value and quality of your goods and services. you are getting business because you're paying a bribe. and whoever pays the most gets the contract. i think small and medium-sized companies are put at a disadvantage sometimes when complying with the fcpa because it can be very expensive to do so. you have to have, you know, robust legal counsel in-house, auditors, accountants and sometimes those are costs that smaller and medium-sized companies can't afford. >> this comment from vivian on twitter, the u.s. government pays billions in bribes to officials in afghanistan and we call it aide? maybe we should stop that. so let me conclude with where we start, the is the walmart case, but the outcome of it will determine the policy debate. how do you and want this to be watched in this town? >> it's going to be interesting. i think it's on everyone's radar right now, but these things take a long time to investigate, two years or more.

so it is definitely going to fade from the spotlight. i think for the time being the chamber's push on the hill is going to lie dormant. i don't know whether it has a realistic prospect in the election year anyways, but this is distracted from that. i think fcpa enforcement is going to continue unabated. the prosecutors are serious about this, the justice department is behind them, the sec is serious about this, and this is just an example of how serious they are. walmart faces a protracted haul here. they are going to have to investigate this. it is going to cost them millions of dollars to do so and they may pay a huge fine at the end of it. >> thank you, chris matthews, for this look behind the headlines. walmart is in the news to learn more about it, which is the foreign practices corrupt act. >> thank you for having me. >> this is c-span3 with politics and programming throughout the week. every weekend people are telling the american story on american history tv.

get our schedules and see past programs at our website. and join in the conversation on social media sites. >> now a look at presidential politics in the south. c-span's washington classroom is a partnership with the washington center and george mason university. this week the class gets some insight perspective from former governor of virginia, douglas wilder. he joins the class to look back at his 1992 presidential bid and share his insights into the unique brand of politics that resides in the south. this is about an hour. >> congress passes the most sweeping civil rights bill ever to be written into law and shows the equality for all men that began with lincoln so 0 years ago. he wins his dignity now.

five hours after the house passes the measure the civil rights act of 1964 is signed at the white house by president johnson. before an audience of legislators and civil rights leader who is have labored long and hard for passage of the pill, president johnson calls for all americans to back what he calls a turning point in history. >> we must not approach the observance and enforcement of this law in a vengeful spirit. this purpose is not to punish. this purpose is not to divide but to end divisions. divisions which have lasted all too long. this purpose is national, not regional. this civil rights act is a challenge to all of us. to go to work in our communities and our states, in our homes and in our hearts. to eliminate the last vestages

of injustice in our beloved country. so tonight i urge every public official, every religious leader, every business and professional man, every working man, every housewife, i urge every american to join in this effort to bring justice and hope to all our people and to bring peace to our land. >> that's warm applause for members of both parties at the president gets to work. he uses nearly 100 pens to affix his signature. everett dirkson and democratic leader hubert humphrey. the president mastered the touch of each pen to the paper.

immigration leader martin luther king receives his pen, a gift he said he would cherish. the department of justice will open force the law if necessary and jay edgar hoover is president. another pen is reserved for the kennedys and the attorney general is entrusted with a half dozen. now in this summer of 1964 the civil rights bill is the law of the land. in the words of the president, it restricts no one's freedom, so long as he respects the rights of others. >> governor doug wilder is joining us from richmond, virginia, as we reflect back on the most important piece of the legislation in the 20th century. we want to welcome students from the washington sent the center and george mason university participating in the c-span washington classroom. governor wilder is now anned a

adjunct professor. governor, thank you very much for being with us. >> steve, my extreme pleasure, always to be with you. >> let's take a step back at that law, what led to the 1964 civil rights act and its impact both on the country and on american politics. your thoughts? >> well, first of all, the timing is significant. 1954 was brown versus board of education, and yet the implementation was lagging. many people thought that was the first key to unlock the doors of equality to make certain things would take place. and that didn't happen. and when john kennedy and the spring of '63 announced the idea of the need for the passage of the civil rights law, and when that was followed through by lyndon johnson in '64. and then johnson using all of his legislative skills making

