>> confirmation votes on us ambassador to germany and also nominee to the us representative to the un economic and social council . when the sentence or 2:15 we will live coverage as alwaysright here on c-span2 . >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government funded by these television companies and more including charter communications . >> broadband is a force for empowerment. that's why charter has invested billions building infrastructure, upgrading technology, empowering opportunity in communitiesbig and small . charter is connecting us. >> charter communications supports c-span as a public service along with these othertelevision providers giving you a front row seat to democracy . next, republican national committee chair ronna mcdaniel at the group's 2022 winter meeting. earlier members voted to

censure republican representatives liz cheney and adam kingzinger for their participation on the january 6 committee . this is just under an hour. >>. [applause] >> hello everyone. it's great to see you. welcome to our 2022 winter meeting. it has been so wonderful to be here in salt lake city utah. it holds set a special place in my heart. i attended byu just a few years ago right down the road, a few years ago and last year i was in utah my.daughter abigail's room and she set off to provo to attend brigham young it is so great to be back with all of you.

i'm so happy to see you. you are the men and women who are volunteering and leading and you will lead our party to victory in november . i also want to thank for's have made this whole week possible so let's get a big thank you to our utah delegation. chairman carson jorgensen i. i think you're over here. committeeman bruce hawk also our tour guide, who knew and our committeewoman marie brock awaits. thank you utah for being such great hosts. i have to thank tommy hicks, a great cochairman, new finance chair who couldn't be with us. i'm excited for you to meet him. our tremendous chief of staff richard walters and chief operator gina jackson, chief of staff mike three, chief counsel justin reamer and the whole legal office give them a round of applause . they work so hard. and of course you all know them well. mariana arrow and her whole member services team. let's think them for alltheir

hard work . [applause] and i have a group that really helps me and you guys deal with them all the time and i want to thank them so much for all they do. anna cox, hannah race, ansley auburn and shannon fisher who helped with thechairman's office . yankees all of you. our great rnc officers ron kaufman, vicki drummond, thank you for all you do and all every great rnc staffer in this room in dc across the country. thank you for all you're doing to lead us to victory and finally i have to thank my family. they are not here this week, they were here earlier. my husband patrick will you know he's the best husband in the world. please tell him i saidthat . we're going on 23 years married and we actually got married in salt lake city. he's such a great man and heour wonderful children ãwho has

had three facilities in a row so he's loving life right now so some of you as the week as she came up for our events. i love them so much and couldn't do it without them. when we met in nashville last summer i said something and i hope you remember . i saidthe democrats had awakened the sleeping giant . the moms of america and in 2021 moms mobilized like we've never seen before because despite what democrats think, parents actually do know what's best for their kids. and they showed up in virginia to prove that point and elected glenn youngkin and jason meara. and it wasn't just in virginia. across america voters are fed up with joe biden's failing

radical agenda. in 2021 we won races in pennsylvania, maine, texas, new york , new jersey and seattle. we elected a republican city attorney in seattle. that's right, seattle loaded red. when republicans come together we win. just like we did in 2021, the rnc is leading the way to victory this year and as we approach the midterms our party is stronger than ever. we've already raised $155 million this cycle and outraised every other committee including the dnc. that money doesn't just sit in the back. it's not sitting in a bank somewhere, we're putting it to work and we invested millions of dollars in voter registration election integrity, data and the largest sales operation in history. we've opened dozens of community centers, reaching and serving diverse communities .

>> building on the success of the campaign where engaging with diverse communities more than ever. the rnc has made a multimillion dollar investment engaging with asian pacific americans, blacks and hispanic communities in key states . >> the republican national committee reopened the rnc black community center in cleveland . the goal is to build relationships with african-americans getting involved in the republican party . >> ground game and medications efforts will deliver arepublican victory in 2022 and beyond . [applause] >> we have open community centers in cities across the country, engaging blacks, hispanics, asians and for the

first time ever native americans. we are showing up, listening and learning. we are also building the largest election integrity operation in history. i know that's music to your ears. we hired 15 election integrity directors nationwide and we are over 30 lawsuits across the country protecting voter id laws and bipartisan poll watching, securing drop boxes, fighting to ban ballot harvesting and we are taking democrats to court for allowing noncitizens to vote in american elections. [applause] where republicans are making it easier to vote and harder to cheat. restoring faith in our elections also means making sure our candidate can compete on a level playing field and that starts by withdrawing from the biased commission onpresidential debates .

