term, but it does vary from state to state. >> secretary richie. >> thank you. i'm very interested in the section 8, because in addition to administering the database, most of us are candidates and we have to buy lists, so you don't want to waste a lot of money and time, but also most of us have at some point called someone and after asking for someone having a long pause and knowing what's coming next. that that person has been someone's loved one lost, and you get appropriately fairly sharp response and hang up the phone. but what i don't understand, if there's only been one, is there some context that we all could use that information to help leverage the people who would determine if if there was money,

for example. let's say we wanted to accelerate the removal of the people that died instead of having to go through the social security death registry, we might have a midnight exchange of death records among our public health agencies on a state like they do commercial truck driving licenses and that would accelerate the process. we would need more data than just one case to make the case to the legislators and the people that control the moen and who control the laws and all that stuff to be able to eleven improvement, you know, especially on the things that really matter to us on a personal basis either as a candidate or administrator of a statewide voter registration system. >> if i'm not mistaken, your state is already exempt from section 8. you're minnesota, correct? i think you're one of the six that could not possibly be subject to the obligations.

>> i would not be beyond ignoring that fact if i had an argument to use with legislators to figure out how financing of any improvement, but i think we could have agreements among states on at least death records, because a lot of minnesotans go to the southern states. so this is a different kind of problem. so i'm interested in the stories that help us convince the people, be it local officials or finance committee chairs or whomever, to make these improvements because all of us are interested in clean lists, i mean, for all kinds of reasons, we want clean lists. >> well, i've looked at the data very carefully around the country county by county, and the spread of the data -- the spread of it tells me that this says more a county problem than a state problem. that's just an instinct. i haven't gone into it. when you have counties in mississippi at 140% and you have

laws that mississippi has, which takes the power away from the state to do anything about it, i think it's a county problem. that was the central issue of us v. missouri up to the court of appeals, is whose problem is it. absent some evidence or clear state line of delineation on authority, it's largely a county problem. >> was that the remedy that was suggested, was on a county level? >> unfortunately, it was exactly the opposite. the doj took the approach this is a state problem, and came at it, as you heard earlier and throughout, that that's the attitude of this justice department. this is always a state problem and we're not going to look at counties. i face this in the case of us v. alabama that i brought. i won't get in the particulars the case, but the question is why aren't the counties reporting this data to the ac? the answer, of course, from the justice department's perspective is we only look at the states,

and so it sort of locks you into one model of resolution that i don't necessarily think is very helpful. i will -- obviously, this will be in the front and center this year. i mean, you're going to hear about these cases, so i guess the he question is what comes out of it. i can't predict. i think it's a county problem more than a state problem. >> okay. >> mr. secretary, can i say one word to that, which is we agree, actually, and would join you in moving toward a cleaner list to the extent that -- to the extent that we have the data that bearing out that this is problematic. so i don't think there is a difference of party on this issue, and i would say the same

thing with respect to your comments on move act compliance and ensuring that military voters in maryland are able to vote across the ballot. that is something we would absolutely be in favor of as well. and the -- the section 7 enforcement that's happened under the social service provision of the nvra is one where i think there has been more data sort of consistently bearing out that its had an effect at registering more voters. so to the extent that there's data that supports the case, i would stand with you on that question. >> we're going to have to wrap up, but one quick last question, ruth. >> thank you. ruth johnson, michigan. one of the problems that we have

right now is that the federal government required us at our dmv, which we do through the secretary of state's office, that we would ask everyone if they'd like to register to vote when they came in to get a driver's license or personal i.d. they did that, and we have thousands of noncitizens now registered to vote. my question is, how do we get them off? we've had social security, homeland security, i.c.e. and all refuse to help us, and they're the only ones that have that information. on a quick note, a man from indonesia voted because that is in indonesia the law. he didn't try to commit any malice. he just didn't know better, and he faces possible deportation, large legal bills, his business say wreck because of it and it's impacted him negatively. so it helps everyone if we're able to take non-citizens off the voter rolls. >> you're in a unique situation in michigan, because that advance lawsuit in 2008 that clamped down on what you could and could not do with the lists. the secretary of state of

