if you've got health insurance. it's going to be more secure because insurance companies can't jerk you around because of fineprint. if you don't have health insurance, we'll help you get it. they're not going to be able to discriminate against you in buying health insurance because you're sick and we're not going to tell the 6 million young people who have already been helped because they're now on their parents' insurance plan that suddenly they're on their own and we're not going to turn medicare into a voucher system. we're not going to re-fight political battles from two years ago or three years ago. we're going to move forward and help every american make sure they feel some security when it comes to healthcare. i'm running because after a decade of war we stopped and ended the war in iraq. we're transitioning out of

afghanistan and now it's time to do some nation building here at home. so i want to take half the money we're no longer spending for the war and let's use it to put people back to work, rebuilding our roads, rebuilding our runways, our ports and wireless networks and i know we have trades here in the house. these guys are ready to work. they're ready to put a hard hat on. they're ready to rebuild america. that's what we need to be doing all across iowa, all across this country. we can't go back. we've got to move forward. [ applause ] >> and i am running to make sure that we can afford to pay down our debt and our deficits in a way that is responsible after a

decade of irresponsible decisions. we need to reduce it, but in a balanced, responsible way. i will -- i will cut spending that we can't afford and we're going help our vets. we're doing it. we've actually increased veterans' funding since i've been president higher than any time in 30 years. the -- the -- but, you know, in order to bring down our debt and our deficits in a responsible way, it means cutting out things we can't afford and not every government program works and we can streamline government and i've asked for authority from congress to make sure that the government is suited for the 21st century and not the 19th century, but what we've also got to do is ask the wealthiest americans to enjoy the biggest

tax cuts over the past decade to pay a little bit more and you know, here's the thing. there are plenty of patriotic, successful americans who want to make this contribution. they're willing to do it, because they remember how they got successful. all these things whether it's bringing back manufacturing or getting construction workers back on the job or protecting your health care or saving the auto industry or making sure our kids get the best education, making sure our veterans are getting the care they deserve after fighting on behalf of our freedom. all these things that make up a middle class life, they're all tied together. they're all -- they're all sinful to the idea that made this big, diverse, hopeful, optimistic hard-working country great. the idea that if you work hard you can have the security to make of your life what you will. the idea that we are all in this

together. we are individuals and we have to take responsibility and nobody's going offer you anything, but ultimately there are some things we do together. that's the promise of our parents and our grandparents and they passed it down to us. it's the promise we have to pass down to our kids and our grandkids that we don't just look out for ourselves and we look out after our people, too and our communities and our states and our nations, and the next generation of americans. so over the next four months, you'll see the other side spending more money than we've ever seen before and even though there will be a bunch of different ads they'll all have the same message. they'll all say the economy is not where it needs to be and it's obama's fault. that's basically their idea. they know their economic theory

isn't going to sell so all they can say is unemployment is still too high, folks are still struggling and it's obama's fault. that's their message. that's it. they don't have another one. i guarantee you, you watch every ad, that's going to be the message. now that may be a plan to win an election, but it's not a plan to create jobs. it sure as heck is not a plan to grow our economy. it's not a plan to revive our middle class. they don't have that plan. i've got that plan, and i will -- so let me tell you, we have been outspent before. we've been counted out before,

but through every one of my campaigns, what's always given me hope is you. your ability to cut through the nonsense. your ability to identify what's true, to tap into those values that we all believe in, i know -- i know -- i know that you guys remember the story of your family just like i remember mine, and all of the struggles of our parents and our grandparents and great grandparents and everything they went through, some of them coming here as immigrants and maybe working in a mine, working on a mill, farming the land. they didn't know what to expect and they understood there was something special about this country. they knew that this was a country where people are free to pursue their own dreams and that we still come together as one american family, and they knew

that being middle class wasn't just about having a certain amount of money in your bank account. it was about the values you cared about and the responsibilities that you took and the communities that you believed in, and how you were able to have some security to take care of your family and give your children a better chance than you did. when we come together and we tap into those values and you remember what we're made of and who we are and how we got here and that we didn't get here alone because somebody out there was helping us along the way, and all that money spent on tv advertising doesn't matter. all those negative ads don't happen. that's what i remember. that's what i know about, how you guys not only inspired me, but inspired each other and you can still do that. you still inspire me. when i told you in 2008 that i was running for president, i told you, look. i'm not a perfect man.

