's accredited and an essential profession for his media in organization that cuts the media group. way to go. we are all with you. >> i now invite him to join me

for the achievement award for distinguished reporting on congress and within is our friend. [applause] i'm so honored that jamie asked me to deliver his remarks for him.

he i want to thank the congressman. your speech on the house floor saved my job and career. i want to thank the board for this honor. i especially want to thank the hard-working staffers in the house and senate radio and television galleries. their help has been invaluable over 30 years. [applause] i also want to thank my wife who is here for all of her support. [applause] we gather tonight during an intense time for the news media and fake news and more. my advice is simple. ignore that talk. work harder. do your job even better.

specifics overwhelm your listeners with facts that drenched the readers in detail. paul schieffer and jones of cbs frank reynolds and john chancellor at nbc. and over 30 years of covering congress i tried to emulate the evenhanded approach to the news on capitol hill and i've been lucky to have my lawmakers became the speaker of the house newt gingrich and john boehner. most did their job with little fanfare and were nice people. some were forgettable. but i tried to do on capitol hill is bring back an approach into view through a longer lens of history instead of the

knee-jerk atmosphere of partisan battling. unfortunately, my voice disappeared over two years ago. i would like to turn over to say a few words and as i do i want to say all of us that have worked with us for decades and i can speak for myself and i know a lot of our colleagues learned from you the ropes working to understand the inner workings of congress and how the bill gets passed you talked to me and so many people and we are grateful that you will never lose the place that is inside and i want

to invite you up. [applause] i will never, ever give up. [applause] you and i hope that one day my voice is back and i say thank you very much. [applause]

another big round of applause. [applause] it's truly amazing. our keynote speaker tonight is from the great state of arizona, republican senator jeff flake. senator flake is a fifth generation selected to the senate in 2012 after serving 12

years in the house of representatives, representing arizona's east valley. as a member of the united states senate, he serves on the energy and natural resources on the judiciary committees. he's also the author of the conscience of a conservative rejection of destructive politics and returned to principle. please join me in welcoming the arizona senator jeff flake. [applause] congratulations to all of the award winners tonight. if i sound winde winded it's bee i've been taking the stairs all day. i've developed an aversion to elevators.

[laughter] i saw susanne and the cnn camera next to the elevator this morning and i got nervous. this morning chris even suggested there's got to be room for a television show that goes along the lines of the comedians in cars getting coffee. some version like senators and elevators. so wait for that one. you run for the press at every opportunity. when you are in the senate you run away as fast as you can. i would like to say a few words tonight about the search for truth which is what all of you

here tonight are all about. it's what defines your profession. near the beginning of the document that made us free our declaration of independence, thomas jefferson wrote we hold these truths to be self-evident so from the beginning of freedom has been predicated on truth. the founders were visionary in this regard, understanding the good faith and shared facts between the government would be the basis of this ongoing idea of america. without truth and a principled fidelity to truth and shared facts the democracy wouldn't last. the past few years we've seen the truth objective, empirical, evidence-based truth more battered and abused than any time in the history of the term alternative facts ha effects han

enshrined into the american lexicon. we've seen the unrelenting daily assaults on the constitutionally protected free press in the assault that is as unprecedented as it is unwarranted. it's been accosted but my kids would call that a bad joke. it seems some of you agree with my kids. [laughter] it is said if you serve long enough in washington, you will see just about everything. my 1 18 years in this town hasnt been all that long. especially compared to politicians like orrin hatch whose party -left-curly-bracket here tonight.

it's referred to the free press as the enemy of the people. the phrase that has such a noble pedigree and of course as those in the room know how, the president has it completely backwards. [applause] despotism is the enemy of the people. the free press which makes the free press the guardian of democracy. [applause] the use of the term isn't just injurious to the body politic. it puts journalists in danger. those of us who travel overseas especially to war zones and other areas frequently encounter members of the us-based media who risk their lives reporting on the truths it is an affront

to their commitment and sacrifice. [applause] it's also a language to the dictators to stifle dissent and crackdown on journalists in their own countries. the expression and reverence for the free press has been our global hallmark. it is our ability to air the truth that keeps our government honest and keeps the people free between the mighty and the modest truth is the great leveler. that's why respect for freedom of the press has always been and must always be one of the countries most important export and in our country from the trivial to the truly dangerous

it is the range and regularity of the untruth we now see the profound alarm as george orwell learned to further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those that speak it. in america we do not pay to the powerful impact we question the powerful most ardently to do so is our birthright and requirement of our citizenship. so we know no matter how powerful, no person, not even the president will ever have dominion over objective reality. [applause] of course the major difference between politicians and the free press is that the press when it

