watch four documentaries on alaska. the 1936 film alaska silver millions. the 1949 film eskimo hunters. the 1967 film alaska centennial. and the 1944 film alaska highway. watch alaska weekend saturday and sunday on the c-span networks, c-span.org, or listen in on the free c-span radio app. matt walsh is the author of "the unholy trinity" blocking the left's assault on life, marriage, and gender. he was one of he the speakers in denver. we will also hear from a representative of israel's ministry of tourism. >> i want to teach you a hebrew word this morning. t-i-k-v-a. it means hope. say it with me.

tikva. that's right. it's a great hebrew word to know especially because three weeks ago we celebrated the 70th anniversary of the founding of the modern state of israel. it's a great milestone for the nation of israel, for the state of israel. and israel really has been a beacon of hope in the middle east and a beacon of hope throughout the world. it's phenomenal, really, what has taken place in israel in the last 70 years despite all the forces against it. israel's past is being uncovered and revealed as we are learning more and more about israel's past through excavations. israel's future is being laid out before it. israel is a leader in the world in high-tech industry, also in biomedical technology, water, agricultural technology.

as a matter of fact, it's probably a rare day when each one of you in this room doesn't use some bit of israeli technology. at least every day or at least every week you're using something that was developed in israel. it's nominal what's happening there. so israel is really a place of hope in so many ways. it's a real pleasure to be with you here at the conference at the western conservative summit. i know that i'm among many friends, many supporters of israel here. and it is good to be among so many friends. you can probably tell from my accent that i am not israeli. in fact, i'm not even a jew. i'm an american and i'm a christian. in fact, i served as a pastor for 25 years in various churches in the united states. and have had a love for israel since i came to christ at the age of 15.

and it was my privilege as a pastor to take my churches on trips to israel. and to expose israel to them for the very first time for most of them. it was a life-changing experience for every single person who went on those adventures with us. i've never met anyone who has been to israel who hasn't been changed in some way by the experience. it's been my honor and privilege for the last two and a half years to represent the state of israel throughout the united states making the case to the christian community and the broader faith-based community and also to the travel industry for the importance of traveling to israel. i consider israel the most important destination on earth to visit. why? israel is not just a travel

destination. but israel is at the very center of a divine drama that is taking place on the earth. that is why for all of our lifetimes and long before then, israel's been a place of both conflict and a place of wonder. there's probably not one of you in this room here this morning who has not heard or probably knows very much the details of stories that have come out of israel's history. out of its ancient literature. out of its history book. those stories have been told around the world for generations. they have changed lives. they have inspired nations. they have brought hope to millions of people throughout history. and that story continues today. and that is why it is a life-changing experience to visit israel today. it's as if you yourself when you visit israel step into israel's story. you become part of the story of the ages when you're there. you feel the weight of history

when you are there walking in the land going to the ancient places, opening the texts of the scripture, reading what took place on that site. it will change your life. i'm convinced that every christian, every jew, every person regardless of their creeds and confessions whether religious or non-religious needs to visit israel especially when travel to israel is safe, it is easy, and relatively inexpensive. you should by all means get there if at all possible. let me give you four quick reasons why you need to visit israel. first to expand and broaden your understanding. there's nothing more volatile than ignorance. surely much of the conflict in the world and much of the

conflict in the middle east is a failure to understand great movements, to understand the plan of god to understand roles and purposes walking the length of breadth of israel. having the land itself imprinted upon your mind. seeing it for yourself will do more for you in understanding israel's role in the world and its importance in the world and importance even present day importance and future importance to the redemptive plan of god. that is life changing. second, to defend freedom. the theme of this conference fortifying freedom happens not just within the borders of this country but it extends throughout the world. we have an amazing friend in the middle east. israel is the one true democracy in the middle east as americans

who live in a democratic republic, we already have an automatic friendship. we already have an automatic affinity to israel. and even though we have maybe never been there, you still love it. you still know when you stand in israel you support their right to exist. and i think that is something that is absolutely true. you can read books. you can study maps. you can do all you can from this end to try to understand israel. but you don't really grasp it until you're standing in the land walking and picking up its dust and its rocks. understanding ages and ages of history that went on there.

it's fascinating. do you realize nearly every ancient empire in history marched through the land of israel. it is strategically located at a very strategic place on the earth. the cross roads of the world and every ancient empire marched through there and left its mark. and so to go there and to see what happened and to see all the history and understand the history is fascinating. you need to see it. you need to stand in it. you need to make a statement of your love and your support for israel by being in israel, spend time there, and spend your money there. a third reason is to promote peace. there's no better way to get to know israelis than to visit them. and you should know that israelis are not a monolithic group of people.

israel is multi-ethnic, multi-national. there are jews from all over the world. there are arabs, christian, and musli musl muslim. multiple languages in israel. i think russian is the second most spoken. although many israelis speak english. so it makes it easy for you to go and connect with them on a personal level, to share your story, to hear their stories. the point is interacting with diverse people, getting to know them, understanding their stories and understanding the cooperation that is actually going on in israel among all these groups is the best way to promote peace. don't travel in fear.

actually, go with hands of compassion. go with interest in the people that are there. and love for the people of the land. stop listening to the unending cycles of news cycles that go on which get you all worked up and go see for yourself, see how safe, see how free, see how wonderful it really is. go and be part of the solution. one of my favorite descriptions of jerusalem in the writings of the hebrew text is -- which means the city of the great king. it's a fascinating statement and it has a sense of looking forward to a time when the great king is seated on the throne and

peace reigns. elsewhere in the hebrew text in the prophets, that same king is referred to as shar shalom. prince of peace. he is the one who brings peace. israel is a peaceful place to visit. right now today there are 350,000 visitors from all over the world in israel and they are experiencing and traveling throughout the land, the length and the breadth very peacefully and enjoying and learning. so don't be afraid to go. but be a part of bringing peace. visit israel. it is a peaceful place and peace is its ultimate destiny. last and i think maybe most importantly, reason to go to israel is to deepen your faith. i can think of no better activity to engage in in terms of deepening faith, deepening

and expanding your understanding of the scriptures and inciting a passion for the god of israel and his plan and visiting and seeing and studying israel. some have called israel the fifth gospel. because it itself preaches. others say visiting israel even for a week is like taking an intensive seminary course. when you open the text of the bible and study the passage on the very site where it took place, it is as if you become a part of the story. you interact with the bible in a very personal and intimate way that can be experienced in no other place on earth. your spiritual life will be forever changed. and god appears to delight to meet in a very special way with his people. in the land. and so want to invite you to come to israel.

