media world to another. >> that is sunday night on "q & a." c-span is available in over 100 million homes, bringing you a direct link, all as a public service, created by america's cable companies. >> tonight, a kentucky senate debate between the candidates. following that, the news conference with the candidates on their senate campaigns and farm subsidies. also, a pentagon retirement ceremony for former afghanistan >> now, a kentucky senate debate between rand paul and democratic state attorney general jack conway -- jack conroy. they answer questions about agriculture, health care,

immigration, and the economy. the kentucky farm board of directors hosted the event in louisville. this is an hour and 50 minutes. >> good morning, everyone. i will be the moderator today for this forum. we are so glad everyone is here today. on behalf of the 483,000 farm families that are farm bureau members here, we certainly want to thank each of you for participating. you know, this really is an indication of the strong commitment we have had for many decades here in kentucky, having a forum like this. we began back in the 1940's. we actually have a forum for gubernatorial races, for u.s. senate races, and open seat for

representatives in congress. with that, we also have county farm bureau is that hold forums similar to this all across the state for members of the general assembly and other offices in state government. kentucky farm bureau is the largest general farm organization in kentucky and is dedicated to serving as the voice of agriculture. kentucky farm bureau has over 20 advisory committees made up of farmers and other experts in each advisory commodity-specific committee that we have in kentucky. so, it is really important that we are able to develop our policies from the ground level, from the grassroots level. we are made up and organized in all 120 counties in kentucky

with a mission to identify problems, developed solutions, and take actions that will improve net farm income, achieve better economic opportunities, enhance the quality of life for all kentucky residents, and that is what our mission is here. we are a nonpartisan organization, which means we do not endorse candidates. however, we feel that candidates -- we would like to see them engaged and really be involved and embrace our policies here at kentucky farm bureau. kentucky farm bureau policy accurately depicts the mood of agricultural across kentucky. because we do the grass roots effort, our policy really begins at the county level. that is all across kentucky, all 120 counties. it goes through a process that

culminates at our annual meeting and is voted on by our delegate body. truly, we are a grass-roots organization. our policy has developed. we think that it really replaced the -- reflects the mood of our folks. we want to make sure that our views are well understood. we want to make sure you understand what our policy is, and then you want to hear your comments about those policies. we have a lot of housekeeping rules that have been agreed upon here today. i will kind of read those to make sure we don't throw in anything that has not been discussed previously. today's program will begin with each candidate making a two- minute statement. the candidates will be in here

from selected members of our board of directors, who have agreed to present topics to you. the topics for this meeting our national farm policy, international trade and marketing, health care, energy, environmental issues, physical policy, and immigration and farm labor. we appreciate our friends from the media taking time to cover this forum today, but only members of the kentucky farm bureau board of directors will be allowed to ask questions during the forum. member must be to members of the media and audience will have an opportunity to pose questions to each candidate immediately following this forum outside in the lobby, in more press conference setting. you might want to write down the main points and questions as we go. you will have three minutes to respond. i would ask that former board

presentations, or the presentations from our members, to be made from the podium, please. after the prepared presentations, we will open the floor for questions from board members and provide each of you two minutes to respond. i would ask board members, when you are recognized, to ask a question, that you state the name and the county you are from when you began. you may remain seated to ask your question. please remember to turn on your green light microphone that is in front of you when you do that. once we conclude the questions and answering, candidates will give a five-minute closing remark. you might notice that ed is right here. he has a yellow and red card. when he raises the yellow card, you have 30 seconds. when you see the red card, we would ask you to please wind up.

our candidates may choose to remain seated for their comments, or you may use the podium, whichever you prefer. the order by which are candidates will make for mark is determined by a coin toss a little bit earlier, just a few minutes ago. dr. paul won the coin toss and decided to make his opening statement -- he will be making the opening statement first. you will be making the closing statement last. mr. conway will be the reverse. he will go last in the opening comments and he will go first in the closing comments. first, mr. conway, kentucky's democratic nominee for the united states senate, is attorney general jack conway. mr. conway has fought against illegal drugs in kentucky

communities. he received the soaring eagle award for operation unite for his efforts to fight for prescription drug abuse. mr. conway formed kentucky's first statewide prescription drug task force, working with state and federal law- enforcement officials, the attorney general's office worked in operation flamingo road. mr. conway's kentucky roots run deep. his father was raised on a farm in union county, put himself through law school while teaching history during the day at a high school here in louisville. his mother is the daughter of a union blacksmith. mr. conway is the eldest of four children. he and his wife are raising their new daughter.

because he was born and raised in the commonwealth, mr. conway understand the unique needs of our state. dr. rand paul and his family live in bowling green, where he has operated his ophthalmology practice practicing medicine and performing i surgery's for the pass 17 years. dr. paul grow up in lake jackson, texas, and is the third of five children born to carol and representative ron paul. he graduated from law school in 1988, completed an internship at georgia baptist medical center in atlanta, and completed his residency in ophthalmology at duke university medical center. upon completion of this training in 1993, he and his wife moved to bowling green to start their family and began his practice. dr. paul founded the kentucky taxpayers united in 1993 to better inform residents have

elected officials voted on key spending and taxation issues. in 1995, he founded the southern kentucky eye clinic, an organization providing exams and surgery's to needy families and the details. dr. paul also participates in the children of the americas program, where he has provided free surgery to many children from around the world. dr. paul and his wife of three sons. he regularly volunteers to coached teams for his son in little league baseball, soccer, and basketball. he and his family attend the presbyterian church. please make both candidates welcome to farm bureau. [applause] now, with that, we will begin with opening statements. let's see. i have already forgotten what we did.

dr. paul chooses to go last. he will go first. >> i think here will be fine. i am glad there will be no hooting and hollering, no noise- making. we will see how it goes. jefferson said in his first address to congress that agriculture and manufacturing, commerce, and navigation, the four pillars of prosperity, are most thriving when left most free to individual enterprise. i think america is great for many reasons. we have more arable land than any other country. we have a great natural resources in land. it is important that we know it is not just land. it is the people farming the land and it is the system we have. the american system of private property at profit, and earning

and being able to reap what you so. i think this cannot be stated enough. when i was a boy, i knew an old man who came from the ukraine. he fought in the army. it was not because he was enamored above czar, but he was a farmer. they did not like the padilla the bolsheviks were going to take their land and divide it up. we know that farmers were card. they can reap what they so. farmers can earn and take home the fruits of their labor. farmers work hard, and anyone who works from the sweat of their brown knows that if they don't want an overzealous government that gets involved with throwing a region growing the crops or were they can dig a pond, i will fight to keep an overzealous government out of your way. yesterday, jim dement introduced a permanent repeal of the estate tax. i support him in this.

it is a distinction between myself, president obama, and my opponent, who want to bring the state tax back. i will fight to get rid of that tax and i will not let that tax come back. i will fight for the kentucky farmer against an overzealous government. i will fight to keep your livelihood free of overzealous regulators. thank you very much. >> mr. conway? >> thank you. i appreciate that for much and i appreciate the references to thomas jefferson, who i admire very much, but this is about putting kentucky first. my father grew up on a family farm in human county. i would go semite grandparent was a little kid. my granddad used to wear a big hat. he would be out picking corn down in union county.

i was a little boy and i would always get lost. i have a memory of looking for his hat to figure out where i was. i got a sense of how important farms are to kentucky. i am always going to put kentucky first. i am always going to put kentucky cursed. we have 85,000 farms in the state. over $400 million, i believe. ladies and gentlemen, let me be clear. i view this as a security issue, a food security issue. here in the united states, we spent 10% of our disposable income on food. china is 32%. other european countries are double what we spend.

we are protecting food security. we need to have increasing net farm income. that is what is important. throughout my term as a public servant, i have reached across the aisle on a number of different issues, to our kentucky state senate, to work in a bipartisan fashion. when it comes time to reauthorize the farm bill, i will make sure kentucky is taken care of. i will stand up and do it in a bipartisan fashion. i will stand up for the kentucky farms we have. thank you very much. >> thank you. again, are more direct questions, we recognize firsthand the importance of a strong -- strong farm economy to our nation's security. our second vice president will discuss that. mr. milton served as -- serves

as chairman of our health care tax force. he has a grain and beef operation. i was just told that our microphones are not picking up for the cameras like they need to be. when you give your response, we will ask you to go to the podium, if you would. with that, mr. milton? >> thank you. attorney general, dr. paul, thank you for taking time to be here today. agriculture is such an important thing to the state of kentucky and we are glad you devote to the time to come here and hear what is important. i want to talk about national farm policy. it is an important issue we have for agriculture in kentucky. we know a strong agricultural base is essential to any long term success and security. farmers in the united states produce the world's safest, most

abundant, most economical supply of food and fiber. agriculture is planning a significant role in renewable energy. sound national farm policy is critical to making -- keeping a strong agriculture in the united states. the 2008 farm bill reflected many of the positive elements of the 2002 farm bill and maintains the three-legged safety net for agriculture while enhancing conservation programs and focusing new resources. one of the big things we are about is beginning farmers and ranchers. kentucky farm bureau policy advocate maintaining that safety net. our policy also advocates usda maintain an efficient and effective way to deliver programs to local farmers. during your term in office, we will write a new farm bill and we will be working with you in that. i have two questions out like to

pose to today. what measures would you take to ensure american agriculture has the support needed to continue producing the food and fiber that this country will need in the future? how would you further strengthen national farm policy to insure agriculture remains a viable industry? >> thank you. first response will be from mr. conway. >> thank you. i appreciate that for much. there could not be a strong distinction between my campaign and that of my opponent's. my opponent has stated that he wants to do away with the united states department of agriculture and and a farm subsidies. this is greatly misunderstood. it is easy to say, let's do away with farmers. i'm a fiscally responsible democrat. i want democrat we can afford.

we cannot afford a system that would be a drag on net farm income. the farm bills are a greatly misunderstood issue. 75% of the farm bill of 2008 goes to nutritional programs. over five and a thousand children in the commonwealth of kentucky or in the school lunch program. a quarter of a million kids here in a breakfast program. are we going to do away with that in these difficult economic times? farmers too often get caught in the cost-price squeeze. it is tough to figure out -- yet to use the latest technology to get value for your products. what farm policy does is it gives the farmers assurance that they will be able to earn a decent living, and they will have sustainable net farm income going into the future. when you put these together,

farmers have assurances there will be able to continue on with their business. i will work diligently with senator mcconnell and anyone, regardless of politics, to make sure it -- make certain that in 2012, when farm reauthorization comes up, that we put a program in place that continues are sustainable agriculture, the confrontation -- conservation programs that provide the loans that are so important for a lot of farmers who are just getting started or farmers that want to rehabilitate facilities they have, or the systems that many get through the important programs of the usda. this is an issue that is greatly misunderstood. i support the farm bill as it stands. i support the fact that over 60,000 farmers here in kentucky got over $400 million in assistance over the last year.

