unfortunately, because of the numbers in the congress right now, there has not been a lot we been able to stop. but getting the grassroots activated and by letting them know what is in all these bills, that has forced the debate that is setting as have to be in good position to elect members of congress who will defend our freedoms and who will really stop the agenda that we are seeing being advocated right now. now because of the situation that we have public -- politically, where unfortunately, the liberals have the numbers to be able to force through a lot of freedom- killing, economy-killing, and i- family legislation. phyllis gave us our marching orders last year that we absolutely, as john number one, need to elect a new congress. thankfully she had the foresight many years ago, before most -- i think it was one of the first conservative organizations. she started a political action committee that enabled us to raise money and mobilize support

behind good conservative candidates who share our values but most of my dog has really been focused on interviewing candidates -- most of my job has been interviewing candidates. we have kind of a triple threat at eagle forum. we have grass-roots but we do lobbying. then we had our political action committee. so we can elect the right and it is, hold them accountable, and have their constituents hold accountable. we can go back to our state leaders and find out who the good people are in your area, who the true conservatives are. people come to washington, d.c., and might want money and support. but it is nice to have our state leaders out in the field who can let us know what their reputations are in the area and who is really doing good work, who we can really count on to stand up for our values. another thing that we do, too, is we work with other organizations and other pro- family organizations. we're thrilled to do a lot of work with students for life to

get the word out about pro-life legislation and to the good pro- life candidates are. right now, a gulf war, our motto is leading the pro-family movement since 1972. that traditionally has been defending life and marriage. but as we see now, the family is being attacked from some many different perspectives. really, this exorbitant taxation is such an attack on their families. the cap and trade and all the legislation you heard about earlier is really taking -- all of these policies take a tremendous toll on families. it will take a toll on our economy. so we're working together with taxpayer protection groups, with groups groupscei where chris horner works. it is fun to have the opportunity to go to meetings and to dock with the dedrick organizations. it is just thrilling. nobody can do it all.

but to hear from people fromchris horner and all this brilliant analysts and to be about to take what they're doing and get the word out from our grass-roots network and to share the information with groups like students for life, we're able to multiplied the impact that we have. that really is a joy to be able to attend meetings with like- minded organizations throughout the weeks. one of the biggest joys this year since the tea party movements have arisen is to be about to take the information and take what we're hearing in the washington, d.c., and go back to the grassroots and let them know that their voice is really are being heard. calldiscouraging when you your senators or representatives and you do not get an answer. or you keep calling and keep calling and the said legislation keeps coming through. i just want to let all of you know, like we're trying to lead the two parties and activist groups know, that all of the

activism that you all are taking part in has had such a tremendous impact, not only in the continuing the discussion. look at the health-care bill. that was supposed to have been a done deal last summer. because the with the grass roots get activated, because people attended at town hall meetings, because of the way you were able to put pressure on some of the democrats and some of the republicans as which then might have voted for it, we were able to carry out a bit long enough for the american people to realize what was in the bill. this might be the only time i agree with nancy pelosi, but i think she was absolutely right, they had to do the health care bill for us to know what was in it. now they can start lying about it. now we see what is in it, and the american people do not like it. so the first order businesses that want to get this thing repeal. that is putting us in good position to elect members of congress who we know, and to the american people are questioning and saying will you, as your

first order of business, repeal obamacare. this is very, very helpful. in drawing up the debate in getting out the information about what is really happening, even though we lost that battle of fighting the health-care bill, i think we're going to win the war in letting the american people see how absolutely crucial it is to take a stand and to be careful about who you are electing to congress, to get involved, to vote in the primaries, and to not take for granted -- to know that you really need to get involved and to stay engaged. the other great victory we have had their grassroots really coming alive and getting engaged is the quality of candidates that we are seeing run for office. that has really been a great joy. i had the privilege of interviewing over one header fitted canada's. i cannot believe it. people are starting to come in and decided to run for congress soon after the new congress was sworn in. but i have to tell you, because of what all of your doing,

getting engaged and staying focused, letting your representative of snow that you will get involved, that you'll votes, working on campaigns. because people have seen that the american people are rising and demanding better government, we're getting better candidates. one of the greatest things that i am saying is the people who were the good can it is, people involved in their communities and who really realize that what is really important is not washington, d.c. people are not coming to washington, d.c., because the one to fulfill some dream to get congressmen. they're not coming here on an ego trip. people are saying they would rather stay home with their family and grandchildren and run their business, but i realize i have been involved in my community and might have something to contribute. they see it as a sacrificial service to step up and running for congress. that has been a tremendous victory that the grassroots has

realized. i does want to thank phyllis for the opportunity she has given me to work with some of these candidates and to encourage you all that all of your participation, whether it is calling members of congress are getting involved in the campaigns, it is making a difference at every level. please help us continue, and please keep fighting. [applause] >> we will take two questions. but i just want to mention one thing. one of her jobs is to go to all these coalition meetings, because we do believe in cooperating with other conservative organizations. but wouldn't you say that eagle forum is interested in the working in a greater variety of issues than practically any other conservative organization? >> absolutely, and i would encourage everyone to sign up for our e-mail alerts and to read phyllis' column. she just wrote an excellent column about the artificial

divide between social and fiscal conservatives. that is one of the issues we have always had a holistic approach to conservatism. if you are a social conservative, you are a fiscal conservative. if you consider yourself a fiscal said herbert -- conservative, you should be a social conservative. so much of the spending we need to get this country back on an economically responsible path, all that money is spent on the social issues. so i encourage you to read her columns. >> part of your interview process for the candidates -- is that a part of the eagle forum questionnaire like where they stand on the issue? >> we have a 75-question questionnaire. it is a virtual history of the eagle forum. it really goes through legislative battles that eagle forum has fought throughout the years. >> they are all current issues.

>> that is right. and they are very informed issues. it is a great indicator of where the candidates are, but it is also a great teaching opportunity to let members know some of the questions that they will face and with the conservative positions are. but we also interviewed. we did not just in interviews here. we make sure we know what the situation is on the ground, but the reputation is, how they have been involved in their communities. because part of the problems we face as we do not want decisions about who is being elected out in america being made in washington, d.c. we want those to come from local organizations, so we make sure we bring them into the process. >> is there another question? >> i was just wondering if you have any ideas -- and in my state, eagle forum is not well known. we do have a state leader.

but ideas of how to get people to get involved with a goal forum. we have young republican groups, which are not necessarily all conservative, but they are republican. i was wondering if you had any ideas on how to get people involved in the gulf war. >> well, advise them to our annual conference coming up the second week in september in st. louis. they will meet all of our wonderful leaders and the excited about all the projects we're working on. so you will get notice on that, and i hope you'll invite them to come. all right, thank you. [applause] >> our next speaker is suzanne, the legislative director of the eagle forum. she works on of alerting all the people in the grass roots about important bills that are coming up and what to do about it. she came to us very young, just shortly out of college.

but she was part of the press than in george w. bush's motorcade while he campaigned for the pennsylvania senator. i thought that was kind of exciting. she oversees the public policy action on all the federal issues, and we want her to tell you about the very exciting expensive system that we have so you can know what is coming up in what you can do about it. please welcome suzanne. [applause] >> thank you, phyllis. i will try to be brief because i know we're getting close to 4:00. good afternoon. i currently serve as the legislative director in the the washington, d.c., office. i am from just outside philadelphia. i graduated from boston university in 2005. after almost a year of searching for a job in the washington, d.c., in the 2006, i found one after applying for the legislative assistant position with eagle forum. believe it or not, i actually

did not know what eagle forum was or had not after frantically it reading about all the columns that i could, i figured out that this could be a pretty good kick. i was right. colleen and i are the only two staffers in the eagle forum office in d.c. it is five blocks away from here, right behind the capitol building and the supreme court. we are in the middle of all the action. i want to discuss how fun it is to work in politics in washington d.c. every person you meet will ask you, who do you work for? colleen and i always have a good answer for that question. everyone is excited for us in

the conservative movement. if you work for conservative organizations, you've probably been pretty busy since january 20, 2009. every policy issue under the sun has come up in some form of legislation, but our goal has remained unchanged. our goal has to -- has been to oppose every single piece of legislation under the obama agenda. it is my job to monitor a legislation on issues that it go from cares about. stang updated and in the loop by attending college in meetings -- staying updated. writing letters to elected officials, explaining our policy positions. visiting with congressional staffers, sending urgent action alerts, advocacy messages to our

grassroots members in order to target congressional offices so that elected officials know that voters are paying attention. getting a goal for mississippi message into the media through press releases and radio interviews. to compile a scoreboard to assign each member of congress and annual vehicle for immigrating. i keep track of key votes on a wide range of issues, like pro- life, health care, cap-and- trade, immigration, you name it. the annual ratings are really important because they are a reflection of how conservatively it or not so conservatively that member of congress has voted in a given year. for example, -- we have our own listing of votes that we used to decide someone score.

when we announce that we are scoring a particular vote, members of congress pay attention. they want to have a good score with us. back in the fall of 2006, when i first arrived in d.c., i was only here for about one month before the gop lost in the 2006 election. their 12 year reign of the majority ended. for that one month, there were still in the majority. i had noticed that most of the issues that came up between september and october, we have to actively lobby on the issues that we supported. we had to drive calls into offices. it has been very partisan, but we really needed to push the republicans in order to vote the right way. that is one aspect that has changed in the past two years. these days, we tend to work

within a broad coalition of groups who all come together to unify and oppose whatever issue it is. typically, it is a center-right coalition of groups that come together. but sometimes, would be disclosed act, a the liberals' response to the supreme court's citizens united ruling and they aim to silence political speeches -- that was one issues where conservative and liberal organizations opposed it. unfortunately, it passed anyway. but is a rare occurrence for both sides to come together. there was really only one built that eagle forum strongly opposed that there was not a broad coalition of groups united in opposition. i do not want to go into all the

details of the bill. the native it was the pr democracy act. it was one of the only groups that was actively opposing it. it made the challenge greater. most of the bills coming out to receive very little -- the time to act is minimal at best. during this brief lively debate, there was almost -- i found myself wrestling with what would be the best way to get to our message out beyond eagle forum members and starch healing members of congress away from supporting the bill. it hit me. i knew we really needed to get glenn back to talk about it. -- beck to talk about it and he has enormous influence. once we succeeded with that, he

communicated how bad the legislation was, the fellas on capitol hill started ringing off the hook. -- the telephones on capitol hill started ringing off the hook. they picked our action alerts and our message made its way to the tea party movement. from all of this spontaneous grass-roots action, eagle forum gained about 2000 members in one day and we slept about 35 votes. we were fighting a little known issue that no other group was. unfortunately, the bill did pass nearly, but it has been stalled in the senate. this legislative battle really taught me that you do not have to have lots of money, tons of staff, a lot of power, or years of experience to have -- to be

influential in washington. it is a young conservatives, like alice, who are leading the biggest fights. that is the best part about being a young conservative bloc -- working in d.c. he definitely had it right when he said that power is not only what you have, but what the other side? you have. did you go about doing your job in the city from that friend of mine, the powers to influence the political process are relentless. thank you [applause] . >> i want you to tell them how they can participate. >> we send out advocacy messages. something is coming up on the hill and it will get a vote, we will send out an action alert. the only way you can get the action alert is if you are registered on eagleforum.org.

