dto form a government. we are working closely with them. we are working so other countries in the region have an interest in the formation of a government. it should be decisions based in iraq and not send it to outside pressures. >> the fact that he was not confirmed by the senate, is that show anything on his life ahead of being an ambassador? >> he remains our nominee. . .

>> in ecuador? the airport was seized. police are protesting in the streets. >> at this point, our embassy confirms that there are some american citizens at the airport, but they are not in immediate danger. the area surrounding the embassy is col. -- is calm. >> argue monitoring it? do you know what is happening? >> i understand some troops are protesting. okay?

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> in a few moments, the heads of the democratic and republican senatorial campaign committees look at the election. at 9:15, president obama at a democratic national committee fund-raiser. at 10:00, minority leader john boehner. later, house speaker nancy pelosi and other democratic leaders talk about what they have done this year in the house. >> washington had one of the more difficult mothers of all time. she was very self-centered. you would think that the mother of the father of our country would take more pride and pleasure in her son.

we do not have any. >> the first of two programs with author, ron chernow. he wrote the large full-scale biography of our first president. >> next, senators john cornyn and robert near dallas, -- robert menendez, date to questions at the national press club. 37 senate seats are being contested this year. 19 are held by democrats, 19 held by republicans. the senators were introduced by teresa werener. >> good afternoon. welcome to the national press club. i am 8 freelance reporter and chair of the national press club. we are the world's ugliest professional organization for journalists and are committed --

we are the world's first professional organization for journalists. please visit our website www.press.org. to donate to our programs, go to our web site. on behalf of our members worldwide, i would like to welcome our speakers. we will have guessed of our speakers as well as working journalist. i am -- i would also like to welcome our c-span and radio audience. after the speech, i will ask as many questions as time permits.

[applause] today, we are a little over a month away from elections that are likely to bring some major changes in washington. polls say that voters are not happy. there is evidence that incumbents are in trouble. the economy is still struggling, the senate seems unable to move forward with major at legislation, it is not pretty.

it is probably not a great time to be in charge of winning elections all over the country. or is it? our speakers today are the men in charge of leading their parties' efforts. they share organizations that help to support their candidates, do research, strategy, fund raising, advertising, and help get voters to the poll. robert mendez cheers the democratic campaign committee. it is a matter of holding onto the senate. the democrats now claim 59 seats in their pocket. in november, 19 seats will be up for election. even the democratic majority leader is fighting to maintain his seat. senator john cornyn, chairman of the republican national committee, the campaign is about gaining control. in november, 17 current republican seats will be up for election. a net gain of 11 seats will put

the republicans back in the majority. they have already begun to talk about rolling back some of president obama's initiatives, such as health care. so many seats are at stake in both chambers, that it seems that anything can happen on november 2. robert mendez is the son of immigrants. he represents new jersey in the u.s. senate. he has a long history of public service and has held positions such as kohlberg commissioner, mayor, state legislature, and senator since 2006. john cornyn's routes in texas run deep. he grew up in texas, went to school at an independent college, and even taught there for a while. he has served as a judge, a member of the texas supreme court, and texas of -- and texas attorney general, before being

elected to the senate. both are adding their respective campaign committees at what the most difficult times in recent history. we welcome them to the national press club. we look forward to hearing your perspectives on this election. we did a coin toss to determine who would be first. i would like to say that senator cornyn won the toss. senator? [laughter] [applause] >> thank you, theresa. i hope that coin toss victory portends good things going forward. i appreciate the national press club and the board of governors. i am glad to be here with my colleague, senator menendez. i know that the national press club is known as the place where news happens, so maybe we will make some news today. who knows? that depends on you, not on us.

i am also appreciative that this is being broadcast on c-span. i welcome all who are watching us on television. i think the best indicator of the way the elections are going and shaping up in the next few weeks is the travel schedule for the president of the united states. on tuesday, president obama held a rally in wisconsin, a state he carried in 2008 by 13 points. last week he had lined two fund- raisers in connecticut, a state he carried by 23 points. i have lost count of the number of fund raising trips he made to the west coast for senator barbara boxer, a state he carried by 24 points. following the flight pattern of air force one of the next few weeks i think will be fascinating. the president will visit states that he won just two years ago,

but in which republican senate candidates seem to have a clear advantage. states like iowa, indiana, ohio, pennsylvania, florida, north carolina, and new hampshire. where the president does this -- the needs better luck than he had in new jersey and virginia and massachusetts in the election of january 19 earlier this year. washington, nevada, and colorado or having close races. it is clear that air force one will have to navigate through some political turbulence -- the same turbulence that many independent observers have noted. for example, nuclear politics

has the generic congressional ballot of republicans up four points. you may say that is not a huge lead in the generic ballot, but look back at 2006 when the democrats had an 11.5 point lead in the generic ballot. according to pew research, republicans have a 13. vantage among independent voters -- a 13 point advantage among independent voters. then there is the enthusiasm gap. the gallup poll shows that republicans have a 20 point advantage when it comes to democrats as far as the enthusiasm gap is concerned. then there is this, american university did a study of the

2010 primaries and noted that 4 million more people voted in the republican primaries this year than voted in the democratic primaries. the average percentage of voters in statewide republican primaries was the highest in 40 years. republicans set a record turnout in eight different states. the average percentage of voters participating in the democratic primary was the lowest ever, including a record low participation in 10 states. with less than five weeks to go before the midterm elections, when should we expect to see? that may suggest a few stories that you might be following. first of all, i think it is clear that the american people have gotten very tired of being lectured to as opposed to being listened to. last month, for example, in missouri, 71% of voters voted in

favor of a referendum that would have repealed the individual mandate in the health-care bill that was passed early this year. 71%. the next day, the majority leader had this to say. he said it is very obvious that people at the lack of understanding of our health care reform bill. last weekend, senator kerry said we have an electric that does not pay much attention to what is going on. people are influenced by a simple slogan rather than the facts or the truth of what has happened. with all due respect to my colleagues, that is not the electorate that i see. i see builders engaged in a way that i have never seen them engaged in my adult life. they know the national debt exceeds $13 trillion. they are quite aware that congress spent $787 billion in money that we had to borrow in

order to get the economy moving again. it failed in its stated goal of keeping unemployment at 8% or lower as the president predicted. they do know a lot about the new health-care law. believe me, we heard from them in our offices. they actually took the time to read it. it was posted on the internet and it was phenomenal to the extent that voters and the american people got engaged in the health-care debate. yet, it was passed purely along partisan lines using an extraordinary process known as budget reconciliation in order to a boy the 60 vote requirement for ordinary legislation. then there are elements of the health-care bill that are just now coming to light, like the requirement of issuing a 1099 form every time you purchase $600 or more worth of services.

i know many are great -- many of my colleagues could not be aware of this onerous requirement, but i have to tell you that smart business owners throughout the country are very much aware of it. they feel it is another example of washington's job killing requirement. many texas small businessmen tell me they do not have the staff to do the paperwork. others are worried that even if they do, that somebody will make an inadvertent mistake and they will be forced into an irs audit or worse. the point is, the american people are not clueless. they are actually quite engaged. i think they are more engaged now than they have been at any time in my adult life. they are certainly not ignorant of what is happening in washington. they see what is happening and i think they are pushing back hard. like during seems to have given way to listening.