certain that those recounts, mostly from the center, were not there to obstruct but to pass. was it significant? most significant because it led to that next year's passage of the voting rights act of 1965. and those two things did so much to make many things come into being. the decision that had been rendered years ago that one man, one vote. but one man, one vote was a nor chord if those people voting were not considered men or not entitled to vote. so when you take the supreme court decision of becca versus car, the civil rights act of '64 and the voting acts of '65, it transformed the south to such a

degree it has never been the same since then. >> and let me share with you one other piece of archival film to put this issue into some sort of context, because the battle that led up to the passage of the civil rights act and the assassination of john kennedy in many people's eyes played a role in forcing congress or pushing congress to do this. here's what president kennedy said just a few months before he went to dallas, texas. >> we are confronted primarily with a moral issue. it is as old as the scriptures and is as clear as the american constitution. the heart of the question is, whether all americans aught to be afforded equal rights and equal opportunities. whether we are going to treat our fellow americans as we want to be treated. if an american, because his skin is dark, cannot eat lunch in a restaurant open to the public, if he cannot send his children to the best public school

available, if he cannot vote for the public officials who represent him, if, in short, he cannot enjoy the full and free life, which all of us want, then who among us would be content to have the color of his skin changed and stand in his place? whom among us would then be content with the counsel of patience and delay? 100 years of delay have passed as president lincoln freed the slaves, yet their heirs and grandsons are not fully free. they are not yet free from the bonds of i justice, they are not yet free from social and economic oppression. and this nation, for all its hopes and all its will not be fully free until all the sit zeps are free. >> governor wilder, that was only a half century ago, only 50 years ago. what a different america it was

back in 1962, '63 and '64. >> and i'm glad you mipgsed that, steve, because two or too many people believe, this is on both sides of the aisle and in many races, that we have come to this point by happenstance. this is how we always were. i'm so glad that you put the piece in there to show what kennedy was speaking of. and as he referenced abraham lincoln, when the emancipation proclamation was made, the slaves referred to it as the big bell rang. they considered that to be the bell of the liberty, not the bell that hung in philadelphia. and when brown versus board of education came down, many people referred to that in the african-american community as the second ringing of the bell. and so it could very easily be

considered that the 1964 civil rights act and the voting rights act of '65 were the continuing ringings of the bell. i think the other point that you mentioned, some felt that it may have played a part in kennedy's assassination, his coming out, because there are those who had considered that he was not as forthright as he may have been relative to the rights of individuals, all americans. but his coming out, in many instances, was felt as striking the conscience of america. and that's when you started seeing in the '60s this real change taking place in our country. you're right, less than 50 years ago when you consider it was 1964 that we were able to direct the course of the nation. the real question is, how do we keep it in the direction that it was directed? >> so let's turn to presidential

politics, because lyndon johnson famously said that the south was lost to the democrats. the south was predominantly democratic and then moved to the republican party. you're a democrat from virginia, the old confederacy, the capital city of the confederacy, what happened? >> well, it was democratic but it was democratic for a few people. it was democratic for those who could vote and who were those people? the poll tax was leveled against all people, not just black people. it was leveled against poor people. and if you lived in certain areas you couldn't vote. you had what they called black paper registration that the registrars could use. and that meant a registrar could ask you to recite anything from the constitution that the person chose to ask you. if you couldn't recite it, you didn't pass the test. and who was to determine if you were a good moral character. so the limitations on voting made it possible for once you

won the democratic primary in the south, that was tied to an election. and the number of blacks were supporters of the democratic party, because of fdr, that had started this break, this new deal that provided opportunities and jobs. pride at that time, blacks in the south voted republican because of lincoln. and when the reconstruction period was over, they still were voting republican, but the aftermath was there. so johnson was absolutely right, and yet as kennedy observed and some of his people spoke to him about it, those states said we are probably going to lose anyway. so let's do the right thing. as it turned out, lyndon johnson was that first president, first democrat, to carry virginia in