hit the subscribe button. as long as you are subscribed, you will get the action alert. you will receive them and they will be personalized so that you can contact your representative specifically. >> the message can go directly from your computer into your own member of congress. if there is a town hall meeting in your district, you will get an e-mail about that. the message that goes to your congressmen is basically a form letter that susanna rights. you can adjust it. you can edit it and put your own personal relationship with the member of congress in. >> there is the option that you can afford it to your friends. the town hall meeting ones are really good because that really made our list grow.

nobody wants to go to a town hall meeting themselves. they want to bring their friends and their family. coxa my question for you at -- >> you mentioned all of the issues that eagle forum works for. is there a particular issue category that is hardest to get the word out about? hardest to rally support for the struggle with? >> i used that one example of the pr debate. there is a cluster of three issues that i have noticed that our constitutional issues. they have come up every year for the past decade. the d.c. voting rights act, the hawaii reorganization act, puerto rico democracy act.

they come up every year, but they are not well understood. they're very quick. they come up and want to vote on it. there is never a large debate. those are three that are very difficult. >> one more. you have answered all their questions. >> this is about your job. how involved argue with the specific legislation? do you read it? do you have another group that you rely on to do that? >> there are other groups that rely on audits. -- on us. >> phyllis has her weekly column. and she helps as well. -- angie helps as well.

a lot of the issues that come up, they have, so many times in the past, we know what is there. we may have to look at specific language, but a lot of things are really repetitive. this is the first time they have been successful. yes, we do look at the language and analyze it. >> thank you, suza >> the appointment to fill the vacant u.s. senate seat of the late west virginia senator robert byrd. president obama on the gulf of mexico oil spill. after that, minority leader talk about their opposition to the democrats' economic policies. later, the state of the u.s. is really a security relationship. -- israeli security

relationship. >> tomorrow, the michigan governor's republican primary debate. the candidates are seeking to replace democratic governor who is -- that is at 8:00 tomorrow. >> this weekend, author panels on religion, diversity in publishing, and african-american history. live, all day saturday starting at 11:00. also this week and, at the university -- columbia university professor on his new book. a weekend filled with a non-

fiction books on c-span2. >> c-span, our public affairs content is available on television, radio, and online. you can also connect with us on facebook and twitter. sign up for our schedule alerts e-mails at c-span.org. >> we are covering the first of two debates over the weekend between republican incumbent john mccain and gop challenger j.d. a word. here is the latest bad. >> -- the latest advertisement. >> his response was, yes, i appeared in is this. buyer beware. buyer beware. pork barrel spender, lobbyist, up voter beware.

>> i am john mccain and i approve this message. >> tired of john mccain's negative ads? so am i.. john mccain is hiding his record behind a false tax on my husband. he has sold out the people of arizona on immigration, tax increases. now a has embraced character assassination to keep his job. he should be ashamed. he is a principled conservative. >> joining us from the newsroom is political reporter. we just showed those latest ads. do you suspect that what we saw in those at the be part of the debate tonight? >> absolutely. we are going to seat to future issues come up. there that will be a part of the debate. they have dble booked these

debates over the course of one weekend. it will be two straight nights of barbs being traded and fantastic political theater. yes, to answer your question, we will see a lot of these same things. they will be talking about who is the better conservative and they will be talking about immigration. it is a very controversial issue in the state of arizona. >> these debates are back-to- back. hayworth has said that john mccain is reluctant to debate him. >> they put two debatein the course of one weekend, a shortened schedule, you might say, possibly to get them over with. frankly, you know, this is what they have agreed to. a short, compressed weekend, it works to john mccain cost advantage. if their primary was held today,

john mccain would win. if we look at current polling in the race, he has a very solid lead. the race was of -- was more competitive about one month ago. these infomercials have been rather devastating for the j.d. haorth campaign, now he has a lead in these polls. >> the latest sws john mccain at 64%. also tonight in the debate, james deegan with 5% in the poll. what impact as he had in the race? >> pretty minimal. the rocky mountain poll that you just cited isn out liar. many more have showed it to be more like 12 points or 15 points. i have seen a couple that are north of that, definitely a out liar. it will probably be 10 points to

15 points. the third-party candidate should not have a huge effect. let's remember that independent candidates in a lot of polling tends to be over counted. >> is the tea party having an impact in this race? >> i think they are impacting almost every race right now, especially republican primaries. arizona, you already have a very interesting and fraction republican party. you have a very conservative wing and a centrist wing. that is how both of these candidates are working, angling for the more conservative wing. >> there is another debate saturday night. we will cover tonight's debate. you can watch a live on c- span.org at 10:00 p.m., but we will errant live data -- but we will air at on the west coast at 8:30 p.m.

>> the primary is august 24. >> good evening, everyone. welcome to this special on vote 2010. in joining us tonight are the candidates in one of the most watched races in the country. the republican primary for the u.s. senate in arizona. both can -- candidates are john mccain, jim deakin, and j.d. hayworth. before they face the voters, they have agreed to face each other in this live the debate. let's meet them. to my immediate right, mr. j.d. hayworth. he is a former congressman who served six terms in the u.s. house, prior to that, was a television sportscaster.

recently, he had his own radio talk show. he is the recipient of ronald reagan fellow. he authored a book on illegal immigration. the incumbent senator john mccain has served two terms and u.s. senate as well as to terms and house. he is a graduate of the naval academy and a navy veteran. he was held as a prisoner of war in north vietnam. he was his party's nominee in the 2008 presidential campaign. senator mccain is the author of several books. jim deakin is also u.s. navy veteran. he was a division manager and don't -- and owned two businesses. he is a guest lecturer at scottsdale community college. tonight's debate is a formal debate. we will ask directed questions to each candidate, who will be given 90 seconds to answer to the other candidates will have a 45-second rebuttal. the original candidate will have a 30-second final response. questions were formulated with input from our partners.

none of the candidates have been given the questions in advance. the order was determined by drawing numbers. let's begin. the first question goes to mr. j.d. hayworth. mr. hayworth, he called your correct -- the clutter congressional career mediocre. give us a list of reasons why voters should send you back to washington when even members of your own party? effectiveness. >> thank you to you and channel three, and to my fellow candidates. thank you for taking the time to join us. you face a crucial decision when the cans to decide in your next united states senator. -- when it comes to deciding your next you done states senator. you can choose an incumbent who has spent 28 years in washington. you can choose someone who is ready to go back and serve in the senate after listening to you. you asked about dick armey's remarks.

he is an economist, not a student of history. had he bothered to check, he would realize that i spent 12 years in the united states house. i served on the ways and means committee. i have an active hand in writing the bush tax cuts of two thousand one and 2003, which john mccain voted against. they helped reinvigorate our economy. i am the author of a new education land grant, vital to schools across our country. i stand by my service, a even inrmey mr. might have -- even. though mr. -- even though mr. armey might not. >> thank you for making this even possible. i would agree with dick armey. as you just heard, congressman hayworth is pretty persuasive. after he was voted out by his constituents, he became a lobbyist. after that, a talk-show host. after that, and an commercialstar.

-- an infomercial star. he has had an interesting career. you will hear them continue to criticize me tonight. look at the conservative organizations supporting me. you should listen to them. the arizona right to life, the national rifle association, the citizens against government -- these are some of our supporters. 30 of our mayors in arizona -- they are supporting me. i am a proud ronald reagan, conservative -- i'm a proud, ronald reagan conservative. >> jim deakin. >> thank you for having us here today. i would not say that either of my opponents have been -- have had a remarkable careers. it is remarkable how often they have ignored the u.s. constitution -- voting for things like no child left behind and medicare part d. those are not conservative values. they need to be held accountable for their action. >> thank you very much. mr. hayworth. >> it is interesting to hear

john go back to that. he has spent billions of dollars. john mccain claims he is a ronald reagan republican and right of the 80 violates the 11th commandment. the fact is, i made a mistake in making that video presentation. i'm willing to admit my mistakes. they were personal in nature. you have made a mistake after mistake that has hurt america. on tax cuts -- you voted no in 2001 and 2003 pretty support amnesty that would cost american $2.60 trillion in the retirement of its alone. >> that is the time. next question is deak mr.in. -- is for mr. deakin. some have said the financial collapse was devastating -- more devastating than the great depression. congress has passed wall street reform legislation. do you support or oppose a and why -- do you support or oppose

that legislation and why? >> both parties are using the tax code to manipulate our economy. we need a flat tax. the repeal of the 16th amendment is very important to getting our government and our economy back to a stable path. both of these gentlemen voted to repeal several bills. one in 1999 changes the mortgage industry. it allowed derivatives to be created. both of them have voted for regulation that allowed the carbon market to get creative. there is a derivatives market associated with that. we have to stop sending career politicians to washington, d.c. we have to send people who understand how our economy works. we have to send people who understand what it means to create a job and maintain that job, and pay those taxes associated with that job. we have to get back to seven candidates for united states senate. >> thank you very much -- to