this week by spread that joe biden told his fellow democrats in new hampshire that they needed to stop whining. president obama said it is inexcusable and irresponsible for democrats to show less enthusiasm for the candidates than they did two years ago in "rolling stone." i do not think is lecturing is working very well. i think what has happened these last few years is a very aggressive legislative agenda has been passed that the american people are upset with. they are worried about high unemployment, runaway spending, and unsustainable debt. we find out that there is a lot of work that should be done that will not be done. even though the largest tax increase in american history eggs -- the senate failed to

pass a defense authorization bill to make sure our men and women in uniform have what they need for the first time in 48 years. we still do not have a budget. that is something most families and small businesses cannot do without. the government simply did not pass one. there is a much unfinished business, there are bills being touted in the lame-duck session. one casualty has been a subject i have been engaged in for quite a bit -- immigration reform. that is something president obama said he would take up his first year in office. we are going on the second year ended has not been a priority for him. in the center menendez has introduced a bill -- i note senator menendez has introduced a bill. i think this serious subject

matter raised more consideration. all of this has created a climate of uncertainty for job creators and voters. that is why some of these races are particularly important. according to illinois, west virginia, and delaware and they will take office immediately. they will be serving in the lame-duck session. i believe the voters in the states will render a very clear consensus. the campaign strategy of our friends on the other side of the aisle is crystal clear. they are not running on their legislation -- on their legislative accomplishments because it is largely unpopular. they are worried that voters will hold them accountable for the failure of those policies to

make their own stated goals. they are running campaigns against the american people, some of them are participating in the political process for the first time. i am talking about the tea party movement. they have called some of those participating in the movement -- they are demonizing members of the tea party movement and president obama himself has engaged in class-warfare try to separate america on an issue like taxes where we ought to not raise taxes on any one during a fragile economic recovery. then there is the problem of not taking responsibility or attempting to blame others for their problems. i do not think it is going to work. the issues the american people care most about or joblessness -- 14.4% unemployment in nevada

, 9.6% unemployment nationwide. spending is caring people. debt is a leading grandparents and parents wondering if the next generation will be burdened with our failure to accept responsibility or at they are going to have a better life for their children. every generation hopes each generation will be better. i predict stormy weather will lead to a tsunami on november 2. the same people who made news will be making history on november 2. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, senator. senator mendez? >> thank you. good afternoon, everyone. i am pleased to be here with my

friend and colleague senator cornyn. i am a little chagrined when i sat down at the table and saw the cookies. [laughter] the longhorn looks like a very powerful expression and the more mile-mannered pacific sailboat that represents new jersey looks to be disproportionate. then i got that we were going to sail straight to victory on november 2. so i thank you for that. [laughter] i think it is fair to say that both john and i have full plates right now. the map is bigger than in previous cycles. both the number of states and the size of the states. it has been an intense cycle so far with a lot of ups and downs. i do not think the roller- coaster is ready to level out anytime soon.

i think it we recognize, on the democratic side, that we are facing challenges in this cycle. we have the reality -- we have historical headwinds. we have other challenges, as well. after two cycles of very big democratic gains, we know the cards are stacked against us. we know that there is a tremendous economic anxiety out there in the country right now and the voters are understandably impatient. i agree with john on one thing. it seems that there is a reticence to take responsibility. the responsibility of having two wars waging abroad, having a tax debt and paid for it, a new entitlement program and paid for, unbridled spending during

those eight years that any economic policy of the bush era that led us to the press at this -- led us to the precipices of a new depression. that is what democrats inherited. that is the economic anxiety that people are facing now. that is the choice they will have to make in this election whether they want to go back to the essence of those who created the economic anxiety and troubles that they are in, or do they want to continue to move to the future with those who are moving us away from the abyss and into prosperity and growth. that is really what this election is all about. even though the winds may be blowing against us historically and otherwise, i want to think there are certain advantages we will enjoy heading into this election. before i get to those, let me

make a case for what we think this election is all about. this week republicans have done what they have done time and time again. i smiled when i hear the words adversary when he said, "there was not a defense authorization bill passed." what guess what. the republicans filibustered. filibuster means that instead of 51 votes being a majority, we have to insist on 60 votes. the bottom line is, they had to use that filibuster 101 * last year alone. that is a record high. as they used the filibuster to impede progress, then they let met tell things do not get done. that is really very interesting.

we tried to stop the outsourcing of american jobs this week. we want to see "made in america" a reality here in our country again. not only will products be made in america, but there will be more american jobs for american workers. republicans, due to corporate interest, filibustered and ensured that our ability to make sure that those jobs were created here did not happen. we told republicans -- with salt republicans do everything they could to stop wall street reform. i do not think there is anyone in the country that did not believe that there is a difference between a free market and a free-for-all market. what we had under the previous eight years was a 3-for-all market. the problem with those excesse'' is that we collectively paid for it as a country. yet they stood up and opposed

wall street reform. sideood on the consumer's when they were standing with wall street and the big banks. when a came to health care, they stood with the insurance eight -- insurance industry and we stood with consumers. when we had the oil spill, we were trying to make a company responsible for the spill ultimately pay -- when you mess up your cleanup and you're totally responsible for it -- guess what. they stood with big oil. it is pretty clear. they have stood with the special interests. with wall street, with big banks, with big insurance, with big oil -- and we have been fighting for the average person in this country. the cusp of our argument to voters is simply this, democrats or on your side. we are trying to create those jobs here in america. we are trying to undo the

challenges of eight years of the bush economic policy that cannot be turned around in 18 months. we are clearly on our way to moving in a better direction. we want to stop the tax breaks for big companies that send these jobs overseas. they want to continue to support this tax breaks for this country -- for those companies that send those jobs overseas and they will use their filibuster power to ensure it. listen to what these candidates are saying about social security and medicare. they want to reverse the new deal. they want to privatize it, which means they want wall street to ultimately run the game on your retirement security. we do not believe in that. i agree that the american public is paying attention. the good news is that in the poacher's get this. they understand that

republicans represent special interests. republicans do their cells and no tanks with standing up with big oil. as an example, just look at the "new york times" poll. when asked which party is better at helping the middle class, democrats 55%, republicans 33%. they know who is on their side. to be short, i know that democrats have not been able to snap their fingers and turn this economy around overnight. you cannot take eight years of an economic policy and turn it around overnight. the bottom line is that we are in the process of making that type of change towards a better future. we have growth in our domestic economy. we see growth of jobs versus the millions that were lost under the previous administration.

we will continue to move forward. one thing we can be assured of is that there is advantage that the electorate is not yearning to go back to the failed bush economic policies of the past. there are some other advantages we enjoy. first, republicans were trapped into always defending their own seats. in some places we are playing on offense. we have the races in missouri and kentucky, for instance. secondly, their candidates. we do not believe that the tea party as an institution is a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination. we obviously embraced the activism of citizens. the distance is the candidates that were elected holding views that are out of the mainstream of their constituents in their

states and holding views that clearly will not succeed. there are two groups of candidates i see among the republican crops. we see people who have had a long history of standing with special interest. these are the republicans who spent decades in washington doing favors for the special interests and they can be held accountable for the mess we find ourselves in today. i believe that individuals were defeated because they were seen as part of the problem in washington. i think that same energy and resentment can work against those individuals. the second group is those who have grown in size and notoriety, but who are more interested in adopting a strict national social doctrine than facing the economic challenges.

