rewarding the best teachers, liberating principals and superintendents and providing low and middle income parents the same choices as their wealthier neighbors. that's what's caught the world's attention. this year when we end the cruel defeatist practice of passing children who cannot read into fourth grade, and when our most diligent students begin to graduate from high school in 11 years and get a head start on college costs through their hard work, others will take notice of indiana yet again. there are few subjects more studied or more intriguing their leadership. leaders come in many forms and often from unexpected directions. but some qualities are common among them and one is that leaders never loaf. they never slip into complace y complacency, settle for things as they are, or stop pursuing innovation or excellence of result. if they do, leadership will pass

and new leaders surpass. leaders who loaf aren't leaders for long. along with all the accolades, indiana now bears this burden of leadersh leadership, the duty to keep pressing ahead. this administration will not loaf. we have made out self-assignments for our eighth and final year. our economic development corporation captured a record 219 new jobs transactions. we will press hard to accelerate further ahead of schedule, underbudget delivery of the major moves transportation program. in 2012 we'll invest $1.2 billion in road and bridge construction, the sixth straight record-setting year.

the last contract on the hoosier heartland corridor will be started next summer. the last contracts from south bend from kokomo will be let this year and we have accelerated completion of the entire corridor accelerated completion of the entire corridor into 2015. i-69 will be open to traffic from evansville to crane as will the entire port to port highway in northeast indiana. [ applause ] the sherman minton bridge will be rebuilt and reopened by march, and upriver an agreement on a new bridge from utica to louisville will be in place, cementing indiana's place at the forefront of the public/private partnership movement. we will build the state's 3,000th mile of bike and hiking trails and reach our goal of a trail within 15 minutes of every hoosier. unknown to most citizens, the

air and water of indiana is now the cleanest in living memory. in 2011, every indiana community met all national air quality standards for the first time in the history of the clean air act. [ applause ] last year we wiped out the last of a 550-case backlog of old and, therefore, less strict environmental permits and are now the only state completely current. our goal for 2012 is to maintain this status. and if national limits are lowered yet again, to find a way to meet those standards, too. we'll complete our successful overhaul of what was once america's worst welfare system when in february, the tenth and final region is converted to our reformed public/private system. backlogs have been slashed by 80%.

timeliness and accuracy have soared above national averages. and last october the program earned a cash bonus and an award for most improved in the nation. we've set high targets for continued improvement in 2012. [ applause ] the same is true of our campaign to conserve indiana's natural heritage. the last seven years have seen new records for protection of wetlands and habitats. 50,000 acres by the end of this year. highlighted by the largest such project ever at goose pond. in 2011, we launched new waterways conservation projects the size of three goose ponds in the bottoms and five goose ponds along the wabash corridor. before long hoosiers will be able to travel over 100 miles down our state's signature river and never leave a protected

wetlands. [ applause ] our coming bicentennial gives us an ideal opportunity to extend this historic era of reverence for the beauty god bestowed on indiana. i've appointed a commission of a dozen illustrious citizens led by my partner becky skillman, by the legendary congressman lee hamilton to guide the great celebrations to come. as a first initiative, i've asked them to oversee a bicentennial nature trust. a statewide project to protect still more of our most precious natural spaces. on our 100th birthday, indiana launched its state park system. a statewide conservation initiative is a fitting sequel, and a bequest from our second century to our third. we've identified state funding within existing resources of $20

million, but that must be just the beginning. the trust is intended to inspire others and to match their donations of land or dollars in a continuing statewide surge of conservation. the commission joins me in challenging citizens, businesses and, in particular, our unique network of community foundations to identify and fund local projects that will safeguard places of beauty for future generations. [ applause ] in this assembly, too, you must set big goals. we should, at long last, enact a law to protect workers and patrons across indiana from the hazards of secondhand smoke. public support has grown and so has the evidence of health risk to workers. it's time to move this long-sought objective to the finish line. [ applause ]