the farm economy is sustainable. i go back to my opening comments. this is a food security issue. this is a national security issue. we have a farm economy that allows us as a society to spend less of our disposable income on food than annie other economy in the world. that is a good thing. that is a good thing. when i am your next senator, i will be up there put in kentucky first. arkansas be working with you and i look forward to working with you to make certain people understand how important this issue is to kentucky. >> thank you. next, dr. paul? >> i see we will probably have to qualify some misinterpretations of my position. i am not for getting rid of the department of agriculture. we can get that one out of the way. on farm production, we export 25%. we're feeding a buddy in the

country and we export 25% of our production. if we want to grow as farmers, we can feed people more or export more. my question to jackets, will he defied his union bodies and vote for free trade? will the defy his union bodies and allow you to have more markets overseas or you can sell your goods? that is where your growth comes from. 65 percent of farmers in kentucky do not receive anything from the government. 2/3 of food production has nothing to do with subsidies. people make something and sell it. that is the way business has historically been in this country. there was a discussion of the safety net. i think there can and should be a safety net. you know what? the top three recipients of subsidies last year got almost a billion dollars. we are spending $1 billion for people not to grow crops, ok? we cannot do that forever. if we could, maybe we could.

we have a $2 trillion deficit. $400 billion in interest. jacks says he will give you whatever you want. that is the easy thing to do. i could say, what the what? i will give it to you. where does the money come from? it has to be borrowed from china right now, or we have to print the money. we are drowning in a sea of debt. it is not whether you are for or against farmers. if you want to be for farmers, open up markets. don't say, i will give you more money, when the money is gone. we're $2 trillion in debt every year. where's the money going to come from? i would say there are other things that can help farmers. why don't we not let the bush tax cuts expire? why don't we not institute the estate tax? they want to bring back the estate tax. you think that will be good for farmers? the bush tax cut, lowering capital gains, lowering taxes on

savings and dividends, those will expire. you help farmers the same way you help all businesses. keep taxes low. keep regulations low. you need to keep the government out of your hair. you need to keep the apa out of your business. you need to have more local control of farms. you need new products and you need new prey -- new places to sell your products. that is generally through trade. being in favor of trade is the best chance for farmers' income to grow and the best chance for your market to grow is to allow free trade. i will fight for that and i will fight to keep the government out of your way. i cannot simply promise you that we will just keep passing out money. it is galling to people that three companies in the u.s. got over $1 billion. ok? three companies. there are 95 acres in texas that is the subdivision and they're still getting money not to grow crops. you have to get rid of those

abuses. you can stand apparent candor and say, we will give you what you want, or you can acknowledge better country faces serious financial problems. of the country's destroyed by this, we will all be affected by it. thank you. >> our next issue will pertain to trade and marketing. mr. russell poole will discuss that. he is chair of our order cultural advisor committee and serves on the usda through tent act -- fruit and vegetable agriculture committee. he has a diversified farming operation in logan county. >> thank you. i want to thank you all for coming out this evening -- morning. my question deals with international trade and marketing.

there are tremendous updates for american farmers. in 2010, agricultural exports were $104 billion for american farmers. in kentucky, kentucky farmers exported $1.2 million worth of agricultural commodities. we commend trade negotiations [inaudible] farm bureau believes strongly in fair and open world trade. national trade has great potential to expand the demand for u.s. commodities. we believe it is the kentucky delegations responsibility to promote kentucky products and the free-trade agreement. [inaudible]

i have two questions. what are your views regarding the benefits of trade agreements? would you support congressional agreements that would be to benefit exports and trade? the second question is, as a u.s. senator, how would you work with congress to make sure that all commodities are considered fairly in trade agreements? thank you. >> dr. paul will go first. >> i make you a believer in free trade. there are no valid economic argument for protectionism. it is your best chance for more markets. it dwarfs anything the government could give to you by giving you open markets.

it will allow you to have greater trade and then come. with regard to the free trade agreements, panama, south korea, it is a good idea to open those markets. i will not be afraid to stand up to the unions, who will oppose these. this will be a distinction in this campaign. i think there will be -- it will be the old and to the unions, the other side, and will be afraid to open these markets because of union pressure. with regard to working with the trade representative, absolutely. this is something we need to do. we already export 25% of our farm products. the rest of the world still needs food. we're doing pretty well feeding our people here. if we want to grow in agriculture, we grow through foreign markets. there is a humanitarian nature to that. there are those who do not have enough food. we can grow it and have great productivity. it is important we not forget where productivity comes from.

it comes from the industry, the industriousness, the uniqueness of every individual farmer. that cannot be said enough. it is not coming from government. we are great as a country and as a farming community. we are great in business because of our system. our system is freedom and ingenuity. the freedom to make a profit on something. contrast that with my friend who grew up in the ukraine and the bolsheviks took his property. when they buy the property, when they say there will be no profit, there is no more desire to produce. we have to be proud of our system. we have to understand that it is capitalism that has made as great. that is what we need to champion. it is what the farm bureau needs to champion. you need to champion capitalism and individual responsibility, and individuals working hard and reaping the rewards of what you sow. i think trade is important, probably the most important of the issues we will talk about

today's trade with regard to the financial well-being of the american family farm. i will defend trade. i will open new markets. i think it is probably the most important thing we will talk about. thank you. >> mr. conway? >> again, i appreciate the comments about the bolsheviks, but this is about putting a kentucky farmers first and putting kentucky families first. i will address the issue of trade. i do have to go back because the backpedaling has already begun. dr. paul stated to "the courier- journal" that he favors abolishing the usda. he stated on may 10 that farm subsidies are not a good idea. this is a fundamental difference between dr. paul it myself. it is how do we view the usda? how do we view what it does in

the area of nutrition programs? how we view the fact that a small percentage of the -- the farm bill goes to programs that give farmers the assurance that they can have a good season? as you know, one really bad season, when drought, when devastating year -- won a devastating year -- one drought, one devastating year can be devastating for a farm. it is great to pull out an example of one company engaging in waste, fraud, and abused. we will always see that in the system. i think i have done a good job trying to ferret out waste, fraud come and use. it is the tens of thousands of families that benefit from the programs administered by the usda. now to the issue of trade. i'm afraid of america that is afraid of [inaudible]

i want to open up markets. there is not as much daylight between i s as you might think. i'm happy to examine agreements with south korea and panama and colombia. many of use who might be soybean producers are experiencing an increase because asia is using more soybeans. that is a good thing that has been done by the work of usda, to try to go abroad and open up additional market. i will work with you as your next senator to make certain that more of that happens. i do have a concern that kentucky lost 100,000 manufacturing jobs in the last decade. whether we are working in the four plan nor not, we need to be concerned. we're still making stuff in this country. i am not opposed to free trade agreement. what i do know is that when we negotiate with one of these countries, we have to make certain that there are certain

minimal environmental standards and certain minimal labor standards in place so that while we are doing all that we can to open up foreign markets for your commodities, we're not just reading a situation where a bunch of labor rushes away from this country, and where we exacerbate this loss of jobs. at the end of the day, that is what it is about. people want someone was focused on job development, job creation, fiscal responsibility, but first, doing what is right. >> thank you. another new topic is health care. healthcare has been a priority issue for kentucky farm bureau and our members for many years. we will address this issuefr. itz serves as chairman of our beef advisory committee. he has a beef operation.

>> thank you. good morning, gentlemen. thank you for taking time to be with us this morning. i will be talking about health care and how health care continues to be a high priority to our members. it is a direct out-of-pocket expense for farmers and other small-business owners. health care reform can be a reality when president obama signed into law the affordable care act earlier this year. among the many aspects of the act, most citizens are required to obtain health insurance or pay fines. it prohibits denial of coverage due to pre-existing existent. it performs many aspects of medicare and medicaid. exchanges are created through which individuals and business can compare and purchase insurance products. however, it is not clear how the act will reduce health care costs or even make health care

insurance more affordable. kentucky farm bureau policy supports comprehensive, affordable health care for u.s. a distance. we continue to believe health care is primarily the responsibility of the individual. we also support health plans that would allow small businesses such as farmers to join and purchase affordable health care coverage. i have three questions for you. the first one is, how do you see the act benefiting farmers? the second question, in what ways will this act bring down the cost of health care? the last question, what additional steps would you take to bring additional health care relief to americans? thank you. >> mr. conway will be first. >> thank you very much for the

question. i appreciate it very much. i am on record from the spring selling that had i been in the u.s. senate this spring, i would have voted for the health care reform bill. that is not to say i don't have some misgivings about a tour that i think it is a perfect bill. it is not. it is an access bill. i don't think the senate or congress did enough to control costs. that is what this is about. how do we control cost? it is also about what this bill potentially does for you working on kentucky farms. i support this bill because after decades of trying to deal with the health care issue, here was an opportunity to do a number of things. provide health insurance coverage for 654,000 kentucky and -- kentuckians who are currently without.

many of you have family members working on farms. you can have children covered through the age of 26. you cannot be denied coverage for pre-existing condition. a number of protections are brought forward to help people to combat some of the worst insurance industry abuses. that is the reason i voted for it and i think it can assist you. if you take a look at the bill, the bill is going to provide subsidies for health insurance, premium payments, for about 45,000 kentucky businesses. some of those may be your own farm operations. on balance, i think it was a good thing. more needs to be done to control costs. i have stated for the record and i state again, the first bill i will introduce when i'm elected to the united states senate is a bill to allow the medicare program to engage in negotiations for lower drug prices. we allowed the va to negotiate in bulk for prescription drugs.

we allowed the medicaid program to negotiate in book. i went after the pharmaceutical companies that used it. if we allow the medicare program to negotiate, it would be $200 billion in savings. that is left on the table because of a sweetheart deal with the pharmaceutical industry. that would be one of the first things i will try to change. secondly, we need to have medicare in each and every state. whether it is run by the attorney-general or someone else, running medicare fraud out of a big bureaucracy in washington will not work. one thing i know as attorney general, after having saved taxpayers of hundred million dollars and increasing medicare, is that when you are close to the ground, but you are investigating, you do a better job. there is $100 billion in

medicare fraud out there as well. those are two concrete steps where we can control the cost going forward. i would have voted for. on balance, it is a good thing. it increases competition and has the potential to lower premiums. i am willing to take a chance on this particular issue that is all-important to many people. >> dr. paul? >> this is another area where there will be a clear distinction. i think the government taking over health care is a disaster and would have voted against president obama's plan. there will be a lot of these distinctions where my opponent is in support of president obama's agenda and i'm opposed to it. he mentioned medicare negotiating drug prices. guess who made the deal? president obama made a deal after he pledged in the campaign he would not deal with a big farm up. he did. it came up and they were going to have negotiant drug prices. they excluded that in a secret deal that president obama made with big fpharma.

the health care plan, and $1.20 trillion, they tell us, it is not going to add anything to the deficit. $1.20 trillion, and it will not add to the deficit? it will be basically free. government is notoriously wrong in their estimates. when they passed the medicare prescription drug plan in 2004, 2005, they said it would cost $400 billion and it is over $1 trillion. when you make something free, people use more of it. we have a plan in massachusetts now that is already running two and three times over budget. what will happen as businesses, farms, people who buy insurance to a been paying, will pay more. it will be guaranteed issue now. they cannot differentiate on individuals. everybody will pay the same and everybody will pay more.