i look at them and i say to myself, "their positions are clearly to extreme." whether is it the privatization of medical care for veterans are the disbelief that it is a senators a job to help create jobs of -- for people of nevada. or the candidate in wisconsin who wants to open up jeweling in michigan. i do not think their constituents shared their views. they know that their positions do not sell well in a general election contest. one more note about their primary, their weapons or not healing. republicans in connecticut, nevada, alaska, and delaware have not united behind their nominees. i think that demonstrates how extreme these candidates' views

or. in close elections, that is a huge problem for them. finally, this is a cycle of unpredictability. who would have predicted that handpickednell's candidate in kentucky would lose? who have said 33 days ago that would haveo'donnell been the republican nominee in delaware. i do not think anyone would have thought about paying attention to the race in alaska. these are uncertain times. i think the starting line will fall flat on november 2. i believe these races are very fluid. i believe there is an enormous economic case for us to make. candidates and incumbents the to

get out there and tried this message as we see the gap closing of the intensity side. as we see the middle class believing we are better off. for democrats and republicans to realize their dreams and aspirations -- i believe we will do very well. the one prediction i will make is that on november 2, democrats will be in the majority in the united states senate. [applause] >> thank you, senator. for those of you at home, these are the cookies they were referring to. this is our texas longhorn and our sailboat. getting down to the questions, senators if you'll both join me up here. we will try to get in as many questions as we can. we may as well start with the hard hitting once.

what do you think of the efforts to chase the 14th and then met and no longer get automatic citizenship to those in the united states, especially those of undocumented immigrants. >> i think it should be a moot point. the federal government has the responsibility to secure our borders and enforce our laws. i think the most urgent thing we need to do in terms of our national security and to restore order out of chaos in our broken immigration system is to secure our borders. there would be no need to amend the constitution if we did that. >> several of my republican colleagues have suggested that changing the constitution makes good sense. i do not believe in it. i remember why the 14th amendment was created. it was created because blacks in this country were not treated as

a full citizen in this country. it was determined that birthright would give citizenship in this country. i do agree with john that we need to change our system of immigration, which is why i introduced a bill yesterday that is comprehensive in nature and deals with security at our borders. it deals with our economic interests that realizes that we need to do something with those that are here in the united states in an undocumented faction. i believe it is important to bring people out of the darkness and into the light. i want to know who is here to secure the american dream versus those who wish to do it harm. >> help melody think the polls all are and you think they can be counted on? -- al --

>> they have certain merits. if they are appropriately waited in the appropriate way, they can be of value. at the end of the day, the most important goal is the one taken on election day. that is going to determine these elections, not the polls. i appreciate all of the work of those polls. we obviously use them for internal purposes, but at the end of the day, they are a snapshot of the moment. i would just simply say that a lot of those polls were wrong in the primary context that we saw. >> i think an individual poll should be judged on its own individual merits. for example, a boulder surveys registered voters does not tell you who is likely to come vote.

those who try to estimate or predict who the likely bidders or have their own models. that is one reason why i like to look at the average tourist -- look at the averagers. i think the turnout is an area where i think there has been a lot of volatility. as much as bob and our democratic friends enjoyed the turbulence of the republican primaries, what they have under estimated is what is coming at them on november 2. i think many of the polls may have underestimated the intensity and the turnout i think we are going to see, which will favor republicans on november 2. >> center menendez, it seems as

if many democrats are running away from the president in their campaign ads. how would you be able to get anything done with this kind of division in your own ranks? >> i do not know that they are running away for the president. john was talking about all of the places the president was going to to to campaign for them. we are working to turn the economy around. that is one of the most important things we can do. in the face of enormous obstructions of republicans who have come to a political equation, their political equation for successes has this president fail and have the majority in the congress failed. if they fail, we will win the seats. i think it is a terrible equation because it means the country will fail at the end of the day.

i think our success has been because we have worked together for the president. he is making the change that he promised people. it has happened in this enormous challenges. >> during the time leading up to scott brown's election, democrats had a majority in the house and could do anything they wanted and did not. it was a purely partisan basis. they did not secure republican votes or even try to meet us in the middle. brad ellsworth ran an ad touting his formally held posts as sheriff and made no mention of the fact that he was a member of congress and i voted for the stimulus and a health care

bills that were enormously unpopular in indiana. i think that says it all. >> senator cornyn, this is for the republican caucus to decide, but which you give dan coates the 12 years of seniority at the is elected? >> it is for the conference and not for me. i had not given it a thought. [laughter] >> should the bush tax cuts for the wealthy be extended and, if so, what programs would you cut to pay for them? >> i am it not for raising taxes on anybody during a fragile economic recovery. i note a number of senate democrats share that view. i think we would have had a vote on this, but the democratic caucus is so divided. i think it is outrageous that we

have adjourned without addressing this looming tax increase. it will be the single largest tax increase in american history. playing class warfare is a very dangerous approach. it does not take into account a lot of small businesses and people to report their business and, on an individual tax return. i think playing class warfare and trying -- and leaving employers and job creators with the kind of uncertainty we see with this looming tax increase is bad for jobs and is that for the country. >> i think we would have had some progress on tax cuts because we support making the middle class tax cuts permanent, which republicans did not do. we want to see them become permanent in nature.

the problem is when the republican leader of the senate says he will not let anything move forward unless we make them all permanent. that is $4 trillion. i do not know how you can claim the mantle of fiscal responsibility and then come forth with a $4 trillion tax cut that is on paid for. that is not fiscally responsible. since that was the juggernaut between the two different views, i do not think it is possible to move forward with the only way that would have allowed us to move forward is to make this tax cuts permanent. >> do you think that the senate spent 18 months too long on the health care bill and should the senate had been focused on jobs?

>> the senate was focused on jobs when it came in. people forget where we started from. i will never forget the meeting that members of the banking committee and some members of the leadership had with chairman bernanke of the federal reserve in november 2008. he came in and outlined the previous administration and said there were a series of financial institutions that would collapse and if they collapsed, they would create a systemic risk to the rest of the country. i ask the chairman, you have to have enough tools to take care of this. he said, "if you do not respond in the next two weeks, we will have a global economic meltdown. " that was two months before president obama took office.

we also moved toward strike to create an economy that was flat and had negative gdp growth of 6.5%. it was losing before the president could do one thing, three-quarters of a million jobs in january, three quarter of a million jobs in february. we went to work to try to turn that are around so that we had positive gdp growth. that means we had a nearly 3 million job turnaround. is that good enough for individuals out there who are looking for a job in our country and want to have the dignity that a job brings them but no. there is much more to do. are we moving in the right

direction from what we inherited? >> if we had had a genuine bipartisan outrage by the white house, instead we saw all that they thought they could pass the bill without negotiating, without any sort of compromise. what we got in the process was not the health care bill that bans the cost curve down, but one that makes it worse and creates a new financial burdens for employers. one reason they are uncertain about hiring people or expanding their business -- one that took money out of medicare. one that actually raises premiums on people with insurance -- use all that most recently, the report from mcdonnell's with the policies they currently have do not meet the new government mandate and will cost a lot more.