>> we should -- no, we must strengthen our laws against the horrid practice of human trafficking and must do it in time for the super bowl. the kind of event -- [ applause ] -- the kind of event at which the exploitation of young women is rampant in the absence of such a tough law. we should assist students with the cost of higher education by empowering our higher ed commission to limit the credit creep which unduly increases both time to graduation and student expense. undoubtedly, some degrees will continue to justify more than the traditional 120 credit hours. but schools requiring 126 hours for a degree in sociology or 138 hours in special education, or 141 hours in music education

should have to explain why all that time and student expense is necessary. especially when other colleges offer high quality programs in less time and cost. we should deepen the state's response to the terrible tragedy that befell so many at last summer's indiana state fair. a catastrophe so singular merits unique treatment. and i hope you will augment the amounts already provided to victims and their families by the state and private donors. [ applause ] and we should trust the people of central indiana with the decision whether to raise local dollars for mass transit if they believe it crucial to their future quality of life. within weeks, one of the great public careers and, perhaps, the greatest judicial career our state has known will come to a close.

chief justice randy shepard, let tonight be one of many occasions on which a grateful and fortunate state thanks you for a quarter century of fairness, firmness and farsightedness on our highest bench. [ applause ] [ applause ] part of justice shepard's legacy will be the landmark report that he and former governor joe kernan co-authored producing overdue modernization of our

pioneer days structures of local government. one way to honor this great public servant will be to advance more of the sensible and needed reforms set forth by the kernan/shepard commission. i ask this -- [ applause ] i ask this assembly to do so on their own merits, but also in recognition of this historic public servant. because economic opportunity and building america's best home for jobs is the central goal of all we do, every year should include a bold stroke to enhance it. this year, the choice of actions has become obvious. in survey after survey, but by margins of 2 to 1 or more, hoosiers support the principle known as right to work. after a year of studying the proposal, i agree. the idea that no worker should be forced to pay union dues as a condition of keeping a job is simple and just.

but the benefits in new jobs would be large. a third or more growing or relocating businesses will not consider a state that does not provide workers this protection. almost half our fellow states have right to work laws. as a group, they're adding jobs faster, growing worker income faster, and enjoying lower unemployment rates than those of us without such a law. in those ratings of business attractiveness i mentioned, the only states ahead of us are right to work states. what every economic development expert has testified to, we have learned from firsthand experience over seven years and well over 1,000 job competitions, we found that when indiana gets a chance to compete, we win. two out of three times. but too often we never get that chance because a right to work law is a requirement. especially in this poor national economy, a state needs every edge it can get.

everyone knows that among the minority favoring the status quo, passion on this issue is strong. and i respect that. i did not come lightly or quickly to the stance i take now. if this proposal limited in any way the right to organize, i would not support it. we just cannot go on missing out on the middle-class jobs our state needs just because of this one issue. for the sake of those without jobs, and those young people just beginning the ascent up life's ladder, i ask you to remove this obstacle and make indiana the 23rd state to protect the right to work. [ applause ] i have a new prized possession.

it's a letter written to his parents by a young clerk named a.b. carpenter on february 12th, 1861. amid updates about haircuts, colds and headaches young mr. carpenter reported the following. there is considerable excitement concerning a couple of legislators who went to kentucky to fight a duel. mr. hefern, a democrat, slandered and abused mr. moody, a republican, in a speech and moody challenged him. he accepted and choosed bowie knives. they went to kentucky last friday night and have not been heard from since. we think we have disagreements. when we do, i hope we'll keep them not only in state, but also in this chamber where the people's business is supposed to be settled. [ applause ]

mr. carpenter's letter wasn't mainly about duels or haircuts. he wrote it because he'd gone to see the newly elected president, abraham lincoln, who had spent that day, his 52nd birthday, in indianapolis. young carpenter described lincoln's arrival at lafayette road, the procession down washington, pennsylvania, ohio and illinois streets to the bates house hotel. seeing the new president filled carpenter with hope, he said, that soon our government will be remodeled. i like the term. these measures i have mentioned are part of our continuing remodeling project. in three weeks, the entire world will fix its eyes on this city and our state. it should be a magic moment. i hope a matter of pride to