citizen candidates for united states senate. >> thank you very much. there was legislation dealing with financial reform. as far as i am concerned, this legislation is like handing a back -- a book of matches and a can of gasoline to a pyromaniac. it is the wrong approach. john voted for the bailout -- $70 billion for the wall street banks. another $150 billion in earmarked. that is the kind of spending he claims to oppose. sadly, that laid the predicate for what we will see with this bill, which will guarantee more bailouts. >> mr. mccain? >> the financial reform bill that was just past is a travesty. it, in no way will address the problem that brought about the financial collapse of 2008. institutions are still too big to fail. there is no addressing of the institutions that were the

catalysts to this financial meltdown, which are fannie mae and freddie mac. in 2006, armed with a report, we fought to reform fannie and freddie. congressman hayworth voted to have them continue the ways that lead down to a fine -- that led to a my not -- that led to a financial meltdown. i never supported amnesty. mr. >>d -- >> mr. deakin. >> in 1986, you voted for amnesty. fannie mae and freddie mac are the problem. we have to stop bailing out financial institutions and get rid of fannie mae and freddie mac. when people are willing to invest their own capital, then we have a solid economy. you cannot rely on taxpayers to bail out corporations. >> thank you very much. next question is for senator mccain. foreign affairs. general casey says the american forces could be fighting in

afghanistan for another decade. you have said we need to stay in afghanistan and won. we have-- until we have won. are you willing to stay there for another 10 years, even as members of your party began to call this a losing war? cal will we know if we have 1? -- how will we know if we have won? >> the same way we know in iraq. there is a functioning government. they have a government that is functional. i would remind you that, when everybody else said that john mccain's candidacy was doomed, because of my support forsurge this -- for this surge -- i said i would rather lose a campaign than one lose a war. afghanistan is long and hard and tough. we can succeed. it was tumbling to spend a

fourth of july with the troops and general petraeus in afghanistan. they know they can succeed. the problem is the president's announcement that we're having a set date for withdrawal. you cannot win conflicts if you set a date for withdrawal. the taliban know that. our enemies know it. we can succeed in iraq. the goal is that, never again, can we allow afghanistan to be a base for attacks on united states of america, as was the case for 9/11, one of the great american tragedies. we can succeed, but we need to have the president tell the american people that we will stay the course. once we have succeeded, and we can come with a great general and employ -- and the great men and women that we have, including the arizona guard, we will be able to withdraw. >> i must correct you. we did not declare war on afghanistan. you voted for use of force, which is a violation of the constitution.

too is is -- eight years is too long to have the army in a politically-fractured country. we should use armistice to get these countries to stop terrorism and fight terrorism in their own countries. >> thank you very much. mr. hayworth? >> we have problems in afghanistan because we have a commander in chief who really does not understand the situation. we need to change the rules of engagement. our troops -- when a sniper fires on the now, as the rules dictate, if that's like bird drops the rifle and tries to blend in with the crowd, our troops cannot fireback. our troops need rules of engagement where they can fight a war and win. secondly, we should define victory as the rectification -- as the eradication of the outcry debt and the taliban. those two conditions must be met -- the eradication of the al qaeda and the taliban.

those two conditions must be met. >> congressman hayworth is misinformed or does not understand. the rules of engagement have been tweaked. obviously, i have great confidence in general petraeus that he will do whatever is necessary to protect the lives of our troops. he has had the experience. he is one of the great leaders. i want to say it again, this is long, hard, tough. we grieve at a loss of american lives. july was the toughest month ever. august will be tough as well. let's support them. let's show them we love them. we can succeed. let's bring them home with honor. >> senator mccain, thank you. next question, mr. hayworth. you were one of the biggest recipients of jack abramoff. you were acting as a pitchman for a questionable from -- firm promoting free government money.

they sent out a release: new " -- a release calling you, "j.d. huckster." >> you have changed position so much that we should set up an extra podium for you, depending on which john mccain will answer the questions. rather than dealing with insults, and i invite everyone, because a mile of the time, to go to my website, to see the extended explanations. let me explain and this should be about issues. it is about mr. mccain's record on amnestied cap co-op an duringd trade -- record on amnesty, coauthoring cap and trade. he does not want to run his record. that is why he is engaged in these attacks. it is unbecoming to you. you're not a statement any longer. you are a political shape shifter.

>> senator mccain. >> there you go again, just as i predicted at the beginning of this debate. congressman hayworth was one of the big spenders. he told people, like jeff and me, who were fighting against this correction -- he called us jihadists. he sponsored earmarked. this is corruption in washington. it is the gateway drug to corruption. that is one of the reasons why j.d. hayworth was voted out by his constituents, because republicans let spending it out of control. i fought against my own president and majority to eliminate pork-barrel and earmarked spending. i am proud of my record. >> mr. mccain, thank you. mr. deakin. >> they have both put themselves in a position to be corrupted and put in corrupt positions. if they would stick to the constitution and spend more time in arizona than in washington,

d.c., they would not get caught in these systems. my name is jim deakin. my website is jimdeakin.com. i want to campaign on the issues facing our nation. it is much more important than slinging mud at each other. >> mr. hayward. >> if you had told the truth about barack obama, the way you are spreading falsehoods about me, you might be president of united states now. john mccain is caught in a cynical attack policies -- politics. you chaired the hearings on the lobbyists. my name did not come up. it was never uttered. it is sad that you would stoop to this. shame on you. arizona deserves better. >> a coalition of tea party activists and other conservative groups are suggesting that you drop out because you're, the seey -- because your candidacy is hurting the conservative

cause. and i think that is great. it is all about the american people expressing their opinion. it makes our government better. of w governmente -- we are a government of we, the people. we were put in place by the constitution. when we stand up and say that is not acceptable, we can make changes in washington, d.c. blind i do not care -- d.c. i do not care if anybody tells me to drop out of this race. i have a right to be on the ballot. if my constituents -- if my opponent had stopped by their -- had stc -- if my opponents had stuck -- >> he has a right to be on the ballot. mr. mccain has unfurled millions of dollars of attack campaigns. he has spent $6 million making me the defacto $6 million man.

there is a form of collusion. every vote that goes to jim deakin will be one less vote to retire john mccain. that was the goal. apparently that has changed. in the public's, forum he said it was to make a statement -- in the public forum, he said it was to make a statement. >> every vote that goes to j.d. hayworth would detract from the chance for mr. deakin being elected. jim, i respect your service to the country and i respect your passion. you qualify for the ballot and you deserve that. let me go back for a second year facts are stubborn things. what i am saying our backs. j.d. hayworth was a lobbyist. he did late-night infomercials. he said he did his due diligence, but he did not. my god, did you not know that this was a group that were taking people's money to say

that they would get free money? no one can call themselves conservative when they engage in that kind of activity. >> senator, thank you. >> i got in this race taking on a formal president -- a former presidential nominee for the republican party, knowing that it would be a challenge. i have sacrificed more than one and a half years of my life building name recognition, which is nearly impossible for new candidates that has never run for office before. i deserve to be in this race. i am not taking just conservative votes from one candidate or the other. i am not afraid to talk about the issues like social security and medicare. i'm not afraid to talk about veterans' issues. i am taking votes from both of my opponents. >> thank you very much. the third question goes to senator mccain. you been criticized for "sponsoring comprehensive immigration reform" -- which some critics say amounts to amnesty.

you advocate building that dang fence. does that represent a major shift in your thinking regarding illegal immigration -- trying to appease or pill could convert it -- to the conservative base? >> that is a good question in this debate. amnesty means "no penalty." in every bill that we have, there are obvious penalties that would be imposed. after the bill failed in 2006, the american people spoke. i said in 2007, when i ran for president, in 2008, 2009, that we need to secure the border first. jon kyl and i have a 10-point plan to secure the border. we're making slow and hard progress. we have invited the president to come to the border and see how it is so badly out of control. the border violence has escalated dramatically. just hours ago, across in went offjuare -- went off in

juarez. 26 mexicans were killed just miles -- just 20 miles south of the border. i have met with the widow of a woman who was killed in california -- the widow of the man who was killed in mexico. our border is not secure. our plan completes the fence, surveillance, 3000 more national group -- national guard troops to the border. it also includes a very important provision -- operation stone garden -- where a repeat crosser would have to be incarcerated if they have recrossed our border. >> thank you very much. >> we should not have to reelect any politician to get the border security. my opponents have failed arizona.

string migration. most of them vote -- they have both voted for amnesty. they have both voted against putting the army on the border. both of them have supported the layered border patrol cent -- bleared, border patrol system. we need to determine what additional manpower and resources we need at the border. >> mr. hayworth. >> you mentioned that john has put out a press release calling me a name "huckster." i can think of no more blatant form of hucksters and that what -- than what you're seeing from john mccain on amnesty. you mentioned amnesty in the article of may, 2003. co-sponsored a bill -- you call up -- you co-sponsored a bill with ted kennedy. $2.60 trillion in retirement benefits -- medicare and social security -- to illegals who would be granted amnesty. you're changing that again.

why on earth would we provide incentives to lawbreakers? i sponsored the enforcement first act. >> time is up. senator mccain. >> in 2001, congressman hayworth proposed an immigration reform bill. the point is that we must get our borders secure. this is a threat -- and existential threat to the government of mexico. if the drug cartels take over, the violence will escalate. the human smuggling, the drug cartels -- the media have called arizona the second murder capital of the world -- this has got to stop. we can secure our borders. i know we can. >> thank you very much. next question is for mr. hayworth. you have made the claim not'senator mccains, has -- the claim that senator mccain's plan

would cost $2.60 trillion in benefits. how much would your plan cost? what would it entail? >> it would be far cheaper than the $2.60 trillion on retirement benefits alone to illegals. it is bad enough the john mccain voted to extend social security and medicare benefits to illegal. he now wants to enshrine it in a bill that is so wrongheaded as to not be believable. my enforcement first act calls for strong infrastructure at the border, the introduction of our standing troops on the border, and it calls for the return to the original intent of our 14th amendment, so we do not have the judicial activism that allow the misguided notion of birthright citizenship. the clause subject to the jurisdiction thereof does not mean that aliens to come to united states, who are not subject to the jurisdiction of

american law, should have children granted american citizenship. we now have the specter of tou birthrs. -- birth tours. people time their visits to the u.s. so that they can get access to all of our benefits. that is wrong. border security is national security. the most vexing problem we have in the world is on our border with mexico. it is time to get serious. my enforcement first act will do that. senator mccain. -- >> senator mccain. >> the legislation that jon kyl and i have introduced would probably cost about $4 billion and take a couple of years. most of it is increased funding. surveillance, manpower, completing the fence -- i just came from a visit to israel again. israel has secure borders. we have made significant improvements in the u.s. sector. in san diego, texas. in tucson, last year, over

200,000 illegal immigrants were apprehended. we need signs that citizens have to be where -- beware. we owe it to our citizens to get our borders secure and do it quickly. >> the enforcement first bill failed because of the cost. everybody in washington, d.c., knew that it would cost money. a congressman could not get it passed -- the congressman could not get it passed with republican house, senate, and president. we have existing laws. we do not need another layer of attorneys and judges. we need to enforce title viii, section 12, which is the deportable alien title. we need the attorney general to do his job. we do that through appropriations and confirmation. that is how to accomplish getting the border security.