unfortunately the goal of health care reform was not accomplished in my view because it did nothing about affordability and accessibility. instead it turned it over to washington, d.c., instead of you and me and allow us to make our own health care decisions. if charlie crist is elected, and do you think he will caucus with? k >> endrick -- kendric meek is our candidate in florida. i think he will have the opportunity to rise significantly in the polls. gov. chris is not doing that well in the polls. i think people are looking for a while -- real choice and will turn to kendrick.

he will caucus with the democrats. >> bob, you and i agree that charlie crist will not be sworn in as a united states ended -- united states senate or in january. the key was the democratic primary. democrats will come home. republicans and democrats will move towards more coat rubio -- marco rubio and leave governor crist without any support. i expect marco rubio to be sworn in as the next united states senator from florida. >> is the united states declining as a world leader and what should we do about it? >> i look at both the election

and the future with hope. i looked at it with the admiration of a country that in its most difficult and challenging times, i never forget that this country went to two world wars and succeeded. this country put a man on the moon. this country eliminated a series of diseases that were at one time thought impossible to erase. we have always met this challenge. right now the challenges that we have our lost by economics. they are economics of eight years of failed bush policies -- the very policies, by the way, that if you listen across the entire landscape of republican candidates, they largely embraced and say they want to get back to them. the last time i looked, if you want to look -- if you want to move forward, you put your car in d, a democrat, for drive and

you put it in our, or republican, for reverse. we have more allies and less enemies as a result with his engagement with the world. that is not an indication of the nation in decline. >> there is one area where president obama has literally embraced the bush policies and that is the war on terror. where he is receiving bipartisan support for the efforts to eliminate safe haven in afghanistan for al qaeda. we have supported him there and will continue to support him because we think it is important for america to remain strong and to protect our people against attacks from terrorist organizations. i think economically, bob is right. people want to get back to work. unfortunately the administration

seems to not recognize the important role of the private sector of the free-enterprise system and the small businesses, the zero entrepreneurs, and people who invest the money and capital in order to allow employers to hire and allow our economy to grow. that is the way america will get back to work. i worry that if we do not address the tax policies, for example, that make america had the second-highest corporate tax rate in the world, will try to find ways to make american businesses and our economy more competitive. our friends across the aisle want to punish them further and create a climate of uncertainty that has caused them to sit on their cash and not invest and get america back to work. i am very optimistic because i believe in the power of a mid- course correction. i think that is what we will get on november 2. >> what additional steps should

be taken to improve the housing market and protect homeowners? >> let me just say, one of the things that we are doing that goes to small businesses and certainly all of those in the home buying market as well, the bill that we passed with enormous republican resistance to give tax cuts, to give greater access to capital, to infuse greater opportunity for loans for small businesses. we make sure we gave small businesses the ability to buy a critical piece of equipment and be able to deduct it fully within one tax year. we would give tax credits to someone who will hire someone and will be able to forgo the payroll tax and, at the same time, be able to get a $1,000 tax credit.

we are trying to help small and midsize businesses even in the face of the obstruction i talked about before. first-time home buyers tax credit was incredibly important. it helped to stimulate at one point in time the housing market. it disincentives that bring people into the market who might be at the edge of wondering whether or not to get in. that would be desired. >> i think the difference of approach is the democrats believe in command in control out of washington. they believe they can command the economy to come back to life by passing sunday policy where spending more money. people are losing their homes because they lost their jobs. the reason why it is so important to encourage private investment and to make it easier, not harder, on the job

creators is so people can get back to work and pay their mortgages so they will not lose their homes. that is the single most important thing we can do. >> the dscc is not spending money in states like ohio and florida. do high-level appearances substitute for hard large cash? >> i do not telegraph where i spend my money. i let john know in advance. i am not going to answer where or how we make determinations about our spending. i will say that the president's appearance is enormous boost to candidates. we welcome it. as it relates to where i will spend my money in the next 30 days, we would just have to watch. >> i think the president's engagement in the midterm elections when he is not on the

ballot in such an aggressive way reminds people that this really is a referendum on his policies and on what washington has been doing the last two years. i think it will energize independents and republicans to turn and out and vote. i do not think it will help the candidates that are having to separate themselves from some of the failed policies that people disapprove of like the health- care bill, the stimulus, and others. i do agree with bob that we are not going to tell you how we are going to be moving the pieces on the chessboard, but i will say that we will be looking for opportunities to move money out of states where our lead is substantial and move it into other places where we believe we can be competitive. we have seen a huge expansion of the plainfield in west virginia.

it has been one of the most recent ones. out on the west coast, washington and california. it is a joy to be an interesting 43 days. -- it is going to be an interesting 43 days. >> republicans have more face book and twittered fans. >> i personally enjoy writing on face but everyday. if you are not following me, i hope you will. it is a great opportunity for the listening audience, please follow me on facebook and twitter. we have learned the importance of communicating and listening anyway we can, perhaps without the filters we get with the mainstream media, no offense intended. it is important to hear from people in an unfiltered and direct way.

sometimes she daughter -- you do not like what you hear. if we are going to keep our finger on the faults -- bolts of america, these are ways that are very useful. >> i have never done an accounting of how many friends everybody has, but i will say that every mode of information and communication is incredibly important. we increasingly -- we increase the spectrum of the media we participate in. we have had 34 million -- we have had $34 million of unknown, undisclosed -- i call them shall we -- $34 million of two republicans. that is an incredible amount. we are still 30 days out from the election. every means of communication when you are giving faced with

an onslaught of $34 million in undisclosed expenditures is very important, especially when you wonder who has given up those that -- given up that $34 million of undisclosed expenditures. i assume that when you have big banks and big insurance that there is a reason why it so much independent expenditure is taking place on the republican side. >> last week the house gop rolled out their pledge to america. what were the dip -- what with the democratic jobs agenda but like in 2011 if they've retained control the senate. >> i think it will be a series of initiatives. there is some important tax policy to do. we need to make sure we strike the right balance on capital gains and dividends. it is important to deal with the inheritance tax as well so that

people have a sense of how to handle their estates. it is important to look at tax policies in making sure that middle-class families get a permanent tax break. that will give them money to spend in the economy. i think all those things are incredibly important. if we look beyond this immediate issues, how do we continue to do what we have been doing as democrats? everybody talks about the stimulus package. 45% of the entire stimulus package was tax cuts for the private sector, the bonus depreciation -- to get the private sector to be engaged in our economy. it was to get the private, small businesses to be able to grow. what was the recent bill that we passed all small business to create greater capital and access to small-business this?

why? because they grow these jobs. this has faced constant opposition. it is amazing to me that even when republicans speak of small businesses, they vote against them. that is part of the strategy. it is failure at any cost, even if it means the nation loses. that is why this election will be so critical. . .

last year the deficit was 9.9% of our gross domestic product. in 2007 when the democrats won both houses, it was 1.2%. along with the three $13 trillion national debt. i think that creates a lot of uncertainty and a desire to sit on the side lines and wait to see what shakes out. >> we're almost out of time. before last asking the last questions, we have a couple of important issues to take care of. first of all, remind members and guests of future speakers. on october 6, we have margaret handburg, commissioner for the fda. october 8, brian moynihan, president and c.e.o. of bank of america. october 12, general norton schwartz, chief of staff of the u.s. air force.

