sure it was going to work. there was a prediction that the whole atmosphere would be set up buyer. it was someone who assured oppenheimer that it would not happen. that was one of the fears. this was the frontier of science. one of the most remarkable things of the whole thing is that they succeeded in harnessing the energy of the atom for the first time. it is unfortunate that this was manifestly in the form of a bomb. it had huge promise for producing energy, medicine advances, treatment of cancer, and so forth. it was a remarkable feat akin to harnessing the energy of fire. . .

>> there is maybe a point in time when the nations of the

world can move toward abolishing them and pursuing wholeheartedly the peaceful applications. >> founder and president of the atomic heritage foundation. thank you for your time denny of tomorrow we will talk about politics. we will discuss the process of coming -- becoming a u.s. citizen. and we will talk about a new investigation of the paper launching new tracking technology that website to use.

created for you by america's cable companies. this morning, a 2008 senate farewell address by former sen a member ted stevens, who was monday. then a 2005 interview. and did remarks from fidel

castro in front of the national assembly in havana. >> this week on "book tv" -- and on afterwards, a guest who for a list of programs of non- fiction authors, visit booktv.org. senator from the tender gas

machine in kansas city. pendergast machine in kansas city and i wonder if he did not think it was living at him and this machine back home. -- it was looking at him and this machine back home. >> the c-span that works. if we provide coverage of politics, public affairs, nonfiction books and the american history. it is available on television, radio come on line and on social media networking sites. we take c-span on the road with video. the c-span of works, now million homes. created by cable, provided as a public service. >> it vote at the u.s. capitol

where the flight remains at half bwrdétáe.w ted stevens, who died in a plane crash in alaska this week. republican senator in history. setup --.9c afford to deliver farewell speeches. -- centers came to the floor to deliver farewell speeches. >> mr. president, just before christmas in 1968 i was appointed to succeed alaska's's first senior senator. next month will mark the 40th year that i've had the honor to serve in this chamber. first and most importantly, i want to thank my family. after my wife, annjx& death1$ ghm:ìww3 ia i thought te

was changed forever. but my family has given me love and sacrifice which made my continued career here in the senate possible and gave its meaning. i dearly love each member as my family. 40 years, it is hard to believe so much time could passed so quickly, and it has. i want everyone listening to spent here representing alaska and alaskans, the land and the people that i love. , i served as whip from 1976 to 1984, as chair of the republican senatorial campaign committee, as chair of the arms control of

server group, as chair of the ethics committee, as chair of the rules committee, the chair of the government affairs committee, chair of the appropriations committee, and chair of the commerce committee, and also have functions as the ranking member as the political change to place back and forth across this aisle. i have a difficult time today articulating my feelings. when i came to the senate, alaska have been a state for less than a decade. it had been more of an impoverished territory than a full-fledged state. the commitments made on the part of the federal governmentt3>cqwe

and fill, and in some respects are still unfulfilled. alaska had not received the land and resources it had been promised. poverty reign supreme in regions of our state. and i remember going to examine some of those villages. it was disaster. our fisheries were in peril. there was an intrusion of foreign vessels just 2 miles offshore 12 months out of the year. many people died -- the arctic weather last have voted to to become a successful stage. and they ask -- many people ss(nj it took to become a successful states. and the great friends here in the senate from alaska to control of its own destiny.

section 4 of the alaska still echo [unintelligible] acetylene-selling plans in our state. settlement are now driving forces in the economy. in 1973 after a dramatic tie- breaking vote in this chamber, an amendment which closed the port of this country to further delay by extreme environmentalists, the president authorized the pipeline authorization act. that automatically improve america's security and secured

the future economic future of alaska. in 1996, what became known as the stephen diedact for fisheri, because of that act, became the most famous fishery in the world. where there was nothing but tundra and forest, today there are no airports for roads, water and sewer systems, hospitals, clinics, research labs and much more. territory. alaska is a great state and a student -- and a contributor to our nation's security and national defense.

this transformation from a working to help alaska achieve its potential. it has and will continue to be my last work. my motto has been here, "to help with politics. just do what is right for the and i haver+÷0f6cwpxuxxetl-÷wyko live up to those great words. i am proud of the leadership of which i shared for almost three decades with my father. i thank him for being here. he is a great american patriot and a true friend. together we work with the armed forces to spread the -- to supply the training needed in this chaininchanging world. i do not have time today to head of the highlights of this body.

that will take a lot of time. let me acknowledge the french of i have enjoyed with so many of my colleagues -- the friendships i have enjoyed with so many of my colleagues. i am most grateful for the support and council of my colleagues and would ask the conditional delegation -- congressional delegation that has done so much for my state and our steadfast partner in the senate, senator lisa mccaskill, to whom i owe so much been a very good friend -- a very true friend. i wish her well. let me express my gratitude to my current staff, all of whom have worked hard for alaskans in the toughest of times.

god to have had the opportunity to have served in this body. voice to speak up for its interest, i did my part to the best of my ability. when there was legislation that ignored alaskas concerns, i urge congress to redress the balance. my office was ready antidote to the maximum extent possible. -- ready and willing to help to the maximum extent possible. i have to pinch myself to flanders and that i am privileged to speak on the floor of the united states -- i have to pinch myself to fully understand that i and produced

to speak on the floor of the united states senate. home is where the heart is. if that is so, i have two homes. one is right here in this chamber and the other is by the state of alaska. i must leave one to return to the other. as i leave the senate, i know that senators mccaskill and congressman young will continue to be strong voices for the state. and i alsi believe god will give opportunities to be of service to our nation. and i look forward with proud hard and with confidence. i do not have a rearview mirror. i look only forward and i still look to the days ahead.

god bless the alaska and our governor, and god bless the president, god bless the senate and every member of this body. i yield for the last time. >> the majority leader is recognized. [applause]

from november, 2008. senator stevens passing this week was also -- was not the on the 144 member. a former dillon -- democratic rep who served from 1955 to 1995 and was the chairman of the ways and means committee for 13 years. his career ended in 19895 after a two-year investigation and he served 17 months in prison for mail fraud. in 2000, he was pardoned by president clinton. he sat down with richard norton

smith and talked about his life and his career. this is an hour and a half. >> in case any of you are in doubt [unintelligible] [laughter] welcome on behalf of my colleagues. i would like to welcome you to do second series that we call members. the concept is one of simplicity itself. we invite someone to talk about his or her career whose name is no longer on the ballot. we kicked this series of two months ago with former gov. jim thompson. political legend with us this

evening. if you think of a cigar chomping, deal making, red meat eating product of chicago, we want to explore some of that, but we want to look behind that persona as well. you were born into a political family. you were born into a political country. descried that for us -- describe that for us. >> i would like to make one thing clear first. the only time i tried a cigar is when i saw jack kennedy smoking one and i thought it might do something for me. it did. it got me damn sick.

[laughter] in the political agreement, a loved it. -- in the political aernreanna,i loved it. in fact, my grandfather ran with my father was a state representative and served here in springfield for a few years and then ran for the council in the city of chicago when mrsa america was the mayor. -- when mayor somack was the

mayor. he served for 25 years. i lived overseas. i was a good athlete. i loved social events. when you are talking about 40, 50 years ago, television was not available. was not the immediacy of television. shirts. in blue shirts on television. if you're a pretty good athlete, if you stayed around it after mass and talk to all the people, you know.

you could concentrate on one office. i ran for is to represent effective and got elected -- i ran for state representative and got elected. years in the senate, and then went to washington. public service is something that if you enjoy it, if you enjoy being a servant to people, if you can humble yourself by asking for people to vote for you knoenough, it is really rewarding.

because there is no money in the spiri-- no money in this. money, pension, and those are the important things. today, your extra acrylic filler -- your extracurricular contributions to medicaid and things like that are rewarding because you are never corn to get rich in politics. (3.2&ñvmfs politics. >> in speaking of the machine, how did it operate? and how did you become a protege of mr. wehrli? tv>> it is a machine i'n the outside. it is an organization if you are on the inside. [laughter]

i always liked legislating. if i was thought that was something i enjoyed. as i remember ricky -- i always thought that was something i enjoy. as i remember it, being an executive meant that you had to stay within a budget. legislatively, you could meander, you could always superb. . i'm talking about federal legislating --ñhh appropriate. i'm talking about federal legislating. what i said about getting involved in the beginning, the neighborhoa2klv;.vml?cz1ing

was called the night of stars. i remember going to it and it was a democratic fund-raiser for the city of chicago. headquarters, we were putting a scabs' together with the socks and long underwear and -- we were putting caps together with the socks and long underwear and we were making packages with them. ed kelley is to come and it was the lead of stars. the people, when you were distributing clothing around christmastime, or the turkeys or

door, they would say, why would you give it [unintelligible] today, there will not tell you about the person next door and their job. >> were you defined by the new roads in which you grow up? -- by the neighborhoods in >> in chicago, if you were a

brilliant poll, if you could understand why there were so many polls in the city. [laughter] >> and did you tell to irish jokes? >> know, nobody told those jokes there. we world is making a living it was different. my grandfather had what was called a savings-and-loan home loan. i remember i was about seven or eight years old. he would receive in things like a little mail slot. -- he would put recedes in things like little mail slots. in those days, you would pay like 75 cents.

people used to come in and pay their 75 cents and take their receipt and go home. i thought my grandfather knew who was paid and who was not by the receipts that were still there. i think now, i wonder if that would work today. they could come in and take the best out. -- take the desk out. [laughter] it begins with public-service. trying to help your neighbor. there was a lot more to it then. people needed each other. >> there was not as much of a federal government, so there was more local support?

>> when i first went to washington it was in 1968. i was elected under the last two years of dwight eisenhower. i remember the services that we rendered, the problems were in the post office, pretty much a , and outside of that, you did not have medicare. you did not have the expansion of social security as it is today. the life of a federal legislator is -- was not as complicated, though there was definitely a division between state and federal government with respect to where the hours flow. -- where the powers flow.

after dwight eisenhower and the election of jack kennedy and the dream of jack kennedy -- i would like to put a little note in your that jack kennedy and i were both the and as member of the house and the and this member of the senate and he was a candidate of the senate and he was a roman catholic and i am a roman catholic. if you ever want to see someone swell with ambition, tell them you cannot do it. that is what is all about. the catholic cannot be elected that bugged the hell out of me, we worked twice as hard. lyndon johnson made the dreams

of jack kennedy the realities of lyndon johnson. >> a famous story after the 1960 election. the president and secretary of state are at sea and there's only enough food for one. one of them has to go overboard. [unintelligible] [laughter] can you shed light on the 1960 election?

let me tell you about the 1960 election. edie polman, who was working for jack kennedy in massachusetts had me working in alabama. i said, what are you doing? he said, we need you out there. i said, i do not know if you are trying to hide me or if this is territory that you cannot win. anyway, i remember going back to chicago. dick davey, we close the polling places in chicago, i would say, by 7:00 and we had our vote count in. the way they used to do with them, and they do not do it in the war -- the way they used to

do it then, and they do not do it anymore, the city policemen would pick up the balance of the nearest bureau had the account of what earlier. -- pick up the balancballots soe nearesnews bureau had the counter a lot earlier. sitting in the morrison hotel, and daily and members of the democratic party and myself, and we are waiting ifor the results to come in downstairs. daly said at about 1:00 a.m.,

nixing cannot pick up enough votes downstate to beat jack kennedy with the votes that are already coming. this myth about kennedy on the telephone saying, "dick, can you get me 24 more votes?" -- we were out of it by 10:00. -- uighur art of it by 7:00. -- we work out of it by 7:00. i was there and it was daley, daily is a genius with respect to the mathematics. that is one of the reasons why dick nixon never challenged that

because they realized that downstate was not coming in with the amount of votes that would be necessary to win the state. jack kennedy used to send big daily hard on -- said dick daily are on the sales are to ohio. -- out to sales in ohio. daly was like a kid in a candy shop. now that he wanted to see ohio go to republicans, but it did go to republicans. getting back to the organization, in the community in those days people enjoyed doing something, fixing the life

and taking credit for it, getting the kerb at fixed and taking credit. -- getting the curb fixed and taking credit. these are people that had city jobs. jb72éw4 did not take advantage of it, but on a whole, you have got to admire somebody who is taking an interest in the community, and yet, is used by his neighbor because they want something done. in the 1955 election, the daley gets elected. we went to the morrison hotel. i was in the legislature.

i remember my dad walking up to dick daily and he said -- and they the acknowledged this on many occasions with my dad. he said, "dick, they expand you to take a screwdriver and a pair of pliers and take the door off and just put the money where you it." l@wand that is what the daily d. kjvt the papers were incredibly people of the services that were being rendered. -- the people loved the services that are being rendered.

dick daily was a very cold fellow, in my opinion. of course, i was young enough to be his son, but i will tell you about the forceful the daily. it is kind of a cute story. i am in washington and [unintelligible] i do not know how many of you remember, but the inaugural ball was unbelievable. you could not move in there. as a congressman, i was pulling together all of the members of congress.