>> thank you very much. mr. hayworth. >> the enforcement first act would enforce the existing law, but take steps necessary to protect us. border security is national security. john, you talk about this 10- point plan. you have only one co-sponsor -- jon kyl. you serve on the homeland security committee, the committee with jurisdiction. it seems like your good friend joe lieberman should have already scheduled a markup on this. it is not meaningful legislation. it is a political document to try to get through this election and fool the people of arizona. >> thank you. the next question is about health care. u.s. did the federal government should keep its hands out of programs -- you have stated that federal government should keep its hands out the programs dealing with health care. does that include medicare? the support a long-term program to make medicare financially solvent? >> yes. we need to get politics out of as much of our economy as

possible, including health care and education. costs have gone up exponentially since we passed the hmo act, and since the medicare and medicaid acts. we need to get medicare back into the responsibility of the individual. let's create our economy and find our own provider. let's find our own health insurance providers. when we take the middleman out, we reduce the cost, the paperwork. we will then have lower costs. that is the ultimate goal. gold is not to control people's lives and tell them what to do, what to eat, or how heavy they should be, or what they should look like. goal is to get a cost lower. we do that by eliminating bureaucracy. we can no longer afford the middleman in washington, d.c. we have to take care of these on a state-by-state issue. when somebody violates the law and does not provide a service that was promised, then we put

the full force of a federal government on that person that violated the law. that is how to keep costs down. >> mr. hayward. >> i believe the question had to do with medicare preservation. i voted and worked to preserve medicare with market-based reforms that our costs down. we assured medicare into the 21st century. the one thing that will kill medicare is to paul john mccain's suggestion of granting amnesty. we will find out that we have to pay $2.60 trillion in retirement benefits -- as a security and medicare -- to illegals. that is untenable, an ill- advised, and you do not save medicare. you will wreck the country by voting for amnesty. >> senator mccain. >> medicare is in trouble, my friends, and in even more trouble because of obama-care. i am proud to lead the fight to try to dismantle and stop

medicare. it is a giant takeover of the entire health care system in america. obama-care will cost -- will raise costs dramatically pared the first amendment says that -- the first amendment on the floor of the senate was to say there will be no cuts in medicare. 300,000 citizens of arizona have a program called medicare advantage. that will be cut by obama-care. next january, i am going to lead the fight again. we will repealed. we will replace obama-pierre. ama-care. >> you proposed amendments to make it better. i am not asking you to help me make government better. i am not asking you to send me so that can reform. i want you to send me so that i can work to dismantle this back to the fundamentals of the constitution. we have enumerated powers. the government must provide

services to the state. everything else belongs to the state or the people respectively. >> thank you very much. next question is for senator mccain. you have served in washington, d.c., for decades, but there are many unresolved issues, including immigration. why should arizona send you back to washington when some of the legislative logjam, some say, is worse than ever? they also say that new blood is needed. >> i understand that. there is great frustration and anger out there amongst the people of this country. yet seen that in the tea party movement, which i think will bring about significant change in america. question is who can be most effective. i have led the fight against aca obamare- -- against obama-care. .

>> we have to give back to the fundamentals of that we know what we are fighting for. but now, we are fighting against each other in the is the fighting this country and that is not acceptable to me.

>> is interesting to hear john talk about his experience and how he is better educated and more adept in the ways of washington. john, a headline in "the arizona republic" and that you said you were misled on tarp. you voted for it and then said it was an obscenity. so you were for it before you were against it and then someone else was to blame. we appreciate your service. but you did not lead the fight in obama-care. would have said that the bill should be read. john has served a long time. in service to our country, we respect that. >> your time is up. >> there he goes again.

facts are stubborn things. i did lead the fight. everybody knows that. we will replace obama-care next january. that is the important thing. i have been leading in fighting and i am proud of my record, whether it be in efforts to get our borders secure or it be protecting our bases and the men and women serving in the military. i am proud of my record. look at the conservative organizations and see who they support, whether it is me or former congressman hayworth. >> mr. hayworth, you have consistently called herself a consistent conservative. will you not work with anyone but conservatives who share your political ideology? >> of course not. bipartisan as defined by john mccain is republicans caving in to what the left and the

cheerleaders and the washington media want. we need truth non-partisan leadership. we saw that displayed in my education land grant at. he went to a democratic center that had a hold on my bill and he told the senator to take his hold off of my bill. it is something exceptional. the key is non-partisanship were the power of a good idea transcends party labels. now the misguided notion of going along to get along. bipartisanship may sound good to the chattering classes, and it will certainly been friends among democrats and network anchors, but it fails to adequately represent arizona. i am a consistent conservative. yes on tax cuts, no on amnesty. i do not believe on camp and trade -- believe in camp -- in

cash and trade. john mccain is trying to fool you one more time. >> senator? what's one of the reason that people elected us in 1994 and then swept us out in 2006 is because of spending. we promised the american people that we would get spending under control. in fact, the spending that led to call option which led to people being in federal prison, i stood up against my own leadership and i was called a sheriff on the floor of the senate. i did not win miss congeniality because i continue that fight against this pork barrel spending. republicans have to regain the confidence of the american people and we should repeal obama-care which will mortgage our children and our grandchildren's futures.

>> the congressman did work with other parties. they did it when they voted to increase the national debt limit which is a tax increase on my children, my grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren, which is not acceptable to me. the congressman crossed the aisle when he voted with rahm emanuel. i think the people are tired of paying $2.90 billion in additional taxes to pay for a light rail system. >> mr. hayworth? what's it is interesting to hear john mccain talk about numbers. he mentioned that economics was not his strong suit and apparently mathematics is not his strong suit, either. if you put out a piece of mail accusing me of putting $7

billion in earmuffs -- in earmarks. you cast a vote for $150 billion in earmarks, more than twice the number that you attacked me on. what's your time is up. the next question is for mr. deakin. let's go back to the border. how do you propose to secure our border and how will we know when the border is secure? >> both of my opponents have failed arizona. they have had decades to get our borders secured and get our immigration policy under control. i do support building the fence because fences work. they are not the end solution to the immigration, -- problem, but they are tool. we have to finish the border fence. we have to include technology and then we will know what we are accomplishing three when we

accomplish something, we will see it in the technology. we have to work on our immigration policy. the federal government is responsible to repel invasion and provide naturalization. right now, we do not have a difference in our language as we are making these discussions and having these arguments, we do not differentiate between immigration and migration. that is the difference that we have to have. once we have good solid migration policies and naturalization policies so people are not waiting 12 years to become naturalized citizens, then we will have less ill will immigration. i was down on the border yesterday with some ranchers because it is an issue. we have to work with the people that live there and deal with it on a daily basis. the bureaucrats in washington d.c. do not understand what is going on down there. they make regulations and they pretend like they have done something so they can pat each other on the back.

that is not acceptable. for many to have a senator that resides in arizona. fox mr. hayworth? >> that is a phrase that we hear time and again from john mccain. we heard it from president obama who took time to single out john mccain to applaud him for his efforts of reaching out across the border to enact amnesty. i define a secure border as when the united states understands who is coming into our country and who is leaving our country. the problem with john mccain and barack obama and jan and peloton of is that they actually believe that this is a political problem to be managed instead of seeing it for what it really is, a national security threat and an invasion that must be stopped. >> senator mccain? >> i find myself agreeing with congressman hayworth. it is a national security issue, my friends. the human smugglers are working

together and have become a national security threat. if mexico continues with the difficulties that it has, we are going to have even greater problems and i am glad that there are 11 sheriffs in this great state that are supporting are getting the job done and getting the 10 point plan enacted. by the way,', 's bill never went anywhere. if we have a mandate for 6000 troops for the border. i want to assure you that we will get our border security and do what is necessary. >> for six years, we have a republican house senate and present. they sailed to protect arizona. -- they failed to protect arizona. we need to hold the attorney general accountable.

we need to use appropriations and confirmation hearings to get him to enforce title 8 of the u.s. code. >> ok, mr. deakin. thank you very much. alan greenspan said that we should not expand the bush tax credits, even after a deficit, why? what i have great respect for alan greenspan, but he was in charge when this meltdown began to occur and was obviously responsible for it. we cannot raise taxes at this time. tax increases will hurt our economy even more. when i voted against the bush tax cuts back in 2001, i predicted that spending had to be brought under control and it was not. we work from surplus to deficit and the american people rejected us.

they would have created jobs and cut spending so that we did not grow from surplus to deficit. we are in danger. we are in danger of a very slow recovery and people in arizona are recovering. they need to have their taxes kept low in arizona. we need to get payroll taxes and social security taxes to be held off until we get the small businesses back in business and housing market back. we can do that, but to raise taxes at this time in history would be a terrible thing for our economy. >> senator, thank you. mr. deakin?