second, i'd like to present our guests with the traditional m.p.c. mug. >> thank you very much. for the last question i'd like to ask each of you to predict one surprise on election day in the senate. >> i think john racy's going to be next united states senator from west virginia. >> i think democrats will have a lot more votes in the united states senate than people think this cycle, and we will surprise people on november 2. >> thank you, senators. i would like to thank everybody for coming today, and library and broadcast center for

organizing today's events. for more information on joining the press club and how to acquire a copy of today's program, please go to our website at www.press.org. thank you. we're adjourned. [applause] >> c-span vehicles traveling the country as we look at some of the most hotly contested race leading up to the elections. >> the third district is a massive district.

it stretches over 13 parishes. it includes over 200 miles of road. on the northern end is really the edge of the cajun heartland. you have a lot of sugar cane interests, heart of the rolling gas industry. close to the bottom is actually the southeastern coastline of louisiana. so fisheries issues are huge there. i think it's fair to say that the third district has some of the most commercial fishermen in the district compared nationally. there's also a lot of offshore activity. candidates who run in the third district usually need about a million five to win. it's a huge district and you have to be behind the three different media markets through new orleans, louisiana and lafayette to really get your message across. so far the race has really been defined by the republican side of the contest, the republican primary, which pits awe iberia businessman jeff lantry against former state speaker of the house downer. the most surprising thing to come from both of these men is their attacks on each other

regarding their own national guard records. jeff lantry has described downer as an empty -- empty suit. it's questions -- questioning lantry's status this desert storm because he served his time over here. jeff lantry in return has called hunt downer's time in iraq ceremonial. it's been a nasty, vicious race. >> i'm hunt downer, candidate for congress. and i approve this ad. >> jeff lantry must be a confused politician. he can't decide if he's pro-life. three years ago, jeff was undecided on exceptions for abortion. this year he switched to total pro-life. a month later, jeff claimed he would allow exceptions for abortion. a month later, jeff had switched again to pro-life. can we really trust him. go to jeff lantry lied to you.com to find out.

>> jeff lantry actually has some deep roots in the third district. charlie's original opponent, the first two times he faced election in the third district was a man named craig romero, jeff lantry ran his campaign. jeff lantry's using some of the same people from that campaign to run his bid this time around. he is a -- he is a small businessman. he served in the sheriff's office locally in his parish. he's former national guard. last year he lost a bid for the state senate and came almost directly off of that race to mount the campaign he's running right now. extremely conservative, he's picked up the majority of the tea party's support. you know, he's actually been able a few times to sit back and let the tea party kind of --

kind of hack away at downer's record for him so he wouldn't have to directly get involved. but he's not shy to get involved. he's definitely an in-your-face type of candidate. >> revelation 3 and 16, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, i will spew you out of my mouth. the tea party has discovered many lukewarm politicians within the republican party. we call the imposters rhinos, republicans in name only. hunt downer was a democrat for 30 years before conveniently switching to the republican party. downer has a deep connection to kathleen blanco, serving as her chief lobbyist in 2006. and receiving $5,000 in campaign contributions from her. stop hunt downer from going to washington. down with downer. this ad was paid for by the feart of louisiana, and we approve the message. >> and the real challenge in that runoff will be to get the

voters out. you know, the primary election, we only had 18 -- 18% was the average turnout, and that's so disappointing. we have many men and women serving our country who are willing to lay down their lives for us to have the right to vote and for citizens to not exercise that. so the challenge is for everyone. go out and vote. whether it's for me or someone else, go vote. >> hunt dune err -- downer, a lot of people response -- were surprised with downer's performance. jeff lantry came about 160 votes of winning the race outright but hunt downer was able to hold on and push him into a runoff. >> we're going to take you live now to president obama, who will be speaking at a democratic national committee event in washington. this is organized by the d.n.c.'s gen 44 group, which focused activities on supporters under the age of 40.

d.m.c. chairman tim tim cane is introducing the president now. this is live coverage on c-span. >> they may be mentioned. go to www.barack obama tonight and fill out a commitment to vote pledge so we know we got you on november 2. and then take that pledge and send it to everybody you know, friends, families, co-workers and forks you're in school with and get them to fill out that pledge as well over the course of the next month. that will be huge and very helpful for us. if you know somebody not registered to vote. in many states you can still register www.raiseyourvote.com. one last thing, one last thing before i bring up the president, a lot of folks on the other side feel like they've got the energy and they think that folks on the democratic side are tired. anybody tired out there? >> no! >> i used to be the soloist in my church choir. i'm not going to sing. but we used to sing a song and the song went like this -- i

don't feel tired. i've come to far from where i started from. nobody told me the road would be easy. i don't believe brought me this far to leave me. we're not tired, are we? we're not tired. we're not tired. we have come to far from where we started. nobody told us it would be ease but we are not ready to stop yet. let me bring out the president who is leading this nation, president barack obama! >> hello, d.c.! thank you! thank you!

thank you! thank you! thank you so much! i'm fired up! thank you. let me first of all thank one of the finest d.n.c. chairman we've ever had, tim cane, please give it up for him. tim cane -- i want to just point this out. tim cane supported me, he was the first statewide elected official outside of illinois to endorse my candidacy for president. that's the kind of president --

he supported me when nobody could pronounce my name. there was nothing in it for him, except he thought it was the right thing to do. and that's the kind of leader that you remember. i know you heard from david, my former campaign manager and great friend of mine and i understand b.o.b. was in the house. [applause] i will not do my version of airplane. [laughter] i love you back. it is good to see this crowd so fired up. [applause] i need you to be fired up!

i need to you stay fired up, all the way to november 2nd! all wait to november 2, because november 2 is going to say a lot about your future. a lot about your individual futures but also about the future of our country. two years ago with the help of a lot of you, some of you getting involved in politics for the first time, you defied the washington conventional wisdom. i mean, you remember folks did not think we were going to win. let's face it. because they didn't know about you. they said -- they said no, you can't overcome the citizens of our politics. no, you can't overcome the special interests. no, you can't make real

progress, big challenges. they said no, you can't. what did you say? [applause] you -- you proved that the power of everyday people going door to door, neighbor to neighbor, friend to friend, using networks, using the internet, that that was stronger than the force of the status quo. and every single one of you is -- is a shareholder in that mission to rebuild our country and reclaim our future. so i'm back here today just in case you have forgotten what that feels like, to change the country. because on november 2, we take

another test and the stakes could not be higher. when i arrived in washington, about 20 months ago, some of you remember, it was very cold. it was a cold day but the spirit was warm. our hope was we could pull together, democrats and republicans and independents, to confront the worst economic crisis since the great depression. what we hoped was we could get beyond some of the old political divides, red states, blue states, that has prevented us from making progress for so long. and we -- we came into this with that spirit because we understood that we're proud to be democrats but we're prouder to be americans.