someone has to pay for those you are now ensuring. not only do we have a disproportionate amount of the taxes in our country being paid by farmers and business, now we will pay for the health care that way. it basically is redistribution of wealth. recently, president obama appointed in a recess appointment a radical who says his goal -- he will be had of medicare -- he says that basically the envy of his dreams is the british system. that is the system where the government completes the controls health care and it anyone point, 1 million people are waiting in line for health care. nancy pelosi says, you will figure out what is in this bill after six months or years afterwards when the rules are written. i am concerned that my insurance will not be on one of these help exchanges. i venture to think a lot of farmers have health savings account. take care of themselves and like

to be able to have a savings account. democrats hate those savings account. it's a good chance these will not be in health care exchanges when they come down. maybe your plan is not in there and yet to switch. i think it will be a disaster. at&t had a cost of $1 billion. some companies will opt out. in massachusetts, it costs too much money. you can get it anytime you want. why prepare when you are not sick? wait until you're sick to buy insurance. it will do nothing to control costs. everybody's insurance will go up. it will cost way more than they pledged to. the way you control costs are very simply, what you need to do is expand deductibility for businesses on their insurance, make it easy to buy and deduct insurance for individual entrepreneurs, and there are the reforms we will get into. thank you. >> new topic.

energy. mr. david campbell manages a farm implement dealership in stanford as well as operating his family farm. david is our energy and transportation advisory committee chair and will present the topic of energy savings. >> thank you. i want to thank you two candidates for coming and being with us this morning. energy is my topic. everybody in this room uses energy in one way or another. agriculture is a very energy- intensive industry. we use gasoline and diesel to power farm equipment to harvest, transport, plant our products. natural gas as the main component of nitrogen fertilizer. increased transportation cost

increases the cost of agriculture chemicals and seats. kentucky farm bureau policy supports reducing america's dependence on foreign oil through continued research and development to expand production of renewable fuels for agricultural commodities. support the 25/25 initiative that calls for the u.s. to give 25% -- get 25% of its energy from renewable resources by the year 2025. however, our policy opposes climate change legislation that establishes mandatory cap and trade provisions, which lead to higher energy costs with negative impact on agriculture economies. change legislation was considered by the 111th congress will be to higher fuel and electrical costs for everyone.

electricity costs going up will be detrimental to everybody. severely impact our domestic nitrogen production and greenhouse gas permitting requirements could create significant challenges for livestock producers. i have three questions for you. how would you propose we reduce our dependence on foreign oil? what role do you see agriculture playing in the production of renewable energy? what is your opinion as to how climate change legislation should be handled by congress? thank you. >> this is also going to be another area of distinction. i'm opposed to cap and trade. always have been. my opponent was for it before he was against it. i don't think kentucky can really tolerate any kind of ambivalence on cap and trade.

even to this day, even though he knows how unpopular it will be in kentucky, he is somewhat against cap and trade. he is still for a carbon tax, not this the way the one the house has talked about. we cannot have anybody representing kentucky that is for cap and trade. they say it will double electric rates. $1,600 per average kentucky family will be the cost in your rates if we get cap and trade. it will be a disaster for it. we have 90% of our electricity from coal. we will be disproportionately hurt and kentucky cannot elect a u.s. senator who is an atoll for a carbon tax. as far as reducing our dependence on foreign oil, we need to drill for oil. president obama recently banned all deep sea drilling. we all know it is a problem. nobody likes what is going on down there and b whatp to pay

for -- and want bp to pay for cleanup, but the government is reacting to a crisis. we have this disaster happened. let's have more regulation. shouldn't we ask whether or not the regulations were already in place and somebody's disobey the regulations? president obama is in charge of the regulatory apparatus now. in february, there were cracks found and president obama's mining investigation did nothing. there was a near-explosion in march and president obama pose a regulators did nothing again. maybe we do have the regulations in place. it is the same with climate change. we react and go crazy over climate change, then it turns out we get a lot of e-mails from scientists who have made their conclusions before they start looking for facts. the cherry pick facts in order to support conclusions. this is a clear distinction between myself and my opponent. i will not vote on industry. i will not vote on from a

community. i will not vote for any formal carbon tax. we don't need it. it is a disaster to raise taxes in a recession. we do not need the bush tax cuts to expire. business does not need to be having extra taxes during the recession. with regard to agricultural future with an energy, i think there is a role. some of that role is yet to be determined because some of it is decided on what the price of a barrel of gasoline is, when it is cheap, some mothers will not allow. as prices rise, they will. use of the look of -- to go and going in that direction when gasoline was $4.50 per gallon. we will gradually transferred to other forms of alternative energy. i think the marketplace to decide that, not politicians corporate aircraft. the epa should not be given free rein and should be free -- should be reined in and make decisions on rules and

regulations. thank you. >> i am quickly learning in this campaign that sometimes my opponent just kind of makes things up. famously, he sort of made up on the area that 234 dead farmers in miami got $9 million worth of payments. when an agent called amount to a national reporter, he said, i was being facetious. i guess he is being facetious with this notion that i support a carbon tax. i don't. let me state for you unequivocally here, i am against cap and trade. i am against cap and trade. i am not the type of senator who will be risky or do something that is not in the best interest of kentucky. i am against cap and trade for a number of reasons. it does not put kentucky first. it does not acknowledge the fact

that kentucky coal has to be an important generation source into the future. number two, we have the lowest electricity rates east of the rocky mountains. you know that. you look at your electric bills every month. you know why there are so many auto manufacturers here in the commonwealth of kentucky. we have low electricity rates. it is my job as the next senator to always stand up for that. we don't need to scheme, the way traders get rich off trading credits. we need a system where china and india are playing by the same rules we are. i am against cap and trade. let's settle that once and for all for the record. second, i think this is a job for congress. many of you probably don't know that i stood up -- cap and trade will not pass. the epa is trying to say, you

know what? we will take this on. we will take on carbon under an endangerment signing under the clean air act. there's a question whether they have the authority. i am the type of elected officials who will stand up for kentucky first. i said, is this the right thing to do? i think epa might be overreaching. if they overreach on this issue, or if they overreached on navigable waters issue, or other things that will limit the ability of kentucky farms to be sustainable and produce the food we need, i will stand up for kentucky time and time again. i support ethanol and the funding in the current farm bill for increased research on how products that are based in cellulose can be used for fuels into the future. i support programs and i support the things that can take as to a new energy economy. we will have to get there tomorrow -- together.

part of it will be retrofiting. windows will pay for themselves in five years and are 10 times more energy efficient. we need to be more efficient. we need to make sure kentucky coal as an important source into the future. we need to stand up for kentucky and what is important today. >> to environmental regulations claymore role in our regulations? our land is our livelihood and our future. our next question comes from someone who has a diversified farms -- diversified farming operation. he will introduce the next topic. >> thank you. thank you, gentlemen, for coming out and sharing your time with us. environmental regulations are important for congress. congress wants to maintain a clean environment so farms

remain profitable. many times, government regulators are not familiar with typical practice and what is feasible on the farm. at times, regulatory agencies have proposed regulations that would make it too expensive for farmers to continue to farm. we are also concerned with proposals that go beyond what congress intended when they enacted the clean water act, the clean air act, the superfund, and the endangered species act. congress continues to consider legislation that will change the clean water act by deleting the term "navigable." this would grant the epa and the u.s. army corps of engineers for the first time jurisdiction over all interstate waters. essentially, all wet areas within the state, including ground water, ditches, streets, storm drains, gutters, farm ponds, and farmland. it would give these agencies' authority overall activities affecting these waters, private

or public, regardless of whether the activity occurred in water or whether the activity actually adds a pollutant to the water. a 2009 decision but it circuit court said sprays are point sources of pollution and applications near waters of the u.s. must obtain no discharge permit. how this decision is ultimately implement it could have huge consequences on agriculture. the recent chesapeake bay settlement poses significant challenges for agriculture here. epa agreed to change the way future applications will be addressed and to expand oversight on confined animal feeding operation to possibly require all animal feeding operations to have no discharge permits. only the large ones are currently permitted to go to the process. it is our opinion congress has a responsibility to keep the regulations in check and help prevent abuse of these laws.

we do not oppose responsible and effective environmental protections, but we do want regulations to make sense and be based on sound science. farmers working in the environment they lived in. many times, the water they drink comes from beneath the soil as they attend. no one is more concerned about the in burma than those who live within it. i have three questions. what are your views on attempts to redefine the clean water act? what is your opinion on various agriculture practices being permitted under the clean water act? how would you work with farm bureau to ensure that regulatory process does not mandate rules that will create undue burdens on farmers? thank you. >> thank you. mr. conway first. >> thank you for the questions. i appreciate it. let me start out by addressing

something i was not able to get to in the last clinton. we do have to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. the state and other states are taking great strides to make sure cars are more energy efficient. we must reduce usage into the future. that is an important component. when it comes to environmental issues, you must strike a balance. this is about balance and clarity. clarity of the rules for those who have to live under the rules. it is about the right balance between job creation, food production, and having a clean environment. what the most appreciated about that question that mr. thomas said, we have to live on the land reform. we want a clean environment as well. we want to conserve the soil in future generations. that is what they are all about. i think it is important to stand up when government does

overreach. here's a perfect example when it comes to amending the clean water act. we will take "navigable" out. if you do that, we might be dealing with foreign policy -- farm policy. we do not need the epa or corps of engineers on your farm. everyone in this room can agree with me on that. it is important when a senator that stands up for that principle. i think the sixth circuit got it wrong. the idea that three rebels used on farms have to be permited as a point source, that is overreaching. i think that is overreaching. you have to live on the land you farm. we need balance and clarity. we keep reaching, reaching, reaching to the point where what we do does not make sense. in addressing the issue of confined animal feeding operations, this is an issue i

know something about. chicken production is, other than horses, the largest industry we have in farming in terms of dollars. we have a lot of confined animal feeding operations, particularly in western kentucky. we have production facilities in kentucky as well. it is important that we don't lower -- we will blow 1000 chickens in terms of the sighting the confined animal feeding operation -- it is important that we have threshold. producers must live within the rules and insure they are not a nuisance or not committing too much. for smaller operations, we need balance and clarity. we do not need to be changing the rules so those that rely smaller production are living under an onerous that of confined animal feeding operation rules. when i'm in the senate, i will seek to strike that balance. i will always look up to

kentucky first, and that is a pledge i make to you today. thank you very much. >> when you get to washington, the first thing you get to do is decide who will be the leader. where do you think these bad ideas are coming from? harry reid and the liberal democrats. will jack a vote against harry reid? i don't think so. i will vote for mitch mcconnell to be leader. he is opposed to changing the navigable -- deleting that word, adding these new regulations. the regulations are coming from the national democrat party. i know there are people here who are democrats. we have conservative democrats in kentucky, but the national party left you 20 years ago. jack may want to run as a moderate, but he will go up there and his first vote cast will be for harry reid. harry reid is not your friend on these issues. that is the problem.