>> the truth is, both of my opponents have failed or earth -- arizona. we have to get rid of tax increases. we have to reduce taxes on businesses, especially. we have to get rid of the free trade agreements that are shipping our industries overseas. we have to encourage a stable economy and a stable government for our businesses so they can invest their own capital so that businesses can create jobs. businesses create jobs, not government. >> mr. hayworth? >> we have been treated to some reason -- john is not wearing flip-flops', but he flip-flop here. if you go back and check your statements, you said nothing about spending in either incident.

i understand that running for president, you have to get back on the side of the tax cutters and so you changed your tune. this revisionist history does not match the facts. you need a consistent conservative and a proven tax cutter. that is what i did in washington and that is what i will do again. >> i have to say, again. the democrats may want to increase our taxes and not extend the tax cuts. we need to extend of those tax cuts. americans do not need a tax increase at this time. the small business people in arizona are hurting badly. we need to cut the corporate tax. we need to cut the payroll tax. we need to cut taxes for the american people and get america growing again. the this administration is governing from the left and we have to move it back to the center and to the right. >> thank you, senator. our next question is for mr.

hayworth. you said that the federal government has taken the long -- the wrong approach to saving businesses and jobs. what would you have done differently and where would you go from here? >> let's take a look at where we are right now. stimulus plan passed by the obama administration, less than half of that money has been spent. it should be stopped by now and the rest of those funds should be administered to debt relief. my opponent was for tarp and said that he was misled about it. there was a banker that road every member of congress before this vote and said not to do it. if you are going to devote taxpayer assets to this problem, make sure it is on the banks -- in the banks on main street instead of wall street.

the wizards of their will dream up with polls that you will not even begin to understand. and we will end up with a lost decade, reminiscent of what is going on in japan. the wrongheaded stimulus, the way you improve this economy, it is back to basics. lower taxes and lower government spending. >> mr. hayworth, thank you very much. >> in the fall of 2008, there was a financial meltdown. tarp was proposed to bail out the financial markets and stabilise them and the housing market. after passage, they abandoned the housing market. i fought against the takeover of chrysler and gmac and all the excesses of the obama administration. i led the fight against the stimulus package.

i proposed the republican amendment that would have cut taxes and given small businesses the breaks that they need and get our economy back on the right track. i am proud of the leadership position that i have taken in fighting this administration, which is committing generational fast. >> mr. deakin? >> there is nothing in the congressman's voting record that says that he would not have voted for tarp. do not believe him when he says he would not have voted for it. his voting record does not prove that true. the solution that i would have presented would have been the tax holiday. it would have cost us about two trillion dollars instead of nearly $4 trillion. it would have boosted our state of economy by putting tax dollars into our state coffers. it would have been a better solution for the overall health and wealth of our nation. >> mr. deakin, thank you very much. >> i think that someone just

claimed to have esp to say how i would vote. the troubled asset relief program was the wrong way to go. i will take jon at his word that he led the fight against the stimulus. >> congressman hayworth, thank you very much. >> members from both parties are considering cutting defense spending as a means to reducing the deficit. do you agree with that? if not, what kind of programs need to be cut? >> we need to take a constitutional approach to defense spending for it we have to have a strong military. however, we do not have to just spend money willy-nilly through the do not have to just keep having bases all over the world because it feels good to have them there. we do have to have technology

and we should continue to invest in our future, but we have to bring the right people into washington d.c., sent them in front of confirmation and appropriation hearings and make them justify the dollars they are going to spend. those are american taxpayer dollars. american taxpayers want to be protected. they also want to be protected from our burdensome government. >> mr. hayworth? >> when it comes to questions of a budget, it is obvious that we confront a new launch of a -- a new age of austerity. the first and most basic responsibility of government is to protect its citizens. in this heightened, dangerous world in which we live where terror comes to our very back door on the southern border, we need to allocate the necessary resources. we can begin right now to deal with the problems we face. i mentioned that we ought to take the remaining funds spent dollars of the stimulus package and devote them to debt relief.

we should stop obama-care because it would be a trillion dollar expenditure and what ever we do, never adopt mccain's amnesty plan. >> in answer to the question, we do need procurement reform. working with the democrats, we have passed a bill that will cut down on these terrible cost overruns. cost overruns are a serious problem and we have to get them under control. i am confident that the f-35 will be coming to arizona bases and i am proud to have protected the bases in arizona. we are working with the support groups for the forts. it is $9.2 billion to our arizona's economy and over 100,000 civilian workers on our bases to protect our bases.

i will be the chairman. fox mr. deakin, you have the final word. >> the best way to control costs in our military or to stop collecting career politicians that see our military as a world police force. we have to go to war, that is a terrible thing. when we send people to the police in other countries, that is an abomination in the should be held accountable. >> mr. deakin, thank you very much. the final question goes to senator mccain. you have stated your opposition to extending unemployment benefits. isn't that hurting many of your constituents where the unemployment rate is above the national average? >> on the issue of unemployment benefits, the republicans in the senate, under the leadership of much mcconnell and jon kyl, who is doing a fantastic job, we want to extend unemployment

benefits, but we want them paid for because there are so many things of the democrats do, whether it be hiring new teachers warn other programs, they keep adding on to it and i am proud that we have stood up and said no. you give us a straight bill and we will vote for it, but at all all of that port and earmarke stuff, we will not do that anymore. we need to give our small businesses a tax break. i would tell the corporations in our state that we will cut the corporate tax rates so that you will not have to send jobs overseas. we will continue to support the military and our bases and their men and women that are there. our people in mesa that make the apache helicopter and down at raytheon that make these wonderful missiles and intel, which is employing so many people, i am proud to have had

their support and i am very grateful for it. >> senator mccain, thank you. mr. deakin? >> the american people do not want unemployment checks through the one payroll checks. they want jobs. -- unemployment checks. they want payroll checks. they want jobs. we need to end our free trade agreement to stop sending our industries across the world. we signed these free-trade agreements because we thought that we would have a growing economy, but it has not worked. we need to go back to a most favored nation trade system so we can keep our industries in this country and create jobs around this nation. >> mr. deakin, thank you. mr. hayworth? fox apparently, both of my fellow candidates agree with me. especially to hear john mccain.

you are coming home and talking about the tax cuts i enacted, the tax cuts he voted against in 2001 and 2003, tax cuts that made a difference. the tax cuts that took unemployment rate down to 4% as i returned to private life. unemployment benefits for a time, we need a safety net, but not a hammock. >> senator mccain? >> the fact is, arizona is hurting. we concur -- we can help the people of arizona. the generator of jobs in arizona are the big corporations that i talked about that we are glad to have. the real generators are the small business people. the guy that i met in flagstaff that just lost his line of

credit and had not done anything wrong. the people that i have met that have lost their businesses. >> it has been a very interesting evening so far, and now we come to the closing statements portion of our debate 2010. we would ask that each of the candidates to observe our 92nd time set aside for closings. we begin with mr. hayworth. >> frank, thanks to you and channel 3 for hosting this debate and thanks to my to opposing candidates and thanks to the voters who have a big decision to make in this republican primary for the u.s. senate. you can either of for a consistent conservative that has fought to reduce taxes and says no to amnesty and node to camp and trade, and no to any further works.

the first line of advocacy in arizona, i would be a senator for arizona, not merely from arizona. i have the pleasure of having the endorsement of the phoenix law enforcement association, the arizona police association and the association of border patrol radiance for the tucson sector. they know that i want to enforce the law. i am pleased to have the endorsement of one of john's former pows. he served honorably while in captivity and he has endorsed my candidacy. the endorsement i ask for the most is yours. let's have conservative record -- representation in the senate. i ask for your vote in the primary august 24. >> i am jim deakin and you have a choice in this election. america is the greatest nation in the world. since the beginning of our country, we defeated tyranny and

oppression. we have been advancing for liberty and freedom. somewhere along the lines, we forgot about the united states constitution. as your senator, i will work to bring the united states constitution back to the federal government. one man is not the solution to our nation's problems. our hope is in the document. i am sorry. our nation is great at overcoming obstacles. we do this when we work together. together, we can prevail. together arizona will thrive together our nation will excel to the delight of our allies and the dismay of our enemies i am

asking for your vote. i am asking for your support. my name is jim deakin. i need your support in the primaries. i need your support in the general election. i am here to tell you that you do have a choice because neither one of these guys have stood up for us. they both have the opportunity and they have failed. >> thank you, frank and things to channel 3 and it is good to be with my colleagues here. jim, you have done a good job tonight. for your first timeout. i endorse what the fraternal order of police and firefighters and support me because they know that i am not only going to go back to washington to fight, but

to leave. that is the -- but to lead. i will lead the fight to bring america back. i will lead the fight for the farmers and workers in the small business people who are hurting so badly. i have led the fight. i have led the fight to keep america safe. i am proud of my record in congress and in my service to the country. the experience i have gained has helped me lead in these tough times that we are in. you can count on me to continue to lead with principal and with honor and with dignity. i seek your support and ask for your vote. i think you. >> that is all the time that we have. we want to thank you for being with us for this debate. we appreciate all the time and effort that the candidates have put in an on sunday, we will

rebroadcast tonight's debate at 5:30 p.m. during our regular schedule politics uncovered. we join our regular programming now in progress. hos[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> now, campaigns by senator john mccain and former congressman j.d. hayworth. >> where did that out that j.d. hayworth held stock in a company and his response was that he appeared in this. >> the i believe in caveat emptor, buyer beware, buyer beware, buyer beware. >> voter beware.