" lo and behold my assistant says, [unintelligible] i did not know what to say. i went to -- upstairs and said, dick, i do not know what to say, but i have lost all of the tickets to the ball. i do not know where they are. what are we going to do? the security, fbi, secret service. he said, get one of the shannon rovers. you get a bagpipe and i will

meet you downstairs at 7:30 p.m. we will get in line and get an american flag. we got the american flag and we got a bagpiper and we started marching toward the doors without any tickets. and by god, the secret service did not know what to do. let us all in. [laughter] those are things that are the happy days. i remember the '68 convention. we went to st. louis that day to watch the st. louis cardinals. they were in the world series. and we redound in the and i --

and we were down in the busch place. you could do that in those days. we flew down and then we flew from st. louis to washington to go to a dinner party at the washington hilton. and at that hotel, lyndon johnson walked over, the president of the united states, and he asked, you got the convention again commodore huh? xp=nú=uzza>tjifoeh huh?,n say, we had such a good time in california, what do we need?

[unintelligible] is the worst thing in a world that can happen to us? -- you think this is the worst thing in the world that can happen to us? i think we've got to understand about three weeks before the republicans were in florida and they were just killing us. the police were so alert. it was a really troubled time. it is a sad event. you work for somebody that is constantly abused by the fed's.

and you know the character. i said earlier, lyndon johnson put the dreams of the kennedy administration to work and it made the social changes that were absolutely necessary. but the press felt that he was not sincere about it. and you kind of wonder about things like that. me, lyndon johnson was on the telephone like crazy to get this social revolution of the great society working. >> how did he start? >> one instance, -- this is

exactly what happened. lyndon johnson won home rule for the district of columbia. i had never voted for a resolution in the house of representatives, is charged commission, that means you discharge legislation from the committee and you take on the floor of the hauser of representatives. -- the house of representatives. and lyndon johnson said, you are my friend. you are more than a democratic party leader. if you cannot let the stanek -- these rednecks do that. i can do that.

and he said, you have got to do this for me. i said, i tell you what, you need to hundred and 19 votes -- 219 votes. when you get to 217, call me and i will be 218. danny, this is glyndon, come on to washington. i've cut to 17. -- i've got 217. when i told lyndon johnson i i would sign the petition by not hole -- by not voting for home rule.

some of you people. was not going to vote for it. i got a call from linden, danny, you told me. you go back to the recordings of the telephone conversations that i had with him and you will hear that i never said i would vote for it. dick daly never bothered me again about that, but glyndon johnson recorded my conversation -- lyndon johnson recorded my conversation with him. johnson did that [inaudible]

there are several instances when you engage with lyndon johnson he is a genius, but just two minutes ago he was briefed by somebody who was a technician. and you think, how does he know all of this? well, he got briefed by a technician. but glyndon did not tell you that. -- linda and did not tell you that. -- lyndon did not tell you that. when we were in los angeles and dick daily got the call from jack kennedy, i was on my way to st. louis.

[unintelligible] daley gets the call. it was jack kennedy. these for lyndon johnson. -- key swore lyndon johnson. i do not think he could have won the presidency without that. b p7sñy1[=gx!t(:x>> [unintellig]

you saw him as a third candidate seed. " did i tell you that? -- >> did i tell you that? >> no. [laughter] >> you've got to understand something. i was a brand new congressman. we were in california and daley says, you know, have allied stevenson -- adeline stevenson is the target are running for president and i know kennedy had him in his office -- and i know dick durbin had him in his

office saying, if you want to run for president, you've got to get out there with kennedy and the rest of them. and stevenson told him, i'm not interested. daly never flew with his family. so, the saturday were the friday before the convention, which have been on monday, dick davey's law partner before he was mayor was on the plane with me. i was a congressman.ß .8 #sdézbilly worked for the ste senate. and sitting across from me is governor stevenson. he says, how are ya? he said, you're going to be a produced and at the convention.

and i said, governor, head over heels in love with jack kennedy. and he said, oh, really? and i had= vesta -- some boos in me and i said, man, he is running for president. i run up to the front of the is talking about running for president. we get off the airplane. stevenson was held on the airplane in order for his

it was the first time i ever saw a man in togas with the spartan hats. and i thought, what are we getting into? he was at the station and a river there to meet him. s"9cchd#bx73enck@ ths talking about running. the "los angeles times" is going absolutely berserk over stevenson. i think it was tuesday or wednesday, eleanor roosevelt came over to los angeles.

i am sitting two seats away from bailey -- from daily and our banner. there is joeville, tom kean and of the heavyweights. -- joe gill, tom kean and all of the heavyweights. i'm just a congressman. but i'm sitting there with the senator and eleanor roosevelt is in the gallery. everyone just goes crazy. sure enough, the spotlight comes on and here comes at a lie stevenson -- and here comes the stevenson.

i said, danny, i think he's going to want to sit here. he's not going to tell joe gill to give up or tom kean. he's not going to come down the string of command for a big bosses. danny, i think he is coming to you. i said, he does not have a place to sit. and he said, oh, yes he has. denny, and gone. those are things in politics that you do not read in the paper. but as i sit here, i do not have

any inside information in washington. i have the to get it from the pundits. ÷ andts. these days. if you watch television metaat , they all&4f v9!kftdld:kñj help . come on my show and you can top íj5uad't for that? [laughter] every time i'd -- what i am getting at is every time i talk

ed to daily confidentially, if he would say, i'm going to write a book. >> the transformation of rules xv1r!ñ [unintelligible] when you were a young man, the liberalism of roosevelt, big was redefined. jack kennedy was a liberal, but today he does not seem all that liberal.

i tried to think of any convention, short of a police riot, that was worse than 1972. 3aqjnñ >> i think it is two parts. not liberalism in the democratic party. it is this -- it is conservatism in the republican party as well. let me tell you one thing about john mccormack, who lrñh:n speaker of the house of . i remember going to caucuses as a young man with mccormick, who would go and talk to lyndon é.1

and lyndon johnson would lay out the platform of what he wanted to do, give him power lines. mccormick would bring that back to the house of representatives and lyndon johnson was not passed -- if lyndon johnson had not been asked by mccormick about certain people, he would never have known. where johnson was the power with he knew all these people. jack kennedy could not pass anything in the house of representatives because he had seven chairmen on the board of the committee. the only two democrats that were chairmaen were both from new york.

everyone on the education committee, there were all southern. kennedy was not going to get anything done in this area. if you are going to credit kennedy with two outstanding pieces of legislation that kennedy got past, the peace corps and [inaudible] those were the only two pieces of legislation that were worth anything. everything else was laid over to lyndon johnson. but lyndon johnson could get in because he worked with them as president. it was always, damn you, dan, you better help me.

they did not like it, but he was also the president of the united states who knew how to handle power. >> was here the last of the president's who, for whatever reason including personal ability, was able to hold together the unwieldy [unintelligible] there is a sense that we really >> i can say from my personal experience why i was successful in the 13 years i was the chairman of the committee on ways and means.

in the 13 years that i was chairman, only two of those years was a working for a democratic president. it the eighth years i had with reagan and the four years with george bush, i had presidents have wanted to pass legislation, that wanted history to be written about them. and i could bring in the but i'd also get republicans. . . in my last two years we never got a vote and that is just won. -- wrong. the legislation cannot be that wrong that we only get democratic votes. when i was there, i would go to ronald scompreag say hey mr. president, these are your people this is your

legislation, have you agreed to this. get some of these votes. and he would, because ronald reagan wanted history to be viewed about his presidency as a success. host: as i recall, o'neal wasn't always wild about you in effect cooperating for the white house. guest: no, no. but that was always, with my conservative friends. and as chairman of the committee, you meet a lot of conservatives. host: did they have ways or means? >> they have both really. the fact of the matter is, if you analyze by voting record they would say jesus, dan yirkse you have as liberal a voting record as anybody. but can you imagine how more liberal it would be if i wasn't there to cut off some of the wild-eyed notions that some of my colleagues have in i have to stop there to get votes. getting votes was the most

important thing. that is something i want to bring up. we talk about this word, this word conspiracy. in 1984, reagan was reelected. in 1984, he figured he was going to have a big problem with respect to the tax proposals he was worried about. don regan was chairman of the treasury department. treasury one was a very liberal bill for a republican administration. i said to tip o'neill and dick bolling that we should take it because we would never get anything better.

liberals are never satisfied. [laughter] it is terrible. you are never going to get anything better. treasury two came out and was more conservative. we could have gotten the legislation done with the assistance of the president. i went to see ronald reagan. i called don regan who was not at the treasury any more. he was with the president. only in the republican party can a jim baker, who was administrative assistant to the president go to be treasury secretary and the treasury secretary go to be administrative to the president and they both got promoted. [laughter] , but that's what happened. at any rate, i went to don reagan and i said, don, i want to see the president and he was

getting ready to go to pittsburgh. oh, danny -- and i liked don regan. and fuff got dan, in my opinion, that's something that politicians should treasure. i said, no, don, i want to see the president and i want to know what to do with the tax bill. he said, well, danny, he's preparing to go to pittsburgh. i said, don, i want to see the president and i want to see him before he guess to germany and i want to see him tomorrow. and he said i don't think we can do that. i said what time do you get up in the morning. i said at 3:00, 4:00 tomorrow morning. and i said watch the "today" show tomorrow, i'm the chief executive adviser in the party and i can't see the president of the united states. you wouldn't do that i said you watch. now wait a minute.

i'll talk to you later in the day. about 5:00 in the afternoon i get a call, i get call from donnie, can you come over to see the president? said sure. i said, don, i'm not coming with anything sensitive, technical i want the president to know if he wants me to pass a bill, i want him to know who aim and what i can do for him. he said, well, ok. he said about 10 minutes. is it enough? said 10 smins fine. so i go -- 10 minutes is fine. so i go in the diplomatic entrance, in the back door, up the elevator to the private quarters, and the private quarters have these pocket doors, so we the get up to the section of the private quarters and open up the pocket door and there's the president there on a big couch. i shook his hand and i says 10 minutes, mr. president. fine.