i want to thank our debate committee e for standing up for 11 million americans. if we can thank you for the work you have done. [applause] and to everyone in the media let me be clear. we are notwalking away from debate . we are walking away from the commission on presidential debates because it's a biased monopoly that does not serve the best interests of the american people . in 2028 shows a former joe biden staffer to moderate his debate. they had debates begin after 26 days had already started voting. the republican party deserves better. the american people deserve better because weknow , we all know this that if we have

a free and fair for him we win becauseour policies are the best for the american people . you know that by looking at those states won by republicans. 16 of the 20 states with the lowest unemployment rates are republican led. right here in utah more jobs are here now than before the pandemic. utah is moving in one direction from blue state to red state .re i'm going to have to take a drink of water. >> i'm going to take a minute. why don't we clap while itake a minute ? i'm back. red states are open for business.

our kids are in the classroom. communities are safe and freedoms comes first. we all know this. i talked with you about this today. there's no more important election than the one in front of us . our country is in crisis and who does president not care. he has taken us from america first to america last. and in joe biden's america we are facing soaring inflation, empty shelves, high gas prices and open borders, horrific crime, a drug crisis and school closures. 72 percent of americans don't like we are headed in the wrong direction and joe biden does not care. >> a year into the presidency, no test kits in some places. >> nothings been good enough. >> not to have a shot or have

a test, what's the big deal this is not about freedom . it's about choice. >> i make no apologies for my proposals. >> what's he doing? he's putting a speech out, this is the 31st. there. >> he doesn't care about what's happening there. >> i found it to be the most disrespectful thing i've ever seen . >> they don't really care what's happening because they're all headed towards the exit. >> i'm not supposed to be having this press conference . >> every part of american life right now is harder because of joe biden's failed policies . violent crime is at an all-time high in the one. the us reported the highest murder rate in six decades with a 30 percent increase and we can talk about statistics and numbers all we

want but it's about people and real stories and the impact that these policies are having. we saw in waukesha wisconsin a murderer plow his car to a christmas parade. he'd been arrested multiple times. a career criminal and democrats didn't care. you was free because of democrats policies. he killed six people and injured more than 60. two of the victims were brothers. tucker and jackson, just 12 and eight years old. tucker fractured his skull and is recovering but jackson nopassed away in the hospital with his family by his side that christmas. we cannot accept that kind of violence. joe biden has left our southern border open to all kinds of violent crime. 2 million illegal immigrants have crossed open borders.

a devoted mother in texas lost her 19-year-old daughter adrian. she was killed by a drunk driving illegal immigrants and when asked about biden's open border policies rhonda said by him not being deported, you're telling me that my daughter's life didn't mean anything. joe biden does not care. he doesn't care about the deadly drugs pouring into our country. fentanyl overdoses are now yothe leading cause of death among young americans. there is 1000 percent increase of fentanyl coming across open borders and just last week, a 13-year-old boy in connecticut overdosed on fentanyl and died. from my hometown to your hometown and across america our neighbors are being poisoned by the drugs that joe biden is allowing across our border. 12 major cities from coast to coast shattered their homicide records last year.

each and every one of them run by democrats. do you see a pattern? i know i do. this is what happens when democrats spend years attacking law enforcement. this is what it looks like when joe biden and the radical left abandon our police. a historic 350 police officers were shot in the line of duty in 2021. i know you all saw and i'm sure you did the heartbreaking funeral of 22-year-old elyse officer jason rivera last week. he was a hero. he loved his city. he served, he was welcomed by a sea of men and women in blue to support him and his wife as he was murdered responding to a 911 call. his widow gave such a powerful eulogy, just to remind each of us of crimes

devastating cost. through tears she said the system continues to fail us. we are not safe anymore. not even the members who serve us . democrat policies turn wives into windows. democrat policies rob parents of their children. joe biden does not care. it does not have to be this way.it should not be this way and right now, i am saying enough. we are in this room because we know elections behave consequences. this is why we must win and we are going to win backthe house and senate in november . republicans are going to show up every day for every single american because we are the party of law and order.

we are the party that backs the blue. we are the party that stands up for parents and children and keeps schools and businesses open and delivers on jobs and tax cuts and secures the border and defends religious liberty, protects life and fight for freedom and opportunity. we will put our country back on track. i've said to you many times the greatest privilege i know is being a citizen of the united states of america . i love this country and we will save the america we know and love. ndthis is our moment. this is our mission and we will prevail. let's go win in 2022. god bless you and godbless the united states of america .