>> i am john mccain and i approve this message. >> are you tired of john mccain's negative ads? so am i.. i am very hayworth and john mccain is hiding his record. he has sold out the people of people on immigration, bailouts and tax increases and now john mccain has embraced character assassinations to keep his job. john mccain should be ashamed. j.d. is not perfect, but he is a principled conservative. >> i am j.d. hayworth and i approve this message. >> you can watch the primary debate again at about 2:45 a.m.. again and tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. eastern. that is here on c-span. >> tomorrow, the michigan governor's republican primary debate.

the candidates are seeking to replace democratic governor jennifer gran home who is term limited. that is tomorrow, here on c- span. >> 29, the announcement to fill the vacant timid seat for new jersey senator robert byrd. then president obama on the new mexico oil spill. after that, representative john paiboehnert talks about policy. >> c-span is now available on the rules -- in over 100 million homes, bringing you a directly to public affairs, politics, history and nonfiction books. it is created by america's cable companies. >> west virginia gov. john mention appointed one of his former aides to temporarily take the seat of the late robert

byrd. during a press conference today, you heard comments from the rockefeller. >> if any family members want to sit down, we have seats of power for you if you would like. -- seats of here for you if you would like. -- of pierre -- up her for you, if you would like. >> senator rockefeller, mr. president, first lady, the first

mom, just a few moments ago, i signed the appropriate paperwork to make this announcement official. robert c. byrd was a giant who can never be replaced. i have said that we could never fill his shoes. if we can only hope the we could follow in his footsteps. i have waited to make this appointment because it is important to do this right. i want to thank and the white house. i want to thank majority leader read and especially senator rockefeller and the entire senate for making this procedure in this process works flawlessly, for allowing west virginia to go through the process that we have. they have been most gracious. i truly wanted to carry that back to everybody for us. the time has now come to appoint someone to the senate who will look out for west virginia and

will work hard for west virginia and is a proud west virginian. i am now extremely proud to point guard good one to the united states senate. -- to appoint cart good onewin to the united states -- cart goodwin to the united states senate. regardless of whoever occupies the seat now or in the future, the united states senate seat was occupied by nearly 52 years by our beloved senator robert c. byrd.

i am truly confident that cart goodwin make us all proud. i have worked shoulder to shoulder with him for four years. i know the man. i know that was virginia is better off because he has passed this way. he has been a part of landmark legislation. i do not need to tell you all that he is fiercely independent. we have gone toto many times and that is what i came to admire about him, that he would not back down. i had nobody that would carry out the duties and the wishes of the people of west virginia. he has always been someone that

could bring all sides together. . people may have different philosophical beliefs, but are able to understand and appreciate and respect for everyone is coming from -- for where everyone is coming from. you have got to respect for people are coming from. they have a right. if you are a better person when you are able to sit and listen. i want to tell you one thing. the mine disaster is still etched in our mind. i will never forget that. i -- no one gave me a book and told me that this is the

procedure that we would have to go through. i have lived it before. i knew what the families were going through. we went through that and it was a horrible secure wage and and we lost while wonderful people. what more than three weeks after that, i got a call and they sent me to another exact situation. there are two meant that we have missing and no one knew what we were dealing with. we had more than 60 rescuers trying to find two men. friday night, i called cart and said that i did not know the exact situation is, but i can tell you that i want you to get your team together and start writing legislation. this was friday night when i called him. he left and she did not see him again until monday night. he kept his team around the

clock friday night, saturday night and sunday night and a brother legislators back in on monday morning in we have legislation prepared. i appreciate that so much. the good one family -- goodwin family has served west virginia. some people look that different people and different families and they think that this is a tremendous honor and it truly is. the look at the glamour of it. what you do not see is the sacrifices that the wives, the husbands, the children, the holidays that they give up and the commitment and sacrifice and devotion.

there is so much that goes into public service and i cannot be more proud of people that i know and consider my dear friends that have served and continue to serve at the highest level. i respect each and everyone of you for what you have done and what you give back to our state and our country. as i introduce cart, i wanted to know that he will join the united states senate as the youngest senator serving. it is only fitting that he is replacing the most beloved and the most historic figure that the senate has ever known and who happened to be the oldest when the good lord can. what a tremendous signal i think that shows for west virginia and what a tremendous opportunity that we have a that we pass this torch to another generation. we encourage young people to get involved in public service and now we're able to pass that torch to the generation that will have the opportunity to

leave it was virginia in the future -- to lead west virginia in the future. i want to thank all of you who have helped in this process. i hope you understand that we do this for one person only. robert c. byrd. i think that we honor him as we show our respect. i know that the -- that today, we honor him-that the senate has just finished business and has a bill for rose. -- has a bill for us. we will have a proper way on how we hold an election. the people will make this election and it should be the

people. this is the people's see. that is exactly what robert c. byrd would want. this is the people's seat. let me introduce to you the newest member of the united states senate, carte goodwin. [applause] >> thank you. thank you. thank you, very much. needless to say, it is an immense honor to be standing

here today to except an appointment to the united states senate. -- to accept an appointment to the united states senate. i want to thank the governor for an interesting me with this very enormous responsibility. in turn, my responsibility will be to work hard every day to maintain the trust of the people of west virginia. i have a deep and abiding passion to this state and her people. in the days, weeks and months ahead, my sole objective will be to make was virginia proud. i will have no agenda other than to work and fight hard every day for west virginia families. for the greatest person our country will ever know, no one can begin to replace him nor can anyone hope to fill his shoes, but what i can do and what i will do is try my breast to emulate his work ethic and his

commitment to the law, the constitution, and this great state. [applause] in doing so, i will rely on the guidance of our senior senator, jay rockefeller. [applause] i will draw my experience on serving with the governor. having worked for years working closely with the government, i was able to see the level of commitment, passion and dedication that it takes to be an effective public servant. it is that level of dedication and passion that i will take with me to washington. it will not be easy and there ws

head. my dad will be looking down. my friend, the governor and the thought, prayers' in support of the people of west virginia. i am excited about the challenge. [applause] >> i am not sure if you noticed, but if you will notice the pen that i have on in the pen that carte has on is the constitution. i do not need to tell you why we have this pen on -- pin on.

one of the last things that senator byrd did, and he broke this book to me and i am passing this to the new united states senator that will be seated in his honor. [applause] with that, i cannot tell you what a pleasure it is to have our senior senator with us here today. for the last four years, i have worked extremely close with this man. he has been a tremendous part -- in life, we have partners and i have been so blessed because i know every day that when he gets up, he is thinking about west virginia. every time i call, he is telling me how we can help west virginia.

he has never let us down. we are pleased to have him with us at this historical and momentous occasion. the likes it will probably never see again, history is being made today. the senior senator from the grace of west for jenner -- of west virginia common share rockefeller. -- of west virginia, jay rockefeller. [applause] >> thank you. first of all, i want to think the governor and say that he has shown extraordinary courage, awfulness and brisbane -- for this and wisdom in how he has made this appointment. it had to be done in a way that

is right for west virginia. he did that. if it took a week, it did not make any difference. he did it right. the governor, i think there are lots of tests of leadership, and this one was not a grand one in the annals of rescuing someone or some company, but it was an extraordinary one. i want to thank for a way, one -- earl ray tomlin and the entire state legislature for their part in making this come about. obviously, which honor senator byrd. one thing that senator byrd would say very strongly is that

there is no such thing as an interim senator. it may be that the months that you are appointed to were have a limitation -- to work have a limitation, but let me tell you what will happen. on tuesday, at 2:00 p.m., the democrats will conclude our caucus, which we have every tuesday to discuss policy. it is extremely important to give everybody a chance to speak. add to 3:00 p.m. -- and to 3:00 p.m., the new senator from west virginia -- and to 3:00 p.m. -- at 2:15 p.m., he will be sworn

in. right after that, because carte goodman will make the 60th vote in what is a necessary piece of legislation, we will take up and pass unemployment compensation. [applause] i think that it is a remarkable symbol of whom carte is and how important the senate is and how unimportant the word interim is. it does not make a difference. he is a united states senator. carte is our most recent senator. he will have all the powers of any other senator.

he probably will not have the biggest home base at the beginning. he may have to walk up one floor to get to the first floor, but none of that makes any difference. in the senate, that is why the words sr. and jr. has never meant anything. it is what the you know -- do you know? can you express yourself? can you engage the rules of engagement? can you reach across the aisle? can you bring others with you? and most importantly, how much do you know? that is house senators are judged. there is a seniority system that i have begun to like much more.

[applause] but it is really superficial. senator carte goodwin, when he officially takes on that name, will have all the powers of any of the senior members of the senate. it is very important that you understand that, that you never think of him as being an interim. he is a united states senator, pure and simple. robert c. byrd would want that to be well-known. a moment on carte goodwin. i am thrilled that he is appointed. i am happy that he is a good win coz my life has been blessed by the presence and the company and the advice of various members of the goodwin

family. i respect their work ethic. i respect their automatic sense of public responsibility. they seek out what needs to be done and then go about doing it. they do it in various fields, but they always do it in the interest of was virginia. carte has a lot of experience. the governor has covered a lot of that. what i like the most is his absolute commitment and dedication to the people of west virginia. you can have all the qualities that i mentioned before, but if you do not have that sense when you get up in the morning, of what you can do today and whose vote to you have to get, what compromise do you have to make your views to make?

what affects the people of west virginia in the best popular way? washington is not a beautiful place what now. -- placed right now. -- place right now. criticism is easy. the work of doing the right job for america and for west virginia is very important. they call us united states senators from west virginia. that would appear to set up a conflict. there are times when that conflict has to lean a little bit more when you are discussing matters of war, peace, intelligence, when it will shift more towards the united states.

i find that what motivates me and what gives me my pleasure, going all the way back to when i was a volunteer in the southern part of my county, that it is west virginia that gets me out of bed every day and the people of west virginia who are sometimes under estimated by the rest of the world. the rest of the world is often very callous, but those that no less treacherous. -- that no us treasure us. -- that know us treasure us. it is important because it is immediately recognized by other senators. senators are fairly quick to make up their mind. they listen to you, the look at you, and they are fairly quick to make of their minds.

carte is a consummate professional and he is a disciplined mind and a human being. he will work to what ever link is required to accomplish something for the people that he and five will represent. -- ian i will represent. i cannot tell you how proud i am, personally and professionally, to know that in three or four days, that carte goodwin and i will be colleagues. i think he is absolutely first- class, as a person and as a professor -- as a professional. we are very lucky. i know the senate is and i know that i am.

he starts in this job with the support of everybody. i just look forward to what we can do together and what we can do with our colleagues, to keep pushing forward for west virginia. for middle income and all of the things that help working families, which is what makes up west virginia. we will work on a very thorough piece of mine safety legislation that is coming out of the ubb experience . we have learned a lot since then. we will turn and up further legislation. everything that we do, whether

it is credited as such or not, is important. it is important. in a fax somebody somewhere. when it affects people in west virginia, carte goodwin and a jet rockefeller will be standing side-by-side -- and jay rockefeller will be standing side-by-side. you are starting out on the right side of history. thank you. [applause] >> senator, thank you so much. i would like to thank my dear friend for being here. nick was the last appointment

that senator robert c. byrd made to the district court. you will make a great judge. we are great -- we are so proud of you. we are hoping that maybe that will speed things up a little bit. >> it could not hurt. >> i want all of you to look amount of room and see that every walk of life in west virginia is here. from our business people, from the large to the smallest businesses, and to all of you that represent the children and those that do not have a voice and cannot really fend for themselves. to the legislature and all of you, thank you so much. i hope you are proud of the process that we have gone through.