i want to invite you to experience it. and i would love to continue the conversation with you. we have an exhibit booth across the hall and i would love engage you in conversation, answer questions that you have about israel and understand how easy it is to get there. we also have tomorrow a seminar that we would love for you to come to as well where we will look into some of these issues that we've discussed more deeply. so we invite you to come to israel. we invite you to experience thousands, as much as 4,000 years of history that have had a very significant impact not just in israel and the middle east but throughout the world and also i know at the very depth and the very core of your lives. so thank you so much and shalom. [ applause ] >> please welcome acclaimed

author and millenial expert, paul angony. ♪ we are the champions, my friends ♪ >> hello, everybody. my name is paul angony, and i love millenials. are there any millenials in the room today? can i hear a shout-out. millenials, come on. is there any millenials in the room today. where are you guys? there's got to be a few of you out there. okay. how about maybe you're not a millenial or you're a millenial by heart or you like millenials or -- i hear some cheers. that's good. i'm excited about that. because usually, i mean, what we hear in the news right, what do we hear entitled? narcissistic, self-absorbed, think they know and can be anything, right? these are usually the phrases that we hear constantly about millenials being thrown around on "huffington post" or "new york times," usually negative

portraits of who millenials are, but actually all those words that i listed out, entitled, narcissistic, self-absorbed, i think they know and they can be anything, that actually, those words came from a 1970s essay called "the me decade" describing some young 20-somethings that were boomers, and -- and tom wolff the author was describing this generation that was going to ruin everything. does that sound familiar? and really i think it's a rite of passage at some point that you hit a certain age and it's a rite of passage to talk about kids these days and how they are ruining everything, right? but really that doesn't help the conversation, and it doesn't help us connect. obviously millenials, gen -- x, baby boomers, silent generation, greatest generation, you know, we all need each other. we all need each other, and that's really my passion as an

author and a speaker. i've written three different books, mostly for 20-somethings so i've written books "101 secrets for your 20s" and "101 questions you need to ask in your 20s." i've been connecting with mainly dwrals all over the world, and i've heard from thousands and millions of them. really, my goal is to somewhat get away from even the millenial word in and of itself because actually if you look at research, if you look at puig research studies, 60% of millenials don't want to be called a millenial or don't relate to what a millenial means, so sometimes i think it does us a disservice in some respects to get tied into this idea of oh, this is who a millenial is or this is who again " gen-x is or a boomer is. when i'm speaking to a group of leaders i've had the privilege

to work with great companies, and i get in a room of leaders and i say, you know what. instead of thinking about this next generation as millenials, can you think of them as, you know, 20-somethings, or young adults. think back to when you were in your 20s, when you were 22 or 23, did you have it all figured out? did you know what you were going to do with your life? did you know who you were going to marry or where you were going to work? you know, psychologist meg jay called your 20s the defining decade of your life, and it truly is. and it's a really hard decade. i think you go into your 20s and think it's going to be exciting and glamorous when it's really not. it's really difficult, so that's why millenials, 20 somethings currently and early 30s, mid-30s, we really need this cross-mentorship, cross-collaboration, conversations with each other. we need each other. we need to learn from each

other, and believe me, you know, my generation, we have a lot to learn. we have a lot to learn, and there is so much change taking place right now. i think we all have something to learn about what does it mean to be successful now? how do we help the next generation rise up as leaders? we need leaders from all walks of life and from all ages talking together, working together, and, you know, i was kind of that typical millenial, you know. i was the guy who at 23, i was looking to make a difference, and if not make a difference at least make a good amount of money, right, when i graduated from college, and if i wasn't making a lot of money, at least doing a job that i enjoyed, and if it wasn't a job i enjoyed, at least a job that sounded really cool, that i could brag about on social media, even if it wasn't that glamorous, but at least i could spin it to make it sound

really amazing. that was kind of my vision for life after college, but then i quickly realized that you don't exactly go change the world and make a million dollars by the time you're 25, at least for most of us. it was a little bit of a lie. so i actually had an amazing lesson to learn, and i tell this story for the millenials in the room, for the 20-somethings and 30-somethings but for everybody because it was a really important story for me is that i was in this coffee shop, actually in colorado. i was in denver, colorado. it was during christmastime and i was riding and working on one of my books and i was really struggling with this idea of, man, how do you find a job you really love? want to do something i'm passionate about, make a difference. i was asking all these big questions that i think my generation is asking, but as i'm asking these questions, i start to notice that there's this barista, this gentleman in his 30s making drinks, and he's talking to a lot of people, and

i start to notice that as people get their drinks, and this is a crowded christmas coffee shop. i mean, it is packed, but when -- when people get their drinks, they are not leaving, so they are getting their drinks and they are staying in the line where you usually get your drinks, and they all have their drinks, but they are all waiting there, and i'm like what is going on? why are all these people with their drinks, but they are not leaving, you know. it is so packed in here. get out of here, everybody. you know, it was starting to make me nervous. i was feeling claustrophobic, but then i started to realize why all these people were waiting there with their drinks, is they were all waiting to talk to the barista that was making the drinks, and as i listened to him and as he was talking to customers, you know, he was asking, hey, how is your son doing, or how did that soccer game go? how is your daughter? she got into college, congratulations, and the customers were telling him their life's problem. he was like the neighborhood psychologist under the guise of