that is what this election will be about. you have to decide, who are the people wanting to change these regulations? who is talking about making the chesapeake bay agreement and nationalizing it? they're coming out of president obama's and administration. who are the people he is appointing? who are these 43 czars he is appointing? the person he has to head medicare, do these people that is what this is going to be about. if he truly is for lower regulations, he really has to vote with the republicans, because that is our position, our policy. recently, it took republican senator to tell the epa that they cannot write their own legislation. congress passes rules, not the

regulatory agencies. 47 people voted and i think 42 of them were republicans. the democrats opposed to us on this. he opposes everything he is going to say he is going to moderate and do. but his first vote up there will be for harry reid. mine will be for republicans and their views on legislation. >> the next issue is very important to us at the kentucky farm bureau, and that is the issue of business policy. i would like to introduce the chairman of our tax advisory committee. >> thank you all for coming in and taking your time to be with us.

unless changes are made in federal spending, the united states is headed for disaster. over the past 30 years, the u.s. government has gone on a spending spree. we have spent more than we have brought in. the budget for 2009 produced a deficit of $1.4 trillion, the largest in history. we are headed towards a deficit of roughly 85% of gdp. that is over $46,000 per person in the united states. over 50% of that debt is held by foreign countries. that places us in a dangerous position. not only does it allow foreign

countries to influence government decisions, but the debt could become a high risk. critical physical needs and high debt could also reinstates high interest rates for -- fiscal needs and high debt could also reinstates high interest rates for american citizens. we believe [unintelligible] a balanced budget should be accomplished through extending restraint rather than increasing taxes. capital gains taxes threaten the

transfer of lands to the next generation of farmers. today, the average farmer is 57 years old. they often have yet to set a price on the land because of higher prices. it is very difficult for young farmers to purchase land. i have four questions. what is your level of concern about the size of our national debt? what measures would you support to reduce the deficiency? do you support the pay as you go

rule for tax measures? what tax measures do support -- do you support to make it easier to transfer land from one in generation to the next? >> the number one concern i have and why i am running for office and why i left my home to travel around the state is that there is no greater question in our country, no greater threat to our country and the debt. -- than the debt. it would be very easy to tell voters, what you need, i will give it to you. but we cannot have that kind of attitude. we of china $800 billion. we're japan -- we of china $800 billion. we know -- we owe china $800

billion ow. japan $700 billion. we can borrow more money from foreign countries, and i do not want that. you have to realize where the spending is coming from. politicians will not vote against spending because they do not have the courage. all of the leadership of the democratic party is for all of the spending. the national democrats are too liberal for the democrats in our state or for the moderates and independents in our state, but he will vote to continue the spending spree. i think it is a great danger for our country. as far as pay as you go, jim bunning stood up. i complimented him on that. it was his party that stood up and said it was an emergency. everything is an emergency.

how did the royals were give everything is an emergency? -- how do the rules work if everything is an emergency? i have been saying for over a year that we need new rules. we need a balanced budget amendment. in kentucky we have it. constitutionally, our legislature cannot run a budget that is not balanced. it works. it is not because the people here are any better than the people in washington, it is because we have rules and we have to obey those roleules. i promise that i will make them talk about a balanced budget because i think the debt endangers our country. there is a clear distinction. people do not want to make it about party, but there is a clear distinction between the republicans and the national democrats. if someone wants to run in kentucky and say that they are moderate while they are here, they will support national,

liberal democrats. nancy pelosi is off the deep end to the left. so is harry reid. they do not respect our values here in kentucky. there will be a clear distinction. no matter what he says about his concern about spending, you have to know that he will be sporting -- will be supporting the liberal democrats next year. >> dr. paul, thank you for mentioning that things were in frankfurt. i invite you to come up there some time. i will show you that things do not always work in frankfurt. you talk a lot about me voting for the leadership in congress. i am glad to know you will not necessarily vote for mitch mcconnell. that has been in doubt for some

time. it seems like you have waffled on that just as you have on other issues. if i'm elected to the state senate, i will go up there and put kentucky first. farmot good to talk about payments to people in miami. i'm going to put kentucky first. i have crossed the aisle to work with other republicans to pass legislation as your attorney general. we got it passed. we have taken 70,000 child pornography images of of the internet. i worked in a bipartisan fashion on operation unite. we were cited as the easiest agency to work with. we had a terrible problem in kentucky, and i reached across the aisle, and we tackled the addictions to prescription pills. that is putting kentucky first,

not party first. in the fiscal democrat. i can tell you that we cannot afford a rand paul. first of all, this medicare purchasing in bulk, medicare prescription pill negotiations is a big deal. it will save2 $00 wright of -- it will save $200 billion right off the bat. next, 83 of the 100 countries that the bailout money have offshore tax havens. they also get a tax cut to create jobs overseas. if you shut down those to do the polls, right off the bat, is $130 billion in -- if you shut down those two loopholes, right off the bat, is $130 billion in savings.

i support pay-as-you-go rules. those were put in place during the clinton administration, and the clinton administration left as the eyeas byfar can see. this is an issue where democrats and republicans will have to work together. i believe in extending tax cuts. this is not a time to be raising taxes, in a recession like we're in right now. extend them. extend them. but let's begin a process, a long-term process of supporting the debt commission that was proposed to come back to congress with some long-term solutions. rand paul wants to say the next year he will propose a balanced budget, but he will not show you what is in it. we have to get back to fiscal responsibility. i challenge him right here and right now to put forward a balanced budget proposal he says he will submit next year in the united states senate.

>> the next topic is immigration and foreign labor. agriculture is a labour intensive industry. lately, a finding workers has been quite a challenge. the chair of the farm labor advisory committee knows firsthand how difficult it is to find farmworkers. he has a tobacco, beef and a farm -- tobacco, beef and hay farmer. >> for years, farmers have faced a continuing shortage of workers who are willing and able to work on our farms. comprehensive immigration reform must insure that, going forward, ky agriculture has a legal supply of workers. this includes attracting a number of competent and willing employees.

we would like to hire nonresidential agricultural workers when the need is demonstrated. we would like to allow those nonresidential workers to apply for legal status. this has been a significant increase in immigration reform and immigrant labor. this issue can be very polarizing. many americans do not realize the impact of foreign workers on the agriculture economy. there has been an increase in the number of kentucky employers using temporary worker programs. the adverse wage rate is effectively threatening the viability of the programs use.

farmers want a legal, stable work force. kentucky farm bureau supports a meaningful temporary worker program and encourages a streamlined system to receive workers, and the change from the adverse affect wage rate. i have three questions for you. what type of farm labor initiative would you sponsor or support? do you see a need for comprehensive immigration reform in the upcoming session of congress? third, how would you work toward ensuring kentucky a legal, a stable supply of workers? >> thank you very much for that question. i appreciated very much. this is obviously a tremendously

important issue, not only for the commonwealth of kentucky, but for the nation as a whole. as attorney general, i have worked with immigration and customs enforcement on a number of investigations, on a number of immigration issues, and i have a sense, after having gone thatugh this a little deptbit, the federal government has completely abdicated its response ability in this area. we were ic quicke in the camp -- we work with ice in an office the covers many states. they have to deal with nine states. it is not enough. the federal government has to stand up and do its job. but it agreed immigration reform. i think we have to secure our borders. i do not think we have to do it

in a way that will hurt others or put dog collars on people coming up from latin america, but i do support protecting our borders. national guard troops have been sent to key areas to ensure that we deal with that. i think if someone with a criminal record comes to this country they need to be deported immediately. we need to make sure that we're able to ascertain the status of people who are picked up. i do not think anyone who is here illegally needs to jump the process and get ahead of people who are going through the legal immigration process in this country, but we have a problem here. we have 12 million people in this country illegally. many of them have children here. under the united states constitution, which i am sworn to uphold in the senate, those children are american citizens. so we have to figure out whether we are going to be divided by

fear or work together to try to figure out a better way. i am not going to appeal to your fear. i am not going to appeal to the worst in the nature of some americans. i'm going to sit astride a figure the way through this. let's take these people who -- i am going to try to figure out a way through this. let's take some of these people who are in the shadows and take them out of the shadows. as the united states senator, those would be my guiding principles. i do want to work with you and making sure that you have an adequate source of labor under the h2a program. if you cannot find local labor, you should be able to import the labor. that process needs to be extreme land. i know that many of you rely on foreign labour coming -- the process needs to be streamlined.

i know that many of you rely on foreign labour coming in on a temporary basis. i think it is a critical issue, and i will work on it with you as your united states senator. thank you very much. >> a think we should increase the workers permits. i think that would be a good idea. i think we should keep the government out of negotiating with the federal wage is. i think having the government involved is a problem for farmers trying to get their labor and determining what the wage should be. i think we should allow farmers to give h2a permit. with regard to immigration, i think we have to secure the borders. jack's president, president

obama;, is suing arizona over their loss. are you going to support the arizona lot -- ? president, obama -- jack's president, president obama, is eir law.izona over ther are you going to support arizona or the president. it is clear that jack is going to vote with the president that most americans believe is too liberal. in the 1980's, there was amnesty but no control of the borders. 15 years later, the borders are getting worse. there are unsafe places to go in arizona. i fear the drug war will spill over into our country if we do

not do something about it. we have to secure the border per se. i do not agree with amnesty. i do agree with a workers' program, but i do not want people overwhelming our resources and having an easy path to citizen. they want to make it sound like in aruba from the country who does not know any -- i am just a rube from out in the country who does not know any better, but there has never been a court case that says that if you come here illegally and have a child, your child is a citizen. i think that is an open question. it could be decided in the courts. i do not want it decided by the

law. i say we have the supreme court decide. there is some question about if people came here illegally and their legal domicile is still in mexico weather a child born here is a legal citizen. what i would vote for first is to secure the borders. >> that includes the portion of prepared presentations and questions. now we will open it up for questions from the board. we will ask you to use a two minute response. please remember to state your name and county. i will begin with scott travis. >> i have a farm in spencer county.

my question concerns the farm service agency officers. we have an office we can go to if we have issues or problems. it is a good place for us to go and sign up and do things that are important to keeping our farms in operation. they have begun to be consolidated and moved to other areas. we support keeping the offices open. my question to you is, in the future, do you see that the fsa offices will still be there to support the farmers? >> i am not opposed to closing the offices. i think the decisions should be made as locally as possible.

people in kentucky should make the decisions on which offices should be. >> thank you for that question. obviously, having access to a nearby office is important. it is an important issue to try to figure out. you have payment issues. you need some proximity. you're just try to get the information you need. obviously, efficiency is important, but i think farmers do need proximity to an office. the technology of fortis and some opportunities here that i would like to mention. i want you to know -- affords us some opportunities here that i would like to mention. i would like you to know that i

would devote to invest in broadband. -- i would vote to invest in broadband. that with the modern farmer, from a remote location, can have access to information that helps you in this day and age. yes, you need your office, but you also need a broad band assistance. i am not talking about a government program. i'm talking about incentives for private companies to come in and laid the broad band that you need. i know how important the tobacco programs have been to the commonwealth of kentucky. i went down to north carolina to negotiate the phase ii payments that were negotiated. that dialogue was very important. i thought to see the kentucky

interests were protected. my office is one of the only ones in the entire country that did not take an administrative cut for our payment. i support half of that money going to agricultural diversification. i think that is the key to moving forward as we distributed the fsa payments. i mention that because i think it is important for you have access to these offices, but also to the information that will help you as a farmer. >> my question to you is quite simple. when you become our u.s. senator, how will you utilize kentucky farm bureau and individual members of this board in the future?