with that, we are going to move forward with all of west virginia. will open up for questions from the media. please direct your questions and we will try to keep it rolling for a little bit. if you will, we will start route down the line -- right down the line. >> [unintelligible] >> welcome to the senate. let me to answer that by saying there are issues facing our country right now and scores of intricate pieces of legislation that are pending in the united states senate. i follow public affairs as closely as anyone and i am anxious to roll my sleeves up and get to washington and really delve into it. i am reluctant to give an extensive policy discussion on any piece of legislation. that being said, i will say that

from what i have seen from the bill and other proposals pending in the senate, they simply are not right for west virginia. . .

i will make the most of it. >> [inaudible] and sa>> i would submit that ths

no such thing as a -- from west virginia. [applause] second, i have a big family in what is a relatively small state and several of them have been active in public service for noon generations. i love them all. >> [inaudible]

>> can i speak first? there's no litmus test. when you know someone for years, we can shake your hands, look in your eyes, but when you work with someone and you break bread with them, you really get to know them. that is where i started making my decisions based on a person that i knew would be impeccable. bring me the pros and cons.

a litmus test was not useful. the senator is fighting a great fight he is fighting for our people. we do this every day. this gentleman wrote the legislation, he would research things and bring it, anything he might want to talk about, this person has been on the front end. he has given of his life for west virginia. >> to only thing that i would add is a discussion of capt. trade following the deficit.

this happen mostly in response to the previous question. you don't have to go too far to see how strongly people feel about this. you want to make sure that those voices are heard in washington. >> as we go round the room, you have been so kind. we appreciate it. thank you. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] calle[captions copyright nationl cable satellite corp. 2010]

>> who is the new senator? >> he is the general counsel for the governor between 2005 and 2009. . he and his wife is a state director for senator rockefeller. he is one of the great choice to replace senator byrd. >> he is a very young choice. what does this do for him politically by being appointed as a temporary senator? >> this is a great honor.

it appears that he will be senator shortly after the november 2nd elections. the seat will be run for november. >> there have been rumblings in the news that your governor is interested in sitting in the seat. is see the front runner? >> he is likely to run for the seat. he is probably by far the front runner. there is no one else in the democratic party that would oppose him. the democrats have been talking about picking a candidate. >> what can you tell us about the governor as governor and what he might bring as a u.s.

senator? >> he is a very personable politician. he might not be quite as verbal as senator byrd was turned dow. gov. manchin has always been a strong advocate. i assume that if he becomes a senator, he would vote with the democratic majority most of the time. >> the temporary senator, he is coming into washington and the word is that he will be sworn in the early next week in time for some important votes. was this whole process expedited to your satisfaction? >> they needed one more vote. i believe that governor manchin might have taken quick actions

and loaded to get action like that. >> thank you for your time. >> ok, thank you. >> tomorrow, the mission and governors republican primary debate among the michigan state senator and the state attorney general. the candidates are seeking to replace the democratic governor who was term limited. >> president obama warned americans to not make too much of the fact that oil has stopped flowing from the broken well in the gulf. the valves holding the oil back might have to be reopened. the president says that this will allow 80,000 barrels of oil to be captured every day.

>> good morning, everyone. i wanted to give everyone a quick update on the situation in the gulf. as we all know, a new cap was fitted over the oil well this week. this larger and more sophisticated cap was designed to give us greater control over the oil flow as we complete the relief wells that are necessary. our scientists and x by the -- experts have met her through -- our experts have met through the night and what they're determinant is if we can safely shut in the well using the new cap without creating new problems including countless new oil leaks in the sea floor.

even if this is not possible, this new cap and the additional equipment being placed in the gulf will be able to contain up to 80,000 barrels a day which should allow us to capture nearly all of the oil until the well is killed. it is important to remember that part of the installation of this new cap, beforehand we were captured about 25,000 barrels a day. we are almost 90 days into this disaster and all of us have taken hope in the image of clean water instead of oil spewing in the gulf. it is our responsibility to make sure that we're taking a prudent course of action, not simply looking for a short-term solution. in the new cap is good news,

either we will be able to use it to stop the flow or we will be able to use it to capture almost all of the oil until the relief well is done. we will not know for certain which approach makes sense until additional data is in. the american people should rest assured that these will be based on science and what is best for the people of the gulf. >> to cost to the earthquake? >> i didn't. >> what do you anticipate in the next few weeks? >> it is important that we don't get ahead of ourselves. one of the problems with having this camera down there is that when the oil stopped gushing, everyone feels like we are done

and we are not. the new cap is containing the oil right now but geysethey are doing a lot of tests. they want to make sure that by putting this cap on, will is not seeping out in other ways that it be more catastrophic and that involves measuring pressures. the data is not in and it has to be interpreted by the scientists. here is the good news that everyone needs to understand, even if it turns out that we cannot maintain this capped and completely shut off the flow of oil, what this allows us to do is to essentially attached many more containment mechanisms so that we're able to take more oil up to the surface and put it on ships and it will not be spilling into the gulf.

the final solution of this problem will be the relief wells and getting that complete. there's no doubt that we have made progress as a consequence of this new cap sitting on and even if it turns out that we cannot keep the containment cap on to completely stop the oil, this will allow us to capture much more oil. obviously, we still have a big job to do. there's still a lot of oil out there. that is why we have more skimmer's out there and there's better coordination on the ground. there will be an enormous clean- up job to do and there will still be the whole set of issues surrounding making sure that people are compensated properly. we have a tremendous amount of work to do.

people are still suffering. we are making progress and i think the american people the queue should take some heart in the fact we're mere making progress. -- still on target? >> actually, this is slightly ahead of target. the problem with the relief well is not simply drilling all the way down but connecting up and that is a delicate operation. >> when does bp began to pay fines? >> we are obviously going to be taking measures about how much oil is spilled. british petroleum will be paying for the damage that they have cost. that will involve not only paying for the environmental disaster and clean up but also compensating people left

unaffected. >> -- >> that will depend. >> what these say to those who want to go down there? >> sometime in the next several weeks, we will go back down. we will make sure that people are making the best possible decisions to shut this well down as quickly as possible. we want to make sure people are compensated quickly. i am in touch each and every day monitoring the project and getting briefed by the scientists. the key for us is to make decisions based on science, which is best for the people of the gulf, not based on p r or politics. that is one of the reasons i want to speak because i know that there are many reports coming out of the media that seem to indicate that maybe this thing is done. we will not be done until we actually know that we have

killed the well and we have a permanent solution in place. we are moving in that direction but i don't want to get too far ahead. thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> a c-span journalist recently attendant and expo for people seeking assistance from agencies

and nonprofits. >> this is about providing information to anyone who is interested. information about what we're doing in mississippi. we have people here looking to discuss their opportunities. there are a number of organizations here that provide different services. this is one of the biggest events here is what we have also done similar in other counties.

we want people to get answers to questions. we know this is a stressful time. we want to say that we are here for the long term and we will address or questions or concerns. -- your questions or concerns. >> what are you doing here? >> we have applications for people to get food stamps. many people don't realize that they could be eligible even if they have some kind of income. some could be eligible for food stamp approval.

whether they are waiting for new jobs to come up for to get money whatever, we can help families. >> have you seen an uptick? >> yes, we have seen quite a few come into our offices. we actually have the assistance from our state office to come and help us. >> i have lived in this area all my life. we tried to do what we can.

most people are not doing any hiring right now. >> the economy is so bad, there's no work happening. you have to get a claim number. >> they need to get smaller buses in here. they're coming in the back bay. this will not stop coming in. >> are you worried about the long term? >> business is no good anymore.

there is no end to it. >> what are you doing here? >> we are providing low-interest loans for those of an affected by the oil spill. >> where you helping people? >> in the five counties that have been declared. >> what are the amounts of the interest rate? >> the maximum rate -- the maximum loan that we can make is to million. 4% is what we offer. we have a shade that we can use

and it has all the basic information on it, the terms, how long we can make it, the loan amount, requirement. this is for anyone who has been impacted. >> what are you doing? >> we are offering any kind of assistance. we have several in-house programs. this is for houses, food, business. if we don't have a program, we refer them out to the community. >> what do you do to be

eligible? >> we do a complete in tech of everyone. this is a different program. these are for different programs. >> what are you doing at the fair? >> we're one of the very few businesses that have been here to continue tedious this the community since katrina. the majority of our job is to get the right information to the community.

we want to get information. we want to assist them with the program and also if they can get the resources they need. they're about 7000 people who are engaged in this industry whether they are shrimpers, fishermen, and oysters, seafood plants. an unknowalmost all of them havt their job. they're taking a very big hit. >> i think this has created some issues especially where language is a barrier. you can provide the right documentation.

we're constantly trying to speak to the applications through. we want to help people in the fishing industry. >> watched the latest precincts, hearings, and other videos like you just saw. we have also set up a section on twitter for your comments. >> this weekend, the holland book fair with panels on religion, a human-rights, diversity in publishing, and

african-american history. also, the impact ayn rand. a weekend filled with nonfiction books on c-span to. for the complete schedule, go to our website. >> house republicans met with a group of business owners today to discuss their economic agenda. afterwards, the minority leader spoke to reporters about their opposition to the democratic policies.

when ho >> american people are wondering where the jobs are and all they are getting is the answer stimulus spending. for a half million employers hire about six and a half million americans. we were there to listen to them about how to get our economy going. there are many barriers to job creation. there is uncertainty that we see coming out of washington. this has many american players very concerned about what the future will look like. yesterday, we asked the president to listen to private- sector employers about their ideas to get the economy going.