and instead what we confronted when we arrived was just politics, pure and simple. an opposition party that was still stuck in the same failed policies of the past. whose leaders in congress were determined from the start to just let us deal with the mess that they had done so much to create. their calculation was simple and cynical. they knew it was going to take a long time to solve the economic challenges we were facing. worst economic crisis since the great depression. they understood that because it was going to take a long time, people would be frustrated. they'd feel anxious. they'd be fearful, and so what the other side calculated was if he just sit on the side livense, we let oshe and the democrats in

congress deal with everything, then we can do well in the polls. that was their theory. and that's what they did for the last 20 months. they said no to just about every idea i proposed, every policy i proposed and even ideas they traditionally agreed with. i'm not exaggerating. we had situations where they would sponsor bills and i would say ok, and then they would say, if you're ok with it, we must be against it. [applause] and because they understood because folks were going to be anxious and fearful, they've been tapping into that fear. and now the pundits are saying that the base of the republican party is mobilized and energized and excited and all of us who worked so hard in 2008, well,

maybe we're not as energized. maybe we're not as engaged. that's what they're saying. i'm -- i'm just the messenger here. they say that there is an enthusiasm gap, and that the same republicans and the same policies that left our economy in a shasmibles and the middle class struggling year after year, that those folks are already all will ride back into power. that's the conventional wisdom in washington. we cannot let that happen. we cannot sit this out. we cannot let this country fall backwards. the stakes are too high. we have to this country forward for you and your future. so there better not be an enthusiasm gap, people. not now.

and they are counting on amnesia. but make no mistake. this election is a choice. and the choice cannot be clear, for the last decade, the republicans in washington subscribe to a very simple philosophy, you cut taxes mostly for millionaires and billionaires. you cut regulations for special interests, whether it's oil companies or banks or insurance company. you cut back on investments in education and clean energy and research in technology. and the basic idea was if had you blind faith in the market, if you let corporations play by their own rules. if you let everybody else fend for themselves, including young

people, including the next generation, somehow america will grow and prosper. that was the theory. now, look, here's what we know, the philosophy failed. we tested it, we tried it. it didn't work. when they were in charge, job growth was slower than it's been in any decade since world war ii. between 2001 and 2009 middle class incomes fell by 5%. this is when they were in charge. the cost of everything from health care to college tuition kept on going up. a free for all on wall street led to the very crisis we're still digging out of today and by the way we went from record surpluses to record deficits. these are the folks who say they care about graceful spending.

they took us from a surplus when a democrat was in charge to big deficits when they were in charge. that's the truth. those are the facts. [applause] they're counting on amnesia. they think you all forgot. so i had too many jobs since i was president to rescue this economy from crisis and then rebuild it stronger than it was before. so you look forward to the american century, just like the 20th century is the american century. over the last 20 months we made progress on both of these fronts. there's no longer a possibility of the second depression. the economy is growing again. private seconder jobs for

months. the 3 million americans who wouldn't be working today if it were not for the economic plan we put in place. we passed wall street reform to make sure a crisis like this never happens again. no more taxpayer funded bailout. we put -- we set up reforms that will stop mortgage lenders from taking advantage of homeowners. we reform credit card practices so they won't hit you up with hidden fees or jack up your rates without reason. we start investing again in american research, american technology. home grown american clean energy because i don't want wind turbines or electric cars built in europe or built in asia. i want them built right here in the united states of america!

we're all about making it in america. so middle class families get ahead. we pass a tax cut for 95% of working families in this country. we pass 16 different tax cuts for america small business owners. we pass health care reform to make sure insurance companies won't deny you coverage and you can stay on your parents' coverage until you're 26 years old. we finally fixed up the student loan system so tens of billions of dollars in subsidies that were going to banks now go where it should, to help you get an education. that's what we're about. and along the way we kept a promise on the day i announced

my candidacy. we removed all combat troops from iraq and we are ending that war. so that's the progress that we make. that's the testimony to you. that's the progress we worked so hard for. but we're not done. we're not close to bing finished. the hole we're climbing out of is a deep one. deeper than the last three recessions combined. we lost 8 million jobs. almost all of them -- almost all of them -- all of those jobs were lost before my economic policies had any chance to take effect. we lost 4 million jobs before i was sworn in this recession, 750,000 a the month i was being sworn in. and on top of that the middle class has been struggling for

more than a decade. so there are millions of families still treading water. millions barely able to make their mortgage payments or pay the bill. i hear about these folks every day because they write me letters and they tell me when i'm on the road. people are frustrated, they're anchingos, they're scared about the future and they have a right to be impatient about the pace of change. i'm impatient. but i also know this, now is not the time to quit. now is not the time to give up. we've been through worse as a nation. we've come out stronger from the war, depression, great struggles for equal rights and civil rights. it's a fine for women to get the vote and it's time for workers to get the right to organization and but if we stay on focus, if we stay on course, then ultimately we will make progress.

it takes time, progress takes sacrifice. progress takes faith but congress comes and it will come for your generation, for this generation f. we work for it and we fight for it and if we believe in it. that's something i believe. [applause] the biggest mistake we could make is to let impatience or frustration lead to apathy and indifference. because that guarantees the other side wins. and if they do win, they will spend the next two years fighting for the very same policies that led us into this recession in the first place. the same policies that left middle class families behind for more than a decade. the same policies you fought hard to change in 2008. just look at the agenda the lears in the other party, they

unveiled it last week. called it the pledge to america. that's what they called it. now, their pledge was actually written with the help of a former lobbyist for a.i.g. and exxonmobil. that gives you a sense of how much change they intend. the centerpiece of their pledge is a $700 billion tax cut. their their main economic policy, their main jobs program, their main focus, $700 billion tax cut for the wealthy. that 98% of americans will never see a dime of. i get a tax break under their plan. they'd be good for me but not for most of you all. now, keep in mind, we don't have $700 billion. so we'd have to borrow this from china or from some other

country, and then we would be giving a tax cut worth an average of $100,000 to every millionaire and billionaire in america. now, wait. hold on, it gets worse. [laughter] when you ask them where are you going to get the $700 billion, do you have some magic beans somewhere? are you going to, you know -- i mean what -- how is this going to come about? they don't have an answer. now, they will say, well weerks going to cut spending. we say ok, what are you going -- what are you going to cut? and then what they say is, well, we'll cut education by 20%. they'll eliminate 200,000 children from early childhood education programs like head start. they will have cut financial aid for 8 million college students.

at a time when the education of our country's citizens is probably the best predictor of that country's economic success. they think it's more important to get another tax break to folks on the forbes 400 list. now, do you -- i want to ask my republican friends, do you think china's cutting on education. do you think south korea's making it harder for its citizens to get a college education? >> no. >> these countries aren't playing for second place. guess what? the united states doesn't play for second place. we play for first place. and i will not allow politicians in washington to put your future at risk for another tax cut we can't afford and don't know. that's the choice in this election. that's why you need to be

involved, your future's at stake. in fact, here's another thing they want to do to pay for this tax cut for -- for the wealthy. they want to roll back what's remaining of our recovery act, that gave tax break to working and middle class families, 110 million people out there. so they want to roll back your tax cuts to get their buddies a tax cut. but we have a different idea than they do about what the next two years should look like. and it's an idea rooted in our beliefs about how this country was built. government doesn't have all of the answers to our problems. government doesn't have the main role in creating jobs or prosperity. government should be lean and efficient. so we're -- look, we're -- we propose a three-year spending freeze.

we set up a bipartisan fiscal commission to deal with our deficit, but -- but the first republican president, my favorite republican, abraham lincoln, ok, here's what he said about government. here's what he said about government. he said i believe that government should do for the people what they cannot do better for themselves. i believe in a country that rewards hard work and responsibility, a country where we look after one another. a country that says i am my brother's keeper, i am my sister's keeper. i'm going to give a hand up. i'm going to join hands with folks and try to lift all of us up. so we all have a better future, not just some but all of us, every child in america. that's what i believe.