[applause] thank you. thank you. it is now my great pleasure to stop speaking. and introduce our cochair tommyhicks . [applause] >> thank you ronna and how do you follow that? thank you for yourvision. you've been an heincredible partner so how about giving her a hand one lamore time ? good morning rnc. it's great to be here with you today and i hope you had a wonderful time here in salt lake. thank you to our host city and our host members. carson, bruce and anne-marie. thank you for your wonderful hospitality. we've had a terrific week and thank you for having uswith you here in utah . and as ronna said thank you

to our incredible staff. and especially to my team and pierce, cole avery and mallory fields but, thank you. all of you make it good so we appreciate it. this is a huge year for our country and a huge year for our party. the american people have watched anone year of one-party democrat rule in washington dc. and they hate it. they are hungry for change and our party will deliver the winds to take back congress, to fire nancy pelosi and begin the process of saving this country by putting a check on joebiden's failed presidency . god put us here for a reason. everybody at the rnc understands the important mission in front of us. this is truly a fight for the heart and soul of america.

it's a fight that we are going to win. [applause] now, as a businessman i've stood most of my career looking for smart winning investments and as an investor, in the rnc myself i tell our other donors whether they are grassroots donors ormajor donors the rnc is building infrastructure we need to win . so i put my money where my is and thanks to the leadership of our incredible chairman, our team is ready for the mission ahead. last year, i have the opportunity to visit 42 states to support get out the vote efforts, fundraising and other party initiatives. this included more than 900 hours with our great investors and over 1000 hours

with our grassroots volunteers and our state parties. i've seen firsthand that this work is paying off. and if 2021 was an off year, just wait till you see what we have in store for 2022. i've been so impressed with the preparation that began a year ago. we wasted no time in laying the groundwork for successful november this year. our political team is engaging thousands and thousands of volunteers around the country and they are going to be ilcritical to our success. republican voters across the country are energized and are excited about getting involved. we are seeing amazing turnout at training events and i expect that's going to continue. and fundraising is firing on all cylinders. our donors know what is at stake right here and right now and i'm confident we will

have the resources we need to win in november and as we all in this room no money follows enthusiasm. so every day our communication team is holding joe biden's feet to the fire. they're calling out the left lies and hypocrisy in real time so that the american people can see those empty suits for exactly who they are. our strategic initiatives team is laser focused on growing the republican party. we've opened 21 outreach centers and minority communities across the country and once again, this is an area where eschairman mcdaniels leadership is going to pay off for our party and pay off for ourcountry . we are looking not just to this november but for elections beyond that andinto the future . democrat policies are so unpopular and their results so disastrous erthat many americans are taking a

serious look at voting republican for the first time in their lives. we have a generational opportunity to bring new voters into our ranks and were going to be stronger as a party, stronger as a country if we indeed exceed in doing that. these community centers put we've the best position been in in years. and speaking of the future of our party i wanted to highlight one fundraising initiative i'm excited about called the red white and blue club. it's designed to better reach and engage republicans 50 years of age and younger in a variety of ways.we hope to use our wb to better engage potential donors and perhaps those who just reached a point in their careers that they can donate to a political effort for the first time. we're going to use this to gather input on what they're seeing and hearing in a

professional and personal networks and we expand our net by listening to this next generation ofleaders. we have to build a bench for the future . our wb members are going to help us better improve and reach into their networks to find candidates t, volunteers and other r donors. so if you have any prospects and i'm totally shameless here, reach out to elise and we will certainly get in touch with them but i appreciate that. our wb gives us another set of republicans we can engage andwe need volunteers to carry our candidates to victory on election day . so i believe we are entering this year in a very strong position. and i want to thank again each and every single one of you. our members are the ones for all that you're doing in your states to support republican candidates and causes. our nation needs all of you right now. so i'm going to leave you

today with two challenges, number one , never accept the charge that our party doesn't stand for anything. we know that is absolutely not true. we are the party. [applause] we are the party of faith, freedom and opportunity. we offer the american people the ability to live their lives as theysee fit , not as romans forced to submit to government control. we believe in sovereign american orders. we believe in secure elections. only americans decide the outcome. republicans believe inamerica first, not an america last . second, we republicans must remain united. democrats win when we are divided. nothing can stop us from beating the democrats on the issues.

let's not help them by beating ourselves. republicans aren't afraid to debate each other. we have arange of views on the issues . which is a good thing. it's certainly better than the other side which is lurching closer and closer to complete socialism every single day. but after we have our debates and the primaries are over it is incumbent on every person in this room to bring republicans of all stripes together that we can win . who wants to fire nancypelosi once and for all ? [applause] who wants to kick chuck schumer out of the senate leader's office? i thought so. but that doesn't happen unless we stay united. the stakes are too high. we must have buy-in from all republicans to achieve

victory. so together, there's nothing we cannot achieve. and i'murthrilled to be on this journey with all of you . so thank you. let's move forward. let's win. god bless all of youand god bless the united states of america . [applause] >> thank you tommy. now it's time for the treasurer's report and it's my pleasure to announce ron for his report. >> we have a lot to cover so i'm going to heed the words that god said when he made me. keep it short. he overachieved. i'm proud to stand before you this morning to report that

our business, the republican national committee has become $1 billion plus, i say again, $1 billion plus over these past five years. you can report back to your donors, report back to cities, report back to your volunteers and the grassroots that chairman ronna and her team has put together the best funded, best run well organized political operation in the history ofour great nation . for this we must first thank kinzinger and tommy, finance director elise dickens and her team for their incredible fundraising efforts e. the good thing about fundraising, you don't have to struggle for words to explain it. somehow 1.3 billion speaks for itself.