it is clear that the path we have been on has not worked and is not working. the american people want to go back to work but they will not get to their if the government continues to put all of these impediments in front of the companies. >> we have seen the ministration continue the on a spiral of non productivity and they don't know what to get out of it. they are bound by an orthodoxy that says that you can borrow and spend your way into prosperity. it was very clear that this was a pathway to underperformance. we heard from private-sector job creators who did two things, they are ticketed obstacles as the leader said, not just substantive obstacles, but the down talking of the private sector, the anti business rhetoric that they see coming out of washington is more than

just symbolic, this is creating a great deal of uncertainty. the also laid out a substantive proposal. we will do continuing to wrestle with those and we are focused on job creation is a country faif -- this country. >> had after the majority focused on insurance reform and telecommunications, i headed home because i go every weekend. the one ise that people keep telling me is that we need to focus on economy and jobs and giving people incentives to take risks and create the jobs which will turn this economy around. and what we did here today was talk to the people who create jobs, not the federal government, not the bureaucrats, and they gave us a long list of ideas, an agenda

that we can move forward in congress. i am working with our leadership, with our website, which is how this dialogue continued. not only the participants but to those who watched this on the internet and people around the country and continue to go to our web site and register their days of ideas on how to create jobs and speak out about the things that are impediments to them. we will continue to work on those ideas. >> any comment on niihau will a well being captive? -- about the oil well being capped? >> i am glad that it's finally stopped, let's hope it stays

that way. let's make sure we understand what happened so it can never happen again. >> is anything new that you put in theire? >> i hear a lot of what was said in the room today, all of the uncertainty coming out of washington scare's employers that it makes them afraid to invest in new employees, new equipment, new plants, they don't know what the rules are. they don't know what the tax rates will be. they don't know what the new regulations will be. then the captain trade bill hangs out there that has another slew of mandates and rules. h you cannot get people to move with all of the uncertainty that exists. >> what is the argument that the

democrats keep saying is the modest jobs bill? this has some stimulus to help us. >> it is clear that the stimulus spending does nothing to get the private sector moving. all of that does is fund more government. the american people want to go to work and they're not looking for an unemployment check. everyone has concerns about those who are unemployed and we want to make sure that they have the help they need. we should find offsets in other spending so we are not adding to the debt. >> one of the suggestions was to have a total ban on all new federal regulations. >> i have ihaving a moratorium n federal regulations is a great idea. i think there's probably a way

to do this with an extension for those emergency regulations that might be needed for some particular agency or another. the american people, if they knew there is going to be a moratorium from the federal government. that would give them some breathing room. >> is there something to be said where you hear ideas and a different way verses have been someone coming by your office and doing something that stays at the top of this? is there any difference in hearing that? >> i think the interaction among all these different employer groups is helpful to us. it was awful helpful is to seek unanimity from all of these

different segments of sectors of -- segments of our society. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> tomorrow, races for state legislature. also a discussion on food safety

legislation. later, a discussion of the latest outfit in the washington post on why a comprehensive reform is not a good strategy. >> tomorrow, the mission in governor's republican primary debate, the state attorney general, the oakland county sheriff, congressman pete hope struck. they're seeking to replace the democratic governor who was term limited. >> the assistant secretary of state for political military affairs talks on the state of the u.s. israeli security relationship and the obama administration's efforts to make

the relationship stronger. this is a little over an hour. >> good morning, welcome to the middle east policy at the brookings institution. i am the director of the center here. i am delighted to have you here for what will be an important session. let me begin by doing my most important duty, which is asking everyone to silence their cell phones, or what ever electronic paraphernalia you may have. we are pleased to have an old friend. andrew shapiro has been a friend since its inception, a friend of mine for many years i think --

for years. he has been a fixture for many years. he took over as assistant secretary of state at the beginning of the obama administration. prior to that he was one of hillary clinton's key staffers. he served as her senior defense adviser, a position in which she was her primary policy adviser. andrew got to spend many nights in baghdad, as well as other exotic locales. before coming on board, he served as the international competition policy advisory. please join me in welcoming andrew shapiro.

[applause] >> thank you for that introduction and your friendship and the work you are doing. i want to thank the director of foreign policy. they gave me my first paying job over 20 years ago. i was just graduating college unemployed and i read an article written by him. i thought it was very good and i asked if he needed anyone. i was hired part-time and i was just out of school and it did not set the world on fire, but i pleaded in the finally got hired full time. i was there in august of 1990 in the days before iraq invaded

kuwait. i remember he predicted iraq would take aggressive action against kuwait. that experience working for him taught me about washington policy-making and the importance of well-written analysis. martin has brought those same qualities to the brookings institution. i am pleased to be here to address the obama administration's commitment to israeli security. i am proud to say that our security relationship is broader and more intense than ever before. last week president obama met with prime minister netanyahu and said israel has unique security requirements.

president obama in short they recognize those requirements. nsured they recognize those requirements. i would like to tell you how we are preserving this through an unprecedented increase in u.s. security systems. support for the defensive system and other initiatives. we recognize israel is facing some of the toughest challenges. this administration is focused on the security because of the increasingly complex threats it faces. israel is a vital ally and cornerstone of our commitments.

when talking about the threat assessment, one must guard with the iranian nuclear program. for israel, there is no greater threat than the prospect of nuclear iran. if it is in one of many serious security threats and iran posts conventional security challenges. these intersect with the threats posed by hezbollah and hamas. their extensive arms smuggling operations weekend regional security and disrupt efforts to establish peace between israel and neighbors. we must recognize the technology of war is making it harder to

guarantee israeli security. advances in technology require new levels. rockets would better guidance systems are power -- are spreading across the region. hamas has a substantial number in gaza. these all pose a serious danger. these and other threats are real. they must be addressed. we are standing shoulder to show -- shoulder to shoulder to do them. i can attest to the deep sense of pride of being a strong voice

of israel. i traveled with senator clinton in 2005 to attend a conference and joined her on her first visit to israel in 2009. when it comes to the relationship the policy secretary clinton gave me is no different from the guidance she gave me in the senate. she asked me coming from this experience to make the management of our relationship with israel among my top priorities. the unique relationship is rooted on mutual interests. u.s. support for the jewish homeland dates back to john quincy adams.

when israel was founded the u.s. was ready to embrace its new partner. america's commitment has extended over many decades. our leaders have long understood this relationship is good for us. president nixon paid the first official visit to help bring peace in the region. this began a long effort towards peace and -- president nixon's effort was continued by president carter.

[unintelligible] president obama has also made achieving peace a top administration priority. there is an imperative of pushing the peace process forward. it is under threat from the dynamics of ideology and technology. the administration is working with the party is to restore direct negotiations as soon as possible.

with recognized borders and to meet israeli security requirements. hand in hand with the commitment to peace has been the administration's dedication to ensuring israel is prepared to defend itself against threats. as the president said, the u.s. is committed to israeli security. since day one president obama and secretary clinton have reenergize the commitment to israeli security and have taken action to expand it to an unprecedented level. our work is rooted in knowledge

shared by policy makers on both sides of the aisle. it is critical to the interests of israeli is, but also to america's interests. secretary clinton said the status quo is unsafe. this poses serious challenges. regional peace must begin with the recognition that the u.s. will always stand by israeli security. know which will be driven between us. israel's right to exist is not negotiable. no lasting peace will be

possible unless that is accepted. it is our hope that the commitment to security will advance the process to take tough decisions necessary for peace. the cornerstone of our commitment has been an assurance that the u.s. will help israel attain its military edge. this is their ability to counter and defeat credible threats from any individual state. the obama administration imitated the commitment by not only sustaining -- undertaking new initiatives.

each every request is evaluated in light of our policy. at the same time, consideration to extend with other governments in the region. we will not proceed with the release of -- contribute to instability in the middle east. the primary tool the u.s. uses to ensure the military edge is security systems. israel receives almost $3 billion per year for training and equipment. the total account is $5 billion

annually and distributed among 70 countries. that accounts for 50% of the funding distributed. the obama administration is proud to carry on the legacy of robust security systems. we are carrying this legacy to new heights at a time when israel needs our support. for 2010 the administration requested 2.7 $5 billion in assistance funding for israel. the largest such request in u.s. history. we requested even more for 2011. these requests have filled the

idea to implement the memorandum of understanding with israel to provide $30 billion assistance. this supports israel's security as it allows them to support sophisticated equipment. i can assure you that even in challenging budget times this administration will continue to honor this $30 billion commitment to future fiscal years. our unique relationship with israel extends beyond raw numbers.

this provides a significant boost and is one of many ways we demonstrate our commitment to meeting israel's procured a -- security requirements. he also have training and military exercises. more than 1000 u.s. troops participated which was the largest u.s.-is really exercise in history. focus on urban terrain and counter-terrorism options. militarynce israel's capabilities and improve our own

ability with the israeli defense forces. the u.s. supports the defense needs through government sales programs and through direct commercial sales, including the closest of allies and partners. we have notified congress of a number of significant sales, most notably teh strike fighter. this will prove a key contribution for many years to come. israel benefits from a war

reserve stockpile and used to boost israeli defenses in case there is something -- in case there is an emergency. the u.s. and israel have cooperated in research and development. israel air and missile defense systems are an area of particular focus. for our part, we were working with israel to upgrade its system that was first deployed in the gulf war and has advanced radar systems to

provide early warning of upcoming missiles. they are protecting troops every day. is specifically designed dressing he treated -- widely used by our men and women in iraq and afghanistan. it includes sensors, surveillance equipment and detections for ied's. they had yielded important crown breaking innovations that ultimately make us all safer. what i have laid out represents the pillars of the corporation. given the breadth of our

relationship, i have only begun to scratch the surface. the u.s. and israel are working closely to enhance our shared security. counting and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and related military materials. a prime example can be found at -- the paulison tracking -- illicit trafficking and weapons into gossip. the u.s. and israel began ideas to address this threat. these efforts have expanded into a international effort under the smuggling of initiative. under this partnership the u.s.

joined canada denmark, , and the u.k. to employ a broad range of diplomatic and law-enforcement tools to block the shipment of arms. what i really want to emphasize this the commitment to israel security is more than a continuation of policies. we have been cultivating new ways to get -- enhanced our political relationships. during the past year there has been an unprecedented invigoration of [unintelligible] through continuous high level discussions.

me and know that jon kyl and i