i look at don and he closes the pocket door and the president says come back in 10 minutes, so we sat down and i sat down with rand reagan. i said, mr. president, i don't know if you're aware of the fact that the propose dwhral you have on the table is not at all -- the proposal that you have on the table is not at all acceptable to the republicans. bob packwood is saying i like the tax code the way it is. bob dole doesn't want this bill. i said do you know what you're up against? i want to know how serious you are. if i'm going to work on this legislation, -- he say, danny, you know i was the head of the screen actors gild. that's all he had to say to me. he talked for seven minutes straight. the door's open. don regan sticks in his head and

president reagan says, not yet, don. the door closes and now he's telling me when he was films and i'm listening to him and all i want to do is know what you're going to do with the tax bill. and he's talking and the door's open, don regan. not yet, don. now i know that don is outside thinking, what is he doing to my president. at any rate said, mr. president, i just want to know something. if i'm going to go ahead with this, i want to be able to call you, i want to be able to talk to you, and i want to be able to tell you what the problems are with respect to your party. he said, that sounds fair if you're going to do that. i said butt biggest commitment that i -- i said but the biggest commitment i want from you is that you will not say one thing about this bill until i pass it out of the house of

representatives. he asked why. i said, mr. president, if you say one word about any section of this bill, the forces will mail ga mate and the -- ee malga mate and the forces are dead. he said i want a word from you that you you won't say anything. he said ok don, come in. i talked to the chairman and i told the tcharmse going to try to put together our treasury bill. i said but it's not going to be what you -- i said mr. president sometimes i put things in a bill that i don't like so when get over to the senate, i can give them away. i said to this -- i said to the chairman, i'm not going to say a word about this bill. now i don't want to lose this story, but i think that i'm in a conspiracy with the president now. now would the press today think that that's a conspiracy?

would they have fits patrick coming after me? what do they do? and that's -- in your business, that's going to be sad because you have few people keeping books, keeping notes now. your historians will not get the benefit of harry truman letter. at any rate i'm talking to the president. he said, dan yirks you've got my word. -- danny, you've got my word. two things happened with president reagan. one, he didn't know one from the other about what was in a tax bill, except that he wanted the rates down. that's all he wanted. as a matter of fact, i will tell you a story about that. he wanted the rates down and i wanted to get him a bill because the republicans didn't want it and i thought that we could reform, the tax reform of 1986, the greatest piece of legislation in the last several decades and i said to the president, i'll call you when it

is done. we get it done, it is sent over to the senate and bob dole says, you son of a gun, what did you do to me, and packwood called, he said, what did you do? i said that it's your dog. ronald reagan is in california. dan yirks that is the biggest piece of garbage, i said, mr. president, gu to your senators and talk to them and see what they would do. did i conspire? here is another story about ronald reagan that's cufmente we're at the white house -- that's cute. we're at the white house, ladies and gentlemen, ronald reagan was the greatest storyteller i ever heard. he could tell a story. he loved to have people come over. we had dinner four times in his presidency, you have to bring a story. you have to bring a story. at any rate i'm sitting with the president. strangely enough ken, the

administrative assistant to the president puts me next to him, and ronald reagan sat alongside of me. and you're dan, dan, the taxman. i said, yes, mr. president, i'm afraid so. danny, you know, we have to do something about these taxes. now bob bickle from illinois is on the other side. he has michael, rostinkowski, and reagan. he said, i'm from illinois myself. i said, oh, no, you're from california. he said, no, we have to do something about the taxes. i said, well, i'm glad that you said that, because i believe that we should. i was in chicago and i talked to the chicago chamber of commerce, and i told them that we ought to be looking at trying to flourish the tax code. we ought to be doing something that would engender people to make investments. he said, danny, that's

marvelous. and i said that i'm enthusiastic about it. and he said, danny, when i was in films, could you -- i was paying 92% top margal rate. and i looked at the president and i looked back at my soup and i started to laugh. and he said, what are you laughing at. i said, nothing, mr. president. no. no. you are laughing. what are you laughing at? i said, frankly, mr. president, i didn't think that you were that good an actor. well, ladies and gentlemen, he did exactly -- he laughed like hell at it. that's all ronald reagan wanted. but i want to the get back to this conspiracy. ladies and gentlemen, when you

want to do things for the benefit of the senior citizens, for the benefit of the uneducated in our society, for the betterment of social welfare in our community yirks if you can do it without -- community, if you can do it without conspiring, you're a miracle worker. i always told -- i told this to bill clinton. if you want to pass your health bills, you send us a broad outline and let us put it together because what i can do then in the legislative branch is get cheerleaders, get people that will want to be a part of it. they get a pride in the section of the bill and they get blinded to the things that they don't like. and that's -- that's conspiracy. i mean, i -- i don't know and in

my opinion the legislative process in washington has come to a dramatic stand still. and it's a shame that we haven't got anybody in washington that's willing to tell you people that you're going to have to do a little suffering if we're going to be able to balance the budget. that we're going to have to worry about what we can do with respect to increasing the age on the social security recipient. i mean -- >> let me ask you about that. here is an issue. in 1983 -- >> yes, sir. >> first of all, in 19 2, you beat up the white house pretty good. >> yes. >> in 1983 there was an effort, which almost failed. but it didn't, to quote, save, preserve, extend the life of

social security. how did that happen and what, if any lesson, does that hold today? >> it happened because the democrats and the republicans agree with ronald reagan and you know we did a lot of trade legislation under ronald reagan, we did a lot of tax reform, we did the social security changes that took place in 1992 and 1993. we did all of those things in advance. we did it because there was an agreement among the leadership, the president, and those of us the leadership that we wouldn't bring this up as a -- as a campaign issue. now, i don't know that -- that's a conspiracy. i don't know. butt fact of the matter is -- but the fact of the matter is that we did all of these things under ronald reagan, but all that ronald reagan was worried about was the marginal rates and

the evil empire. he did a pretty good job on both. >> pretty big things to be worried about. >> he did operatey good job on it. he fooled me. >> is it possible in today's political party to repeat in social security what happened in 1983? >> well, you know, let me do an analogy here. one of the reasons why i -- i love bill clinton. although he didn't listen to me either. but i went to the white house and i said, mr. president, you're not in arkansas anymore. you're in the big leagues. people here live on a lobbying scale and they're the smartest people that money can buy.

and i said you're not going to suggest this and we take care of somebody. these people have to know in advance what you're anticipating doing. this person singular doesn't sound good, but i was pretty good at that. i said, bill,, if you send the document to me in its entirety and i'm a legislator, the first thing that i do with that document is i look at what i don't like. and if i correspond with what i don't like with other things in the bill, i go to my other friends and things that we don't like and we trade. if you snd me an outline and we can build on something, i can get a cheerleader, make it a

team effort. that's what we did with social security. in 1983. and we saved social security in 1983. but it was outlines and the legislative process working. but, you know, i have been out of washington as an elected official for 10 years now. the atmosphere in washington is terrible. when i heard dick gephardt, the minority leader of the house of representatives say i haven't talked to newt gingrich for six months, tip o'neill, bob michel, the minority, we met every tuesday to talk about the legislative process. we played golf on weekends. we didn't hate each other. we were politicians until the second tuesday of november and

after that was over with, we were legislators. today everything is politics. i don't know if we can contribute this to 24 hour seven, but that's what it is all about. you're getting immediate news and the guy giving the news is not saying nice things about what's happening in washington. he's constantly criticizing and it's sad. i don't know what i or we can do about it. but in the process of rying legislation, if you do it in an extended period so that you have the vinegar and put a little sugar in it, it is palpable. today it is only what we don't want. it is like my kids. honey, i'll pay off your credit card. don't go into debt anymore. save money and pay it off.

dad, it's the american way. dad, how many deficits did you have when you were in washington, in government? i don't know what we do about this. but this bubble's going to break. >> has -- on balance has television been a good thing for congress? well, i know it takes longer to pass legislation. i know that you have more participants. and you have issue-oriented people. they're against a kid that runs for congress in labor because he voted once against labor. not all the times that he voted for it, but once, and they're against him, or abortion. we've got so many issues that are on our table that we're not legislating. if it isn't the supreme court

justice, it's iraq, and i think that that's terrible. but i don't know -- i was hoping that this president was up to making some adjustments with respect to our war games all over the world. >> how much has the loss of party discipline, and even say the seniority system or the powers that committee chairman used to have, you think of the watergate baby cans in 1974 and all of the reforms. you said that now every senator sees himself as a president and every member of the house as an independent contractor. >> well, that's a problem. it's money. you know, as my host pointed out, country gar smoking, if --

cigar smoke, if anybody came to me at the ways and means and said if i get on your committee and i can raise $400 million. he would be the last guy on the commit yifment today you have to commit yourself to raise so much money to get on a prime committee. that is terrible that is just terrible. when i was on committee on committees in washington, we would be looking for a blended view so that when we took something to the florida house of representatives, we could get the southerners, the conservative republicans and if you couldn't get them on, you got a few or enough to pass legislation. today -- and that's true, independent contractors, everybody has a war chest of over $2 million, $3 billion. and it is all -- $3 million. continue is all, you know -- i

heard dick durban say that he spends three hours a week on the telephone soliciting contributions. i'm sure that he could use that time -- and it is not just dick durban. it is every senator from every state. and hillary clinton has $15 million in her purse to run for new york senator. she doesn't have a an opponent yet. >> today everyone is using catch words, taking polls, and blow drying their hair. what happened to trying to be sensible. can you name politicians in either or both parties who you think are trying to be sensible? >> they're not on all of the talk shows if there is anybody sensible, they're not on the talk shows. i think that a fellow like jack

murtsesa, a fellow who i know -- jack murtha, a fellow who i know, whose issue has been interpreted all dwanchtes, i think people -- people in the middle of the parties are not the ones that control the party. when i heard that some members on the republican side if they don't vote consistent with the leadership, they lose their position on the committee or they're not elected chairmanship. i think that that is terrible. as i said, have i been out of there 10 years. i don't know how we correct that. >> i can't go without asking

about the 1990 budget deal, preceded by the first george bush's famous, read my lips. >> you know george bush is my pal. i love that guy. and when he said it, i called him. i said look at who you're running against. dukakis, he couldn't lick a postage stamp. i said, danny, you're making a big mistake. there was a fellow that sacrificed his presidency, because he realized with the economics of the office, he realized that he had to raise taxes. >> do you think that history will treat him more generously? >> yes. the only thing that they're going to do is compare him and his son. they'll compare him and his son. george push was first on the

ways and means committee when he first came to texas and that's how i got to know him and how i got a great deal of affection for him. he really has a heart. >> was he dragged into that deal? he must have been -- there must have been some reluctance to sign on to tax increases. >> i don't think so. i think that george bush sr. did that because he felt himself that it had to be done. the greatness of george bush is the fact that he had people around him when he went into kuwait, he knew that he wasn't going into the cities. he knew that he wasn't going to get into a war outside the desert. because the military can control wars outside the cities. this is like our revolution. i mean the indians are behind the trees and the red coats are

wearing red coats. we're putting our children at jeopardy. when i see the age of these boys who are losing their lives, it hits me. and i don't know if jack -- i would love to see the kuwaiti -- i mean the iraqis fight for their country. and we'll do the backing up. but i don't like the idea of our boys going into these barricaded homes and losing their lives. >> i wouldn't be so ungallant as to ask you of all of the presidents that you have known and you have known and worked with a lot tell me who you think is the most overrated is. but who do you think is the most under rated president of your lifetime is. >> underrated?

well i have such admiration for johnson. and what he accomplished. that i think that in time -- in this era johnson is underrated in the long run i think that he'll find his place in history. he'll be pretty close to franklin roosevelt. >> even with vietnam as ball and chain? >> yeah, even with vietnam. the flams we passed in the beginning of johnson's administration were phenomenonal. just phenomenonal. and it was improvements in education. it was improvements in social welfare. i mean, he really -- lyndon johnson's biggest mistakes was the guns and motors speech. the people were ready to be taxed and he said, no, we don't

need taxes and jack va lenty was stand -- jack valenti was standing along side me when he said it. i said this is sele. they're ready. -- this is silly. they're ready. i don't know how to frame an underrated president. but with the president that's i served under, you know, i kind of made a listing, i served under nine presidents. i think that the most underrated is lyndon johnson. >> you said about eight years ago, referring to your own legal problems, i would like to erase the last three years of my life. the obituary is going to be that he's an ex-con, a felon, not anything that i did as a legislator. he will be convicted of misuse of government funds. he gave chairs away.

