and the misinformation -- tourism is up in arizona. i get a little tired of the misinformation as we try to demagogue a good bill about enforcement of security borders and protection of our citizens. we can't retreat from that. i don't apologize for any of that. i love my country. i love and respect those that come here legally. and many of those who don't come here legally i don't aren't bad people. many are bad people but some of them are not bad people, escaping a terrible life. but we have a method of coming here and those laws must be honored. >> senator kyl released a statement saying that he thought this was more political theater and not actually meant to be a productive hearing. what do you have to say to that? >> i don't entirely disagree with that. we knew this was mostly politics. they don't have a vote. the supreme court does. schum kerr can run his bill. he may get it out of his committee. that's where it will die. to undo 1070. it's a popular bill. he won't even get it out of the senate.

>> senator, was it worth your while to come out here today? >> absolutely. again, i wrote the bill. i felt obligated to defend it. and even though you always worry about decorum and being able to say what needs to be said, i think it's important that i come out here and represent the state of arizona. >> even though there were only two senators up there, do you think it was productive? >> well, see, it doesn't matter whether there was 2 or 15 up there. the story that's going to be told is in the media. so i hope they cover it well and make that -- >> there were a lot of youth that were mentioned during this hearing. what is your message to them in their specific cases? will you want to see them leave the country? >> blame those who put them in that position because my heart goes out to them. but again, we've already covered this. those exceptions have to be carved out properly. no blanket policy just for giving those who have broken our laws. i know some of those are good kids. my heart goes out to some of those. and i'm not apologetic for having set down with them. and actually was very tearful in terms of -- my heart was touched

very clearly by a couple of them. but still, my heart is touched also by kids who go to jail who break the law. every day. americans. my heart is touched by parents who have kids who make terrible decisions every day. i can't change that. the laws must be enforced. >> you're not concerned that sb-1070 can net kids like this? >> the laws must be enforced. first of all only federal government can fix that. some states don't have control over. states have no ability to set the conditions of coming here or remaining here. that's a federal purview entirely, exclusive. >> senator deconcini said he was embarrassed for his state based on sb-1070. >> deconcini's a friend. i'm going to be very candid here. maybe he shares the same feeling that michelle obama feels when she said the only time she's been proud of america is when they elected her husband. i'm proud of this country. i'm not embarrassed we enforce

our laws. what i'm embarrassed for is the victims of crime every day. according to a congressional report up to 9,000 americans a year killed at the hands of illegal aliens. i'm embarrassed for the citizens injured and maimed every day, the jobs taken from americans, the wages suppressed, the cost is unmeasurable. that's what i'm embarrassed about is those who refuse to do something about the damage to americans. >> senator, how do you respond to the pure information that came out yesterday that showed immigration from mexico now sat net zero, so it really seems it's going the opposite way. it's over the past five years, though. beginning before 1070. >> that's partly because of the recession. but in arizona what's happening in arizona isn't happening in the other states around us. it's unique. violent crime's down three times the national average in arizona. no other states have experienced that kind of reduction we have. we've gone from 49th in the nation during the recession to number 6 in job recovery and economic -- and job growth and

economic recovery. so arizona's done some things right. the media may not print it. we've done a lot of things right. >> mr. pearce, senators kyl and cornyn tell you they weren't going to come or -- >> no, i did not get a call. i had no idea. >> were you expecting them to be here to support you? >> yes, i was. to support arizona. it's not just me. this is about states' rights. this is arizona's right tone force the law. this is arizona right to protect its citizens. this is arizona's right to protect jobs for americans. in fact, let's take it a step farther. like judge roberts said when he wrote the majority opinion for employer sanctions, it's arizona's obligation to do that. >> mr. pearce, quick question for you. are you surprised or are you disappointed that, for example, you didn't have senator kyl here or any other republican senator -- >> you know, he probably had good reasons. i would have appreciated a phone call. this is his state. this is about states' rights. 1070 isn't about enforcement.