a starbucks barista, right, and i'm like what is this guy's story? and i -- i see this guy take a break, and now i'm just watching this guy. i'm just focused on this guy, and he's walking around the store and literally people are calling him across the store, saying, hey, you got to come meet my friend or hey, do you know that cute gay over there? do you think you can introduce us. he's like the matchmaker, like the mayor of starbucks. i mean, he's the mayor. i'm starting to get near vows. do i go introduce myself? do i get an autograph? what do i do? and as an author i start thinking about what is this guy's back story? who is this guy? what is his story? that's what authors want to know. what is the story? so i start thinking to myself maybe this guy, you know, maybe he was in real estate and he lost everything when the economy dipped. yeah, and maybe he lost so much he had to move back in with his parents in his 30s, which, of course, is everybody's dream, right, so he's back with his

parents. he had to get a job at starbucks because that was the only job that he could get, and i see the guy start to limp a little bit and i'm like and the guy has one leg, and he's working at starbucks, and he's doing this amazing job. you know, i start to make kind of this hallmark character, but in actuality i've actually -- i've fibbed the truth a little bit on this story, and i tell the whole story in my "101 secrets for your 20s about book" but this gentleman was describing the mayor of starbucks, i actually know his back story very well because he was and he is my brother, so he's my brother, my flesh and blood, my one and only brother, and i had never seen him working at starbucks before. i had known him when he was selling real estate. i knew him when he was driving the nice cars. i did not know him yet working at that starbucks, and it was

such a convicting time for me as the big thinker, big dreamer, big visionary, i want to go change the world to watch my brother doing such an amazing job with also one leg. he literally has -- was born without a leg so to be on your feet at 4:00 a.m. all day making drinks, i think for most people that would be a pretty miserable experience, and so i asked him. i said, chad, how do you do it? how do you do it? how do you make such an impact every day? and he's like, paul, i had to make a very intentional decision right when i started this job, that even if i didn't feel like this was the perfect job, the dream job, the right job for me, i was going to bring my right self. i was going to bring the best of who i can be to this job, and i was going to make an impact serving people drinks, and i saw that firsthand. so for all of us out there, but

especially the younger generation, you know, i think it's awesome that we have big dreams, big goals, but i quickly realized that success in your 20s and your 30s, it's more about setting the table than it is about enjoying the feast. and that really it's about dreaming big, sure, but being really faithful and resilient in the small. about planting those seeds in the ground and watering them. you know, i tell millenials all the time. i say pursuing the dream, making a difference. it's like planting an avocado seed. it's going to take about ten years before you see any fruit. and as leaders out here, and i believe all of us here are leaders. you have the opportunity and privilege to teach this generation these truths, these life's truths about humility and perseverance, and what does it actually take to make a

difference? millenials, they want to know the formula for finding their passion and for finding their purpose, and when they ask me that question and i write this in my books, i say it's -- it's a pretty easy formula to find your passion. do something and completely fail at it. i mean, just fail miserably, fail pubically. embarrass yourself and nothing goes as planned, but then the next day you want to do it again. you want to keep plugging away at it. it's something important to you. it's something you cannot not do. and i think we need more and more people like that who are using our unique gifts and abilities, using what i describe in my books as your signature sauce. your signature sauce, that flavor that only you bring with these different ingredients, and it's like you're this master chef in the kitchen and you're putting these ingredients together and a lot of those

experiments go up in flames, but you keep trying and you keep bringing those mix of your strengths and your stories and your values, and you're bringing that flavor to the world. and we need more of that, especially in today's age. we need more people who are giving the world the flavor that they are desperate for, that is their signature sauce, that is their gift to the world. and so as leaders, and i want to leave with this last story, and this is really for the leaders in the room is -- it was a story that i did not see coming. it was a story i wish didn't happen in a sense, but i was in a condo in san diego where i was living at the time, and i was there with my wife and my two children were in bed, and they were asleep. we were watching netflix, my wife and i, you know, as a good millenial does. we were watching some good netflix show, and we heard -- we heard a commotion going on outside, some loud noises. we lived in a very quiet

community so this was strange to hear so much ruckus, and i'd go out and go on my second story balcony and look up to the third-story balcony which is, you know, probably 40 feet, 50 feet in the air, maybe more, and i see my neighbor who i had known cursory level. we had say hi to etch 'oh, but now i see him and he's standing on the edge of his balcony up on a ledge which is about the width of a balance beam, and he's threatening to jump. that commenced about the next four hours of my life as the police blocked off the whole area, but for some reason they let me stay on that balcony, and i didn't know what to do. i mean, what do you do in a time like that? do i go back inside and just pretend that nothing is happening? do i go back to then flicks show and somebody might jump down to their death? that didn't feel right, but then also do i stay on this balcony?

do i try to stay something to him? do i try to talk him down? what if i say the wrong thing. i didn't know what to do, but i had this feeling that i should just be there. i should just stay there on that balcony, and if he wanted to talk to somebody else that wasn't a police officer, i was going to be there to give him that opportunity, and i -- i was scared. i was freaked out. i was so nervous, and i almost didn't want him to talk to me because i didn't know what i was going to say, but i stayed there for four hours, and i just stood there and i watched the range of emotions as the police officers were trying to talk him down. i watched that experience, and it was a very intense experience. but finally he looked down to me, and he started talking to me, and it was my moment, and he's on the edge, and he is tense and he is raging, and i've seen him go through all these emotions and he starts talking to me, and i don't know what to

stay. i still don't have any pre-conceived thing in my mind, but only words i can get out are i care about you. i care about you, and i don't want to see you do this. i care about you, and to see those words meet him and to watch his body just de-escalate, to watch the calm go over his body. now i'm not going to say that i was the reason why he did not jumped, that he stepped off. the police officers there that day did an amazing job. you night not know what to say, but who in your mind wants to hear those words? who needs to hear i care about you? maybe you've had a problem in the past. maybe it's a millenial employee that you've struggled with.