>> as someone who is a public servant and running for the tremendous honor of having henry clay's united states senate seat, if i am going to be working as a united states senator, i am always going to put kentucky first. you cannot afford a senator who does not put kentucky first. you cannot afford a senator who would forget that kentucky is the -- has the fourth highest number of farms in the country. you cannot afford a senator who does not understand that the farm bill represents a system where farmers have assurances that they can make it to next

year. you need to elect an official who understands that we have a system that works and provides food security. it has served this country well. people were clamoring for the 2002 farm bill because without the market did not work. you need a kentucky-first united states senator who understands that. i will put someone on my staff who specializes in agricultural issues. they will call you if you have a specific concern. if you cannot get me, you'll get the designated staffer. i have a friend it is a former -- who is a former football player, and he will tackle me if i do not pay attention to the farmers.

it is an integral part of kentucky's economy, and what you need is someone who puts kentucky first. that goes to the character of the individual running for office. it is not about me, it is about the people i serve, and i serve the agricultural community here in kentucky. i will have a staff member dedicated to just that. >> as a physician and someone with a science background, i had to go through a lot of education and we learned by learning about the facts, going places, learning about issues, learning about how things work. i have learned a lot as i have travelled around kentucky. i have learned a lot about eastern kentucky that i did not know. i have made many trips up there. i made many trips to western kentucky. i've had the experience of not only meeting farmers individually, but meeting coal

miners, coal operators, people at pizza hut. i have also met with two representatives of the kentucky farm bureau. i have read through your pamphlet. i have learned that not only are you interested in farm quality, your socially conservative. you're pro-life. so i. that is another distinction in this race. i am for a traditional marriage as many farmers are. we have a lot of similarities end there are a lot of things i can learn from the farm bureau. i will continue to do so if i'm privileged to be elected. i think the same process goes on. you will admit you don't know anything -- you admit that you don't know everything, and i am the first to admit that i don't know everything. >> is there another question? >> at one time, drugs used to be a big problem in big cities.

drugs have come to the rural communities and continue to affect farmers and farm families. what do you deal is the federal government's role to help dispel the problem on a local level. -- to help us battle the problem on a local level? >> drugs are a big problem. they're a big health problem in our country, you know, and it is not just illegal drugs coming but it is legal drugs as well. we have a prescription drug problem, an alcohol problem, a cigarette problems. a lot of that is for education, and we are getting better on that front. we have less people smoking each year because we're getting better awareness of the health risks. a think we need to make education a big part of it. i would like to see the adjudication, the meeting out of

justice be done more locally then in washington. i understand that drugs are a skirt, but i also understand that teenagers, people you may be related to, people i may be related to -- i do not want to put them in jail for 10 or 20 years at a time. what we do when we see a problem, everyone in washington goes crazy and says, throw them away and lock away the key. you get a kid who does drugs and they have a mandatory sentence of 10 years. that is the problem of going through washington. i have several friends to sit on the bench in kentucky, and i think the way justice. i think of one of our kids or grandkids got involved in something bad, we want somebody local in our community who sees both the good and the bad in the kit and say, hey, can we not just give them a chance to reform themselves before we lock

them apart in a prison, because god knows what will happen to them in prison. i think that community problems are better addressed in our local communities by local judges and local civic organizations. >> thank you for your question. i appreciate that very much. this is an issue that has concerned me for quite some time. i saw this working in public service before i was elected. in kentucky, we have a particular problem with prescription drugs. i have travelled in eastern kentucky, and my heart breaks every time i talk to local elected official who says, can you help us here? can you help us here, because

three-quarters of our crime is fueled by prescription pill addiction. there is hopelessness. there is hopelessness. while it may be convenient to say that you want to handle this at a local level, across the state i have seen how it has affected every kentucky family. there are not many families i talk to have not been affected by it directly in some way. i bet each of you has the story that has -- i would bet each of you has a story of a family member who has been affected. we are in an era of declining resources. i am a fiscally irresponsible to o-- in a fiscally responsible democrat. i cut my office's budget in half. but despite that, i created a

cyber crime division which cut the crime rate. we collaborated on investigations. we cooperated with the dea. we took an all hands on deck approach to this particular issue. you just cannot say, let it handle exit -- let them handle it at the local level. the problem is too big. operation united is a good thing, and we're going to keep doing that. we're going to cap -- we're going to tackle prescription pills, meth, and all of these issues. this is a problem that keeps kentucky and from being all that they can be. i will focus on this issue when i am in the united states senate as well. >> my name is kurt lucas.

i am from liberty kentucky. i have had a career in technical education and agricultural education. we recognize that education is largely the responsibility of the state, and obviously of the local community, however, there are some federal educational aspects as well. one that is of importance to kentucky is agricultural education. there is an act name to for a congressman from this state that supports and helps to fund education in and about agriculture and also other career technical education programs. i would like to ask you, first of all, duke u. s support the

carl perkins education -- do you support the proper bins education fund -- carl perkins education fund? what can we do in general to educate our public about the importance of agriculture? >> thank you very much for that question. i appreciate it very much. educational achievement is one of the most important goals for the commonwealth of kentucky. we have to make sure that as a state, over the next 25 years, we become a more educated state. that is the only way we can

compete for the jobs of the future. that is the only way we can compete with indiana, tennessee and virginia. that is the only way we can compete with china and india. we have to become more educated. this is an issue i am passionate about. when i worked in the patent administration, i worked out the education reform act of 1997. they were not all of my ideas. do not take up the wrong way. but i testified about all of them. education reform a proposed secondary level is critically important. elementary reform is critically important. we also need early childhood programs in the state because we know that kids who cannot read by seven likely drop out by 16. we have to become a more educated state. we need a united states senator who understands how important this is going to be for future generations in kentucky. part of becoming more educated

is making sure that we have a community based in education. one of the goals in the act i submitted it was to make sure that community technical colleges or more in touch with community leaders. we have had community leaders asking us to make it easier to transfer credits. to answer your question, yes, i will stand up for government funding of those programs, because i know how important it is. i know how important it is for educating our commonwealth in the long term, and keeping people who want to live and work right here in the commonwealth

of kentucky close to home. >> i am a fan and defender of technical education. i think we have had a 20-30 year trend away from technical education and we are not turning out enough electricians, plumbers and technically adept folk, and now we think everyone needs to the college and have a business degree. there are plenty of people with business degrees you are unemployed right now. i think technical education is a very important aspect of education. i would definitely be in favor of having the trend in education go back, swing the pendulum back towards technical education. i have not read the act, so i cannot make a specific comment on it, but i would say that in general, i do believe that education should be funded at the state level and not the

federal level. that does not mean i am against technical education. it just means that i believe it should be funded locally, because the local people can decide where their needs are greatest. so often, once we send these decisionmaking processes to washington, money is wasted in the bureaucracy and the decision making process gets farther and farther away from us. i would keep the question closer to home and in kentucky. >> to stay on schedule, we are now going to move into the portion of closing comments before we transition into the hallway. jack conway will go first with closing remarks. >> thank you very much.

thank you to the board of the farm bureau. i appreciate you holding this forum this morning. it has been my distinct honor and pleasure to be here with you this morning, and i appreciate the work that you do on behalf of your constituents, nearly half a million members in year over 85,000 farms. this race is about collecting the united states senator who is going to put kentucky first. putting kentucky first means that you understand that we have the fourth largest number of farms in any state in the union, and that is important to our local economy. i understand this issue on the family level. my dad grew up on a family farm. he moved to denver synkaryon the 1960's and put himself through law school at night by teaching history and coaching football.

i am the person my family to go to college. -- the first in my family to go to college. the notion that hard work pays off and that you can better yourself in the commonwealth of kentucky is something that is ingrained in me. apps i have travelled the commonwealth -- as i have travelled the commonwealth over the last 16 months, something has really come home to me, and that is what this race is about. it is not about rand paul. is not about some national movement. it is that you, you the people of the commonwealth of kentucky. you are hurting right now. you're hurting right now. we have 10% unemployment. families are being ripped apart. parents are losing their jobs. kids cannot afford to educate themselves. i think there is as much anxiety and fear in this moment in

kentucky's history than any i have seen in my lifetime. the question that we have this most critical time is how we address this anxiety that is out there. how do we address this passion that is out there? i feel it. i am anxious and passionate too. it is one of the reasons i am running. but there are you going to do -- are you going to select a campaign the place to your fears or the campaign the place to your hopes? -- that plays to your fears, or that plays to your hopes? are you going to select the campaign the wants to the constructive -- wants to be constructive, or the one the wants to be destructive, but wants to remove that the programs that help farmers

continue from season to season. that is what is at stake here. do you want to elect someone who said unequivocally that he would do away with the department of agriculture? that he would do away with farm subsidies? 75% of the farm bill deals with nutritional programs. we are talking about school lunches. schoolalking about breakfasts. it is a tiny fraction of money we are talking about that actually goes to the conservation programs and the farm subsidy programs and the farm equipment loan programs. but what it does is allow for the sustainability of agriculture. allows for food security going forward and the sustainability of our small and medium-sized corporate farms so that they continue to provide food in the

future. it is a security issue. it is a security issue, and you need in your next united states senator, someone who understands that. you need someone who is willing to put labels aside, put politics aside, the will reach across the aisle to get done what is right for kentucky. that is the type of united states senator that i want to be and that i will be. when it comes time to reauthorize the farm bill in 2012, i will do just redid as attorney general. i will pick up the telephone, call mitch mcconnell, and save what is best for kentucky? i will seek the farmer's input on that all important question. in a kentucky democrat. i put kentucky first. i support the second amendment. i'm against caps and trade. i have stood up for kentucky rate players to keep the rates low -- ratepayers to keep the

rates low. do you want to return to bush economic policies, or do you want to move forward? do you want a fiscally responsible democrat who can help create the jobs of the future? if you want someone who believes that our best days are ahead of us, i asked for your vote. we are all in this together. to the people of the farm bureau and the farmers of this great commonwealth, i am jack conway, i am running for state senate -- in running for the united states senate, and i hope you'll stand with me. >> thank you for having me. i have enjoyed it year. i am not coming back tomorrow. one day is enough for this. i am the third son of the third son of howard and peggy paul.