it's about arizona's right. whether you agree or disagree with the bill, arizona has certain rights. under the constitutional police powers. and this is about defending arizona's right. it's overwhelmingly supported by arizona and across the nation. it's passed. it's signed into law. it is the law. and it's also a federal law. it just mirrors federal law. but arizona took a lead, a lead in the nation to solve this national crisis. like i tease people, over 50% of the illegal entries come through arizona and unlike vegas what goes on in arizona doesn't stay in arizona. we import our problems to the rest of the nation. >> i understand what you're saying. but are you disappointed that he didn't show up but no other republican senator also did not show up? >> of course i am. of course i am. >> why do you think they -- >> i have no idea. i just don't want to speak for them. it would be unfair for me to assume why they didn't come. i haven't had that conversation with them. >> senator, are you aware of the arguments that this is having the unwanted effect of causing

economic problems because the lack of hand labor -- >> absolutely not true. heritage foundation, the most premier research organization in america, showed that immigrants, illegal especially, use social services three times that of any other demographic. we did a study in maricopa county bookings and charges. that illegal demographic commits violent crime three times that of any other demographic. no. those myths have to be set aside. they're just not true. >> but we understand is that more than 70% of the workers run documented. >> well, you know -- >> are those statistics, official statistics? >> you've got a 26-year high in unemployment. maybe -- if you'd pay an american the right -- there's not aw job they won't do. >> one of the problems i agree we're raising kids today that don't know how to pull the rope on a bridge and start an engine. they don't want to work in a sweat environment. they want the air-conditioning job.

well, that's part of our problem and we admit that. >> mr. pearce, what are you hoping that the supreme court will take into consideration? a lot of people say they will waive the whole profiling diskrings that some claim that sb-1070 does promote. >> it prohibits. i don't know how they can even say that. in federal law it doesn't prohibit it. the supreme court already said that you can ask that question, it's legitimate as asking your age, date of birth, whatever you need to ask, with no restrictions. slapped down in a 9th circuit court decision that said that question, kind of silly, was 4th 234914th amendment protected. they said not true. law enforcement can ask that question unimpeded. unrestricted. in arizona i took that into consideration, though, because of the fact i knew the argument would be made. i made it clear in the bill. you can't use racial profiling. you have to have legitimate conta contact. you must have reasonable suspicion. we could safeguard the bill. the federal government doesn't

put it in theirs. >> are you confident the officers in maricopa county and all over the state of arizona are following that directive? >> yes, i am. yes, i am. i've seen them. i've watched their training. i know the good hearts of these folks. absolutely. you know, when you make thousands and thousands of arrests, you're always going to find there are some you may not agree with. but absolutely. these are good men and women trying to do their jobs and are cautious and respectful of civil liberties. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. >> i forgot to ask you your 1070 prediction. [ inaudible ]

[ inaudible ] to hear more on arizona's immigration law, tune in to c-span this friday at 8:00 p.m.

eastern. to hear this week's supreme court oral argument in the case arizona v. united states. the court will decide whether arizona has the authority to enforce its own immigration law or whether that is the exclusive role of the federal government. next, c-span's interview with former vice president dick cheney. then, major general john tulin discusses afghanistan's security and reconstruction on a visit to washington, d.c. after that, interior secretary ken salazar on energy policy and gas prices at the national press club. on monday former vice president dick cheney gave his first public interview in washington since his heart transplant in may. in a q & a session with c-span's steve scully and interns mr. cheney discusses his medical condition, his stance on gay marriage, and his take on the

2012 presidential campaign. from the washington center, this runs an hour. [ applause ] >> thank you, everyone. welcome to the spring semester internship program here in the blinken auditorium at the washington center. 25 years ago a four-term congressman from wyoming spoke to a group just like you. we're very honored to have him back with us today. and to introduce him is his good friend, another congressman and cabinet level secretary, the honorable norm mineta.

[ applause ] >> thank you very much, mike. really, it does give me a great deal of pleasure and honor for me to have this opportunity to introduce the next speaker in the alan k. simpson, norman y. mineta leadership series event here at the washington center for interns and academic seminars. as all of you know, the washington center was founded in 1975 and has been the recognized leader in providing transformational experience for over 50,000 students through internship and special academic seminars. almost two years ago my very, very good friend of 70 years,

former republican senator alan k. simpson of wyoming, and i, a former democrat member of congress, agreed to lend our names to this leaders series in order to present to washington center students distinguished individuals who have exemplified not only the high honor of public service but the ability to engage in the statesmanship that this country and the whole world so desperately needs in these very challenging times. this is a forum -- xauz me -- for intelligent discussion on important issues of the day that

transcend party affiliation and encourages bipartisan solutions. i was just completing a stint as the secretary of commerce in the clinton administration when i was asked by president-elect bush and vice president-elect cheney to join their administration in an act of bipartisanship to serve as their secretary of transportation. so i know a little about bipartisanship. vice president cheney and i had a very special relationship, one that was cemented on that fateful, tragic day of september 11, 2001, during which i gave the first order in american