[applause] and you need to thank our great budget chairman glenn mccall and his dedicated budget committee for the hours they spent. for the hours they spent with chief of staff richard h walters and i have a lot of things i want to say about richard. you already know richard and e the talented and hard-working staff of the rnc to ensure these these investments are wisely spent. and ntin politics wisely spent means winning elections. in 2020, while we sadly won't lost the white house we turned out millions more gop voters that voted in 2016. more women, or people of color, r,more younger voters and in 2021, sweeping victories up and down the ballot from republican mayors

to that wonderful republican da in seattle washington. and lastly i want to acknowledge the job done by coo tina jackson. cfo josh fisher for putting together the strongest, most efficient, best office team the rnc has ever had. together they built a cutting-edge back-office with the best and brightest and newest business systems known to man. it's an operation weall can be proud of . the ftc commands and dnc can only dream about. in summary my fellow 68 hours, we entered this off year elections with more money that is better managed, better deployed to a bigger and stronger republican army. don't take my word for it.

take back the house and take back the senate and please ask the new governor lieutenant governor attorney general, speaker of the house in virginia just how efficient this rnc is. madame chairman, that concludes my report and thank you for all you do.>> now i'd like to have our rnc general counsel deliverthe general counsel's report . >> during a television interview in 1952 in response to a question about america, robert frost said people will tell you freedom lies in being cautious. that point he started to violently shake his head no and said freedom lies in being bold. americans are dealing with the fallout of the disastrous ll policies of biden, schumer and pelosi, too numerous to

name but they include an inflation crisis, border crisis, globalsecurity crisis, war on parents leading to a crisis in our schools and the war on law enforcement leading to a crisis in public safety . as i look around the room and spend time this week together i'm proud to see the poway the rnc is boldly responding to protect freedom. starting with ron and her team, she is just a tireless worker. you see the public facing piece of it and i've gotten to start seeing a little bit behind-the-scenes. every day she is speaking truth to power and boldly standing up to protect our freedoms. [applause] what the team we are. the 168 across this room. i love talking to each and every one of you and hearing about the bold steps you are taking both individually and representing millions of

americans across this country to protect freedom in each and every one of your states. you each deserve a huge round of applause for the time you give and the fight in each and every one of you. [applause] and i'm extremely proud to be part of the legal departmentalongside justin reamer and his team . in unprecedented ways they are boldly using every tool available to them to fightfor freedom . they're fighting against noncitizen voting in places like vermont and new york city. they're fighting to defend state laws to protect election integrity. at thispoint nearly 40 across the country and in an unprecedented way , they fought against the biden administration for the illegal and unconstitutional vaccine mandates and one in the us supreme court . [applause] we are all acting boldly and if we continue to

stand strong and fight we will win in 2022 and we will protect the freedoms that americans love and deserve. with that madame chairman, that concludes my report but at this time i would also like to make a motion. i move that the republican national committee direct and authorize the executive committee to take the p ornecessary actions or the republican national committee to incorporate . >> thank you kyle. the motion has been made, is there a second? the motion has been made and seconded. is there any discussion? hearing no discussion we will move to vote on the question of authorizing the executive committee to take the necessary steps for the rnc to incorporate all in favor signify by saying aye. all those opposed signify yby saying no .

the aye's have it and the motion is adopted. now i like to recognize richard walters for the chief of staff report. >> good morning. thank you for being in salt lake city. i am sure by now you've all heard today is my blast day as chief of staff of the rnc. i become a senior advisor to the chairwoman and focus on projects like the 20/20 for convention, presidential nominating process and securing a base for our nominees. i'll still be in the building every day working onprojects and collaborating with our team on any major decision points that may arise . mike reed, our deputy chief of staff will become new chief and handle the day-to-day duties that come with that tjob. (translating my has been an invaluable ... [applause]

mike has been an invaluable asset to the rnc for years and is a dear friend. i would not feel comfortable making this change unless i do this transition would be seamless. mike and the senior staff are all seasoned professionals will continue to excel in their roles. i have served for nearly a decade. i started in 2013 as part of the junior staff. and in a lot of ways i've grown up at the rnc, an organization that has in so many ways become like a family. and as with any family ties and there have been lows. there have been some moments that will stay with me forever. for example as you all know around this time last year i received a phone call informing me that was a bomb outside our building . it's moments like that when it's hard not to think about the worst. hard not to feel powerless in the face of something unspeakable and it was hard not to think about the people in my building whom i cared