maybe it's your spouse or your daughter or your son. who needs to hear in your life i care about you, because no matter what generation we are, no matter how old or young we are, those words will never get old. thank you so much. please welcome jeff hunt, the chairman of the western conservative summit. >> hi, everybody. we having a great morning? all right. we're about to get started with our gubernatorial candidates. we're going to feature all four of the republican gubernatorial candidates. now, friends, we did invite the democrat candidates to come, but they decided not to join us. in fact, jarred polis is leading a protest outside the western conservative summit. i said to him you can come and actually speak to our attendees here, and he would rather load a protest outside so we're going to feature all four republican

gubernatorial candidates over the next two days. we're going to start with walker stapleton. later this afternoon will be doug robinson. tomorrow will be victor mitchell and greg loerngsz so you'pez, s chance to hear from all of them. what's important for you to know is we have a straw poll in the exhibit hall, and i want you to vote for your candidate. this is really important. your vote could change the direction of this race. this is the largest grass roots conservative gathering in this state. this is going to send a strong message who the conservative candidate, is so i want you to vote. now the way we're going to run and be able to engage with the candidates is going to be equal for all canned day, okay. they will have a one-minute introduction. they will have a ten-minute speech, and then they will be interviewed by a future governor here in colorado heidi gnall right here. heidi is the ceo and founder of

camp bow would you aw and also for colorado and, friend, i told every republican i know, especially those running for the office, that the only person to defeat hillary clinton in a statewide race in colorado was heidi gnall. [ applause ] so heidi is going to interview these gubernatorial candidates. none of these questions have seen these questions ahead of times. these are ones show's come up with, so she will help us out here today, so heidi, thank you so much. do you want to say anything. >> thanks for having me, i'm very excited to do this and hopefully will learn a little bit about the candidates and so will i. >> so great. stick around. we'll begin with walker stapleton. >> please welcome jenna stapleton, wife of walker stapleton. >> hi, i'm jenna stapleton. thank you for allowing me to

introduce my husband walker stapleton. most of the time you'll hear an introduction about all of the things a person has done in his or her professional or elected life, but i'd like to introduce you to the man i know and love, walker stapleton, the husband and father. after all, it's really the character of that man that will truly tell you what kind of governor he will be. i married walker because i wanted to marry someone with a bigger face than i had. i had come to my faith later in life and i wanted to marry someone who would lead our family in faith and faithfully, and walker has done that. he's the one who makes sure we go to church on sunday, and it's walker who prays with our kids every night at bedtime. he's truly a man of amazing faith. who else would buy a puppy for his three little kids before embarking upon a gubernatorial campaign? when walker and i talked about his running for governor, we made a promise to each other

that we would focus on family and the state of colorado and that sundays would be sacred just for family. walker has kept his promise, even when it was tough -- even when it was tough because of travel or the demands of being treasurer and running for office. he takes time to work with our son craigie on baseball and even plans our daughters' birthday parties replete with real life princesses. he even makes breakfast every weekend morning for the kids so i can get a couple can have extra minutes of sleep or hours if i'm lucky. if you want someone who values families, then pick someone who values their own. he often says he's running for governor because of our three kids and every colorado kid, and he means that. our kids adore him and so do i, and i think you will, too. please welcome my husband, walker stapleton. >> please welcome colorado gubernatorial candidate walker

stapleton. ♪ he's got the red, white, blue flying high on the farm ♪ >> well, good morning. today is a beautiful day to be a conservative in colorado. today is a great day to be a christian in colorado, but the worst kept secret in this room that all of us know is that every single day is a great day to be a christian. if you are not from colorado, welcome to our fair state. i'm walker staple ton, the treasurer of colorado. i'm joined here by my son craig who is 10 years old, and thanks to my wife jenna who literally makes it possible for me to get out of bed each and every morning. you know, faith is really important to my family because it gives us a focus in life, a centeredness in life, and i am proud to say that all of my kids, my oldest is craig at 10, our middle daughter colette who we cole coco is 6 and olivia is

4. all of my kids have a relationship to god through prayer, each and every day. [ applause ] and that's important to me. there's no greater gift that i can be given as i travel around this state to campaign for the future of this state for my kids and all of the kids in colorado than to have somebody come up to me and say, you know what. i'm praying for you. it is the most meaningful thing that can ever happen on a campaign trail. it is the greatest gift that i can be given. i'm running for governor because the colorado that i want my kids to inherit is hopefully going to be one that is filled with abundant economic opportunities and abundant freedoms, and when we talk about freedoms, we talk about religious freedoms and how great that our supreme court recognize that nobody in this life deserves to be

discriminated against including people of faith. [ applause ] just about two years ago i was the leader of the effort, co-chairman of the effort many

probably know last week congressman polis introduced legislation to repeal president trump's tax plan. president trump's tax plan which i endorsed in december will give tax relief to 75% of the people in colorado. it will give tax relief to a family making $60,000 and reduce their federal tax bill from $1,700 to $100. it will repeal the individual mandate for healthcare that passed that last year 120,000 coloradoans plus had to pay a tax because they couldn't afford health insurance and they got nothing in return. and out of those coloradoans 80% of them have a household income

of $50,000 or less. the people that can least afford it taxed by the federal government and no healthcare in return and all of that is gone because of the president's tax policy and if jarred polis has his way he'll simply raise our taxes through the roof and turn us into california without the water, and we cannot allow that to happen. [ applause ] >> i am here to fight for the future of this state and i need help. ballots went out on tuesday. please tell your friends and neighbors i have an abiding faith and love for my family and my three kids. my other two daughters are swimming. that will go away -- that will never go away no matter the office i have in life. it's the greatest joy and privilege to be a husband and father to my three kids, and it's the proudestitele i'll ever have. thank you so much for your faith and defense and freedom and god