i believe in an america that gave my grandfather the chance to go to college because of the g.i. bill. and gave my grandparents a chance to buy a house because of the federal housing authority. an america that gave memory children and grandchildren the chance to get the best education in the world through scholarships and student loans. that's the america i know. and that's the choice in this election. instead of giving tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires, we want to make permanent tax cuts for middle class americans because you deserve a break. instead of cutting education, we want to make permanent our new college tax credit so you can get $10,000 worth of tuition relief. everybody is going to four years of college. we want to make clear that in good times or in bad, no young

americans should have to sacrifice the dream of a college education just because they can't afford it. that's what we believe. that's the choice in this election. the other side took control of congress. they'll spend the next two years to preserve tax breaks for company that's create jobs and profits overseas. we want to shut down those subsidies. we want to give those tax breaks to companies that are creating jobs here in the united states of america. that's what we believe in. american manufacturers, clean energy companies, entrepreneurs who are researching and investing and making it here in the united states of america. that's what we believe. that's who we want to help. the other side takes back congress. they promise to give back power, the same special interests we've been fighting the last 20 months. we can't let them do that.

we can't go back to the days insurance companies drop their coverage just when you get sick or credit card companies can jack up your rates whenever they feel like it. we can't go back to a system that results in taxpayer-funded bailouts. we can't allow special interests to take the reins again. we have to keep fighting. there is too much at stake right now. so, listen generation 44 -- [applause] it comes down to this -- it comes down to this -- many of the folks in the other party, they're running to -- to go back to the exact same things they were doing before. i've used this analogy before. some of you may have heard it. imagine they were driving a car and they -- [laughter] they drove it into the ditch. and i put on my boots and the

democrats put on their boots, tim cane but on his boots. we all went down into the ditch. we were expecting the republicans to come help. it's muddy down there and dusty and they drove down there. in fact we pulled some of them out of the car. now they're standing up on the road sipping a slureppy watching us and we're pushing and we're shoving and we're sweating and there are bugs flying around and we look up and say how about coming down and helping us up? they said no, that's all right, but you all should push harder. you're not pushing the right way. so -- so we just keep pushing. we finally, we get the car up at level ground. it's a little dented. it needs a tune-up. it needs a wash. fender's all bent up but it's pointing in the right direction, ready to move forward.

suddenly we get a tap on the shoulder. you look back and it's the republicans. and we say, well, what do you want now? we want the keys back, they say. but guess what? you can't have the keys back. you don't know how to drive! we don't want to end up back in the ditch. [applause] we -- we can't afford to go back in the ditch. i don't want to have to push again. i want us to move forward. i hope -- i hope all of you notice that when you want to go forward in the car, what do you do? you put it in d.

when you want to go backwards, what do you do? you put it in r. there's no coincidence. we put it in d, we got to go forward! we got to go forward, not backwards. we've got to go forwards. we can't go backwards. at the end of the day whether they get the keys back or not will depend on you. because, look, the other side is excited. and thanks to ripet supreme court decision called citizens united, they're being helped along this year by special interests and they're allowed to spend unlipted amount of money on attacking and they -- attack

ads and they don't have to disclose who's behind these ads. they have these -- they have these innocuous names like americans for prosperity or americans for apple pie. [laughter] moms for motherhood. and then you look, you look back and it's like the wizard of oz, you look behind the curtain and there's some republican operative and it's insurance companies and banks or all of the folks that were fighting change. i mean, why do you think they're giving up all of this money? i mean, it's possible that maybe they're doing it because they want good government. but i got to admit, i'm kind of skeptical. so -- so that's why we've got to work even harder in this election. that's why we've got to fight their millions of dollars with

millions of voices who are ready to fin whashe we started in 2008 , because if everybody who showed up in 2008 shows up in 2010, then we will win. [applause] all of you are being tested. all of you are being tested. i know -- i know times are tough. i know -- i know that we're a long way from that cold day when we had a couple million people out in the mall, everybody felt excitement. [applause] but you know what, that was -- that was the easy part. you know, you had the hope posters and, you know, you had bono and beyonce singing at the concert. [applause] and that -- that was -- that was

the celebration but i told you guys when we were campaigning, that change was going to take time, that power can seize nothing without a fight, that it was always going to be hard. and by the way, you did not elect me to do what was easy. you did not elect me to go out there and put my finger out to the wind and figure out how to keep myself in office. you elected me to do what is right. you elected me to do what is true! and you got involved because you believe that this was the moment to do what is right and take on the challenges that have been ignored for too long! now is not the time to quit.

now is not the time to lose heart. that involvement can't end in 2008. that election was not just about putting me in the white house. it was about building a movement for change that went beyond one campaign or any one candidate. it was about remembering that here in the united states our destiny is not written for u. it is written by us. we had the power to shape our future, our future is in our hands and that's what's being tested right now. whether we have got the courage to keep going forward in the face of difficulty, in the face of uncertainty, and if you are willing to work hard and knock on doors and make phone calls and call up your friends and neighbors and co-workers and family, i promise you, we will not stop until we have finally made the american dream through for every american out here. god bless you and god bless the

united states of america! [applause] ♪ >> president obama speaking tonight at d.a.r. constitution hall here in washington, d.c. to a full house of about 3,000.

it was d.n.c. fund-raiser, expected to raise about $750,000. tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. eastern, the president will be making what the white house is saying a major personnel announcement. he's expected to announce the departure of chief of staff rahm emanuel, and we'll bring you that event live tomorrow here on c-span. "washington post" associate editor bob woodward will join us a week from tomorrow to talk about his book, "obama's wars." the book about the president as commander in chief comes from classified documents, internal memos and hundreds of hours of interviews. author bob woodward on "washington journal" a week from friday. now, house minority leader john boehner on what the republican agenda would be if they win a majority of seats in the upcoming elections.

he spoke at the american enterprise institute for a little less than an hour. >> chris, thank you for the very nice introduction. let me welcome all of you and i see that you all survived the storm that's out there today. i'm going to begin today by telling you a story. some years ago, back in ohio, i was working my way through xavier university, and while at xavier, in night school, i entered a small business with an older gentleman. sadly, some six or nine months later my partner passed away. and we had one customer left. so there i was, i've got a couple years more of school at xavier before i graduate. try to hold this business together and a little bit there was of it. i want to tell you, i fought for it.