for that they were in real danger. thankfully we weathered that day together. i come to learn being a leader means you have to take the dark days with the right and remain consistent regardless of what each day brings. luckily there have been more bright days than dark . as i look over the rnc's position and that all the republicans in this room i'm imbued with a sense of accomplishment and the atabiding pride that what we have achievedtogether . a few come to mind. for years democrats dominated the online fundraising game with their online platform so we built our own, when read. as you've heard and as you may have seen in the story in fox this week, it noted we outraised the dnc over last year. this would not have been possible without this new b technology and the countless fundraising hours put in by

our chair andcochair. our ground game is second to none . we meet voters on their own terms. we turn them out, we get them to the polls and we win elections. don't believe me? ask chairman goff. [applause] i'm especially lowered of our community center projects. we've opened 21 centers nationwide in the last year neand will double that for election day. from our black community center in cleveland to hispanic outreach center in houston and native american community center in north carolina we are engaging nontraditionalrepublican voters all walks of life and all over the country and bringing them icinto our party . these victories and so many more are why we are in an accident position to make huge gains this november. and it goes without saying that one visionary leader has overseen this progress .

chairwoman ronna mcdaniel. [applause] i cannot begin to thank her enough for her poise, her vision and above all her commitment to the hard work and the people who do it. i cannot thank you enough for her generosity of time in spirit . the rnc has never been stronger e or more relevant and we go back to her leadership and over a debt of gratitude we may never be able to repay but we can start by winning in november . [applause] i may be changing my title but i will still be right by the chairwoman's side every day as we marched towards victory. the rnc encompasses the most talented and competent legroup of people i've ever had the opportunity to work with i. that extends to everyone in this room and our friends across the bench and extends back to my colleagues in washington dc . i am grateful above all for them who have given me their trust and at times blind

faith in leading our organization. i hope each of you in this room have the opportunity to meet people throughout your lives who inspire you the same way our staff inspires me. the work they do isn't always glamorous and our critics are often loud and numerous. yet they show up each day to fight the good fight without getting discouraged. so do all of you. i look forward to continue fighting the good fight with you in the weeks, months and years to come. from thebottom of my heart, thank you . [applause] >> i already am losing my voice.

i don't want to get emotional but i do want to say some things about richard. congratulations to richard for being the longest serving chief of staff in rnc history. i can't even begin to say how grateful i am for richard and his incredible work and friendship over the past five years. all of us in this room only him a debt of gratitude. richard has spent a decade of his life at the rnc and half a decade as chief of staff. few among us can claim such a deep and vested commitment to the important work is party does and he has done that work with unparalleled success. under his leadership, this committee is in a stronger position than ever before and his team has delivered record-breaking fundraising, cutting-edge data, a relentless ground game, smart, innovative medication

and so much more. richard transitions into his new role having built a sound foundation that will carry us to victory in 2022 and as a senior advisor to me richard will focus on long-term projects that will chart our course over the coming years such as ensuring fair debate for the 2024 convention, a nominating calendar and we're so grateful for him. i want to congratulate mike read, a key leader on our team and our new chief of staff. as you've heard mike will take over the day-to-day work of implementing our winning 2022 strategy. with richard moving to senior advisor there is no one better to step into the role that mike read. he is a strong leader and a loft member of the rnc family and that's what this is, a family. we asuffer highs and close together and when any member te of the family moves on it is bittersweet but richard has more than earned his new role with us and we're lucky he's not going far and will still

be a key member of our team. we thank him from the bottom of our hearts. join me in congratulating mike andthanking richard once again .[applause] we have a little gift for richard. i hope he's going to love this because it's a pictureof the building . i told him i'm like, this is either a wonderful thing or a haunted house for you, i don't know but we wanted to give this to him to thank him . [applause] we will now move on to committee reports beginning with the resolutions committee and i would like to ask richard

porter, committee manager for illinois and resolutions committee chairman to deliver the report pursuant to rule 10 a to therules of the republican bmparty. the standing committee on resolutions met on thursday to consider all the resolutions timely submitted . all rnc members were emailed copies of these resolutions prior to today's meetings. madam chair, five resolutions were submitted to the committee and the committee recommends five resolutions for adoption today . they are resolution to hold communist china accountable for covid-19 death and injury to millions of americans and trillions of dollars of damage to the ue united states economy. resolution to censure liz cheney and adam kinzinger and no longer support them as members of the republican party . resolution to reaffirm our commitment to the current tfrepublican party platform. resolution to oppose noncitizen voting in local,

state and federal elections and resolution honoring the life of an employer. in the interest of time i request we dismissed the resolutions. >> it is so ordered. >> this concludes my report and i move the five resolutions before the committee be adopted as a whole is moved to consider all five .resolutions and consider them as a whole. without objection we will consider all five resolutions as a whole. no further discussion, is there any discussion? okay, hearing no further discussion we will move to a vote on adoption for the five resolutions as a whole . all in favor signify by saying aye. all of those signify by