bless each and every one of you. thank you very much. >> all right. well, thank you for agreeing to meet with me, and let me ask you a few questions of you. walker, one thing i would like to know and maybe the rest of the audience would like to know. if you're elected governor in four years when you look back, what's the success you're most proud of or the one or two things that you're proud of and how did you get them done? >> well, i think colorado has so many challenges that we'll face in the future from healthcare, how do we make medicaid expandible? expand it had to 6 up,000 people in colorado and have no idea how to pay for it on an ongoing basis out of our budget. i think it's going to be incumbent on the next governor to figure out how to improve access and affordability to healthcare for coloradoans and do it in a fiscally responsible way that doesn't bankrupt our

state. so i think that the governors are going to play an outsized role in that, and i can't wait for that challenge as somebody who ran a public company in the real world in the private sector. i am up for that challenge. i think that's a challenge that somebody who has business experience is uniquely qualified to take on, and i think it's going to be really important to the future of the state. as are our infrastructure needs. we need to figure out how to deal with our pension system. when i started as treasurer the budget was $18 billion in colorado and now nearly eight years later the budget is 29 billion, and the two largest expanders of our business are our out-of-control medicaid expansion and our entitlement system. we need to get both of those in line to have the economic future that our kids and grandkids and future generations deserve. >> okay. thank you. well, speaking of the budget, i think we spend what, about a fourth of our budget on k-12 education, is that right? >> yes. >> and our colorado high school

graduation rate ranks 46th in the nation on a recent u.s. news report so how do we fix in a? >> so amendment 23 which my predecessor in the treasurer's office put in place has had a corrosive impact on k-12 education in my opinion. that's because it's put our education funding on autopilot and inflation at plus 1% for a decade and then the plus 1% went away, and if you look anecdotally washington, d.c. being the most extreme example, just because you're the best funded from a funding standpoint doesn't mean you are from an achievement standpoint. sean boyd with cbs denver did a report a couple weeks ago where she said every student in colorado is getting approximately $13,000 of funding. the average public school class is 25 students so that's $325,000 doing the math per public school class. the average teacher in a public school class makes about $52,000.

325 of funding and 52,000 to the teacher's salary. where does the rest of the money go? i've asked the question all around colorado. not meant to be a hypothetical question but people have not been able to give me an answer. actually if you look statistically and colorado succeeds has done great work on this. over the last ten years you'll find that the number of students in colorado has grown by about 7% or 8%. the number of teachers by 10% or 11% and administrative costs have grown by 23%. that's priorities that are out of whack, and when you're sign offing off more than 20% of every dollar we pay a teacher to backfill liabilities in a bankrupt public pension system those dollars are not going into the teacher or classroom where they belong. we have to structurally fix this to get the education system we all want and deserve for our teachers and most importantly our kids in colorado schools. >> all right. thank you. we have about a minute and a half left. this is a very friendly crowd, but for a strong conservative

candidate if you win the nomination in the primary, how do you convince our liberal friends or the purple part of colorado that conservative principles are the right way to go and that we need a shift? >> because this election is going to be about economic opportunity. how do we bring more affordable housing to people that are young professionals starting their career in colorado? how do we fix our economic infrastructure issues so that we can be competitive as a state going forward in the future? how do we make our healthcare system -- how do we improve the access and affordability of that system for young people? i can't wait for the opportunity to talk to people that are pragmatic democrats, independents, conservatives and anybody who will listen about the economic opportunities that i want to bring to the future of colorado, and guess what. competition in public education works, and no family should have to be condemned to a failing school that the state mandates because of their economic circumstances. we need to take the model that

denver has perfected of charter schools under tom bowsberg who is a died in the wool liberal but understands that charter schools work and we need to spread it all throughout colorado, and i can't wait for that opportunity as well. thank you so much. >> thank you, and thank you for talking with mow. >> thank you. please welcome dan haley, president and ceo of the colorado oil and gas association. ♪ >> good morning, everybody. i'm sure you're thinking what is this oil and gas guy going to tell us this morning? i want to start with some good news. actually i want to start with some great news. the united states is now the number one producer of both oil and natural gas in the world. [ applause ] number one in the entire world,

more than, are more than saudi arabia, and, again, this was unthinkable just a few short years ago, and it changes everything. it changes our politics. it changes the world stage. the it changes our lives for the better, and it fortifies freedom. i know that is the theme of this conference. it forfies freedom. it epitomizes the power of free market economics at work. the innovation that's being unleashed, the opportunity for u.s. companies to not only compete and win globally but also the opportunity for the u.s. to support our allies. now when i was a kid in the 1970s, and i know a lot of you will remember this, we had succumbed to the energy crisis. our country had been defeated. op opec 1. usa 0. we were told to turn down the thermostat, remember that? told to put on a sweater, that we had an energy crisis. that energy crisis was

absolutely real, but we were never going to conserve our way out of it and have a growing prosperous economy. we needed to find new energy, so rather than cower, the natural gas and oil industry did what americans always do. we did what alexander graham bell did. we did what thomas edison and george washington carver did, and we did what steve jobs did. we innovated. we tested. we tried, and then we tried something entirely new, and eventually we succeeded. usa 21, foreign oil 0. thanks to advancements in hydraulic action and horizontal drilling we're now awash in natural resources, so much so that we are at a point where we cannot build export facilities fast enough and this new era of energy benefits consumers, buses and all americans. it is keeping prices low. it costs less today to heat or cool your home than just a few short years ago, and while we

may see the price at the pump go up a little bit during the busy summer driving season it's still much cheaper now to fill up your tank than just a few short years ago. i know you remember back in 2008 when candidate barack obama said we cannot drill our way to lower gas prices, but the oil and natural gas industry said yes, we can, and we did drill our way to lower prices. [ applause ] so we're awash in this resources. it's helping those consumers. it's helping the environment. we're also producing our natural gas more efficiently and cleaner than ever before, so if you care about the environment, you should support oil and natural gas. let me repeat that point one more time because it probably doesn't sound like something you normally hear, but if you care about the environment you should support the development of oil and natural gas. our emissions along the front range have gone down 50% while our production has quadrupled. again, that's because of

technology and innovation, because of american ingenuity. open and free markets are driving innovation and cleaning the environment, and the united states is driving world oil markets. again, something unthinkable just a few short years ago. we are no longer at the mercy of mullahs or opec. [ applause ] in late 2015 the united states gave itself a gift that we are already given iran, ironically, but we gave ourself this gift to export crude oil so countries, our partners no long ver to rely on russia for natural gas or on saudi arabia or opec for oil. they can rely on the united states. the world is safer when the united states is a dominant player in oil and natural gas. so this ought to be a time of great celebration, right? yet there are those who want to take us backward and those who want to erase the gains made by the incredible shale revolution.