my question is twofold, do you still believe that eight years later, and maybe more important, how did you get through that? -- how did you get through that period in your life? >> well, you know, the secret service was all over the city of chicago with my friends, and it was strange because my friends would thaurlly talk to the secret service -- would naturally talk to the secret service, they would say he didn't ask for anything, he gave us things. the charge is that i misused government funds. well, when you've got to much money to spend on your defense and you're working against the government, you're your funds run out pretty fast. >> did you feel the rules were changing? >> oh, yeah. oh, sure. sure.

i pleaded guilty. no sour grapes. but misused government funds to me, it's money that i took out of my campaign fund and paid into the stationary rule -- the stationery rule. and i think that your pointed question is how could you get through it? how did you manage it. well, if you don't think that you did anything wrong, i think, you know, you go to sleep at night and you wonder why it is happening. the most painful experience is your family. >> you wouldn't let your family

visit you? >> no. >> in prison? >> no. while you're going through this, your wife is saying, what did you do? and that quote's right, i wonder what they'll say about me. i was in washington about a month ago. and i was chairman of the ways and means committee, and my staff had a party, all those people who worked for me and i think that the most rewarding experience that they all came from all over the country we had a great time, great dinner, and they were all still proud of the service that we rendered. and, of course, me in particular

because when history is written and you can talk to the -- can you talk about my experience and even some of the lobbyists in -- in the experience that i -- that i had, they said if we thought that you would take money, we would have brought it to you in bushels. but we knew that you were a straight arrow. a cute story. steve wynn, he's a big las vegas hotel owner and gambler, a great guy. when i was going through this, he says, what the hell's going on? i said, steve, what do i know? he said, dan yirks you wouldn't let me put your name on my locker in a golf club because

you thought that would be unethical and they think that you're going to take money? that's crazy. that's my side of the story. >> did you find out who your friends were? >> yeah. >> were you surprised by who your friends were? >> it's a revelation. i mean, who are the first ones to call, who are the first ones to be there? but it's an inward embarrassment. you walk into a room that you used to take command of and then you get into this -- you get into this frame of mind where you're thinking that everybody's looking at you and you're a crook and that's sad. but it's 10 years -- jerry ford, george bush sr., they didn't think i was such a bad guy. they kept in touch with me.

bill clinton -- >> you told me bill clinton gave you a call. >> oh, yeah. >> during the 1996 campaign, before one of the debates. asking about inside intelligence. >> it was pretty much about dole. and i said, listen, i like bob dole. he's a sweet guy, but the most impatient guy i ever met in you my life. if you walked in a room and wanted to bargain with bob dole, all you had to do is sit there. and he would sit there and say, you can't do that to me. and i would say, bob, i didn't talk. he's a beautiful person. he wanted things done. get it done. when we were at andrews air force base and we were working on the tax bill, george bush sr., beginning rich was

pontificating and -- gingrich was pontificating and bob dole said, you and i can iron this out in a half-hour. it was true. you gave untook. it's upmanship now and who will take advantage. >> do you have a theory why congressional leadership, particularly that kind of behind closed doors, practical deal making, pragmatism, why that kind of leadership doesn't seem to translate into the presidency? >> i was -- i was there in the transition. let me tell you something. we sat on the ways and means committee for 4 1/2 weeks going over a bill and every one of my legislators was cram,

pontificating, labor leaders in there, financial -- they would run up to these guys, i say jesus christ and barbara was my minority member and i said, barbara, i know that you don't want to close the session, but we're not going to get a bill on here. what i did is i told the republicans and the democrats i'm going to move to close this session. we're going to write the law and immediately after we're through, we'll have the staff get the press in the room and tell them what we did. did you know that there were more members of the press that were tickled to death that i did that because then they didn't -- death that they didn't have -- that i did that because they didn't have to sit in the room. we did that, we had more

accurate reporting because they were getting the true fact. we wrote the 1986 bill, and i will bet you have i read in more papers than not that it was a smoke-filled room. never. did it right out in the open and they were too lazy to read what we did and report it accurately. that's -- that's where the problem was. the minute i got an agreement with duncan or dole, we started to pass and write law. they explained to the whole bar rauge of newspaper reporters -- to all of the newspaper reporters and staff would tell them what is going on. >> i want to conclude with a story that better than anything else illustrates this

transformation of the political culture, of the one that were you born into and the one that we're all a part of now and you're at the center of this. and you told me this story, because it is right at the spine when the sort of forces of reform in the democratic party in this state were moving to eevick the insurance and the daily orders. and it's 1969 and there's a picnic in libertyville, and would you care to recount that memorable day? >> well, there were two memorable days with me and dick daily. one was when we picked up lyndon johnson at the airport on april 1, monday, which is the day after he announced sunday night that he is not a candidate for

re-election. the other one. addly stevenson, accused a member of congress -- >> i'm talking about adley, iii, the former senator from illinois? >> yes, well there is a ground swell of people that will get together and bouse the machine, so to speak. -- and bounce the machine so to speak and they're going to have a party out at adley's farm, the old man's farm. and, you know, it's going to be a real revolt. and, of course, they're going to have the press and everything out there. >> jesse jackson? >> let me tell the story. [laughter] so i called and i said, dick, i

said stevenson's going to have this thing out in libertyville, why don't we take a ride out there. oh, danny, no. not a chance. i says, dick, we can knock their socks off. no, no, no, no. this is saturday night. sunday morning i get a call at 7:00, i'll be at your house around 1:00. i said what do you mean? he said we're going to libertyville. i said, dick, are you sure you want to do this? you talked me into it. i said that it will be a great thing. well, let me tell you, we get out there and we're in this big limousine and we're driving up to the farm and i will never forget the newspaper, john madden from chicago, he looked in and saw daly, and he turned around to in this rong of people

-- to this throng of people and said, dick daly's here. that went over the farm, they're running to see dick daly. we get out of the car and go to the tented area where the reception and -- and adley is changing his speech, i'm shureks in the kitchen, because it was -- it was a crucial -- i'm sure, in the kitchen, because it was a crucial fight, dick daly's there. people ask for an autograph and i said, dick, how long are we going to stay? he said never mind, never mind, we're doing all right. we get up on the stage and jesse jackson is there and we're all lined up. and all of a sudden we start

seeing "we shall overcome" or something. i don't know what we're singing, but we've all got our hands like this. and i'm tickling dick daly's hand. and he said, mr. mayor this is the closest i have ever been to you. it was so funny, "glory, glory "i don't know what we were singing. i never laughed so hard. when we got in the car, i thought he would kill me. i said we did great. it knocked the sails out of the whole operation unfortunately for senator durkson. the next day senator dirkson, and there was an opening and

adley stevenson was to replace him. he was not a bad senator. there is a different view, ladies and gentlemen, of what you -- what you are as a senator or a representative and allen dickson worked like a beaver for this state and did a few -- got inside the club. dick did your ban does a lot of these -- dick durban does a lot of these things and then there are the kind that goes to washington and, in my opinion, sometimes neglects doing the state's bidding. now, in washington, that's all it is. you're doing your state's bidding, and maybe it's wrong all of this pork barrel, but if you don't take it, new york, texas, california, florida, they're not shamed to take it.

and so you figure out, this is the game. now, i worked with at least seven or eight governors, democrat or republican, and i never discriminated against them and i was even good to dan walker. and i'm -- i have the minimal amount of high regards for him. but the fact of the matter is you're not working for party, you're working for the governor who is representing the people that you're representing. i found that rewarding. let me tell you in the early days of my service, people would come to washington, i was their lawyer. if you had a problem, you came to me. today businesses go to lobby

firms to go see their congressmen. isn't that ridiculous? i mean, the congressmen. plus the fact the congressman today is kind of afraid to put pressure on an agency. because the president will kill thame he's putting pressure on an agency or a civil service worker. what i went to washington to do is represent the people in the eighth congressional district. that's what i went to washington to do. over a period of 36 years, i did a pretty good job not only for the eighth district of illinois, but for the entire state. i would make sure that dan, ed, or anybody else got our share of our appropriation and i will say this much, they weren't afraid to ask, because they knew that that was my sentiment. i had people come into my office

saying through the lobbyists, i played golf with you yesterday. why wouldn't you tell me. why wouldn't they tell you about getting this lobby in. they said that's how things are done. i said, you don't know about me. it's pork and i guess you've got to -- you've got to put a stop to the spending. but you've got to condition the people in your constituency, maybe in the country that, you know, there's going to be a little vinegar that you've got to swallow in order for this democracy to come in. what do you say? >> i say thank you very much. an evening to remember. [applause]

thank you very much >> that was an interview from december 2005. the former illinois congressman died earlier this week at the age of 82. he served from 1959 until 1995, and was chairman of the ways and means committee for 13 years. this afternoon, remarks from president obama of the gulf of mexico oil spill. he is visiting panama city, fla., and will give a statement about where bp and local communities go from here. which the commons live, here, on c-span. >> i think it is important that

every floridians knows i'll give a person who have stood up for the principles of the people of florida. >> it is campaign, 2010. the c-span video library makes it easy to follow the election cycle. is all free at your computer, and the time. this weekend on booktv, the provost of columbia university on the state of agitation and the effects -- of education, and the state of stereotypes. on sunday, former -- a former chief -- a former cia agent on how to deal with iran. for a list of programs of nine fiction authors and books, this is booktv.org.

>> last week, for cuban president fidel castro made in the parents. it was the first time in four years that he has addressed members falling intestinal surgery. courtesy of state-run television, this is an hour and half.

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>> message to the national assembly. >> at the outset, only eight weeks ago, i believed that the imminent threat of war had no possible solution. so dramatic was the scenario we faced before us, that i saw no other alternative than perhaps the likelihood of there not being any survival by this region, that had no reason to be a direct target. it was difficult with the knowledge that human beings always claim to the faintest hope.

despite all this, i made an attempt, and fortunately it didn't take me long to realize that there was some hope. a very profound hope, in fact. additionally, without the taking advantage of this opportunity, then the disaster could lead to the worst possible consequences. there would therefore be no hope for the salvation of the human species. nevertheless, i am now sure that it will not end this way.

quite the contrary, pirelli we see conditions that are developing that could lead to a situation that would have been unforeseeable until very recently. one man will have to make the unprecedented decision. the president of the united states, who surely because of his multiple concerns has not yet realized that, although his

advisers are now beginning to understand this,, we can see this unfolding through very simple steps taken. such as the tortures inflicted on geraldo that stopped. this is a situation that had not occurred in over 12 years of its implacable hatred. the efforts both against cuba and against him. today, we can state that the next step will be authorizing adriana to visit him, or his immediate release or maybe both. i found out from her that his spirits -- his spirits are

higher than they have ever been in the last 12 years of unjust and cruel imprisonment. given that iran will not give up one that of the demands of the united states and israel, and that several of the combat resources available have already been mobilized, and that an attack would be launched as soon as the deadline has been agreed by the security council on the night of june 9, 2010,

stipulating the norms and requirements established. be of man's plans cannot exceeded. in this critical scenario, president barack obama would issue the order of this preannounced and harold attack -- and heralded attack following the norms of the large empire. in addition, and that same point, in which the order would be issued -- that is, in addition, the only -- it could only --

it could lead to an incalculable number of nuclear weapons accumulated in an absurd competition between the powers. he would be ordering the instantaneous death not only of hundreds of millions of people, including an incalculable number of inhabitants in his own country, in an edition to the cruise of all of the ships that make up the u.s. fleet deployed on the seas surrounding iran, simultaneously.