saying number the trans- habit and the five resolutions are adopted. okay. i would now like to call on jeff tent, national committeeman for washington and chairman of the standing committee on rules for the purpose of giving his report. >> thank you madam chairwoman. the standing wocommittee on rules met yesterday during which we received two reports, one from the presidential process committee and the other from the presidential debates committee . both committees bohave done tremendous work and gave detailed reports containing numerous rule amendment proposals. the rules committee members will be reviewing the proposals, discussing them with their state members and will be prepared to take them up for action at the next rules committee meeting. thank you to the two committees for their early work on their ouproposals thus giving us all lots of time to digest, discuss and

understand them before voting on theproposals . additionally yesterday we further discussed the incorporation topic and as illustrated by the vote that we just had it was very much supported in the rules committee and as a last point let me thank all the rules committee members for the professional and thoughtful way in which they are conducting the due diligence expected of us . it is our promise to the full 168 that we will soon pass on to you rule amendments worthy of your confidence and support. here is my report. >> thank you jeff. i would now like to recognize dave fosse, national committeeman for maryland and chairman on the committee for presidential debate for the purpose of getting his report . >> the morning, great to mybe here. my privilege to give this report for the temporary committee on presidential debates. i'd again like to thank and

acknowledge and half away, my cochair and our subcommittee chairs jl spray and scott bolden and the entire team, entire committee has just done an amazing job. it's been an unbelievable year of hard work. at this meeting we've taken an important step towards ensuring that future presidential primary and general election debates are fair and productive, putting the candidates in and out eventual nominees in the best possible position to succeed. and really i just want to say this has only been possible because of the leadership and vision of our chair. ronna, one year ago cast us with this job and it's only because we started early. we had a deliberative and thoughtful process that we are where we are today. i want to thank you for your vision. last week the debates committee unanimously voted to adopt rule amendment language to recommend to the

rules committee for its consideration. a copy of this language is included in your materials. this language has important implications for both primary and general election presidential debates and makes good on the chairwoman's promise to the commission on presidential debates that the rnc would at this meeting initiate the process of amending the rules of the republican party to prohibit future republican nominees from participating in cpd sponsored debates. as recommended. [applause] as recommended, the rule amendment would authorize the debate committee to sanction that is approved debates that meet rnc standards as well as prohibit any candidate who attends an unsanctioned debate from participating in any future sanctions debates. that's in keeping with the

previous rule 10 language in effect during the 2017 presidential cycle and in addition the recommended rule amendment would also require any republican presidential candidate to agree in writing to attend only debates that are sanctioned by the rnc during the primary and general elections. as a condition to participating in any rnc sanctioned debate. yesterday i presented to the rules committee the recommended language and the rules committee assuming it passes there the full 168 will now quote on this language at the next rnc meeting. i'd like to thank jeff kent, chair of the rules committee for allowing me to attend and i look forward to the entire rules committee working through this process. the debates committee will continue to explore and improve both primary and residential election debates. what we have done is a significant step in the right direction.

i'm happy to discuss this with each and every one of you as we go forward. thank youvery much . [applause] >> thank you dave and thank you to the debate committee for the hard work and dave for chairing that committee and and hathaway for cochairing. pursuant to 10 a-10 the committee on the presidential nominating process is to review the rules governing the nomination of the republican party's presidential nominee. in addition the temporary committee on presidential nominating process shall make any recommendation that it deems appropriate and report recommendation to the national committee no later than june 30 of the year two years prior to the t presidential election. jeff kaufman, chairman of the committee on presidential nominating process and state chairman for iowa was planning to present his

committee's report during today's general session. unfortunately jeff was unable to travel to salt lake city this week therefore to comply with the rnc rules the committee on the presidential nominating process has delivered its written report of recommended rule changes to all rnc members. you have received the committee report via email and we look forward to hearing jeff speaks to his committee's report during our next rnc meeting. i would now like to recognize budget committee chairman glenn mccall, national committeeman from south carolina and budget committee chairman for the purpose of giving the budget committee report. >> thank you madam chairwoman. i'd like to thank the budget committee members and if it's okay if they would please stand. budget committee members, because they have put in so much time . [applause] thank you very much. and if you ever have any

questions about budget and wanting to know more about it, feel free tocontact them, myself, chief of staff, anyone . also we want to thank richard walters and our outgoing chief of staff and his direct reports which whave been very transparent with the budget committee when we are in dc in december building up the budget. >> .. >> who have -- [applause] done a tremendous job as you know. this week you've heard about the great success we had in fund raising, and it has,s it has really gotten us into a position where we'll be victorious this year. and you've heard about the great things with the community centers.