remember how they used to say we don't make things in this country anymore? well, that's just not true. the shale revolution has paved the way for a manufacturing renaissance. it has represented create jobs, not just in the oil and natural gas industry, but jobs that we said good-bye to decades ago are coming back because of the shale revolution. if you are an entrepreneur, now is the time to start your business in colorado and the united states. if you own a business, now is the time to bring those jobs back home. the innovation coming out of oil and gas industry is cutting edge. we have rigs that can literally walk. it used to take several days to disassemble and reassemble a rig and drill a hole just a few feet over. now that rig can literally move on its own. it's the level of innovation and technology coming out of the bakken in north dakota or here in colorado, if that was coming out of silicon valley, we would

be the talk of the tech world. instead, we're told companies like amazon are high-tech, companies where a guy takes a book and puts it in a box and walks it over and puts it on a truck and that truck drives it to my house. we're told that's high tech, yet we're able to drill a mile down, drill two to three miles horizontally and hit a target within a couple of inches. that, my friends, is high tech. [ applause ] this innovation we're seeing is not happening across the world. this is something uniquely american. while citizens across the globe have freedom and the right to own businesses, it has been our birth right to explore what is called permissionless innovation. in this country we have allowed innovations to take place without the heavy hand of government to slow us down or block us. did you know between 2007 and 2015 there were six jobs created in the oil fields or from the oil fields of north dakota and

texas for every one job created in the other 48 states? six jobs for every one job, yet despite all that have there are those who want to take us backwards. they want to deny the reality that oil and national guard gas makes our lives better in the 21st century, that oil and gas helps create products that we rely on every single day such as our clothing, our buys kalds, our smartphones, medical devices. they want to deny that oil and gas makes our lives better in the 21st century. they want us to believe that it is outdated and that if we just had the political will we could flip a switch tomorrow to an a all-renewable world. it's just not true. we have candidates running for governor who are selling voters a fictitious 100% renewable plan, amend i'm not here to bash renewable energy, but the technology does not exist to power the world with renewables. in fact, just to supply the energy increase, the power demand increase that we saw last year, just to supply that small

increase in renewables in wind power would take -- you would have to cover the entire country of germany in windmills just to supply that increase. i'm not here to bash the renewables but i'm here to ask that we think rationally about our energy and that we're grateful for the energy abundance we have in this country. instead we have activists here in colorado who are trying to put a 2,500-foot setback on our ballot. this poorly conceived measure could cost more than 100,000 jobs in colorado, god-paying jobs we should value in this state. it could eliminate $1 billion this state and local taxes that our industry pays to fund libraries, parks and reck centers. and it's just not those ballot initiatives. candidates running in local and state races who want to put us out of business works want to take us backwards, and we have to stand up to those people who are trying to put us out of

business. we need your help. we need your support, and that support can be as simple as saying no. standing up for free market principles and the right for companies to exist, the right to innovate, the right to invest, to push the envelope and work to be better tomorrow than we are today. so when you encounter those activists whether they are activists who are running are for office or out seeking signatures, who want to put us out of birks i ask that you ask them just a simple questions. ask them if they support the tens of thousands of oil and natural gas families in the state who rely on this industry for their livelihoods. one candidate for governor says he wants oil and gas workers to go to the front of the line for his clean new green energy jobs, and to him i say we do not want the government to of give us new jobs. we simply want to work in the jobs that we have today producing the energy that we all need every single day.

so ask those candidates if they want to see costs go up for colorado families who struggle to pay their bills and who have to choose between food and medicine and utility bills. ask them if they want to end an industry that's environmentally sound, reducing emissions and helping clean colorado's air. ask them if they want to send a message that colorado is closed for business and that incoherent environmental ideologies matter more than common sense solutions. ask them if they believe in american energy independence and american energy security? we are standing up to these extremists, and we ask that you stand with us. we ask that you engage in this election cycle and make sure you know where your candidates stand on these basic issues. we need to make sure our voices are heard, that our votes have the final say and that freedom to exist is not disregarded and that the value of democracy and free market principles still matter in this country, in this state and in our communities. we stand with you, and we ask that you stand with us in this

important election cycle. thank you all very much. [ applause ] >> please welcome adam densmore, last year's under 30 speech contest winner. >> this day and age it's rare and it's refreshing to find somebody with a strong set of principles that stands by those unwaveringly even when it's hard. our next speaker is one who doesn't fit neatly into any category. math walsh is a father, a husband, a christian, an american, a blogger, an author, a podcaster and a man who stands with what he believes even when it's unpopular, controversial and hard. i'll let matt tell you the rest. please join me in welcoming matt walsh. >> please welcome matt walsh, writer, speaker and author. ♪