michelle tells me that, and i wouldn't be a perfect president, but i promised that i would tell you what i thought. i'd tell you where i stood, and i promised i would work every single day -- i would fight as hard as i knew how for you. because i saw myself in you. i saw my kids in your kids and my grandparents in your grandparents, and i kept that promise, iowa. i have kept that promise. and i still believe in you, and if you still believe in me and you stand with me and work with me and knock on doors with me and make phone calls with me i promise you we will not just win this election. we will finish what we started

and we will remind the world why america is the greatest nation on earth. god bless you and god bless the united states of america! ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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♪ c-span's road to the white house political coverage continues as we follow the candidates throughout the summer. in late august the republicans will hold their national convention in tampa, florida. the democratic convention is in charlotte, north carolina and in october, three presidential debates are scheduled. election day is november 6th. you can visit the newly revised c-span campaign 2012 website where you can watch the latest events from republican presidential candidate mitt romney and president obama from the campaign trail. also visit our social media session. you'll see what the candidates, political reporters and other

viewers are saying about the presidential race. you can look at sites like facebook, twitter and we'll have that and more at c-span.org/campaign 2012. here in washington today, the u.s. house is repealing president obama's health care plan and the procedural vote, it it allows for five hours of general debate and the live coverage of that debate will continue on our cam pan onnetwork c-span. on the facebook page tell us if you support or oppose the 2010 healthcare law and make that vote on our facebook page, facebook.com/c-span. we have great threats to our existence today as a nation, and i would think in my opinion, greater than any threat we've

ever faced whether it's been our civil war and our revolutionary war and whether it's been world war 2 and whether it's been the depression and that threat comes to us because we've spent the last 30 years in this country spending money that we did not have on things we did not absolutely need and the bill is due. >> colorado christian university held a western conservative issue summit featuring speakers from this country and the netherlands watch the forum online at the c-span video library. this is c-span3 with politics and public affairs programming throughout the week and every weekend, 48 hours of people and events telling the american story on american history tv. get our schedules and see past programs at our websites and you can join in the conversation on social media sites.

immigration and customs enforcement director john morton testified this morning about illegal immigration and deportations under the obama administration. the house border and maritime security subcommittee held this hearing in light of the supreme court ruling on arizona's immigration law. also in june, president obama announced a new immigration policy stopping the deportation of some illegal immigrants who came to the u.s. as children. this is just over an hour. >> the committee on homeland security and our subcommittee border and maritime security will come to order. and the subcommittee is meeting today to examine how the department of home landz security can better leverage state and local partnerships through programs like secure communities and our witness today is john morton, director of immigration and customs enforcement and i would just begin my opening statement by welcoming the director. we are sincerely appreciative of his participation today and we

also want to, of course, extend our condolences of the recent shooting of i.c.e. agent calvin harrison which the brave men and women on the front lines are facing each and every day and we pray for his speedy recovery, as well. again, i want to thank the director and the men and women of immigration and customs enforcement who do a magnificent job, and i think all of us here on the subcommittee want to do everything in our power to make sure that we give i.c.e. the tools, resources and the support that they need to get the job done. tangible border security requires that we take a layered approach and not solely focus the line in the sand that separates the u.s. from mexico. we have the long, often liquid border that we share with canada and are thousands of miles of coastline, because the truth is despite the best efforts on personnel, infrastructure and technology and drug and human smugglers and others will

inevitably dry to find a way through. not only do hardworking people come across the border in search of a better life, but human smugglers and drug mules also come into this country with less and pure motivations and often prey on the innocent. it's important to note that whe, visa security cannot be overlooked. the core truth is many who enter the country illegally walk in through the front door and never leave following the expiration of their visas. we saw that with several of the 9/11 terrorists, and even the recent case of the attempted capitol bomber. they were all here on extended vi visa overstays. tracking down criminals is the perhaps the most critical enforcement layer. i would remind my colleagues as well that every single person who crosses a border illegally, of course, has committed a crime and we can't ignore the fact or sweep it under the rug. sending the message that unless

you commit a serious crime that we're not going to bother with the efforts to deport you is a dangerous signal to be sending and threatens the safety of our country. prioration of limited resources toward the most dangerous krms certainly makes sense, but i.c.e. can't ignore low-level criminals because of the very real potential they'll go on to commit more serious crimes. aside from entering the country illegally, which is still a violation of the law. when we think about what is the best use of our limited resources, we should be fully cognizant of the fact that although i.c.e. is a large organization, the scope of the immigration and border security problem is very large for them to tackle alone. we can certainly debate the merits and wisdom of tough state immigration laws, but i.c.e. also needs to be cultivating and leveraging partnerships with state and local governments who are more often than not willing to share that burden, and i'm sure the district to be is going to be talking about that today. we've seen some delays in the roll out of the secure communities in alabama because

of the disagreement with a tough state law. and we've also seen a slow approach to the roll out in illinois in cook county, in particular, which refuses to honor i.c.e. detainers or the most dangerous criminals putting citizens and the nation at risk. i'm sure we'll have questions for the director about those two incidents as well. immigration enforcement is certainly a federal responsibility, and the congress has authorized state and local law enforcement to provide in certain circumstances. secure communities and the 287-g program and others are critical components in the last line of defense. congress created secure communities in fiscal year 2008 as a pilot program to establish the capability to identify all criminal aliens or potential criminal aliens at the time of arrest. in an activated jurisdictions, which had is now about 97% of the entire country, all of those arrested have their fingerprints run against databases to determine if they're in the country legally or not.