colorado, mr. gessler looked at the issue with noncitizens and utah found noncitizens that voe voted. it's happening. it's aa reality. there's forms in harris county for a client of mine that says are you a u.s. citizen, and they actually check no and were registered to vote. this is how bad it is. how do you untangle this web? it's a very, very difficult question. the only tools are section 8 and your own policy decisions. it's a complicated question. i'm convinced on citizens voting in elections, and that's a very, very dangerous situation. >> so what's the answer? >> well, your answer is tougher because i'm not sure how that consent decree is entangling what you can and cannot do. >> i don't know who is a citizen and who isn't in many cases. how do i determine? we sent letters out, p if you're not a citizen ask to get off the

list. how effective, i don't know. >> there's two things to do. this is a weighty task. look the at federal form registration. there's a big issue on the zint economic box under hvra. what do do with a form unchecked, are you a u.s. zint, and they don't answer? that's a big question. there are differing opinions about the answer, what do you do? some say you don't register them. some say you register them and wait, and so you could probably adopt a policy that allows you to not register them based on the failure to mark off a yes check box. many people disagree with that. i suspect the previous speaker may have a differing view on that. this is a complicated question, or you could -- mr. kemp next to you pass a georgia zicitizenshi verification law which they objected to until georgia went to court and they found a way to deal with it going forward, not

necessarily going backwards. >> thank you. >> okay. thank you very much for your presence. we appreciate you ytaking time o be here and offer thoughts and answer questions. we're going to skip the last piece here, because it is an issue that we can really handle in our next committee conference call as it relates to initiatives under way in respect to states that we can discuss for preparation for the summer conference in 2012. it is worthy and i think important to note -- we had an amendment earlier offered by secretary cobach and it's suggested the form we're in now

is not an actual committee meeting for consideration of amendments of adoption so this may be appropriate in the committee meeting tomorrow discussed for consideration for adoption. so if you would entertain that objection. >> yeah, that would be fine. i'll move that. >> in the last business meeting. >> yes, okay. thank you, secretary. and tomorrow morning we will be meeting from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. by region, so please check the agenda to see which room you're in and then from 10:00 a.m. to noon there's the business meeting as we had previously mentioned and on issues and items presented by committees. thank you very much for your participation this afternoon.

less than 24 hours before florida votes in the primary. we've been on the road with the republican candidates as they crisscrossed the state bringing you updates. we'll have mitt romney's final stop of the day near orlando. that gets underway at about 6:45

eastern on c-span. >> c-span's road to the white house taking you live on the campaign trail with the candidates. >> you're going to find more and more people that recognize the massive opportunity for exchange in trade. if i'm president of the united states, one of the things i will do in my first 100 days is to begin an economic initiative of drawing latin-american businesses and american businesses closer together. this is a massive opportunity not of charity but of opportunity. it will help lift both parts of the world. >> this is about building a new, grand coalition of americans who come together because they want to create a country where we unleash the spirit of the american people and rebuild the country that we love. that is what 2012 is all about. >> 105 years old. came to see you. mayor of jupiter in 1972. ze

>> excuse me. good to see you sir. >> he's the leader in puerto rico for the campaign. >> thauchnk you, you're very ni. >> tomorrow night watch our coverage of florida's primary results with candidate speechls and your reactions by phone, facebook and twitter. >> ed gillespie was the white house counselor under president george w. bush sxe spoke last week at the hispanic leadership network's conference in miami. it aims to engage the hispanic community on conservative policy issues. mr. gillespie speaks for about 40 minutes. >> good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us here today. my name is brian walsh, and i'm the president of american action network. as a tip of the hat to jennifer corn who has been teaching me to speech spanish.

uv you know, to take a brief moment to look back at all you accomplished one yerl, hln was inaugurated here in miami, and one year later we have twice as many participants and attracted presidential candidates and it's due to individuals, due to leaders like yourselves in neighborhoods and communities who are stepping forward to fill an appetite and to be a voice within your community for the hispanic community. it truly has been an honor to participate in this project. it's truly been an honor to see the energy and excitement that has come not from us to you but from the community towards hln and the appear the tight that was there and how successful it's been. i have the incredible honor to introduce the next speak to give remarks and answer questions. ed gillespie is one of the our

country's top communication str strategist. his long record makes him one of the best and brightest in the field today. he served as a counselor to president george w. bush where at the white house he managed to help host a series of historic events including the 2007 surge of troops in iraq, the response of the financial crisis in 2008, and the peaceful transition of presidential power in 2009. he also served as a chairman of the republican national committee, and today he's the founder of ed gillespie strategies and chairman of the republican state leadership committee. with that please give me a warm welcome from south florida to our next speaker, ed gillespie.