if so, madam chairwoman, i would like -- on behalf of the budget committee, i would move that we adopt the adoption of the '22 rnc budget by the committee. >> glenn mccall has moved adoption of the 2022 rnc budget. do i hear a second? it is moved and seconded that we adopt the 2022 iraq -- rnc budget. hearing no discussion, we will proceed with the vote. all of those in favor of adopting the 2032 rnc budget signify by saying aye. all those opposed, no. the ayes have it, and the budget is adopted. thank you, glenn. now, before we adjourn, a few announcements. i am pleased to announce the dates and location for our 2022 spring training. the spring training will take place april 13th and april 14th in memphis, tennessee. and i look forward to seeing you all there. and we also have the dates for

our summer meeting which will be august 2nd-5th. so we can get those to you, but just so you can start planning ahead. this concludes our committee business today. i want to thank each and every one of you for being here. this has been a pretty fast meeting. all have flights to get to. i look forward to seeing you soon as we prepare to win in 2022. i will now entertain a motion that the general session of the 20 2022 winter meeting of the republican national committee be adjourned. is there a motion? jonathan burnett has made a motion. is there a t second? there's a second. the motion has been moved and seconded, all thoseti in favor f adjournment please signify by sayingnm aye. >> aye. >> all those opposed signify by saying no. the meeting is adjourned. [laughter] [cheers and applause] measure

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

muck. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we're fund by these television companies and more including cox. >> cox is committed to providing eligible families access to affordable internet through the connect to compete program. bridging the digital divide one connected and engaged student at a time. cox, bringing us closer. >> cox supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> the u.s. senate now in recess until 2:15 p.m. eastern so that senators can attend each party's weekly lunch meeting. when the senate returns, confirmation votes on the mom nominee to be u.s. ambassador to germany, also u.s. representative to the u.n. economic and social council. when the session returns at 2:15 eastern, we'll have live coverage, as always, right here

on c-span2. >> michael to hanlon is with us. he heads the brookings institution's research and foreign policy program. he's the author of a number of books including his most recent, "the art of war in an age of peace." michael o'hanlon, welcome back to "washington journal." >> guest: thank you. let me quickly clarify, i'm not the director of the program, but only research within it, but it's an honor to be with you, and thank you for having me. >> host: absolutely. and on this morning to talk with us about the developing conflict between russia and ukraine and the growing partnership between china and is russia. so let's start there. with the olympics getting underway with the two most prominent leaders, president xi and president putin meeting on the sidelines of those olympics, and the "wall street journal" framing thatth meeting as putin and xi unite in a challenge to the u.s. what do you think is the

challenge that that meeting presents the u.s. based on the reporting coming out of that meeting? >> well, i think it's a long-term trend that will continue. i don't think there's any particular decision or event right now that is somehow, you know, noteworthy in and is of itself except the olympics and the ongoing russian buildup in ukraine. i don't think china's going to go fight for russia over ukraine. i don't think russia's going to offer to help china seize taiwan, but i think they will collaborate where they can. obviously, they've been doing it for a long time in places like the u.n. security council, and certainlyci their economic relationship can develop more. for example, if the west buys less russia, russian oil and gas, china could buy more. they can never completely compensate for each other or for the loss of western markets, for example,e, but they can do a far amount to cushion the blow of future sanctions or other pressure that we might apply, and i expect they will. i think they sense the united

states and its allies are trying to put pressure on both of them. that's naturally going to tend to push them together. >> host: as you mentioned, this has been a developing relationship over the years. what do you think both men if, briefly, what do you think both men want out of this for their countries? >> guest: i think they both want to limit american power and the ability of the united states and its allies to dominate the terms of international relations as they see it. the way we see it is that all we're trying to do is keep world trade goingdo and keep international borders secure and prevent conflict. the way they see it is that the united states continues to expand its alliances, that it continues to use military force around the world sometimes without formal, international legal bless, that we're more of a traditional kind of great power than we admit, and we're not just defending, you know, universal human rights, but our own interest. and they want to have the ability to push back. it's two different world views and, you know, obviously, the specifics of the taiwan issue and also the nato expansion

issue become perhaps the most geographically specific. but it'sll broader than that. >> host: was in the first time we had heard china weigh in on the expansion of nato like that? >> guest: yeah. my sense is that china's largely stayed out of this one and for a long time china was even willing to tolerate our alliances in the western pacific region because, for example,, they thought it might constrain japan to have a u.s.-japan alliance. so i think you're right to say that inin lean times china's become a little bit more wary and downright opposed to american alliance ares in general, and that's made it easier for them to support putin when he complains about nato expansion. so, again, for china and for russia, t part and parcel of this whole notion the united states preaches universal values and democracy, but we're actually expanding our own power as they see it. >> host: we mentioned at the top your most recent back -- book, "theoo art of world in an age of