>> how you guys doing? good. all right. they asked me to close the morning for them, and i'm happy to do that, but i'm a little bit offended, slightly triggered that they had so many powerful speakers come up before me. i don't -- that's -- that's not really fair to me because now i've got this high bar i've got to get over so lower your expectations, okay? now, the theme of this year's conference is, as you've heard, fortifying freedom, and it's it a wonderful theme because freedom is a wonderful thing. you all agree? freedom is great. [ applause ] it's an easy applause line for freedom. i'm told that we live in the land of the free, and i think that's true if you don't count the 60 million. i'm told that this is the freest

country in the world, the freest in the history of world, and i think that's true also if you don't count the 60 million. freedom is i'm told the great value that we all hold dear. it's the thing that keeps us together, and that's true if by we you mean everyone except the 60 million. the 60 million who have been slaughtered in abortion clinics. now 60 million -- 60 million, 60 million human children have been massacred in the span of 45 years in this country. that's 1.3 million a year, that's an average of well over 3,000 a day for 45 years. that adds up to 60 million. this is a number that i want you to take with you, if you take nothing else with you take that number with you as you leave here today. take 60 million. you ought to remember, it ought

to be seared too your conscience, 60 million. whenever anybody talks about the freedoms in our country remember the 60 million. remember, in other words, that america is free except for the fact that it is not. through abortion we have not only removed freedom from the victims of abortion but we have removed it from all unborn people and thus from all people. this is what makes abortion an especially insidious form of a human rights atrocity because abortion is the literal dehumanization of every person who is undergoing a certain stage of development, and because we will all -- we all have undergone that stage of development it means that it dehumanizes all of us. this is not merely the dehumanization of a certain race or ethnicity as horrible as that is. this is rather the dehumanization of humanity

itself. indeed, if people at a certain stage are not people or don't need to be treated as people, then it cannot be said that humanity itself is in principle anything special or valuable. there is no basis upon which our freedoms can rest. man must be free because man has inherent worth and dignity, but the institutionalization of murder, whether through abortion or the nazi holocaust or any other example hinges on the belief that human dignity is not inherent and it can be lost or taken away or deprived depending on whatever circumstance or factor, and in the case of abortion we say that human dignity is akwoird by degree, in accordance with how useful that human life is to those around it. but inherent value cannot be acquired by degrees. that's why it's inherent. inherent means existing in

something as a permanent, essential and characteristic attribute. if an unborn baby does not have inherent value, then our value is not permanent or essential or characteristic, and, thus, if he does not have value, then neither do you. this is a very simple formula. it's what i try to take people through the process, you know. think about yourself in your current form and now rewind the tape back to yesterday. you're still you, right? still worth as much then as you are now. now go back to a year ago, go ten years ago and to your first birthday and when you were 6 months old, follow your time line all the way back, back, back and then stop the tape right there at the moment that you were born, and that's you,

right? you were worth as much then as you are now, correct? now rewind the tape just one more second, just one more second. what happened in that second that you went from a human being with rights and dignity to a clump of worthless tissue? there is an unbroken chain of you-ness connecting the you of today to you in the womb. you were you from the moment you first existed, from the moment you were a being, and if you did not have value then in that moment, then you do not have it now. you grew in the meantime, you developed, you matured, but nothing was added. there were no extra ingredients that be to be added to you. it was you all along. it's always been you. when you developed, it was you

developing. either you had inherent value all the while our never had it, and you don't have it now. so i say again by removing value and freedom from the child we take it from all people. the second thing that makes abortion a special horror is the particular set of humans that we have chosen for extinction, children. you can tell everything you need to know about a society by how it treats its children, and so what do you learn about ours? the most innocent, the most pure, the most beautiful of all people are the precise ones that we have targeted. now you would think that if we decided to wage this war on human life it would make sense to start somewhere else along the chain, you know, start by wiping out adults first, people like you and i, because adults can be cruel, selfish, old,

ugly, mean. many of them have already wasted their potential, their beauty and purity has rotted away after years spent abusing themselves and those around them. it would be wrong, of course, to start aborting adults. i'm not advocating for that, but at least we have an ugliness to us that you could use as some sort of flimsy justification, but children? they have harmed no one. they are filled with joy and potential and love, and if we cannot see the value and worth of a child then who can we see it in? i remain forever and always astounded by the dull and empty sorts of people who would look at an unborn child and see only a clump of cells. clump of cells. now we are all clumps of cells,

and if you go to a walmart sometime you're going to see people who are far clumpier than your average unborn infant, but no offense -- i love walmart, by the way. but can you really not see the miracle in this life? can you really not see the beauty in it? are you telling me you can't see that. and then what makes it really terrible is that with abortion we not only reject our children but we reject ourselves. we have to remember that the whole miracle of conception, that moment when a new life comes into being, the whole miracle of it is when you think about it there isn't just one life being created but three. you have the child, this precious, vulnerable life plucked out of eternity by god and sent here to start his journey in the womb of his mother, and then you have the woman who goes from being just a woman to being a mother. she herself is created in this

moment she becomes something. she transforms. she is born alongside her child, and the same is true for the man. he goes from being just a man to a father. he is born. but the reality is that while three lives are created at conception, only one is killed through abortion. the child is gone from the earth, but the mother and father despite what they are told by the liars at the abortion clinics, they will not go back to being just a woman and a man living their lives. they cannot reverse the clock. they can never go back. something has happened to them that can never ever be changed. she is still a mother and he is still a father and now they are the parents of a dead child.

they call abortion a reproductive rights issue. it is not. by the time the abortion happens, reproduction has already occurred. nobody is suggesting that a woman ought to be forced to reproduce. that would be monstrous. what we're arguing is that nobody has the right to kill a human who has already been produced. [ applause ] abortion is not a reproductive health decision. it's much more a parenting decision. am i going to care for my child or kill him? that's the decision being made, and it is an indictment on us, conservatives, that the left has been so successful in framing the murder of children as a matter of choice or healthcare

or women's rights. it is our failure that so many people in our country would say of a child with his own being and his own life and his own dna and his own genetic code, well, he's not really a person, and the fact is that the left has been able to have so much success on this issue and take so many lives and rack up such an ungodly body count and control the narrative all the while because conservatives have not been consistently and widely and una jet click vocal and forceful and appropriately militant about this issue. we claim that we believe that baberies dying and being killed. well, why aren't we acting like it? the mainstream of conservatism treats the slaughter of the unborn as a secondary issue, as some sort of sideshow as a matter of debatable importance. certainly not nearly as crucial as something like gun rights or taxes or immigration or the posture of nfl players.