i am named after my grandfather. my memories of him are after him -- are of him farming and of his dairy. it from a young age, we would go to their house, and there was always a pretty significant garden. he actually used a hand tiller until he was 90 years old. they brought the first pasteurization machine into pittsburgh. they brought it into their garage. my dad's first memory is cleaning bottles for the dairy. one of my dad's first jobs was driving a milk truck. my memories of my family on the farm still run deep. we are lucky that there is a division of labor, because most of my farming efforts and

growing vegetables have failed to do deer and other republics. -- due to deer and other wildlife. you're specialized in it. i am specialized in doing eye surgery. we can both do something well and we get great productivity. our country has great productivity because of the ingenuity of farming. we have made great advancements in fertilizers end pesticide. to me, the biggest issue facing our country is not specifically a farm issue. it is the debt. i fear that the debt has grown so large that there is a reckoning coming. i think that if we do not act, we can destroy what has been a great country. then it will not be about farm

subsidies or this or that. it will be about how we survive as a nation with the debt that is dragging us down. it is going to take somebody with a vision. it will not take a rubber stamp for president obama and harry reid. that is what you get. we're going to see a canada sea where my opponent is going to run as a moderate -- see a candidacy where my opponent is going to run as a moderate, but the national democratic party of left the democrats oppose kentucky. he is going to have to vote for harry reid. that means cap and trade is still in play. who is the one emboldening the epa? his party. he will vote for harry reid who will vote for an expansive epa.

when he votes for president obama, he will vote for an expansive government. i have a friend who owns a farm in northern kentucky who was out with a bulldozer moving some of dirt around. i do not know if there was a snoopy neighbor or a snippy government official, but they said the epa out. they said they would find him $20,000 per day. he called senator mcconnell and got the original piece of legislation. he went out there and met with an attorney, and there were 13 attorneys and officials and agents from the epa. he said he got the bill and he had read it and that arms were exempt. not one of them had read it. -- farms were exempt. not one of them had read it. they went away, but he went on

to find over 500 farms that had been attacked. if you want to champion someone who will say to an overzealous government, stay out of the if you wantir, someone who says that the epa should not be writing their own rules, you have to realize that the national democrat party has left conservative democrats in kentucky. that is the problem. all of the leadership -- harry reid will be the leader, and he will vote for it. is he going to vote for mitch mcconnell? that would be a big news story. he is running as a democrat, but washington is chock full of leadership -- nancy pelosi is from one of the most district -- one of the most liberal

districts in the country. our election will be about him running from his president, running from harry reid, but he cannot run fast enough. i run to say the government is too large. it interferes with business. it interferes with farms. government needs to be restrained. thank you very much. >> let's show our appreciation to the candidate today. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> i want to take this opportunity to present you with our current policy but, but more importantly, we also want to give you a questionnaire. we would ask you to return that.

this will be included in our election guide that will be sent to more than 185,000 farming families in our state. i would like to give each of you one of these two to hang onto. again, i just want to tell you how much we appreciate this. we're going to transition into the next room there. we will give you time to get set up, and then we will be there. it canada wanted time to address your questions. -- each candidate wanted time to address your questions. again, thank you very much. [applause] >> following the kentucky senate

debate, the candidates spoke with reporters about their senate campaign and farm subsidies. this is 20 minutes. >> i have to collect my thoughts here. i thought was done speaking. no, go ahead. >> [inaudible] >> my understanding of the disaster relief is that it is an insurance program and it is paid for. i am not opposed to that. >> [inaudible] >> i do not know why that is always a tough question because it is a hypothetical. in a big fan of the senator mcconnell. i think he has been a great

minority leader. i cannot see any reason i would not vote for him. people ask me why i am hedging. i want people to know that i am a distinct person and will be an independent voice for kentucky and the u.s. senate. i will not be a rubber-stamp for anyone. i think people who have heard me over the last year know that when i think the republicans have done a bad job with the deficit, i am more than happy to stand up and say so. >> he made a statement about getting rid of the u.s. department of agriculture. if you do not believe that, what programs should we get rid of? >> i have never been afraid to speak my mind. people ask, did you say this?

i have been popping off for 20 years, but i do not think i ever said that i was for getting rid of the department of agriculture. that is not my position and i do not think i ever said that. >> what parts of the department and what programs do you support? >> this is why it is a little more complicated than saying, where is your blueprint for what you're going to do. i say that nothing is off the table. that alone should make people sit up and pay attention that i balancing theut budget. i am not opposed to every program in the department of agriculture. you ask first-come the kennedy downsized? can be eliminated?

-- you ask first, can it be downsized? can it be eliminated? can it be privatized? we spend $1 billion on a three agribusinesses. we cannot do that when we have a deficit this size. we are borrowing money from china to support three businesses. i believe that is wrong. >> [inaudible] >> i do not think of anything in the federal government as a net plus. it is still all of our money.

is it right to say, you live in west virginia so you get $5 for every dollar you spend up their? i think that is wrong because the deficit is enormous and it threatens our country. there is the private sector and there is government. we are going to keep feeding the monster of government, but as a consequence, the money is being taken from somewhere. fromoney is being takien the private sector which is threatening jobs. >> do you think tax increases are ever justified? >> i think the government has grown too large by a spending too much, so i think we should cut spending. the constitution talked about what government should spend. what were the enumerated powers. our government has grown way too

large. at this point in history, in our fiscal nightmare, it has to be about cutting spending. >> are tax increases ever justified? >> we pay 50% of our income in taxes and i do not think it is a good idea to increase taxes. i am for lowering tax burdens, but only if you lower the spending burden to >. >> what is your strategy for the rest of the race? >> we are ahead, but we run like we are behind. i were a full-time job. i did seven surgeries on tuesday. i did see 50 patients on tuesday. then i travelled across the state to give a speech in frankfurt. i am travelling every day and working full time. like a lot of americans, have mortgages and bills to pay so i continue to work.

but i will continue to travel and give speeches. most of the polls show is ahead. >> it was a rather difficult message you're giving to the farm bureau. did you consider this a hostile environment? >> not at all. if they are not on my side, they have gone to great lengths to be the most cordial people i have met in a long while. . .

>> i think to a person in the boardroom, they will say that that sounds like an abuse. i think that there is much commonality. i do believe that farming is important. i will be a great defender of business and farming is a business. it has a unique aspect, but capitalism, which i am a great believer in defender of, supports a -- believer and defender of, supports capitalisms. >> could it be overstretching its reach? >> that are talking about the navigable waters. they can call them what lands. there was a developer that was put in jail in michigan for digging a pawn on his land.

the epa is out of control. -- a pond on his land. the epa is out of control and should not write their own rules. it is a breach of traditional constitutional thinking that begins power to an agency to write its own bills. in a bill, the epa should not be allowed to write its own greenhouse gas emissions testing without congressional authority. that sounds very simple. i cannot imagine anyone voting against it. jack and the leaders of his party all voted against that proposition. >> the biggest hurdle about going against jack, will that be the big hurdle? what's i think it is a hurdle for him.

we will see how fast he can run away from president obama to read he has to -- obama. while jack says that he is not for that, he has already come out in favor of the estate tax. let's pin him down on everyone of these. let's ask him the question. if you are going to vote for the republicans, why not vote -- why not run with the republicans. it is not a question of who will be the leader. harry reid will be the leader of the democrats. is he going to vote for president obama's policy ? key is for health care. -- he is for health care. i have it easy. they are on my side on that issue. told the farmers and ask them how many want the estate tax to come back. they will be close to zero.

there is a danger. there is a danger to bringing a tax back that you have gotten rid of. all of a sudden, the of dimensions -- the exemptions are gone. i think there is great danger to that. i think that the problem will be for him running away from president obama policy's then it will be for me because the people of kentucky are conservative. they are socially conservative. he is not. there are fiscally conservative and he may or may not be, but the national party is not. thank you very much. >> good afternoon did it was a pleasure to be at the farm bureau today. i think we were able to delineate some differences. obviously, dr. paul is going to have to live with some of the comments that he made. he wants to rail against every

single government program and he is on the record saying he would do away with the department of agriculture and farm subsidies. the farm bill of 2008, 75% of it goes to nutrition programs such as school lunches we have helped stabilize the agricultural industry in kentucky in 2009 to over $400 million in total payments under the farm bill. we have over 85,000 forms in this state. we are talking about food security. we are talking about an issue that is important for our nation's food supply. our farm communities want to know that they will be able to be around next year and a year after that. what was telling in that room today is that every time i challenge him on the issue of why we are here today, talking about what kentucky is going to

look like, he failed to answer the question. i am happy to talk about any number of issues that you want to talk about. the fact of the matter is that we are in front of the kentucky farm bureau today. these are the chief spokespeople for the farm community in the commonwealth of kentucky and he fell to address the fundamental issue that was on the table -- a failed to address the fundamental issue that is on the table. the kentucky agricultural community needs to be protected and needs a senator that will stand up for them when the farm bill needs to be reauthorize and when agricultural programs are put at risk. this is no time for a risky senator. it is no time for rhetoric. it is time for a united states senator that will always puts kentucky first. it was great being here today and i will be happy to take questions. >> are you worried about voters

associating with president obama? >> i think that it is apparent that he is going to try to change my last name from conway and make either obama, reid or pelosi. when it goes to the voters, it will be jack ramsay against rand paul. that is what is one to be about when we hit community after community after community. it is going to be about who will be the best representative of the people of kentucky in the united states senate. who will uphold the tradition. who will reach across the aisle. who will always puts kentucky first? on behalf of kentucky and, they understand what the farm bill means. i have heard enough preaching about bolsheviks and england. the people of kentucky are hurting.

it is not about rand paul and about the national media chasing him around. it is about the fact that the people of kentucky deserve more than they have been getting. >> would you allow the bush tax cuts to remain through i think you said that you want all of the bush tax cuts to continue. >> this is no time to be raising taxes. we should just extend them for some period of time. >>they should be a student it fr some period of time -- extended for some period of time. >> how has your position modified from cap and trade. >> it has not been modified. the gentleman to your right asked me for my position.

does it protect kentucky coal? are their investments in making certain that kentucky coal is burned more cleanly? does it protect kentucky's historic advantage with low electricity rates? as i said, there is a reason we have all of a manufacturing plant and a reason that we have a steel industry. it is because of our low electricity rates. we have to protect those resources going forward. capt. trade would cost every family in the country about $1,700. we do not need a system where traders benefit. we need to make sure that china and india are playing by the same rules that we do. i think that joe reflected that accurately in his story. the headline came out that we differed on the issue. that has been the genesis of a couple of headlines. let me state, clearly, for the

record. i will continue to state this from now until election day and when i get into the united states senate. i can't against cap and trade. i am not a global warming tonight. -- denier. i think that we need to invest in the next generation of automobile technology. we have incentives for all retrofitting. we have incentives for private investment and by a diesel and biomass -- and bio-diesel and biomass. i am against cap and trade. >> you were talking about the bush tax cuts. does that include the states? >> i think we should go ahead and extend doing away with the estate tax as well.