history to ground all aviation in the united states. i was with vice president cheney in the peoc, the presidential emergency operations center, a day that i am sure neither one of us will ever forget. dick cheney has served his country with distinction. as white house chief of staff, a six-term member of congress from wyoming, secretary of defense, and then as vice president. this represents a lifetime of public service. and we are grateful to him for honoring his commitment to speak here after what has been thankfully a speedy recovery from his heart transplant

surgery. so please welcome steve scully from c-span and my very good friend, former vice president of the united states of america, dick cheney. [ applause ] >> mr. vice president, one change to the program. this is the simpson-mineta series, but today it's the mineta-simpson series. so we're going to change the name for that. thank you very much for being with us. it's been a month since your surgery. so the obvious question is how are you feeling? >> well, i'm feeling very well, very fortunate. the -- i'd been through living with coronary artery disease since i was 37, back in 1978. but gradually over time, as is predictable in those cases, i

eventually had five heart attacks, heart failure and so forth. i got in line for a transplant, and i got that transplant just four weeks ago yesterday. and i feel a lot of emotion that goes with that, frankly. one is great gratitude to the individual who donated, the family who donated the heart that i was privileged to receive. the fact that i'm no longer carrying around about ten pounds of batteries, which is what i operated on for two years. i had a heart pump installed on my heart to supplement it. and then i had batteries and control elements and so forth that i wore in a vest 24/7. and i don't have to do that anymore. i'm not worried to the wall or wired to anything else. i'm back to having a strong healthy heart and some great

docs and nurses who took good care of me. i feel better in terms of my overall health than i have in a long time. >> we'll take questions from the students in just a moment. but walk through a month ago or a month and a day ago when you got the phone call. who called you? who was your immediate reaction? and what happened next? >> well, i -- two years ago, roughly two years ago i reached the point where i was, as i stay, in stage heart failure. my heart was still pumping but it wasn't moving enough blood to serve my vital organs, my liver, my kidneys and so forth. that's when we went in and installed the lvad. that was july of 2010. at the same time i applied to go on the waiting list for an actual transplant. the lvad is a device that was

designed and has been used now for the last few years to use it on people who have a need for a transplant. but one of the problems we have is we don't have enough organs to transplant. but this buys you time. i was able to live with that for about 20 months. in the meantime, you work your way up on the list. and with respect to being eligible for a transplant. and you have to go through a lot of tests. there are a lot of things involved in deciding whether or not you're a good prospect for a transplant. there are also an awful lot of measurements that need to be taken to make certain that you get matched up with the right kind of -- it involves blood type. it involves the size of the heart relative to your body. a test for all the antibodies that you have. it's to make certain that they get as close a match as possible so so that that enhances your

prospects of success. and then on a friday night about midnight i got a phone call. i knew i was getting near the top of the list. but it was heart and having a heart become available that met my requirements. and we got a phone call at midnight and got in the car and drove to the hospital. our home is about 20 minutes from nova fairfax. checked in there. about 7:00 that morning they began the operation. it took five or six hours all together. i was up and around within two days. they had me off the respirator. and out in about nine days. it went amazingly fast. part of it was that i had -- by then i had been living with -- it was an artificial system, in effect, with the heart pump, but it had restored my vital organize seans to where they needed to be and to be able to

tolerate that kind of surgery. it's gone very well. i was out of the hospital in about nine days. everything has been marvelous ever since. >> and what has this taught you, or what have you learned about the whole organ donor program? >> well, that's -- we could talk about that all afternoon. you hear people talk about their health, and lots of times we overdo it in a sense, but the donor program is enormously important, and it's possible when people agree to be donors. i carry, for example, my driver's license, my wyoming driver's license. has a little red heart on continued kating that i'm an organ donor and i've volunteered for that. if anything happened, a car accident or something like that, they would know that they could harvest organs that might be utility. my old heart obviously wasn't much good after 30 some years of

abuse. but it -- when they do a transplant, lots of times they are able to get organs to help several people, not just one. so it's not just a heart transplant. it may also be lungs involved for somebody else or a kidney for somebody else, or a number of different possibilities. there may be eight or ten people who benefit when somebody agrees to donate their organs. so one of the things you learn and that i come away with is it's the kind of gift that's unbelievable what it makes possible. i like to encourage people to participate, obviously. but that's a personal decision for people to make. but we're at a stage where our technology gets better and better all the time. and we don't yet have artificial hearts. we're able to acceptment them to