the program, now a permanent program, is in operation in all of these jurisdictions nationwide with the goal of having the program online nationwide by the end of this year. since the program was activated, it has helped lead to the removal of more than 141,000 convicted criminals who were unlawfully present in this country. so i find it amazing, really, that there was so much opposition to this program. fully, 94% of the aliens deported by this very valuable program either convicted criminals or recent border crossers or visa overstays. this begs a very simple question. how can you oppose a question with those results unless you're not really vested in this nation securing our borders? however, this is precisely the position several open border groups have advocated. ultimately resulting in i.c.e.'s

adoption in a policy to halt deportations until actual convictions for lower-level traffic violations. my only concern is we've heard reports about aliens who have been convicted of lower-level offenses who have generally been ignored with little law enforcement action taken against that group. without taking actions against all criminal aliens, programs may result in a number of unidentified criminal aliens being released bark into society, which is an unacceptable outcome. the purpose of today's hearing is to examine the work that i.c.e. is doing to leverage local and state resources. congress is eager and willing to facilitate cooperative efforts to secure the border, to remove dangerous criminal aliens from our streets, and to help the department of homeland security secure our nation's homeland. again, that's the purpose of this hearing. the chair now recognizes the ranking member of the subcommittee for his opening statement. >> thank you, chairman. thank you for holding this

hearing today. i would like to thank also director morton for joining us today. i look forward to his testimony. before we begin, i'd like to express my condolences to the family of the border patrol agent who died in the line of duty on july 6th after an a accident near fort hancock in west texas. i'd also like to wish a quick recovery to hsi special agent colton harrison who was shot in the line of duty. director, i believe you're heading over there to visit the family and him also. i think he was shot there last week. again, thank you for show iing. this terrible incident is a reminder of the men and women that put their lives on the line every day to make our country more secure. we greatly appreciate their service and sacrifice. the purpose of today's hearing is to examine the status of

i.c.e., security communities program, along with the agency's plan of the future for the program. the department of homeland security and its predecessor agency have operated programs targeting criminal aliens for removal since 1988. today under the secure communities program when participating law enforcement agencies submit the fingerprints for a criminal background check, the fingerprints are now also automatically sent to dhs for i.c.e. to check against them for dhs databases. i know when i was traveling -- my congressional district because i wanted to have all of my congressional districts. i travel with i.c.e. we told the folks it was a very simple thing. when they put the fingerprint, you used to go check the criminal background. once in jail and they give the

fingerprint, now they send off for the immigration status. i think it's just a very common sense approach. of course, you all are all 254 counties in texas and i think a couple states we want to talk about in a few minutes. the i.c.e. reports show that through march 31st of 2012, more than 135,000 immigrants convicted of crimes including more than 49,000 convicted of felony offenses like murder and rape were removed from the u.s. after identification through secure community. my brother, who's a border sheriff, was given as an example how they stop somebody. they had somebody in jail. turned out he was there for murder in another state. so secure community does work, and it does help the local border law enforcement. given limited resources compared to the number of individuals unlawfully presented in the u.s., prioritizing criminals and

particularly the serious criminals for removal keeps our community safer and is in the best use of taxpayer's dollars. the secure communities program has not been without controversy. i do understand that. i'm pleased to say that i.c.e., under the director morton's leadership, has taken steps to make enhancements to the program. for example, i was in houston. i was there with sheriff garcia. he was telling me about the task force that they put together to make sure that i.c.e. was working to improve its communication with state and local jurisdictions and secure communities. not only there in houston and harris county for sheriff garcia, but of course in other parts. we want to thank you. to make sure we minimize concerns of the possibility of racial profiling in the program. i hope to hear from director morton about i.c.e.'s progress in this particular effort. i also hope to hear about ensuring the program meets its stated commission of removing

serious criminal aliens from this had country. as a member of congress, we also want to make sure the agencies understand what is your core mission, what is your core mission and make sure you accomplish those objectives. as a member representative border community, i know how important programs like secure communities are and addressing the issue of illegal immigration griff given its important. i look forward to having a productive dialogue with you, director morton. again, i want to thank the chairwoman and the ranking member of the committee, mr. thompson, for all the work they're doing along with the members. thank you, and i yield back the balance of my time. >> chair now recognizes ranking member of the full committee, the gentleman from mississippi, mr. thompson, for his statement. >> thank you very much, madam chairman. welcome, director morton. good to see you again. let me start by saying i strongly support the administration's decision to identify and remove