>> if you are anti cap and trade, and opposed to immigration, why do you not vote for republicans? how do you posture where you are different? >> i think that the united states senate needs more common sense. we need more democrats from the heartland so that people in washington understand that people on the main streets of kentucky do not think that washington is working for them. i do not think that we need to raise taxes in a recession. it is a bad deal for kentucky coal. i will always stand up for kentucky's interest. i said that we need to take a

chance on health care to i would have voted for health care. i am a democrat because i believe in job security and health security. i believe that we provide opportunities to those who truly need it and i think we are the more inclusive party. i take issue with the premise of your question. there are so many differences between me and rand paul. on how we would treat foreign policy and the farmers in the state. on so many issues, i could go through the litany of all the things that he said that i disagree with, but i disagree with the premise of your question there are a lot of differences between rand paul and our campaign. >> the white house offered to campaign with you? >> i have not asked. if the president of the united

states wants to come to the commonwealth of kentucky, you welcome the president of united states with open arms. i am going to win this race because jack conway earns the votes of the voters of kentucky. not because i am running with someone. i have not had specific discussions with the white house about what they want to do. obviously, he is going to try to turn it into something that i am not. i think that his comments are fairly reflective of that. >> we have time for just one more question. >> in terms of agriculture, are you in favor of him farming? >> am i in favor of him farming? -- hemp farming? this is an issue in kentucky.

i know how difficult it could be for law enforcement to make the distinction. i think that we need to leave that issue to those in law enforcement that are advising us on that. if there is a difficulty between distinguishing between hemp and marijuana, then we should not have hemp farming in kentucky. >> do you intend to help him pay off his campaign debt? >> let me say this. i appreciate the e-mail that dan larson sent out last week. he said that the democratic party would be helpful with issues relating to his debt. i understand that it is an important issue to him. i am willing to be helpful in that exercise. it is not about getting as in an uncomfortable situation, it is about bringing the party together. i respect him. he would be an asset in the fall and i want him to be an asset in

the fall. i am confident we will bring the party together. >> we need to go ahead and wrap it up. >> thank you, very much. >> coming up, a pentagon retirement ceremony for former afghanistan general mcchrystal. after that, another kentucky senate debate in news conference. >> tomorrow, an oklahoma governor's debate. you will hear remarks from six republican candidates. that is at 6:30 p.m. eastern here on c-span. tomorrow on washington journal, the discussion about secretary of state clinton's trip to south asia with matthew lee of the associated press. also a look at politics in the u.s.. we will talk with the former president of the naacp,

political commentator sophia nelson and leonard stein horn. later, reagan brooks -- raven brooks. that is live at 7:00 a.m. eastern here on c-span. >> c-span is now available and over 100 million homes, bringing you a direct link to public affairs, policy and nonfiction books. it is created by america's cable companies. >> now, a pentagon retirement ceremony for general mcchrystal. he was removed from his position in june after "rolling stone" magazine published an article about him. remarks are by robert gates, and general mcchrystal in this 50 minute portion.

>> and general mcchrystal, mrs. mcchrystal, members of the u.s. armed forces, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for allowing me to be part of this memorable ceremony. i am honored to be here to congratulate general mcchrystal for his immense accomplishments wearing the uniform of the united states armed forces to combat terrorism, preserve security here in the united states and fight for peace in my country, afghanistan. it is my pleasure to deliver the highest state mental awarded to him -- state medal awarded to him by our minister of national defence.

general mcchrystal, the men and women of my country value your leadership. we deeply appreciate your commitment. we will never forget the sacrifices you and those under your command have made to make afghanistan, the united states and the world a safer place for children. you have made a profound impact on our struggle. it from ordinary villager to teachers, army generals, women activists, government officials, numerous afghans are proudly calling you a trusted and reliable friend. the minister is one of them. allow me to read part of his message which clearly speaks for all of your friends in afghanistan. from an afghan perspective, you

became a beacon of hope for peace and prosperity of our nation. you served with distinction and dedication, above and beyond the call of duty, in the interest of the united states, and specifically us afghans. you have laid the foundation for our final triumph. we will spare no sacrifice to achieve it. you have presented the u.s. military -- you have represented the u.s. military with the highest degree of leadership curt, -- addition, courage. we will remember you for generations. we will remain forever in our

hearts your memories. please except the highest medal as a token of appreciation and everlasting gratitude for the services that you have rendered to our nation. our prayers and best wishes will always accompany you, your wife and your son. to conclude, general, i am honored, as your friend, to convey my sincere appreciation for your commitment and contribution to read these exceptional a town with this would have not been possible -- these exceptional accomplishment would not have been possible otherwise. thank you very much. good luck with your retirement.

[applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, at this time, we will present the general mcchrystal with the highest state of metadal from te afghan people. he is a citizen of the united states and has a comprehensive efforts and shown distinct leadership to prevent civilian deaths, prevent unlawful home searches and improve the quality and quantity of the national security forces and enhance close coordination in order to fight terrorism and achieve stability in afghanistan. therefore, i hereby approved the awarding of the highest state medal to general stanley a. mcchrystal.

in accordance with article 64, paragraph 19 of the constitution of the this mod republic of afghanistan -- the islamic republic of afghanistan. [applause] >> ladies and gentleman, the chief of staff of the united states army, general george casey. >> good evening everyone, now you know what everyone leaves washington in august. it is great to have you with us. how about a big hand for these magnificent soldiers out there in the field. [applause] as the distinguished guest

having already been recognized, i am just going to say to the ambassador and his secretary and distinguished guests, thank you for joining us here curvet some of you -- a tank -- thank us for joining us here. general mcchrystal is the son of mr. and mrs. mcchrystal. he is the fourth of six siblings, all of whom served in the military or married someone in the military. i would like to recognize the immediate family that is here. first of all, the brothers, peter, david, scott in bill, where are you? -- scott in that bill, where are you? -- scott and bill. where are you? [applause] stacy? wave your hand.

and of course, the generals best friend, any. -- annie. today, we honor and magnificent soldier and leader. one of the army's most experienced and successful officers. he has had a truly remarkable career in both peace and war. i must admit that i found it interesting when i looked at his officers' records brief. something was cleared that he had not looked at. the officer records brief is the army is documented record of a soldier's career. it has a box on it where it tracks the officers time that he spends at home between deployments. according to his most recent brief, he has accumulated 415

months and 11 days. even using my math, that is over 34 years at home. either stands deployments have been so secret that he could not share them with us or we could not quite get him into the fight, but i think it is the former and not the latter. he has done more to carry the fight to al qaeda since 2001 than any other person in his department and in the country. his vision, his innovative genius, his ability to bring organizations together, and his unrelenting drive and commitment to defeating the extremists that threaten our way of life have kept al qaeda out of balance of around the world and kept this country safe. stan, we are in your debt. usually, i would talk about how many divisions they have served in stands career has been unique.

-- they have served in. general mcchrystal's career has been unit. his first battalion was the red devils. jumping out of planes did not seem to be exciting enough for him. he volunteered for special forces, qualified, and commanded an attachment at fort bragg before he headed off for the advanced course. after a tour of the united nations command, he returned to georgia for company command. it was following this company command in 1985 that he chose the path that he would follow for the rest of his career. he was accepted into the 70 bit rangers and he has been a leader in our special operations community ever since. along the way, he mixed challenging assignments, joint special operations command and

the 82nd airborne division with broadening experiences at the naval war college, the jfk center of government, the council on foreign relations and the joint staff. he left lasting contributions at every level. he led special operations into iraq. as the commander of the second battalion 7 the fifth rangers, he started the beginning of the modern army commanders program. in the early days of afghanistan, he established the headquarters that came to direct operation enduring freedom. while serving at the pentagon at the beginning of operation iraqi freedom, he was selected to handle the briefings on the war. he did not have to put up much of a fight for that, but he took the job and did it magnificently. it was as the commander of the

joint special operations command of that he made his greatest and most lasting contributions to our army in this country. he personally oversaw the successful hunt for some who say in -- for saddam hussein and brought operations together by sheer force of will and unrelenting commitment to the mission. thinking back to 2003, nobody had really done the kinds of things that his folks were required to do, so he wrote the book and pulled the agency together. not satisfied, he gave the skills to our general purpose of forces. that is something that he did over time in something that has exponentially increase the effectiveness of our forces -- especially increased the effectiveness of our forces.

the work that his team did against al qaeda may our success possible. they apply a continuous and progressive pressure against a constantly evolving networks by building an organization for routine work, innovation and risk-taking. i watched stand through the los and highs. throughout it all, he remained calm, focused and committed. although i do remember the night that we thought we had gotten our target, but we were not sure, he had the body brought to our compound for identification. we decided not to tell anyone until we were sure, so he went down to check out the body and called the. he said, general, we have been tracking this guy for 2.5 years and i think that it is in. i asked him how sure he was and he responded, "i am sure."

that was the first and only time that i heard his voice cracked with emotion. following his time, he was given a break as the director of the joint staff. he would head the assistance force. i believe that in his time, stay and began to establish conditions for our long term success. . .

>> she has needed that strength to navigate the last decade,

especially since i've been told that stan has developed a few way.yncrasies along the dlong e he changed all the clocks in the house to zulu time. i am sure if that is not true, but if it were, annie would figure it out. sideas been acrat stan's and there for the families and communities across the united states. she visited wounded warriors, she has been present -- and it with her volunteer work, including raising an army family. her contributions make it especially hard to say goodbye to mcchrystals. thank you for your courage and for your commitment to the

soldiers and families of our army. [applause] for 34 years, stan mcchrystal has been the man in the arena. his face has been marred by the sweat income and in defense of this nation. he has demonstrated infectious personal courage that inspires anyone who serves with him. he is a soldier to his court. our army and this country will miss him deeply. -- he is a soldier to his core. there is a monument in burma that says, when you go home, ell them about abouus and say, because we have given our tomorrows for your todays. stan and annie, thank you fear service in your friendship and the entire army family wishes --

thank you for your service and your friendship and the entire family wishes you good luck. [applause] >> ceremonial. right face. >> ladies and gentlemen, the secretary of defense, the hon. robert gates. >> first off, i would tell you that the weather today is worse than in jakarta.