every hoosier everywhere. but the super bowl didn't get here overnight. indy's selection followed decades of constant striving and building and reforms to make our capital the vibrant, livable model city it has now become. no one leader or group of leaders made it happen. the work was passed from hand to hand, administration to administration, generation to generation. and in no era did the people of indianapolis rest or settle or loaf. so it will have to be with the construction of the great indiana we are determined to achieve. i carried here from its place on my desk an atomic clock given to me by a friend who served a sister state as governor with great distinction. it sits directly in front of me each day, counting down the days, hours, minutes and seconds

until i turn over these duties and return to private life. it is there to remind me to use every moment as well as i can to make indiana a place of greater promise and prosperity. silently it challenges me to search each day for the next improvement, the next efficiency, the next breakthrough, the next stroke of indiana leadership. yes, these nights are about the future. but i do look back at past speeches, if only to avoid repeating myself. in one, i recounted telling an east coast ceo who wondered what indiana was known for that one day he wouldn't have to ask. tonight, he doesn't. in another, i said i hoped we'd become bolder in our embrace of change. take our motto from the inspiring athletes of the special olympics and be a braver state. tonight, we are. in the very first of these

meetings, i invited you and every hoosier listening to join us in rejecting mediocrity, demanding excellence, aiming higher. tonight, we do. in a column titled "indiana promises a better future," a young graduate student, a life-long resident of a neighboring state, wrote to the indianapolis star that she had made a critical life decision. she would take her new degree and move to indiana. she cited our, quote, fiscally responsible choices. our economic integrity. our avoidance of out of control spending we see in so many other states. she concluded by predicting that more talented young people would make that, quote, short drive down i-69 to a more promising future. that is the state we have dreamed of. a state that magnetizes people

of talent and the risk taking capital that seeks to employ them. a state of growth. a state of hope. a state of promising futures. we are not yet fully that state. but we are so much closer to it. we have leapfrogged other places, pass more competitors than tony stewart at homestead. we are certainly irrefutably different. until it became real, i never imagined that for eight fulfilling years, i would be given the chance to help make indiana different. on the night it became real, i resolved to use every day, take every action, make every change that might make our state a place of promising futures. i now have 369 days, 5 hours, 28

minutes and 9 seconds left as the people's employee. i pledge to use every one of them as wisely as i can in the service of those who sent us to this chamber. i ask you to do likewise. to be the kind of leaders, the new leadership state of indiana now expects us to be. god bless this assembly and this great state. [ applause ]

>> this joint assembly is adjourned. >> the house will reconvene at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow. we're adjourned.

by 2016, according to the imf, the world's leading economy will be a economistic dictatorship. that's in five year's time. think about that. if the imf who is elected next november will be the last to preside over the united states -- >> columnist and author mark steyn has published five books. he writes the happy warrior column and is a frequent guest host on rush limbaugh's radio

show. and live sunday your chance to call, e-mail and tweet with your questions live at noon eastern on book tv on c-span 2. it would be intolerable if a handful of violent people, and that is what it is, just a handful, could harden us against needed change. i've seen an uglier violence, too. it perverts the very spirit of america. i saw it at the republican convention in 1964 when governor rockefeller was shouted down. i saw it in minneapolis, when governor wallace, a man with whom i disagree was heckled into silence. and it happened to me in philadelphia. we must give notice to this violent few. there are millions of decent americans who are willing to sacrifice for change. but they want to do it without being threatened. and they want to do it peacefully. they are the nonviolent majority. black and white. who are for change without violence. these are the people whose voice i want to be. >> as candidates campaign for president this year, we look back at 14 men who ran for the

office and lost. go to our website, c-span.org/thecontenders to see video of the contenders who had a lasting impact on american politics. >> our ancestors came across the ocean in sailing ships you wouldn't go across a lake in. when they arrived there was nothing here. they built their tiny little cabins and they did it with neighbors helping one another, not federal grants. they came here because they wanted to be free. and they wanted to practice the religion of their choice. and after 200 years, too many of us take those privileges for granted. >> c-span.org/thecontenders. this is c-span 3 with politics and public affairs programing throughout the week. and every weekend american history tv.