the conflagration would spread in the near and middle east as well as throughout eurasia. it was a coincidence that at this specific moment, the president of the united states is a descendant of africans and whites. of muslims and christians. if this is achieved, and we need to be aware that that is

what we're doing here. the leaders of the most powerful nations on the planet, both allies as well as adversaries, with the exception of israel, would urge him not to do this. the world would then render all the honors that he deserves. the current order, the current world order would not survive, and inevitably it would collapse. it would collapse immediately.

the so-called convertible currencies would lose their value as instruments of the system that has imposed, both sweat and sacrifice without limit on the peoples. new modes of distribution of resources and services, education and the direction of social processes would come to the surface easily, but if war were to break out, then the current social order would

suddenly disappear and the price would be infinitely greater, and the non renewable resources could be preserved. climate change could be prevented the useful efforts of all human beings could be insured to be attended to. the essential body of knowledge, culture, science, that is at the service of mankind could be ensured, children and adolescents and young throughout the world would

not perish in a nuclear holocaust. this is what is desired, it is deemed comrades of our national assembly. now i am here to respond for my comments. i am also here to respond to any questions that you may have. i am ready to listen to your opinions. thank you very much. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

[applause] >> before i offer the floor to those representatives that would so ask for it, i would just like to say one thing. and i am fully convinced that i speak on behalf of all of us. i'm going to say this as briefly and specifically as possible, as brief and specific

as an order said at the time said, "thank you, commander, for giving me the pleasure of hearing you and see you, as large as life as ever. i would now like to offer the floor to my comrade." >> dear commander in chief, raul, distinguished representatives, guests. today we participate in a historic event in our national assembly. the commander in chief,

representative fidel castro is here, seated in his place. he was never absent. he was always here as a shining beacon supporting us, guiding us, from his sick bed as he was convalescing, always a identifying himself with the people, through his remarks, who is present here, addressing and denouncing terrible events where the fate of our country and mankind are threatened. this is not the first or the third world we are speaking of. the threat is faced by our entire planet, and it is only you, as an internationally prestigious figure who does not know lies, who has no debt with anybody. only you can denounce these

events, knowing that with certainty the empire can ever be satisfied with the reality of its defeat. is ready for any infamous act, including a holocaust. comrade, in 1885, jose marti said i know the monster because i am in it. in july, 1958, from the sierra maestra, a headline appeared in the newspaper that was always in the office of the minister, hanging on her wall, that was an inspiration, according to

her, for working until the very end. having seen the rockets that were launched, i swear that the americans will pay dearly for what they are doing. when this war ends, there will be a new and longer war, a greater war, the war that i will launch against them. i realize that that will be my true destiny. carefully, a genocidal policy to defeat us will be launched against us. my question, commander -- will obama be capable of the cruelty of giving the orders to launch a nuclear war, given the imminent likelihood of the collapse of the empire, and also freeing the five heroes?

>> not if we can persuade him. [applause] >> comrade josefina iredia. >> i am the representative from guantanamo. here, commander in chief, fidel castro, representatives, today we feel profoundly please because our commander's health

has improved as he recovers, and every day he shares his knowledge and examples to help us develop our social socialist programs and our main triumphs of the cuban political system. commander, received on behalf of the people of cuba and what,, our love and -- of cuba and guantanamo, our love and admiration, the youth that see you as a guide, that you are still never abandoning the ideas of our leader after celebrating the 100th anniversary. all of you, and your colleagues, continue to live in the hearts of the cuban people, the people remember and read their tribute to you, and we still maintain a live our expressions defending our principles, your words are

manifest in our daily lives among our children and adults, in our urban centers among our people. all of these ideas came from the deepest sense of your heart, and they continue to be disseminated through your examples of dignity, brotherhood. we wish you utmost success and congratulations, working for our country. we know that your colleagues in the barracks, these ideals continue to remain current in your book on strategic victory, recalling the victories in the sierra maestra. it is a continuous trouble recognizing the commanders, the captains, the lieutenants, those who have articulated their ideals, principles, disseminated with transparency, recognizing those who have

launched against the enemy's offensive. this book is a source of pride to us, and we ensure that everyone will be familiar with the struggles, our history, your struggles on behalf of our people. that will be passed on to the next generation. i would also like to say that we hope to receive this great gift, and when will we be able to read and analyze this book? we would just like to express our heartfelt love and appreciation. thank you. >> comrade pablo has the floor. >> dear comrade, commander in chief, commander of our armed forces, and the president of the council of ministers.

esteemed representatives of the national assembly and special guests, based on the recent information -- let me reiterate that as a result of the recent weeks provided through the leaks that has a broader public in the u.s., we have learned about the crimes that have been committed as well as the corruption that this has led to. that have become a concern within the u.s. as well as the measure -- as well as the major

financial crisis that has been manifest with many closures of businesses, bankruptcies, loss of jobs, loss of homes, of social security, and that we are seeing a disappearance of the middle class, also threatening the american way of life. although it is true, as a u.s. member of congress said, that wars are a disaster, that u.s. troops are of greater numbers. on the other hand, an increasing number of u.s. members of congress, but a minority that is honest about their own roles, a group of them, 52 out of 114, have

stated, and i quote, "the wars in iraq and afghanistan have cost the u.s. more than $1 trillion in direct cost, and more than $3 trillion in total." at one point where our national debt, according to the statement, exceeds $13 trillion, we cannot allow for any more of these wars to take place. it is time for congress to reject any funding that is not focused on returning our men home." so the messages that wars have led to adverse situations.

aren't there moral, ethical, and political considerations to oppose war? and in this context, it would appear that war does not concern as much, that it has generated crimes, created corruption, that the economy has gone from bad to worse, the bankruptcies have taken place, that unemployment levels have increased. people have lost their homes. we have seen a diminishing of the middle-class, and young americans have lost. we need to ask, would it be different if the war were not successful, if it were not a disaster and that casualties were light and only in combat, that there were no corruption by any parties, that the economy were prosperous, that the middle-class remain stable, sound?

would we need to ask ourselves, if it were successful, would that the justification to continue with wars? would we oppose wars, as was done from the very beginning by barbara lee from california? the u.n. has lost these wars within their own boundaries. what they need to do is withdraw from these territories of countries that have been attacked. we forget that wars of aggression per se are crimes against people, where more civilians always die then come back -- always divan come back -- always die then come back. the dow castro indicated that

the world can be free of nuclear weapons. -- fidel castro indicated that the world can be free of nuclear weapons. today we remember that we think of the launching of two atomic bombs in the history of mankind -- we should remember the words of president franklin delano roosevelt on generates 6, 1941, when he gave his address -- on january 6, 1941, when he gave his address to congress during the state of union, when he explained that he understood that by being free from fear, free from fear, which

translated in global terms meant a reduction of weapons to the point and to such a specific level that no nation should have the capability of launching acts of aggression against neighboring countries, no matter where on the planet. the americans should read more their history, to be more aware of the recommendations made by their own past leaders. we need to avoid wars, and that is only possible through total disarmament. we need to conquer wars, and that can only be done by practicing peace. if this does not happen, then

we will not be standing on the hill to be able to see the new dawn of mankind. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you. before i offer the floor to other representatives who have asked to speak -- can you hear me? i am going to offer the floor to the rest to speak. but let's try to be as concise as possible. i think i give an example that this can be done. i just wanted to say, let me clarify.

obama would not issue the order if we persuade him. that effort to persuade the president of the united states is something that we are hoping that this would serve as a contribution to that persuasive effort. today, for example, we are doing something that is never done. we are, first of all, broadcasting this assembly meeting through cubavision. we are broadcasting this event through all of our media, and

it's not just the cuban media. we have invited the most renowned journalists, a tv journalists, from venezuela. we have walter from telesul. they are broadcasting this event simultaneously. [applause] >> mario is also here. we invited him and he is also broadcasting this live through venezuelan television. we have alesa, who is broadcasting live these proceedings here.

the first half-hour was even being broadcast by cnn -- in other words, the major news networks, those that we want to have listened to this, are broadcasting does. i can give you a quick calculation, and i would say if we were and to -- probably this broadcast would cost $100 million a minute if we had to pay for it. of course, we are aware of that. we could continue speaking here so that we can assure that our words will have these repercussions, these impacts. [applause]

>> commander, one thing i do not want to lose sight of, and first of all we wish you a happy birthday. we know that you continue to be younger and younger, and all of our young people are supporting you and that we are their heart and soul supporting you in this struggle. you asked if we had questions. i wanted to ask one. you experienced the flow of exchange to groups from the united states that show solidarity with cuba. we agree that within that

society, there are significant human values. we believe that this is one of the reasons why we agree with your comments, this message that you have conveyed, that this is the time for persuasion and president obama should hear us in u.s. society, cmdr. we continue to hear people from different political and ideological groups, and they all agree ultimately, although they expressed themselves differently, but they agree that there needs to be a new perspective, vis a vis the rest of the world. you say that president obama has as his own makeup, as president, he represents two different cultures. isn't this the time that we need to intensify and delve further into this, and as a result find solutions for many of the challenges that the world

is facing today? thank you, cmdr. >> let me just respond by saying that we have very little time for dialogue, although i consider them to be indispensable. but they need to be brief without wasting a moment. i tried to explain in my message that everybody should work in that direction. i have no doubt that the chinese are also moving in that direction. because they are very aware about the current international situation. i have no doubt that the russians are also moving in that direction. i see it, i perceived it, i feel it. major talking about two powers.

in addition, in the case of the u.s.s.r., they are facing currently a major disaster as a result of climate change. the same thing we stated when we addressed the documentary at home produced by the french filmmaker where he worked with their bodies corp. -- with everybody's cooperation. we have more details here. looking at we have now temperatures of 40 degrees centigrade in that country. they are suffering the consequences of this. this is seen worldwide. if the world -- and we need to make sure that the world moves

forward and we have made some progress along these lines. that is our duty. this is not something that should be praising us for this. this is our responsibility. we need to move forward, and that is what we are trying to do. the dialogue between civilizations is wonderful, but that is a dialogue over four years. we are talking about a dialogue that must be addressed in just a few weeks. at least that is my opinion. it is not going to be done right away, and it is not just these problems that need to be addressed with this new scenario. the number of problems are infinite, but i hope that the most outstanding, most intelligent human beings do what they can and at least make those first steps in reality,

and not grow up in the dark. otherwise, what is going to happen? do we see the end of the empire? the empire that is sustained through the use of force and wars? wars of no longer -- are no longer instruments for sustaining the empire. the advantage with obama is that he is not a nixon. nixon was a cynic. that country has had presidents. many of them were cynical. . .