makes a mistake. we politicians usually don't. any of us that have spent time in public life have endured news coverage that we felt was jaded or unfair. in our possession to have even idle threats for the laws and regulations to stifle the criticism or to take away credentials as corrosive to our democratic institutions. simply put, it is the press obligation to uncover the truth about the power. it's the people's right to criticize their government and it's our job as politicians to take it. [applause] it may be for the historians but for those who cherish american constitutional democracy, what matters is the effect on america

and her people in her standing g and increasingly unstable world that is made more unstable by this parsing of truth what matters is the daily disassembling of our democratic institutions. if we compromise the truth for the sake of politics, we are lost. that's why the work that you do in this room has never been more important than it is today. for those that will be covered in the next congress to ensure they are watching on c-span. as historian jon meacham in his book the soul of america reassures history shows we are frequently vulnerable to fear, bitterness and strife. the good news is that we've come through such darkness before but

not with twitter and nuclear weapons. and certainly not with the presidency such as this one if we take the point and i'm heartened by it we will get through this but at the moment we are in it and we must face it squarely because far too much is at stake. a cold related events such as the president scrambles the politic and we are all disoriented up the alignment. we find many of the biggest issues don't break down meekly to the ideas of left versus right but more along these lines aren't you faithful targue faity or to your party, are you loyal to the wall and the constitution or a man?

do you describe the most to your opponentopponents but somehow d, excuse or endorse every repulsive thing that your compatriots says, does? those questions have sent some of us wandering into the political wilderness. fortunately, i'm no stranger to the wilderness. now in fact during one congressional recess i spent a week alone voluntarily on a tiny island with coconut trees in the central pacific to 7,000 miles from washington. i'm not joking. to justify the skills i brought no food or water and relied only on what i could catch or collect. that, it turned out was the

easier part. more difficult was dealing with thloneliness that sat in on the first night and never left me. by day number three i began to mark the hermit crab that wandered in. they marked him with a number just to see. i wasn't so fond of number 12 from the pinched my big toe. i wouldn't recommend such drastic measures for their independence but i hope that they would be asked to go along the policies they should not abide or condone behavior that simply should not be condoned and set out to the wilderness rather than compromise their conscience. [applause]

i would urge them to challenge the partisan assumptions regularly apologize every now and then, at night the mistakes, forgive and ask forgiveness. listen more, speak up more, partisan politics sometimes keep this quiet. exclaimed the power and win the white house has been occupied by the other party, the stalwarts of the government and constitutional principle have been in the full throat rushing to your cameras to defend against a grave threat to the institutions of american liberty posed by the democrats. wherthere are these guardians of

liberty one could fairly ask when the objective reality itself is commandeered by a president of their own party. see if it really suits you from personal experience. food tastes better. you sleep well. your mind is your own again. you cease being captives to some bad impulses and even worse ideas and it can strain relationships to be sure you can find yourself eating alone in the senate dining room every now and then.

a president himself might recognize i like people whose minds were not captured. how i miss john mccain. [applause] now if you'll indulge me for just a moment while i talk about my beloved state of arizona, nearly a century ago they sent my great grandfather from utah to settle in northern arizona that started the community and after the arrival of town was named snowflake for the two of them. it is in the small community that i was raised on a ranch with ten brothers and sisters and 691st cousins on my fathers

side alone. if you are wondering how a sleek can get elected, now you know. with his brother charles to arrest an outlaw. within three years he lost his own life to illness leaving him to raise his nine kids alone. he wrote in his journal once

again i must face a cloudy future. [applause] james blake went on to honor a e traveling and crisscrossing the state of arizona and as far away from colorado to prevent women's suffrage. i have to think that this week more than a century later james madison flake would be as proud as his great grandson that they've elected their first

female senator. [applause] i've enjoyed almost every minute of it. last and most sincerely, go get them. [applause] [cheering]

i had no idea that he was on survivor. [laughter] the journalist in the next chair of next year's dinner. [applause] thank you to everyone for coming out tonight and for eloquent remarks at the keynote speaker for being such a fierce defendant of the amendment. the executive committee members for those of u their service ond during a busy year on capitol

hill and further hard-working gallery staff for organizing tonight's tremendous dinner please join me and applauding their efforts. [applause] bear with us for our entertainment tonight white ford bronco. we look forward to seeing you next year. this dinner is adjourned.

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from the group's third play this is a little more than an hour. >> good morning. welcome. this is going to be a week that is chalk full of analysis for most of us have definitely for the folks that are here on the panel. i am grateful it's going to be so much more fun than last cycle.