after senator rubio's speech this morning, if you're from alabama you know there's a saying you don't want to be a coach that follows the coach bear brian. that was a great speech. our cause needs a lot more marco rubios, and that's one of the things i want to talk with you about today. the at the republican state leadership committee, which brian mentioned i chair, we've launched the futenma jort project. it's an important long-term effort for conservatives to help elect more people to office and to increase our majority status. i think many can help today, and i want to share with you what our goals are.

>> we seek to recruit 100 hispanics to run in this election cycle for state, house, and senate seats all around the country. ordinarily the rlsc focuses the resources on flipping legislative chambers from democratic control to republican control or keeping republican control where, you know, we have a fight on our hands. but in this instance we're going to be active in every state, in all 50 states helping to elect hispanics. presently there are republicans that hold 3,978 of the 7,328 state legislative seats across the country. that's about 54% of state legislative seats in america. but only 45 of those nearly

4,000 republican state legislators are hispanic. now, we've the got some real stars on our side. we saw one this morning in senator rubio and governors sandoval and congresswoman jamie herrera, butler and others. he we need to build on the success of these elected leaders of hispanic descent by electing more of them. voters tend to relate to candidates they can identify with, and more latino-elected officials help convey a message of economic growth and opportunity to the fastest growing segment of our population and that will help increase support for conservative policy solutions. i say that as an irish catholic who has seen my fair share of irish catholic politicians in st. patrick's days parades and knights of columbus halls, and obviously anglo candidates need

to communicate with hispanics, too. state legislators are the pipeline for future governors and attorneys general and senators and members of congress. u.s. senator marco rubio is former florida house speaker marco rubio. i think everyone understands why this effort is so important. we know that this is the fastest-growing segment and that we have to increase our share of the hispanic vote, but i want to highlight a few key data points in that regard. in 2000 george w. bush got 55% of the white vote in this country, and the election was a dead heat, a 50/50 split decide by a few hundred votes here in florida, as some of us remember very well like it was yesterday in some cases. eight years later john mccain got 55% of the white vote and lost to barack obama by 7

percentage points. much of that drop-off was due to the fact that the hispanic vote declined from 13 percentage points, from 44% that george w. bush got in the reaction in 2004 to only 31% for senator mccain just four years later. here's the point we need to think about. in 2020 only two presidential electional cycle away, not far in the span of political time. if the republican nominee for president gets the same percentage of the white, african-american, hispanic and asian-american vote that john mccain got in 2008, a democrat will be elected to the white house by 14 percentage points. the fact is 1 out of every 6 americans is of latino origin. in 2012 one in every ten votes cast will be cast by a latino

voters, a record 12.2 million votes. if that projection is accurate, that will represent an astou astounding 26% increase in one presidential cycle. so it's not surprising when you consider that over the past decade the number of voting age hispanics increased 75%, and unlike every other demographic are not voting aat the full strength of the population. what do i mean by that? white voters account for 73% of the voting age population and cast 76% of the vote in 2008. african-american are 12% of the population, cast 12% of the vote. asian-americans are 3% of the population, 3% of the eligible vote and cast 3% of the votes in 2008. hispanics are 16% of the population and account for 9.5% of eligible voters, but we're

only 7.5% of the vote in 2008. without a single new person comes to this country from another country, the fact is it's going to increase dramatically over the next decade as the gap over voting age population and voting age strength inevitably closes. every month 50,000 americans of hispanic descent are eligible to vote. so by 2020 this segment of the electorate will be a decisive swing vote available to conservative candidates for statewide offices or an insurmountable obstacle for success for those who believe in greater economic growth, more freedom and more individual liberty. now, public polling shows us that there is room for tremendous growth for conservatives among latino voters. hispanics' attitudes with