before nuclear weapons were dropped. one was dropped and then a second one. do you know the power that nuclear weapons possess that are accumulated worldwide? for example, just comparing the destructive capacity of those first two bombs and those that are today stockpiled by mankind and the two most powerful nations, the u.s. and russia,

the explosive power of the weapons accumulated worldwide are equivalent to 50,000 times greater power than the two weapons that destroyed hero sheema and nag sacki. it may appear, it doesn't seem very meager. it is so destructive what's left after that is destructive power. nothing. thank you. comrades. yow landa gomez from the province. dear commander fidel, comrades, we feel enormous satisfaction to be here once again seeing you after all the time that has

elapsed since your recovery. we have always been thinking of you, we have always had you with us day by day throughout this time you have been our hope and reference that we can consult. you have maintained us up to date about the world. you have kept us informed about the evil causes and effects of current capitalism. you have warned us of the dangers that the human species faces with the deterioration of the environment and in recent days you have also reflected upon the real possibility of the unleashing of a large-scale conflict that we still can't imagine its ultimate consequences as we are all aware in this very complex world of contradictions at a convulsive one. commander, we have placed all

of our hopes in latin america and the caribbean. and that is why we would like you to discuss your perspectives about the political scenario for latin america over the next few years that in some countries we will see elections coming up, presidential elections. thank you very much. >> well, comrad, i at the outset thought that a war would be unleashed and on the basis of that i thought it would be unavoidable and i tried to imagine who would be spared this, who would be spared the immediate total destruction. and i realized that there was one region of the world that does not possess nuclear weapons, doesn't threaten anyone. and there wasn't any reason to

launch any bombs against this region. i'm referring to latin america and the caribbean. stretching from the u.s. border all the way down to pat gonia. i don't think the faling lands will merit being hit by bombs. i don't know. but latin america does not possess any weapons as well as a part of africa. we know that we have our medical brigades deploying in near australia, in east timor, there we have deployed physicians. we hope that they will not be affected. but today we discuss what are the effects of the spread of radioactive emissions? we know that in the desert in

the united states, in arizona, nevada, throughout that region the americans conducted many atmospheric tests without telling anyone, and that there were damages but they weren't destructive. i remember once when cruise chef exploded a 20 mega ton bomb, which is 100 times more destructive than the bomes over japan and it was launched into the atmosphere and there were radio active emissions over many areas. but how many of those kinds of tests have taken place? i don't know. i don't know whether there would be the hope for survival. when i spoke with economists for the center for the global economy, they were asking what

can be done given a situation like that? a very challenging situation. because if this wasn't discussed and all of a sudden one of my colleagues said, what do you think of this scenario? and it seemed like a science fiction scenario. what if everything were destroyed? but what if the latin american countries were spared this? if you're in a situation like that as a economist, as a scientists, what would you recommend given this kind of scenario? that was the question i posed to these economists. and then i continued to reflect and reflect further on this and i reached this conclusion. and i have absolutely no doubt that when you asked me a question about with this scenario that i have assumed,

and i met with the center, this was about a month ago, and i have been reading constantly the news coming from other areas and today the objective has to be even greater and more lofty, because if there is a nuclear war and if we are able to preserve our skiving knowledge, a lot of what is today, in existence, never have we seen a similar situation in history. there has never been another instance where we have seen any other species like human beings. human beings was the first that only date back a few thousand

years as we see it today. and we know that we also had the big bang theory and all of these scientific advances have for the thee ologists, we know several are familiar with it, the religious know this, that the theory is harder and harder to sustain because they have to reinterpret their teachings. and i pointed this out in an article which talked about the evolution of man and that it has been 18,000 years of evolution. well, evolution doesn't just go back 18,000 years. 18,000 years ago, there was just fire and matter, evolution

began on the planet with the first microorganisms. and this -- that does not diminish a -- an interpretation. but regarding the notion of time. what is the notion of time? time is something invented by man. man invented time. and how do we explain the beginning of time? well, that's what science has tried to contributed to. to its body of knowledge. and we know that the sun is not eternal. even the angels talk about the final extinction of the sun.

we of course that would end our sources of energy. that's where we get our energy from. therefore, if we are going to situate ourselves properly, some of these previous concepts that were mentioned don't contribute to a solution to the problem. we all hope that we are realistic in the way we view the problem. let's not try to focus our solutions, our approaches with old ideas. we need to look at the real nature of these threats and we need to find new approaches to the problems. representative leva has the floor. >> thank you. good morning.

commander, i just wanted to say that i, just as everyone else who have come here to listen to you, to learn from you, and frequently you have said that if hitler had had a people like the cuban people, he would never have done what he did. i think that only through your examples, through your teachings, thrur your inspiration -- through your inspiration and with a highly educated people, you can overcome the most malicious threat, which is the u.s. imperialism. and we ought to continue to listen to your comments. [applause] >> well, thank you. >> you're welcome. >> you reminded me, yesterday you sent me a picture with your

children and i want to thank you for that. and i heard you at the monument to jose martin. you spoke there. and you have picked up on these new ideas. and that's the issue. you have your own ideas. but all i'm saying, i'm warning that we need to make sure we make the most of our time. we sometimes talk and talk and we're at the midnight hour and we still haven't addressed the true challenges. i never thought i would have to reiterate this so often. and that's why i would like to

offer the floor to the next speaker. >> commander in chief, president rule castro, -- rall castro and esteem colleagues, i am going to be very brief. we have over the last few days been reviewing some historic documents and i found the biography of alfred no vel. i just want to read two lines from his writings in his will and testament. he said what is left of my for tune will be distributed in the following way. the capital will be invested in

stocks and this will serve as a fund whots interest -- whose interest will be distributed every year through prizes, and that during the prizes will be for those who in the previous year have been responsible for the providing the greatest benefit to mankind. and another part of his last will and testament after he talked about literature, he said part of my will will be given to those who have worked most arduously and diligently in strengthening brotherhood and for reducing or eliminating existing armies and celebrating and promoting peace processes. and now we find a noble peace

prize that mankind is facing right now. we have simon perez from israel who is also facing threats in our own country, in our hemisphere, we are facing the situation in costa rica where we also have a nobody el laur yet and -- no bel laur yet. and we know that again many challenges are being faced in terms of weapons of mass destruction. you, comrad, without being a no bel lauret, you are working and struggling to spare mankind from these threats. and i also ask, what is the role of all of the noble law

yet, and what would the foundation say? i also think that walter, who is with us, we heard his program and he says that our only -- and i think that walter is going to have to add to his report the -- this is my opinion, commander. >> well, thank you. i think that's very interesting. i just want to say, let me just be specific on this point, a specific point that i think we need to analyze it. and i'm being very straight forward.

i have three questions. that i would like to pose to you. i think everything hinges on these three questions. the first one. this is a question for all of you who are present here. the representatives, those who are representing the press, just to consider. and although i know they can't comment openly, but this is a question for everyone, those of you who are here, you can respond. now, just jot this down that the powerful empire, if it were

to withdraw its demand that iranian march nt ships be inspected, that's a question. my next question, for all of the cubans that are at this meeting, not everyone that's here, venezuelans et cetera, but for -- does anyone think that the iranians, a thousand-year-old culture, which is much more closely associated with the concept of

death than we are, do you think that they would not show the courage that we have shown to oppose the demands of the united states? let me reiterate. does anyone think that the iranians, a thousand-year-old culture, which is more closely related to the concept of death than we are, do you think that they will not show the same courage that we have shown in opposing the demands of the united states? and next, a third question. for everyone that is present

here, is there any, are there any solutions to this contradiction? and i would add, well i'm not going to say exactly what i added. but i would like to have you try to answer these questions, because i think everything hinges on these. juan mig el gonzalez has the floor. >> commander, my family, my

son, and i, we feel totally commited to our people, to the world, and to the american people. i would like, on behalf of my family as well, just to convey to the american people and to the president of the united states if they can hear me, you can hear me or my son, that they ensure that families throughout the world and the families of our five heroes hopefully will be able to come back and enjoy their families as we do. thank you. i will like to offer the floor

to representative ophelia or tagea civil war ezz. >> commander and chief, fidel castro, president of the council state, raul castro, ricardo, representative special guests, friends, you, commander, have discussed the need to persuade barack obama and you have given us the inspiration we need for effecting this change. what you said this morning, you've provided us with a change for renewing our hopes to ensure that things can

change. i would like to just briefly refer to what happened during the previous people's assembly meeting where comrad ar la con called upon us to mobilize urgently for her ardo and we did that. we received in our e-mails very quickly almost an immediate call to action. we received the document that was passed by the congress in english, french, and spanish and we were able to distribute that to many organizations worldwide. these messages were quickly disseminated. it was a very rapid mobileation and the results were obvious. you, commander, are calling upon us to mobilize in order to

prevent this nuclear war. that is the called to action. and we need to ask ourselves what needs to be done. i think those three questions you posed are very clear. currently, the world council of churches and the secretary general, the basis of what you mentioned in japan, have issued a declaration against nuclear war and the commission on international affairs has also addressed these issues very directly. last year, the evangelical women's conference sent a letter to barack obama because on thanks giving the u.s. president can issue a release for our five heroes. and we thought november the release would take place, that news would be forthcoming. but we're going to reiterate because we have the next thanks

giving coming up this year and we are going to once again ask that our five hero bs released from prison over the next few weeks. therefore, i would say that what we need to analyze, and i don't know if the commission on international affairs, i don't know if the special commission could guide us in terms of the mobilization efforts that need to be conducted immediately after this assembly with all of our resources, with, as previously said, muster our resources. what specific actions need to be implemented that includes answering the three questions that you have already posed to us that refer to the resistance by the iranian people? and if those people will resist the way we did. so we need to focus on new actions that need to be carried out within the commission on

international affairs, as cubans within the executive. all of the efforts that we need to move forward with after your inspiring words this morning where you call upon us almost with the same urgency as the efforts for combating i will literacy that cuba was also involved in. yes, we can. we can mobilize many forces today to prevent nuclear war, to join ranks with those countries that are on the verge of war, and to do what we need to do. i would like to hear you, to hear your words and to perhaps guide us on the kinds of initiatives that we could undertake today as members of the assembly, as members of the party, or as citizens of this country. thank you.

>> you responded very well, and i am very satisfied with the answer. you have pointed out what needs to be done, and that is we need to continue with the maximum amount of energy following what you said to try to spread the word with as many people as possible to convey that message. now, you also talked about specific dates you were hoping, for example, that the comrades would have been released by that date. well, i thought that one week is too little time. and december is too long.

[applause] >> comrad jordani de la rosa. >> dear comrad, colleagues from the council of ministers, president of the assembly, representatives, guests, i wanted to take the floor on behalf -- speak on behalf of the cuban university students who are very joyful to see our

commander here once again leading our people in such can complex challenges faced by mankind. i speak on behalf of the 22 another leets that represented our -- athletes that representd our country at the recent university competition, international competition. they have just a little while ago were crowned champions in the international year of youth students and the progressives throughout the world are waiting to celebrate the 16th anniversary of the students for peace and solidarity and social transformation, and we will overcome imperialism. we will develop and particular in the african continent, in south africa, an event that will be devoted to two very important figures in history who are nelson mandola and fidel castro.