peace a: u.s. grand strategy and resolute restraint." how does this evolving relationship between china and russia change strategy? >> >> guest: well, let me: say two things in regard to that a book. first, i still think this is an a age of peace. i do not expect war over ukraine. i think putin is playing an excellent mind game and reminding us of what he could do. and i could be wrong, and we certainly need to worry about that possibility. but by the standards of history, we don't see great powers doing major overland thrusts in the modern era, and i don't think that's going to happen here, largely because russia knows it would have a difficult war within ukraine itself, but it would face long-term economic punishment from the west in markets that it can't really afford to lose. so that's c sort of the age of peace part of it. the restraint part is that even though i don't like having to make kind of a decision at point of a gun, i to think that nato has expanded far enough, and the idea of bringing ukraine georgia

and any other former soviet republics that may want to consider membership in the future into an alliance that was set up 70 years ago to deal with the soviet threat that no longer exists, this is bound to create negative ifs reactions in russ. i think we've got to find different ways without conceding a sphere of influence to russia. we should be willing to negotiate about alternative arrangements for us to knew mutually secure ukraine's security and sovereignty. i think it's going to take work, and we shouldn't concede the nato issue up front, but i think we need more restraint in our foreign policy. >> host: you know, absent an invasion of ukraine, do you think the russians would be, could be successful in getting the west to some sort of agreement or changes in terms of their views on the expansion of nato? particularly regarding ukraine? >> well, we're not going to walk back anything we've already done of we're not going to kick current members out even if the

russians think the baltic states or poland or romania shouldn't be in nato. what's done is done, and moreover, russia has no inherent right to dominate those countries, and it spat on them during and of after world war ii often with a great deal of violence. so i'm notcy suggesting we adopt vladimir putin's view of the world. but i do think there's a very high chance that we will think differently about ukraine and georgia. we don't even have a definite plan for them to come into nato anyway. we made the promise back in the bush administration back in 2008, along with the rest of nato, but there was no timetable. so we sort of painted a bull's eye on their back. and last year president e zelensky of ukraine started requesting expedited nato membership. so i think is part of what brought this issue back to the fore. out of nato's current 30 members, people will remember crisis, and some countries won't want to run the risk of a conflict of russia and won't

want to bring ukraine many. then the question becomes how to do we promote ukraine's interestsuk without nato membership, and that's the real conversation. >> host: you mentioned president zelensky. what do you think he, and more importantly, what do you think the ukrainian people want coming out of this conflict? >> guest: well, i think they would like, at least zelensky, would like nato membership. a number of ukrainians in the east of the country would perhaps still bewarely, but there it's more mixed. the ones in the west probably want nato membership because there is this sort of regional tuition in system of the politics in ukraine -- division. but also i think ukrainians general want a stronger country, and they become more nationalistic. my good friend who, by the way, disagrees with me on this issue of nato expansion, he underscores just how much vladimir putin has managed to unify ukrainians as a people and a country. they don't appreciate being bullied byap their big brother o the north and east, and they have a stronger sense of

national identity and sovereignty. so i do think we've got to help them strengthen their own nation. someday that might mean membership in the european union, it certainly means getting their economy going, reducing corruption inside their own nation-state. those are the kinds of things that i believe ukraine really needs, and it needs to keep improving it milk tear. so i think -- military. i think it's a pretty good deterrent against russian attack. we'll see if i'm right. >> host: michael al-jazeera o hanlon is with discuss, michael o'hanlon with is with -- with us, the meeting this week between presidents putin and, and i. we welcome you calls and comments. the lines for those of you who are republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. and for independents and others, 202-748-8002. we direct your viewers and listeners to a piece you had recently in "the hill."

michael to hanlon, why do you think we can read putin's mind on ukraine. you write that former cia director and secretary of defense bob gates was upon the of saying we have a perfect record of predicting the next war. we always get it wrong with. there's much to gates' observation. we didn't anticipate pearl harbor or the 1950 korea invasion i of south korea, the soviet invasion of afghanistan or the intelligence community saddam hussein's invasion of kuwait in 1990, nor did we foresee99 putin's attack on ukraine in 2014 or his move into syria in 2015. tell us more broadly what concerns you about this track record you write about at thehill.com. >> guest: well, part of it, to of course, is human beings are unpredictable. so i'm not really trying to be -- >> you can watch the rest of this "washington journal" conversation more on the c-span video app or c-span.orgful we'll break away now to continue our

decades-long commitment to live gavel-to-gavel coverage of congress. live now to the u.s. senate which today is voting on confirmation of president biden's nominee to be u.s. ambassador to germany. live coverage of the senate here on c-span2. the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. tester: madam president, thank you for the recognition. i rise today to speak in support of martha williams to be the director of the u.s. fish and wildlife service. i represent the state that goes by many names. most of you know it as montana. but it is often called big sky country and the treasure state. montana has earned these names through an abundance of natural resources and we have