40-some years. when he ran and overwhelmingly defeatedberry goldwater. >> you went to a racially segregated middle school, you served as the mayor of richmond, virginia, lieutenant governor and governor, have you ever felt the pain of racism in your personal or political life? >> oh, but of course, but the pain was such as there's medicine for it. and the medicine bribed prescribed in miss instance was hope, and that was provided by my mother. teacher class, as you said, at the wildest government of public policy at virginia commonwealth university, and we, in dealing with the book written by randall kennedy called "the persistence of race in society," people were la meanting about jefferson's lofty words in the declaration of end pep dense and how they were empty words. i said, before you go too far, they were indeed empty, but for me it gave such hope and such

meaning because we were as youngsters required to read and learn and know and recite the declaration of independence. so when i got to this part, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with aimable rights, but then i asked my mother what that aimable word meant, and she said no one can take from you. i said, the rights that he's speaking of, do they apply to me? she said, of course they do. as a youngster, that stayed with me forever. so even though i couldn't ride on the streetcar or the bus where i wanted, even though i couldn't try on a suit of clothes when we went to buy clothes or you couldn't eat at a fountain or go to a movie house, all of those things my mother would explain to me will be temporary because if you do the best you can, you'll overcome those. she was far right, because if you except what is and don't

change the status quo, you shouldn't be complaining about it. that's one of the reasons i got into politics in the first instance. yes, i knew all of those things, but i wasn't going to, for a moment, allow those things to hold me back. because my mother told me that i could be anything i wanted to be. >> we'll go to fairfax, virginia, and george mason university. bob licter. >> thank you. governor, you talked about the way that voting patterns in the white and black south changed the civil rights movement. nicole taylor has a question about what to expect in the near future. >> hi. with the south's split among several republican candidates during the current primary, how do you think the voting will change for the general election? will it still favor a republican candidate, specifically if mitt romney or will it favor president obama? >> i love the echo there at the

end, but as you look at the political map, who does it favor, barack obama or mitt romney? >> today the south does not favor anybody. and i say that because if you looked at florida, obama carried florida. he carried north carolina, he carried virginia. i would think rather than to say it favors anybody, i would think that obama has his work cut out for him to carry florida, to carry virginia and to carry north carolina. that being the case, those other states that i did mention in the south, my judgment will be voting republican. so if you had to say anybody was being favored, it would be the republican nominee. >> let me go to some of the students from the washington center. we'll begin with kevin rutherford, a question for you with governor wilder joining us from richmond. kevin? >> i was just wondering, like, in the coming years, do you

think that african-americans in politics will have a greater role, or do you think it is just going to stay the same as it is currently? >> governor, the question is whether or not you can see african-americans having a greater role in american politics? >> yeah, i do. but i've always believed that. i've always thought that that was a possibility for a president to be a person of color. i think the best role that one could play would be at the local level and then expand upon it. as we know, one of the great speakers of the house in the congress, tip o'neal, he said, all politics is local. and i couldn't agree more. i think that the best way to have a bigger and a larger role in american politics is to

expand the role that's being played at the level levels, local levels. who is going to be in charge of the transportation? who is going to be in charge of the school systems? who is going to be in charge of the parks and recreation? the availability of opportunities for expansion of knowledge. be involved in those things, your town hall meetings, your city council meetings, your boards of supervisors' meetings, and then expand that to the state levels. expand that to the congressional levels. expand that to the national levels, but don't start too big. start at the lowest possible level, learn, ask the right questions, don't be content with the status quo and be willing to sacrifice. and don't enter or be involved in politics to make a living. do it to make a commitment, to make a contribution and to

sacrifi sacrifice. don't go into politics to or for the vain glory or power, go into it for the purpose of serving. >> let me have you listen to what the late senator robert byrd said. in an interview we did back in 2005, this runs just about three minutes, but he gives you some full context as to why he opposed the civil rights act in 1964 and really how his opinions have shifted, changed, evolved over the last 30 to 40 years since that legislation became the law of the land. let's watch. again, from 2005, the interview we conducted with senator robert byrd of virginia. >> would you change your vote on civil rights if you had to give it today? >> yes, i would. on the civil rights law of 1964, i would, i would change my vote. >> why? >> there are a number of reasons.

one, at the time i voted, i just had gotten out of law school. my wife had put me through law school. i had ten years of going to law school here in the district of columbia, and i was pretty good in constitutional law. and i was surrounded by men, one woman, who were astute when it came to the constitution, sam irvan, richard russell, edward dirton, there was a man i liked. his rhetorical paralysis, he had a great mind, but i would say that's about it. >> we carried on our radio station -- >> wait a minute, there's one other thing i want to say about that. why i changed my mind.