[applause] . . >> well, you asked for the floor. i am here, back here.

i am just reflecting on your three questions, and i will respond to them. >> commander in chief, i am the president of the people's counsel.

specifically, of what do you think could be the role of the european union to try to prevent the conflict? i would like to get your opinion regarding the importance of russia and china, after having not vetoed the security council resolution. how significant is that? >> i do not want to judge events that took place, whether they were done correctly or not. what is important is what is going to be done now, and i know that they are decisively carrying out efforts to prevent war, and i think that is very positive. i think that answers your

question. >> dear commander in chief, i have taken a lot of notes from your comments. there is one thing you said, that you have to be an analyst and not look at things with old, traditional ideas. you need to find new approaches to these challenges. there were a couple of things here that may reflect. i am the president of the teachers association in my province, and we were able to

establish relations with u.s. teachers. we received a large delegation of teachers from the u.s. in our province. several places in cuba, and i, as part of the leadership, i was able to establish contact with many american educators. now communications have broken off. perhaps i need to make an effort to restore many of these contacts and friends. i have realized in this analysis that in the political and ideological struggles, where people need to know one another, i think this is something we

need to focus on. i have found outstanding educators who have a great deal of admiration and experience of our country. i met and educators to have been selected to go to the united states -- 10 educators who had been selected to go to the united states. i was not given the authorization to go. now i am ready to try to establish that closer cooperation. i know that many educators who have been here and show their admiration, that they're going to join the ranks of this initiative and the struggle that we are facing now. the other question had to do with -- this is for all of the

cubans at this meeting. do you believe that the iranians, who are much more facing death and then we do, do you think that they would not have the courage to face the u.s.? we, the cuban people, love life more than debt, we have struggled for many many years, and we continue to love life. we continue to struggle. we ensure that those to come here receive -- we know that this is very important. i have no doubt that the wrong iranians will be able to

resist as long as necessary. -- i have no doubt that the iranians will be able to resist as long as necessary. i wish you health. long live our commander in chief. long live our nation. long live our revolution. [applause] >> i represent the municipality. commander, i would like to congratulate you on your upcoming birthday. do you thinkisraelould be persuaded to not attack iran,

that would then unleashed a war, thinking ? >> no. [applause] >> all of our comrades here, i share the same emotions of everyone else. i see you here. you know how much we admire you , and how much we are pleased to see you here so strong and clear. sometimes many of us feel -- we are in of of your brilliance, your memories and your comments. could you guide the assembly? there is something very

important that concerns me. among the artists, there is no doubt that the majority of artists have always been against war, and they have used their talents to show their anti-war sentiment. but many people, many citizens, in tough times, we believe that by saying something, that is enough. you know, not all, but a significant portion of the world knows that what comes out of cuba, are always century, they are not discriminated buy debt -- are always censored. disseminated by the

mainstream media. if artists wanted to send a letter, what means did they use? in some cases, they may not have internet services. they may not have the information, but what could you suggest to make the dissemination effective, because you might think, well, i agree with this. i have the same desire to save the world and to do what has already been discussed to prevent the destruction of the planet, to prevent war, to address economic and financial crises. as you explained, and i think it is understood by almost everyone, how can we convey these messages? how can we tell the average person that shares the same feelings as we do? and sometimes we asked ourselves, how can i send a letter to obama? how can i ensure that my ideas

are disseminated? is there any possibility, could you just provide a suggestion? that is my question. >> i would not advise that you send a letter to obama because millions of letters are sent and he will never read it what you are saying. u.s. meat question, what can be done? what can -- you asked me a question. what can be done? what can you do to disseminate? i would ask you to think about the resolve this problem because i do not have an answer, a specific answer for your question. i do not have an answer. i cannot say how to do it. i am sure there are thousands of ways to do it. i think you have already enumerated some. you must know many people who

have internet. that is what i suggest there that you find those ways. >> comrades, we need to be even more brief, and we need to now conclude our meeting. this meeting should convey a very clear message in addition to the comments. we need to urgently take action, to do it in a creative way as well. we spoke at length about this and a conrad already gave an example -- comrade already gave an example.

we know someone who honors this legislation and is a member of the world council of churches. once i called her to ask that she take some steps in addressing the many challenges facing the group of five. we know she's been sending e- mails and getting in touch with so many people around the world. that is what needs to be done. what i said to the members of the commission on international relations, not just that we approve a formal document or declaration. think of new creative ways of how we can replace that machinery of misinformation generated by the empire that can use all of the

cutting edge technology? . that technology is at our fingertips as well. we need to use that to the utmost effectiveness. i do not think this is the time to formulate a war plan, but it is the time to at least assume a specific commitment that we will do everything possible, just with an example, i have always said the same thing. whatever we do for the five, the group of five, it is not enough compared to what the group of five has done for themselves. they have done that in isolation. he did not have any technology available, just a telephone. and written correspondence. letters that they tried to answer. they have contact with thousands of people throughout the planet,

and from prison and they respond to each and every letter. if they can do it with their limitations, imagine what those of us who are free can-do. as my colleague one said, the idea is to have love and devotion to what we do. i hope depth -- i hope that this is what the discussion will conclude -- the message that we will conclude with. once again, not just -- i want to thank you for not as having come to the national assembly to discuss issues and listen to us, and to respond to such vital issues. this has been going on for quite a long time. in fact, no one on this planet is doing so much for peace and for the salvation of our planet

then comrade fidel. [applause] i am understand that he has other things he has to do. his appearance here is not the only tasking us today to do. he has many other tasks -- not the only task he has to date to do. he has many other tasks, and he carries them out with the energy that characterizes him. i would like to ask comrade fidel to provide us with a final conclusion for this special assembly. >> excuse me, commander. cmdr.

commander, you have asked three questions, and i would just say that i was responding. i do not want this assembly to end without having stated the commitment that we have. the weapons of the empire, we know they may be deployed, but the conflict with iran is going to be very serious. when fidel calls us with his firm body of knowledge, we have enough arguments to convince obama, but we have to determine whether president obama is intelligent enough to be convinced. he can resolve these enormous contradictions. he has the solution, but he needs to move quickly and show himself willing to make himself free of the limitations.

[applause] >> well, i would like to ask if you have had an opportunity to of the book "a victory in that strategy -- victory in strategy." i know several of you do have it. others to do not, i know it is

not easy to get because it is still being published. i think we have up to 60,000 copies printed. the book is now being sold. for every book that is sold, five will be distributed or ifts.or will be guest so, we will resolve this. i committed myself, once the book was launched, that i would have a the second book published, "the strategic counteroffensive," and i have

been working on the book cover the last few days, and it is almost ready. many of the ideas are already written, and i am not going to describe the events of the battle that i wrote about, who participated. obviously, these are things where i need to use a lot of historical materials, documents, and put them all together, but that is almost ready, and i hope that there is going to be enough time to publish the book and be able to submit to you. the other data was saying -- the other day i was saying that my most important concern and

activity was to hold this meeting. this is a culmination of my efforts. tomorrow in going to have the pleasure of meeting -- visiting a venezuelan journalist. that has already been agreed upon. and others who are also coming to visit, and i think it is going to be a very useful meeting so that we can discuss the same questions that i already posed to you. except for other issues that may arise, i am also going to discuss the official launching of the book. for now have nothing else to do, and i think i have extra time. we have to start thinking, all

of us, as the poet said, we need to -- with a literary prize that was given, i know that pays a major reward. i believe the because of the humor, the profound ideas, i think we need to disseminate that pompoem. well, that is all i have to say, nothing else comrades.

thank you very much. [applause] hopefully, we will see each other again soon. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010]

>> president obama on the gulf coast today in florida. he spoke just a while ago. we were hoping to bring that to you live. we will bring it to you as soon as we can. he was there to speak about the gulf coast restoration plan with the navy secretary, visiting area residents and small business owners. again, we will bring that to you a little later on today. if you would like more information about the gulf coast oil spill, we have a special web page with all of our coverage. there are nearly two dozen congressional hearings,

speeches, and it links to related pages. we have also set up a section for your comments. you will find all of that at c- span.org/oilspill. tomorrow, a discussion of the upcoming midterm elections and poll numbers. then, the process people go through to become a u.s. citizen. hurdles they might encounter. after that, a wall street journal writer on her newspaper's investigation into how on-line companies use technology for the purpose of learning about a subscribers' interests. plus, your e-mail and phone calls. "washington journal" is alive sunday, 7:00 a.m. on c-span. >> daniel webster sat here?

>> harry truman hated the movie. he just despise did. at the time, he was seen as the senator from a machine in kansas city. i wonder if people thought at that point that the movie was looking at him and his relationship to the political machine back home. >> washington movies and a book about the u.s. congress, sunday campaignnetwork.o"q &a."or >> washington your way, the c-

span network. created by cable, provided as a public service. >> next, education secretary arne duncan outlines his department's goal of ending bullying in public schools. talks the creating a national strategy to address the problem. this is about 45 minutes. >> thank you for coming today for what i think could be an extraordinarily important conference. as you know, this is the first federal summit on the bullying. we have an extraordinary range of ngos, corporate leaders, and federal partners. this is summit culminates months of unprecedented collaboration and hard work. we have not only joined forces, but more important, we are committed to using this as summit to launch a sustained commitment to address and dramatically reduced bullying

across the country. it is incumbent on everyone in this room, every educator, a school leader, to ask, what can we do to sustain the commitment to reduce bullying? to answer that question, we start with another question. why have these agencies not come together for a federal summit on bullying before today? the answer to that starts end ends with the fact that the problem of a bullying has been shrouded in myths and misunderstandings for far too long. at the federal level, we have not taken the problem seriously enough. it too often, we shrug it off. we have all heard the excuses and the reasons to minimize the gravity of bullying and to dismiss the potential steps to reduce it. what can we do? bullying has been going on forever.

kids will be kids. kids are mean. she just made a bad joke. she did not really mean to hurt anyone. it was just a onetime thing. of bullying may be wrong, but it is not an education issue. at the heart of education is a core belief that bullying is an elusive concept that cannot be defined. all of these myths are flat out wrong. bullying is definable. it has a common definition and a legal definition in many states. it is very much an education priority the goes to the heart of school performance and school culture. the truth is that bullying is ultimately an issue of school safety. school safety is a much broader issue than shootings and gang violence that we see on the evening news. bullying is part of that continuum of school safety. it is troubling in and of

itself, but it is doubly dangerous because it can lead to much more serious of violence and abuse. it is a gateway behavior. too often, it is the first step on the road to a tragic incidents as of school violence that we watched with horror. at my school, we had to deal every day with this subject of school safety. we are not doing enough as a nation or as a school leaders to keep our children safe. keeping my children safe and my students safe in their school and in their community was by far my toughest challenge. frankly, our inability as adults to secure the safety of innocent children is a failing that haunts me every single day. for the record, let me state my basic operating premise.

no student should feel unsafe in school. take that as your starting point, and you see that this is but a moral issue at a practical one. every child should feel safe in the classroom or hallways of school and on the playground. children go to school to learn, and an educational opportunity must be the great equalizer in our country, no matter your race, sex, or zip code. every child is entitled to an education, and no child can get a quality education without first feeling safe in school. it is a travesty of our educational system that students fear for their safety in school, worry about being bullied, or suffer discrimination because of their ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or a host of other reasons. the job of teachers and principals is to help school children learn and grow. they cannot do that job if

safety is not assured. the practical importance of school safety is just as important as the moral side of the equation. it schoolchildren do not feel safe, they will struggle to learn. they will drop out, tune out, and get depressed. if they are victims of violence, verbal harassment, substance abuse, at all of these interfere with the student's ability to learn. i take issue with the argument that kids will be kids and that there is not much students and schools can do to make their environment safer. there is the potential to dramatically improved school environment and school safety. the default of schools and their communities should be that violence and harassment are completely unacceptable. the fact is, no school would be a great school unless it was a

state school first. this is a foundation for strong academic achievement. that is why in chicago reestablished school safety as a matter for our school report cards every year. just as remeasured students who exceeded state standards in reading, math and other metrics. what does a state school look like? it is obvious the minute you walk through the door. a safe school is one where the students feel like they belong, feel secure, valued and surrounded by adults that they can trust. state schools cultivate a culture of respect and caring, and have little tolerance for destructiveness. at a safe school, students do not curse or threaten teachers. they do not spend most of their class time texting other students or listening to their ipods. they do not from the hallways. they are engaged in ways to learn and grow.