we gather today to say farewell to a treasured friend and colleague and to pay tribute to one of the finest men at arms of this country has ever produced. there are many distinguished guests and vip's here today but general important thahan mcchrystal and his wife and his sons. like many army families since 9/11 and especially families and the special operations community, they have endured long separations from the husband and dead. like so man they have ad. our nation is deeply in your debt. we bid farewell to stan mcchrystal with pride and sadness. pride for his unique record is a man and a soldier, sadness that our comrade and his prodigious talents are leading us. looking back at the totality of

stan mcchrystal's life and career, it seems appropriate that he ended up in the special operations world, as a virtually nothing about this man could be considered ordinary. even as he rose to the highest ranks of the service, he retained his trademark humility and remarkably low requirements in his tastes and what we at the pentagon that call personal maintenance. he had little use for amenities they grew up around the rear echelon, much to the chagrin of his isaf colleagues. to stan, a fast food was a fine dining. fine dining nor beer gardens had any place in his war zone. because of his no nonsense approach, he enjoyed a special bond with his troops. the respected his devotion to them as well as to the mission. it is evidenced by all the

uniforms here this evening. there remain just is devoted to him. that is because he never forgot about the troops are most often in harm's way. always keeping in mind the front line, world war ii soldier quoted by stephen ambrose, and the son of a bitch behind me is rear echolon. elon. his routines are legendary. i get tired and hungry reading about them. he possessed one of the sharpest minds in the army. a scholar, who earned scholarships to harvard and the council on foreign relations court, are voracious readers who is prone to spending his free time wandering around the bookstores and reading about what he calls a weird things, stuff like shakespeare. the attacks of september 11 and the wars that followed would

call on every ounce of general mcchrystal's intellect, skill, and determination. over the past decade, no single american has inflicted more fear and more loss of life on our countries most vicious and violent enemies than stan mcchrystal. commanding special operations forces in afghanistan and iraq, he was a pioneer in creating a revolution in warfare they used intelligence and operations -- fused intelligence and operations. he is high-tech and low tech tools in collaborative ways. as lieutenant general he went on night missions with his team, suggesting himself to their dangers. after going on one operation that resulted in a firefight, some of this british comrades awarded him at the decision of being the highest-paid rifleman in the u.s. army. night after night, intercept by intercept, cell by cell, stan

and his forces first confronted and then crushed al qaeda in iraq. it was a campaign that was well underway before the surge, when the violence seemed unstoppable and when so many had given up hope and our mission there. stan mcchrystal never lost faith with his troopers, never relented, never gave up. his efforts played a decisive part in a dramatic security gains that now allow iraq to move forward as a democracy and us to draw down u.s. forces there. last year when it became clear to me that our mission in afghanistan needed new thinking, energy, and leadership, there was no doubt in my mind to that new leader should be. i wanted the very best war your general in our armed forces for this fight. i needed to be able to tell myself, the president, and the

troops that we had the very best possible person in charge in afghanistan. i owed that to the troops there and to the american people. and when president obama and his national security team deliberated on the way ford, general mcchrystal provided his expert and best unvarnished military advice. once we all agreed on a new strategy, the general mcchrystal interested in carried out the president's orders with the devotion and brilliance that characterize every difficult mission he has taken on an accomplished throughout his career. all of last year, general mcchrystal laid the groundwork for success in the achievement of our national security objectives in that part of the world. i know the afghan government and people are grateful for what he accomplished in one year as the commander. in the lives of innocent afghans saved, the territory freed from the grip of the taliban, in a new sense of purpose he brought to the international effort

there. as the now complete the journey that began at a west point parade field four decades ago, stan mcchrystal enters this next phase of his life to a respite were to be earned. he does so with the gratitude -- respite richly earned. he does so with the gratitude and reverence of the tutsi-led at every level, with his place secure as one of america's greatest warriors. [applause] >> ladies and gentleman, but general stanley mcchrystal. [applause]

>> this is frustrating. a career waiting to get a retirement speech. it proves what doug brown taught me long ago, nothing ruins a good war story like an eye witness. to show you how bad it is, i cannot even tell you i was the best player in my little late because the kid who was the best player is here tonight. -- in my little leagu.e e. to those tonight to feel the need to contradict my memories, remember i was there, too. i have the stories on all two. photos on many, and i know of " reporter.ne reporta "rolling : this is the potential to be an

awkward or sad occasion, with my resignation, i left the mission- strongly about. i ended the career i love that began over 38 years ago. and i left unfulfilled commitments i made to many comrades in the fight. commitments on hold sacred. -- i hold sacred. there are misperceptions about the loyalty and service of some dedicated professionals that will likely take some time, but i believe will be corrected. still, annie and i are not approaching the future with sadness but would hope, and ip hones, and my feelings for more than 34 years i spent as an army officer are a combination of surprise that any experience could of been as fulfilling as mine was in gratitude for the comrades and friends we were blessed with. that is what i feel. and if i fail to communicate

that effectively tonight, i will simply remind you that secretary gates once told me i was a modern paton of strategic communications -- a modern patton of strategic communications. every day and every friend were gives i treasured and northeast to celebrate. but firstand i need to celebra. i need to address two questions. the first is what are you going to do? i am thinking of would be a good fashion consultant for gucci, but they have not called. the other question is -- how are you and annie doing? we spent years apart, but we are doing well and i am carrying some of what i learned into retirement. first, we are reconnecting.

now we are up on skype with each other. we never did that all the years i was 10,000 miles away, but now we can connect by video link when we are 15 feet apart. i think she likes that. i was so enthused i tried using y familyr a daley famililey vtc's. there was some resistance. the same was true for the tactical directive on issued after return. one meal a day, early morning pt, the basics of a family life. annie is stocking up on ammonium nitrate fertilizer, which is strange because our yard is smaller than this podium. although the insurgency is small, one woman, she is on

interested in reintegration. the situation is serious and in many ways deteriorating. mr. secretary, look at her. i am thinking at least 40,000 troops. [applause] [laughter] let me thank everyone for being here. this turned out is truly humbling. here tonight are my wife and son, my four brothers, and two nephews, mentors, comrades from my career, and some special guests whose service and sacrifice are impossible to describe with words. but because this crowd is pretty big, and for good order and discipline, i have divided into four groups. please remember your group number. group one are all the people who accepted responsibility for making this ceremony work. from the planners to the soldiers on the field. my apologies for all the time he

spent in the heat. you are special people. in my mind, the also represent -- you also represent the soldiers around the world. you have my appreciation. [applause] the second group is a distinguished service servants of all nations who have taken time from your often crushing schedules to be here. thanks four years of support and friendship. i got you out of the office early on friday. group the arkansas war years of all ranks, and that includes many -- group three our warriors of all ranks, and that includes those who i of shared frustrations, triumphs, laughs, and a common cause for many years. you are not all here. some of you are deployed and in the fight. others rest across the river in

arlington. most of the credit i have received actually belongs to you. it has been you're comradeship that i have considered the greatest honor of my career. finally, group four is all those who have heard were having two kegs of beer tonight after the ceremony. this group includes a number of my classmates, old friends, most of the warriors from group 3, and some others to defy accurate description. anyone already carrying a plastic cup might be considered the vanguard of group four. everyone here today is invited to join. to secretary gates, i want to express my personal thanks. certainly for your generous remarks, but more for your wisdom and leadership which i experienced firsthand in each of my last three jobs. your contribution to the nation and to the force is nothing short of historic.

i want to thank the many leaders, civilian and military, of our nation, beginning with president obama for room and with whom i was honored to serve. whether elected, appointed, or commission, the common denominator of service has been inspiring. as com isaf i was provided a unique opportunity to serve alongside professionals of 46 nations under the leadership of nato. we were stronger for the diversity of our forests and i am better for the experience. -- for the diversity of our forests and i am better for the experience. our thanks to the people of afghanistan at for their hospitality and friendship. for those who have attempted to simplify their view of afghanistan and focus on the challenges ahead, i would counter with my belief that afghans have courage, strength, and resiliency that will prove

equal to the task. my career included some amazing moments and memories. but it is the people i will remember. it was always about the people. it was about the soldiers who were well trained, but at the end of the day, it was their face in their leaders and each other. about the young sergeants who emerged from the ranks with strength, discipline, commitment, and courage. as i grow older, the soldiers and sergeants of my youth grew older as well. they became the old sergeants, long service professionals whose wisdom and incredible sense of responsibility for the mission and for our soldiers is extraordinary. and the sergeant major. they are a national treasure.

they mauled and maintain the force and the rest -- the mold and maintain the force and leaders like me. they are confidence, critics, mentors, and best friends. a little more than a year ago, on a single e-mail, mike hall came out of retirement, leaving a job, his son, and his amazing wife, brenda, to join me in afghanistan. to mike, i can never express my thanks. to brenda, i know after all these years i owe you. i also love you. to true professionals like sgt rudy valentine, c.w. thompson, chris cravin, jeff melinger, and chris -- when something is truly

important, like this ceremony, you are on hand to make sure i do not screwed up. i served with many of you better here tonight. not all of our heroes or comrades are in uniform. in the back of a dark and helicopter over afghanistan in 2004, a comrade in blue jeans whose friendship i cherish to this day passed me a note. scribbled on a page torn from a pocket notebook, the note said, "i do not know the ranger creed, but you can count on me to always be there." he lived up to his promise many times over. to have shared some much with an been so dependent upon the people of such courage, physical and moral, integrity, and selflessness, taught me to believe. here tonight.ie's

she walked to 50 feet from our front door in the italian shoes, of which we have an extensive collection. usingnce a suggested her shoe collection as an argument for more italian troops. i've no control over that part of the mcchrystal economy. she is here, like she has always been there when it mattered. always gorgeous. for 3.5 years she was my girlfriend and fiancee, and for over 33 years she has been my wife. for many years i have joked, sometimes publicly, about her lousy cooking, terrifying closets, demolition derby driving, and addiction to new mexm &m candy. which is true. as we conclude a career together, it is important for you to know that she was there. she was there when my father

commissioned me as second lieutenant of infantry and was waiting months later when i emerged from ranger school. we moved all we owned in my used chevrolet to buy firour first apartment at fort bragg. wasmove and our first day's the only honeymoon i was able to give her. a fact she has mentioned a few times cents. annie always knew what to do. she was gracious when she answered the door at midnight to find a mortarman carrying a grocery bag for both him platoon party, following a friday night jump. i came home to find her making food for the paratroopers. she knew was right and quietly did it.

with 9/11, she saw us off to war. she patiently supported the families of our fallen with stoic grace. as the year past and the fight crude difficult and deadly, her quiet courage gave me strength i would never otherwise have found. it is an axiom in the army this soldiers write the checks but families pay the bills. war increases both the accuracy of that statement and the pay. in a novel based on history, it was captured just how important families are and i believe are today. facing the persian army, a coalition of greek states sent a small force to buy time, and were led by 300 spartans. the mission was desperate and death for the 300 certain.

before he left to lead them, the spartan king explained to one of the spartan wives how we as elected the 300 from an entire army famed for its professionalism, courage, and dedication to duty. "i chose them not for their valor, lady, but for that of the women. greece stands upon her most perilous hour. if she saves herself, it would not be at the gates. death alone awaits us there. but later in battles yet to come, by land and sea. then greece, if gods will, will preserve herself. do you understand? when the battle is over, when the 300 have gone to death, then all of greece will look to the spartans to see how they barrett. but who will also spartans look

to? do you and the other wives and mothers, sisters and daughters of the fallen. if they behold your hearts and with an unbroken with grief, they, too, will break, and greece will with. if you bear a, a dry eye, not alone in during your loss but seizing it and embracing it as the honor is in truth, then spared will stand, and -- sparta will stand. why have i nominated you to bear up underneath this terrible trial, you and the sisters of the 300? because you can. to all who were no uniform but who give so much, sacrifice willingly, and serve as an example of our nation to each other, my thanks. as i leave the army, to those

with responsibility to carry on, i say, service in this business is tough. and often dangerous. it extracts a price for participation, and that price can be high. it is attempting to protect yourself from the personal or professional costs of lost it by limiting how much you commit, how much you believe and trust in people, and how deeply you care. caution and cynicism are safe, but soldiers do not want to follow cautious cynics. they follow leaders to believe enough to risk failure or disappointment for a worthy cause. if i had it to do over again, i would do some things in my career differently, but not many. i believed in people, and i still believe in them. i trusted, and i still trust. i cared, and i still care.

i would not have had it any other way. winston churchill said we make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give to. to the young leaders of today and tomorrow, it is a great life. thank you. [no audio] [applause] [applause]