some extent, but the alternate solution for somebody with coronary artery disease for over 30 years as i had is ultimately is a transplant, and that's what i've been very, very fortunate to receive. >> let's talk about the book "in my time, and we'll get the students lined up for questions. in the first half of the book you outline in great detail how you startedous as a graduate student in the university of wisconsin, never got your phd and ended up on the white house staff. how did that all come about? >> i had a somewhat spotty academic career, you might say. i'm sure that that hasn't happened to anybody here, but i was recruited to go to yale when i got out of high school and then got -- well, i got kicked out twice. i ended up back in wyoming building power line and transmission lines for some years. and then ultimately decided i

needed to get an education. so i went back to school at the university of wyoming. and i was seriously interested in a young lady that i had gone to high school with. she was an excellent student. she graduated the top of our class. she wasn't too sure about where i was headed, but after a year she agreed to marry me, and we'll celebrate our 47th anniversary this year. she was a strong motivator for me to work hard, to be a good student. i got my b.a. and masters at the university of wyoming back in the '60s and then went on to wisconsin where i was working on a doctorate and i had completed all the course work, won what's called a congressional fellowship. it's in effect an internship that had a stipend with it, and it was a relatively small group, but we were able to pick the member of congress we wanted to work for. i came to washington to stay 12

months in 1968. i stayed about 40 years. overran my schedule, but i -- the experience i had, brought a group of members of congress. they would come through one at a time during the orientation session, and i was very impressed with one young congressman from the north shore of chicago, a guy named done rumsfeld, and he spoke to the group, and i thought, well, i'd kind of like to go to work for him. i went and interviewed with him. he had me in his office and he asked me what i was doing and i was explaining i was studying the way congress voted and doing a phd thesis and so forth and then i was going to go back and become a professor, and he listened for about ten minute and he stood up and said this isn't going to work and he threw me out. he claims that's not what happened, but i -- i took notes. i remember it very well. a couple of months later, he was

named by president nixon, who was starting his administration to run the anti-poverty agency, the old office of economic opportunity, and i sat down shortly after he was announced, and i wrote an unsolicited 12-page memo to him telling him how he ought to conduct himself in his confirmation hearings, what he ought to do with the agency once he took over, what kinds of policy initiatives he should undertake and so forth. and sent it through the man that i was then working for and didn't hear anything about it for a couple of weeks. then i got a phone call asking me to come down to the agency the next day to be part of a transition group, just a group that was going to advise rumsfeld. and this was the day he had been sworn in. so i went down. he came in. he spoke to the big group and then left. then he sent in a secretary. she came in and said is there anybody in here named cheney. i held my hand up. she took me back into his office.

he looked up at me and he said, you, you're congressional relations and now get out of here. that's how he hired me. he didn't say i'm sorry i threw you out last time. he didn't say i liked your memo. he didn't say how would you like to come to work for me. he said you're congressional relations and now get out of here. i said, where is congressional relations? got directions and went down and took over. >> you were how old? >> at the time i was 37. no, excuse me. i would have just turned 28. >> ariel girlfriendno from monmouth university, question. >> hi, mr. vice president, i wanted to thank you first for this opportunity. it really does men a lot to me. my question has to do with your book specifically. when writing your book of memoirs, was there any event or moment that you have done differently or any regrets from your earlier years in politics that you wish you would have done? >> things i wish i would have done? >> yeah. >> in political life?

>> yes. >> not really. i look back on that, with two thoughts that primarily stand out on that. one was i had very fortunate. i had some great opportunities that came my way, but that was in part because people who were willing to take a chance on me. after you've had a career like mine, it's easy to look back on it and sort of get into the mindset that somehow i earned it all by myself. it's not true. it's almost never true. if you think about it, you're able to advance what you do and make forward progress on a career because people are willing to help, and i can identify don rumsfeld, bill steiger who was then a congressman from wisconsin, jerry ford who was willing to hire me to work for him. i actually went down the day he took over and to be part of the transition and eventually become chief of staff when i was very

young. you know, my career, my subsequent career has turned on those decisions that other people made when i was here as a young man and didn't expect to stay more than 12 months, but those are the things i think about. in terms of what i would have done with my own career, i did everything i set out to do, and it was obviously varied. i got to do a whole bunch of things. i loved the fact that i was there to work in the ford administration in the aftermath of watergate. when i finished with president ford, i went home to wyoming because i decided i wanted to run for congress. that was the place for me to run from. but everything i had done here during the nixon and ford administrations that laid the groundwork ultimately for my campaigns and fortunately i won all of those, and then i