and i certainly believe in gun rights and i hate taxes and i believe protecting it our borders and i believe the anthem should be respected. i believe all that, but i believe those issues mean nothing, have no importance, have no relevance, have no significance if life itself is not sacred. the freedom to live, the freedom to exist, to be is the foundational freedom in any human civilization. life, liberty, pursuit of happiness. if we don't have the first part of that, if we don't have life, then we can't have any other freedom. after all, why does freedom matter? what is it grounded in? nobody is worried very much of

the freedom of cook rochez and armadillos, vegans might be but i'm talking about rational people, but most of us recognize that the freedom of beasts and bugs and plants isn't important or not really possible because they are already slave to instincts and thus cannot enjoy the freedom and that's why our grandfathers didn't storm the beaches of normand toe liberate horses and pigs. the founders -- our founders didn't risk charges of treason in order to establish and fortify the rights and liberties of donkeys. all throughout history you find men and women fighting, dying, bleeding, suffering for the freedom of their fellow human beings and themselves. why? what was the point of that? why did they do it? why does our freedom matter? because human life is sacred. if human life is not sacred, then our ancestors died in vain. if human life is not sacred,

then our fallen soldiers fell for nothing. thomas jefferson and george washington were idiots, fools, suckers if human life is notnot sacred and wasted their time and built our country on the foundation of a life. but we know that that is not true or that god made man in his image and endowed us with rational souls with a certain dignity that poses us closer in rank to angels than to dogs. that is why we must be free so that we could do what we ought and simply not what we want. to reach our god-given potential and be those who god designed and ordained for us to be. to truly be ourselves. the purpose of freedom. but we can't have the freedom or experience it or use it if

we don't first have the freedom to be and to live. all other freedoms hinge on this. all other rights hinge on the right to life. i ask you then, why is this issue not the primary focus of every so-called conservative? why is it that conservative politicians or pundits may go their entire careers and never mention the slaughter of the unborn? or that the word abortion wasn't uttered at the 2016 republican national convention? why is the republican party as we speak and hundreds of millions of dollars to the abortion industry? why is it that we draw a distinction between regular conservatives and social conservatives as if it is possible for a person to be meaningless -- meaningfully conservative and reject the dignity and worth of human life? it's not. if you reject the dignity and worth of human life you aren't

on my side, i'm not in with you. i am against you. we aren't on the same team. why have we expanded our tent to include people who lack the weight and courage to defend innocent babies? if you can't do that, there's no place for you. i submit, there is no place for you in this movement if you can't at least do that much. why did life action -- live action release a report yet the story was ignored by conservative media in favor of discussing a naughty word on tbs? why are we obsessing over circuses while there is a war to be fought, the war for life itself. why aren't we all of us,

fighting that war or crying out together in one loud voice with anger and passion and love? you will not harm those children, enough. i am told, that conservatives are the silent majority but i hope to god that's not true. if we are the silent majority and we sat back and let 60 million children die on our watch then god have mercy on us. if we are part of the silent majority then maybe it's time we stop being so damned silent. it is time to speak up time to fight. time to defend the innocents who can't defend themselves, time to be what we claim to be

and do what we are called to do and fight the battles that are worth fighting. it's time to fight for life, to remember the 60 million, remember the 60 million, fight for true freedom, freedom for all, for our children. thank you. godspeed. >> earlier today federal reserve chair jerome powell testified before the house financial services committee regarding monetary policy and the economy. you could see the hearing tonight starting at 10:00 eastern on cspan. the senate banking committee, the confirmation hearing for the president's nominees to leave the consumer -- lead the consumer protection bureau and the export import bank, coverage begins at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span 3 . tonight it's my honor and privilege to announce i will nominate judge brett cavanaugh to the united states supreme

court. >> mister president i'm grateful to you and i am humbled by your confidence in me.>> brett cavanaugh of the united states court of appeals for the district of columbia circuit is president trumps nominee for the supreme court.>> i'm so -- i'm pleased with the president and after speaking with him yesterday morning, i look forward to supporting this nomination to do whatever i could to ensure his bipartisan confirmation. if the judges confirmed, women's freedom to make decisions about their bodies, or forms to our healthcare system, the quality of our air and water, and much more could be at risk. frankly, i can't think of anyone who is more qualified to serve as the next associate justice of the supreme court.>> follow the confirmation process on c-span. through congress as judge cavanaugh meets with key senators. the confirmation hearing, and

the vote, watch live on c-span any time on c-span.org or listen with the c-span radio app. >> join us this weekend for a lascaux weekend with featured programming -- for a lascaux weekend with featured programming. we explore the beauty, history, culture, and public policy issues facing the state saturday morning on c-span. washington journal energy reporter amy harter on the effect of climate change in alaska and on sunday morning jacqueline payton the executive director of the national congress of american indians discusses native american and native alaskan issues. tina pidgin, the general alaskan counsel provider talks about how the company makes broadband possible for small villages across the tundra, glaciers, and mountains.

in the incoming president of the alaska collaborative for resident and health. christopher dietrich on providing healthcare through medicine to remote communities in alaska. on saturday at 12:00 eastern, the tour explores the literary and historical seen with mcdermott cole, the author of the amazing pipeline story. the president of ac alaska heritage institute with her book of celebration. sunday 9:00 p.m. eastern afterward, mark adams talks about his book, tip of the iceberg and his experience retracing the 1899 expedition of scientists, artists, conservationists, and writers of the alaskan coast. on american history tv on c- span 3, the city's tour.

they visit the alaska state capitol. the native heritage center. we also take a look at preparing seafood for market from alaska glacier seafood inc. and that 4:30, watch for documentaries on alaska, the 1936 film, alaska's over millions, the 1949 film, eskimo hunters, and northwestern alaska, the 1967, alaska centennial and the 1944 film, alaska highway. watch alaska weekend on saturday and sunday, july 21 and 22nd on the c-span network at c-span.org or listen with the free c-span radio app. >> in this panel from the weekly standard, writers discuss changes and technology, politics, and communication. this is over one hour. >> i think we will go right into the next table here.