they are empowered by a feeling of safety and are more likely to feel free to explore, and even fail, as they learn. at a safe school, all of the staff pitches in to create a culture of respect, teachers, principals, a lunchroom attendant, the custodial staff, every adult in the building becomes part of the solution. let us talk about was a school feels like. i've been in many schools around the country that do not feel safe. this is a tragedy we have to avoid. bullying is an epidemic and urban, at suburban, and rural schools, unfortunately. the statistics are staggering. in 2007, nearly one of three students in middle schools and high schools reported that they had been bullied in school during that school year. that means that 8.2 million young people a year are suffering and pans of bullies. the most common form of police is -- suffering at the hands of

police. the most -- hands of bullies. the most common form of bullying is being made fun of. many students said they were pushed or shoved, others were threatened with harm, and some had their property destroyed. cyber bullying is a new and especially in an insidious form of a bullying. this allows police to do their work at a distance, outside this -- this allows bullies to do their work at a distance, outside of school. new technologies provide bullies with new tools that hurt students in old ways. bullying has been going on and schools for ever, but the truth is, it does not have to keep

going on forever. it is not something teachers or parents can shrug off. children are never borne as bullies. it is a learned behavior. if they are learning it from peers, parents or the community, they can absolutely learn to behave differently as well. this is not an occasional bad joke or a child being too aggressive. this is deliberate. a bully wants to hurt someone. it is repeated, with the same victim being targeted again and again. ee takes advantage of an imbalance in power -- of the bully takes advantage of an imbalance in power. indeed physical, a verbal or relational. -- it can be physical, verbal or relational. this is a problem that often has an impact on children who are neither bullies and nor is the

victim's. it shapes the way that everyone views the school environment. ultimately, bullies perpetuate physical and mental abuse. a powerful testament to the fact that bullying is not a part of the natural order of things is that most people can, decades later, remember the feeling of being bullied, or the haunting memory of standing by while a classmate was bullied. this suggests that bullying leaves long lasting scars on the children. why does it have such long- lasting effects? why are the victims of bullying more likely to drop out of school and become depressed? because it is insidious. it is enveloped in a code of silence and a code of shame.

children are embarrassed or do not recognize the behavior as bullying. maybe they fear retaliation, do not have an adult they trust to talk to about what is going on. the situation is much the same with cyber bullying. adolescence adolescents feel that what happens online states online. teachers, parents and students should be encouraged to confront bullying behavior. we want students to be assertive and to stand up for themselves. we do not want to encourage them to respond to bullying with the violence or force of themselves. instead, at schools should be cultivating a culture of trust and accountability. students should feel free to tell teachers and other adults when bullying is occurring. they should feel a sense of

responsibility for the well- being not just of themselves, but for their peers as well. they should not feel that they are tattletales, but acting responsibly. when an 11-year-old started being bullied, she wrote president obama a letter. the president wrote her back. he said he plans to change the culture in her classroom and her community. i would like her to stand up so you can give her a round of applause. [applause] >> schools, as all of you know, can have an enormous impact in reducing the bullying. all schools should have a code of conduct.

a code of conduct cannot just be punitive. schools must teach and reward positive behavior as well. part of setting expectations is being consistent. adults must communicate with students about how they should be paid all the time, even when they're unaware of doing so. -- should behave all the time, even when they are unaware of doing so. they should create an atmosphere of inclusiveness, a hallmark of safe schools. i want to talk about the problem of destructive and disorderly classrooms. for many parents and teachers, destructive and disorderly schools are a serious problem because a little learning can take place in a classroom that is in a perpetual state of chaos. survey data indicates that one in three tiers nationwide --

teachers nationwide say that student miss behavior interferes with their teaching tardiness and class cutting is interfering with learning in their classrooms. this is inflicting even bigger problems and then on and the teachers. in a survey of six traders, 75 -- of 10th graders, 75% said that other students often disrupted their glasses. -- disrupted their classes. 5% of urban teachers said they were attacked by a student in the past year. it is inexcusable that so many teachers are attacked, threatened, or face persistent threats in the classroom. just as good practiced echoes

through a school, so do bad practices. the root problem in schools is the method of disorder and disruption. it is the broken window that goes unfixed that signals that no one is in control, no one is taking care of things, no one really cares about them. that is one more reason school districts need to do a better job of setting their expectations, minimizing class destruction, and disciplining students to prevent other students from learning. school leadership matters tremendously in school safety. what we do in school matters. that is true even when violence occurs away from school. everyone knows that the time of the most violent activity is not midnight, it is 3:00 p.m., right when school lets out.

that is why obama supports an extended school day, keeping kids off the streets, or keeping them involved in after-school activities or community organizations. that is critical to help the emotional development. community organizations have an important role to play. they need to work with schools to provide students with more opportunities. do not have to have york teachers stay all hours after school. bring in nonprofit partners. girls'boy's club, a club, after-school tutoring programs, kaplan initiatives, community-and other w based organizations. this allows students to continue to participate after the school day is over. if the bill that they will come. our kids are looking for

structured -- if you build it a day will come. our kids are looking for structuree. our department has a new commitment to enforcing the law, including civil rights laws that apply to racial, sexual, and physical discrimination. we are working to formulate better solutions. finally, we will be providing more resources to places with the most challenging problems. outside of this room, i am not sure that many educated parents realize that bullying can constitute racial, sexual, and physical disability harassment that is prohibited by civil rights law enforced my -- enforced by the department of civil rights. we will be outlining school's civil-rights responsibilities to

protect students from discriminatory harassment. as a part of the enhanced civil rights data collection, we will also be gathering new and better data on harassment. we understand stopping this plague will take time. it takes the same commitment. it takes resources, and a promise you that we are in this battle for the long haul. we have setup a stop bullying and now campaign focused on elementary school children. as all of you know, bullying starts young. we need to reach students with a message that bullying is not a day. we are backing this up with the commitment of increased resources. but our budget and our blueprint for reforming the elementary and secondary education reform calls for a 12% increase in funding for programs that ensure that

students feel safe, healthy and supported at school. our program will enable states and districts to measure school safety, including bullying, at the school level. it will provide federal funds for intervention in schools with the greatest needs. just as important, we will be getting better nation about school -- will be getting better information about school safety at the school level. students will be given a formal role in shaping our effort to make schools safer. historically, i have to ask why this country has been so reluctant to simply ask students how they felt about their own schools. as important as all of these steps are, they do not begin to solve this problem overall. we have gathered many partners here today to begin a sustained commitment of resources that all

of us need to establish. the department of education stands ready to provide leadership and be a partner, but we desperately need your help. i am so pleased to have summit partner agencies here today, as well as the surgeon general, the associate surgeon general. preventing bullying will take leadership from state and local authorities. the sullivan county school system is a fantastic illustration of how to use client survey is to empower students by giving them a voice. not surprisingly, academic achievement is up in sullivan county and discipline issues are down. to keep making progress in the battle to reduce the bullying, we need involvement from the corporate, civic and non-profit

leadership as well. this will take action but it students, school stuff, teachers, parents, and concerned citizens. all of us, all of us have a part to play year. -- play here. we definitely need your ideas. we need to gather the most knowledgeable experts on the issue of bullying in america at one place and in one time to get thinking done about how to bring this to an end. we will never begin to have all of the answers in our department of education, but with the collective knowledge and wisdom of all of you assembled here today, we can identify and highlight solutions. i ask you to be daring, to think imaginatively, to challenge us, to challenge ourselves, and to listen carefully over the next day and a half. to break the cycle of bullying, we have to people. the status quo simply cannot exist. with your courage, with your imagination, with your

leadership, i think this summit can be a turning point where america finally tackled the problem of a bullying and leaves and the myth of bullying behind once and for all. thank you very much, and i will be happy to answer your questions. [applause] >> thank you very much. that was very inspiring. i run a program to stop spider bullying. -- cyber bullying. i am interested in the civil rights approach to addressing and gender preference, ethnic preference, the types of issues that are rooted there. how would that work? >> our civil rights department

worked hard to revitalize this period has been dormant for a while. where we see issues around the country, a we will confront them openly and honestly. the offices back in the game, back in business. they are going to move very aggressively to spotlight things that are not working for children. where the status quo is not working, we will challenge them open and honestly. this is a piece of the solution that has been lacking for a long time. >> mr. secretary, big news this week about race to the top. how are we trying in this particular issue to actual dollars going to the states, and how can they understand that they have to take this

seriously? >> what we tried to do in our blueprint for raced to the top and the budget, is we tried to do a couple of things well. we are not trying to be all things to all people. a big piece for this is doing a much better job of asking students what they are thinking. i think a lot of truth is going to come. what i think kevin and his team are doing so well is getting out there and giving students the tools and the opportunity to say what they feel. we will put resources behind the places a bet are willing to have the courage to ask the tough questions. we've focused so much on test scores and other things. those are lagging indicators. we need to worry about building a positive school climate, building trust, and communicating what needs to be communicated.

if we do those things better, test scores and graduation rates will follow. you cannot get those things without doing the other. that will be a big part of the solution as we move forward. >> good morning, secretary duncan. i am delighted to hear about a 12% increase in your budget. the question i have is do you see in your blueprint that some of those resources will go toward research? specifically, what types of programs are able to influence bullying in the classroom and beyond? >> absolutely. we are trying to really become a data generator. we think the practices are out there. we think we have not done a good job of taking a scale of what is

working. three years from now, four years from now, i hope we are a lot smarter as an organization. through research, through data, understand what practices are making a difference, dramatically reduced violence, increase engagement. we are going to put a lot more resources beyond -- behind those that are working. we are making a lot of investments in a lot of areas. we know we will not that 1000. we know we will make some mistakes, but our goal is to move from being a compliant bureaucracy to being a mechanism for innovation. >> mr. secretary, i am from the national middle school association.

i was wondering, if police are violating the law, why do we not bring law enforcement in to handle it? it seems to me that social workers -- that teachers are having to be social workers, police officers, and everything else, and they have very little time to educate our students. >> where a student is involved in a criminal offense, that may be appropriate. there is also a lot we have to do to get to students before their behavior or rises to a criminal level. i think that so many students can be turned with real support, intervention, role models. my goal is not to lock up bullies. my goal is to help students have the support in homes and the community. we have to get young children earlier to give them the role models, the mentors, the skills, the strategy to be a in

different ways. at the end of the day, criminal behavior is involved, that needs to be dealt with openly and honestly. but i do not think locking up a bunch of students get us where we need to go. [applause] >> good morning. thank you for all you are doing on our collective behalf. i am with the national center for bullying prevention and american dairy queen. we were talking about resources and the lack of resources, specifically as they relate to civic or nonprofit organizations. i am curious if you have a model in mind, or if you have seen success models, of how corporations can get involved with the resources to help. >> great question. resources are extraordinarily tough today, as all of you know. we have talked to people who have done this work for three or

four decades, and many of them say this is the toughest time they have ever had. there is not an easy or a short answer. we have to be much more efficient, much more collaborative, and much more productive. let me give you one idea that i have tried to push hard. i think schools should be opened a 13-14 hours a day, six-seven days a week. people think that will involve a huge amount of money, but it doesn't have to be that way. we run the schools from 9:00- 3:00, but someone else can run this school's from 3:00-9:00. i do not know why we continue to build new ymca is around the country. we have 95,000 schools in all kinds of neighborhoods. every school has classrooms. -computer labs. they of gems. devin libraries. some have -- they have a

computer labs. they have gymnasiums. they have libraries. some have swimming pools. these are great resources. i think we can become much more efficient by using what already exists. we can have the corporate sector come in and co-locate. it really makes the school the center of the community. we did this in chicago and people thought we were crazy. teen-agers do not want to be out on the street. they want something positive. they want to have something to do. we had students try to get into dance, drama, and after school robotics programs. i think corporations can look at locating and forming those partnerships. there are battles about you is in charge of cleaning up.

it is in charge of toilet paper? there is the nitty gritty that makes it tricky, but i think corporations can use their influence to form partnerships. at a time when resources are scarce and we are going to be in the situation for a while, we have to be paid in a different way. i think there is a lot of upside there. >> we have 67 bullying prevention programs, none of which are working in the united states. i would like you to comment about your plan of supporting some real research to evaluate 67 programs, 42 states with legislation, comment on that. >> i do not think we can legislate that. 67 is probably