politics are consistent. they released the result was a new survey here in florida. 6 in 10 believe the country is on the wrong track. 6 in 10 believe president obama has not delivered on his 2008 promises. by more than 2:1 they believe the situation for hispanics in the u.s. is worse, not better, under president obama. nearly two-thirds believe the economy and jobs are the most important issues, and an overwhelming 86% are very or somewhat concerned about the federal government's level of spending and debt. a majority believes president bam is a weaker leader than they expected him to be. in the critical swing state of florida, there is an eeping here for us for hispanic voters as well as in those critical swing states of new mexico, colorado, nevada and arizona. hispanic voters will place a

pivotal role the in the outcome of the electoral college in november. happily on fundamental issues like lower taxations, allowing small businesses to grow and operate free of excessive regulation, fostering family, individual responsibility, homeownership, equality of opportunity rather than outcome, protecting the sanctity of life and reforming education, most americans of hispanic descent are lialign with the principles. they're receptive to a conservative policy message, and in 2012 that message could not more important as this election say referendum on president obama's liberal policies in his handling of the economy. hispanics share the same anxieties as the population as a whole in this regard. that is very important because 2012 is the most important election of our lifetimes. now, i said that in 2004, and i

meant it then. at that time failure to respond for the threat of terrorism would have made us weaker as a nation. of course, we still face many threats today, but we've taken step that is have made us safer. now we face another threat in the form of crushing federal debt, punitive taxes, excessive spending and stifling regulations, mandates, and government intervention in our economy that threaten to lead to future generations of american a different country that we enjoyed until now. a lot of people who voted for barack obama in 2008 thought that they were voting to change washington. they didn't think they were voting to change america. but that's what they got. a president who wants to in his own words transform our country. this administration and those in congress who support its agenda want to move us away from our free enterprise system where individuals are free to rise and fall according to their own

god-given tal lenlts and communities to a more centralized economy where millions of decisions made every day by free americans in the marketplace are replaced by hundreds of decisions made by appointed political point appoi in washington, d.c., decisions to what light bulbs we can buy to what health care we can purchase. promises that the trillion dollar bahama care health care bill would bring down the deficit and reduce premiums and allow people to keep insurance they have have given way to the reality it's adding to debt and premiums are going up and every day people lose the insurance they had and enjoyed. just as the health care bill is driving up the cost of health care, the energy policies drive up the cost of energy. their regulations on banks made it harder for businesses to get cal tap. many hiss kank panics are small business owners and feel that credit crunch. i spoke a couple of weeks ago

with a small bank owner in tennessee who told me at this time he employs more compliance officers than loan officers. all of that reflects a view from washington and from this administration that we're better off p if experts there in the nation's capital, economists in the market and policy may havens and staffers on the house ways and means and senate finance committees could just have even more power to -- i'm going to use the president's own words es of boom and bust in our economic, and to spread the wealth a little. most americans including americans of hispanic descent know the ups and downs that come with a dynamic market driven economy can be frustrating and frightening sometimes, but also understand that dynamic characteristic is essential to the economic growth that creates the wealth liberals only seem to want to redistribute.

we understand that the private sector investment sbert than public sector stimulus. ambition isn't the same thing as greed, and that punishing success results in less success. like most americans, americans of hispanic descent understand it results from an economy creating wealth and not redistributing it: if you treelly care about lifting people out of poverty, you should support a history of democratic capitalism over a managed economy. they believe that america is more a source of problems in the world than a force for good in it. they believe that america is exceptional only as president obama himself has said in the same way that brits believe in british exceptionalism and greeks believe in greek exceptionalism. they it understand the united states of america is not another country on the u.n. roll call, and that in a world where america is weak is a world less stable, less freel and more

dangerous to us here at home. on the issue of life and marriage, latino voters are right of center understanding that a culture that fails to protect innocent life in all stages becomes a culture in which respect for all fellow human beings is diminished. that families are the fundamental building block of healthy societies and the institution of marriage between a man and woman is the foundation of healthy families. the principles most embrace are the principles that make our country so great. made america the last best hope of man on earth. the genius of our founders as seen in the declaration of independence and the u.s. constitution resulted in a beacon of liberty and opportunity that has drawn freedom loving people to our shores for more than two centuries. in the mid-1840s and '50s during the irish potato famine, what the irish called in gaelic the great