on civil rights. i lost a grandson in 1982. a fine-looking young man. 6'5", 300 pounds, 17 years old, loved the outdoors. i lost him. he died in a truck crash. i won't go through all the deep valleys that i tread, during the following two years, i was majority leader then, i believe, at that time, which did take my mind away from that great tragedy to some extent. anyhow, it came to my mind at that time how i loved this grandson. and it also came to my mind that black people love their grandsons, too. and i -- the more i thought about it i thought, well now, suppose i were black.

and my grandson and i were out on the highways in the mid-hour, wee hours of the morning or midnight. and i stopped at a place to get that little grandson a glass of water or to have it go to the restroom, and there's a sign, whites only. the black people love their grandsons as much as i love mine. and that's just not right. and so we who, like myself, are born in a southern environment, grew up with southern people, knew their feelings about the civil war and all these things, i thought, my goodness, we aught to get ahead of the curve, really. not have the law force us to do it. we aught to take down those signs. well, that is what made me come to the conclusion that if i had

to do it over again, i would vote against that, vote against that law. >> governor wilder, that was senator robert byrd about a decade ago in 2005 reflecting on the 1964 civil rights act. he talked about grandchildren, black and white, as you hear that, what are your thoughts? >> i've meant senator byrd and he asked me to come by to visit him if i came to washington, and i did. i think i was governor at the time. he presented me with a copy of the book. as you know, he wrote it relative to his experiences in the congress and the senate. and he pointed out a publicist beyond expense, and i liked it. and yet i sit and listen to him, and it is very clear that he was struggling with the reasons why he changed his mind. he said he was surrounded by good people and he named richard russell, byrd himself debated --

i'm sorry, he filibustered for 14 hours personally against the passage of the civil rights bill. 14 hours he did so. that was some 83 days given to it in terms of the numbers of total days filibustering against the civil rights act. he mentioned dirkson. he voted for it and was one of lyndon johnson's stars in terms of showing ways by which it could be passed. he referenced the objection to mrs. murphy's boardinghouse, i suppose she had a few people that were not colored by interstate commerce, et cetera, so that exemption was put there. dirkson was a statesman and did so with an event toward getting the bill passed. and so i do know, and you consider that senator byrd was from west virginia, west virginia refused to secede from the union because of the issue

of slavery. and that is why they were punished severely in the western part of the state in terms of what you get in terms of road money, et cetera, in virginia. so i think any number of people have different reasons for rationalizing or why they did what they did, to the extent that senator byrd finally agreed and admitting that he was wrong, i thought that was cute, that's why i would vote against the measure now. he doesn't mean vote against it, he meant that he would not vote against it now. he would change his vote and support it. >> let me share with you two other moments in southern politics, two democrats who ran and won the presidency. first in 1976, a former governor from the deep south, only served one term, like the commonwealth of virginia at that point in georgia, you could only serve one four-year term. and yet he went on to serve this moment in new york city in the summer of 1976. >> my name is jimmy carter and

i'm running for president. it's been -- it's been a long time since i said those words the first time. and now i've come here after seeing our great country to accept your nomination. [ applause ] >> i accept it in the word of john f. kennedy, with a full and grateful heart, and with only one obligation to devote every event of body, mind and spirit to lead our party back to

victory and our nation back to greatness. >> governor wilder, you were in state politics when jimmy carter ran in won the presidency back in 1976, but how important was that in terms of shaping southern politics for the democrats or the republicans? >> i think it was tremendously important because, as you know, the voting rights act was in place then. the civil rights act well enforced. jimmy carter's election allowed people to participate at the convention, the democratic national convention in measures they had not previously been involved with. he carried a number of states in the south, and as a result was identified as a southerner. he ran against the tide. the tide in that instance was inflation and high cost of living as was occasion in the

white house at the time. he ran against what i would also call watergate. it would have been hard for someone not to be elected running against that scenario. gerald ford was a decent man an a good man, but he was still wearing the mantle of watergate. so it was not surprising to me that carter won. and when he was running again, he was running against the problems of inflation. and i misquoted that. he had involved himself with the hostile situation in iran, the high cost of gas leap, gasoline, people standing in line since gasoline was rationed and things like that. and yet that was the first real identification of the south to a southerner. and allot of that came as a result of his evangelical ties and his religious