with everything i had. looking back on it now, what strikes me is i never thought about walking away. this was something that i invested my name in, my money in and my reputation. and i have an obligation to that one paying customer as well as to my partner, who is gracious enough to bring me in and a guy who would put his time and energy in this business for a long time. today i feel the same sense of obligation and determination when i look at what's happening to our government. because listen, i've been here nearly 20 years. i've seen the good, the bad and the ugly. and lately there's been a lot of ugly. americans have every right to be fed up and, trust me, they are. but what i won't accept and what i refuse to accept is that we can simply walk away and let our

government continue to drift this government that our forebearers sacrificed everything in order to build. the mission of the united states congress is to serve the american people and today in part due to institutional barriers that have been in place for decades, that mission goes unfulfilled. these wounds have been self-inflicted by both parties and if we don't fix them, it's possible no one will be able to. in the constitution the house of representatives is the first institution of the first branch of government. the body closest to the people. it's an awesome responsibility and we should take pride in it, and we should be humbled by it. the house more than any other part of our government is most direct voice of the people, and, therefore, should be avoided or afforded the most care in protecting its ability to -- to

pro protect the people's will. so today i would like to talk to you about why this institution has broken and how we make it function again. because until it does, ladies and gentlemen, we don't stand a chance of addressing our deepest and most pressing problems. and while i've got a lot to say today, i really mean to begin this as a conversation, a conversation with the american people and a conversation with my colleagues about how we fix the institution that we love. just look at how the 111th congress has so much -- not so much concluding as much as it has collapsed. ininstead of tally up what was right, they analyzed what went wrong of the the problem for

families and small businesses is their problems continued to go unaddressed. this week had in my view an obligation to bring both parties together and stop massive tax increases scheduled to take effect on jiang 1st. increases that we've seen coming now for two years. and even with the existence of a clear, bipartisan majority and the support of the american people, we could not get a single up-or-down vote. it's a sad but not altogether surprising to this congress and a latest of a long string of congressional concessions that have frayed the fragile bonds of trust between the american people and their elected representatives. the house finds itself in a state of emergency. the institution does not function, does not deliberate and seems incapable of acting on the will of the american people. from the floor of the house to the committee level, the integrity of the house has been compromised.

the battle of ideas, the very lifeblood of the house, is virtually not existent. leaders overreach because the rules allow them to. legislators abduct their responsibilities because the rules help them to. and when the rules don't suit the majority's purposes, they're just ignored. there's no accountability. there are no consequences. whether we hear in washington believe it or not, the american people clearly do. think about our constant flounding of the rules and compare it to a small business owner in america who has to spend his or her day complying with all of the mandates and regulations that the government from here in washington sends down to them. this function in congress is not new. both parties share the blame for this. but the dysfunction has now reached the tipping point at a point at which none of us can crediblely deny that that it's

having a negative effect on the people that we serve. and consider this -- this is the first time since the enactment of the budget resolution in 1974 that the house has not passed a budget resolution. this is the first congress in our history that has not allowed one bill to come to the floor under an open rule. the current freshman class has served almost their entire term without ever having the chance to debate a bill under an open process in the house. and the use of martial law, which gives the majority the power to bring up any bill at any time, and strips the minority of the few rights that we have, has nearly doubled. the three pillars of any democracy are the rule of law, transparency, and a functioning civil society. over the decades, all three of

the pillars have been chipped away in the people's house. the working -- the work of making our institution function cannot be reduced to one reform or one simple tool kit of reforms. the first -- let's talk about the rule of law. we always hear members of congress talking about swearing an oath to represent their constituents. when in reality the oath that we take is to the constitution of the united states. we pledge to support and defend the constitution of the united states no more, no less. but we have strayed far afield from our job description. members go out and promise their constituents the moon and come to washington and try to fulfill those commitments and they, as a result, agree to conform to a system that ememphasizes seniority and party loyalty. the ropes are shown lead them to passing more bills, microfging,

more bureaucracies and raiding the federal treasury. this is why in the pledge to america the governing agenda that my colleagues and i issued last week, we state that every bill that comes to the floor of the house should contain a clear citation of the constitutional authority that allows congress to do what they're asking it to do. we cannot do this much, we ought to put the pen down and just stop. congress has been most maligned over the past generation for its fiscal recklessness and rightly so. mindful of the dangers of taxation without representation, the framers handed the power to tax and spend to the legislative branch exclusively. it's right there, article one, section nine. but having the right to do something doesn't necessarily mean it's the right thing to do. current congressional rules are rigged to make it easy to increase spending and when

possible to cut spending. much of the law that governs this process, the budget act of 1974, is tied to rules instead of statutes and consequently we waive the budget acts requirements to serve our own purposes. can't write a budget? well, you just waive the rules and move on. no harm, no foul. the pay as you go rule has been repeatedly ignored to justify billions of dollars in new spending and tax and fee increases. so we ought to start at square one and give serious consideration to revisiting and perhaps rewriting the 1974 budget act. and while the culture of spending stems largely from lake of political will on both parties to say no, it's also the consequences of, i believe, to be a structural problem. as kevin mccarthy, my colleague from california on says, a structure dictates behavior and

by structure, the facilitate spending increases and discourages spending cuts, the inertia in washington currently is to spend and spend and spend. most spending bills come to the floor prepackaged in a manner that makes it easy as possible to advance the government spending program and their agenda and as difficults possible to make spending cuts. again, it's not a new problem. and if we're serious about confronting the challenges that lie ahead for our nation, i think the current structure is inadequate. today i would like to suggest a new approach. let's do away with the idea of comprehensive spending bills. let's break them up. it would encourage scrutiny and make spending cuts easier. rather than pairing agencies and departments together, let them come to the floor individually to be judged on their own merit. members shouldn't have to vote for big spending increases at

the labor department in order to fund the health and human services department. members shouldn't have to vote for big increases at the congress department just because they support nasa. each department agency should justify itself each year to the full house and senate and be judged on its own merit. for decades the word comprehensive has been used as a positive adjective here in washington but i would respectfully suggest that those days are behind us. the american people are not well served by comprehensive. in an era of trillion dollar deficits, we need a tighter focus, one that places emphasis on getting it right and less emphasis on getting it done quickly. and don't assume that i'm singling out the appropriaters because i'm not. over the decades in my view the authorizing committees in the house and senate have advocated their responsibility, often

authorizing billions of dollars knowing full well they'll never actually be appropriated. interest groups then lobby congress to fully fund the program systematically creating pressure on legislative brarge to drive up more spending. i think it just has to stop. authorizing committees should be held to the same standard as the appropriations committee. authorize what we can afford and hold agencies to account for results. we should also consider developing a cut as you go rule that would apply to any member who's proposing the creation of a new government program or new government benefit. and very simply under cutgo, if your intention is to create a new government program, you must also terminate or reduce an existing program of equal or greater size. in the same bill. just this week the majority leadership brought 85 different suspension bills to the floor on

one day. now, consider this -- 85 separate bills under suspension to the floor of the house. many of them creating new government programs, some of which never have been held up to any scrutiny or any light of day. now f. we had the cutgo rule if place, nearly half of the 85 bills would have ever made it to the floor. cutgo was conceived by my friend and my colleague roy blount from missouri. as he put it and i'll put it, let's turn the activists for big government on each other instead of letting all of the activists gang up on the taxpayer. now, through this public discussion we might end up filing that neither program has a whole lot of merit in the first place. that may sound simplistic but sometimes that's the best place to start. of course, no a spending control can substitute for the critical role of oversight. and we should direct every

committee to make its oversight responsibilities a top priority. and to make more apologies for it. both parties should work together to ensure each program is meeting the congressional intent and serving the national interest. and republicans shouldn't start from the assumption that all government is bad, nor should democrats start from the assumption that all government is good. oversight, i think, should be conducted under a uniform standard. what's the purpose of the program? what's its responsibility? is this the best use of taxpayers time and money? of course, if we're truly serious about being responsible again on spending, we need to do something about earmarks. as we all no too well, earmarks are in the possible he spending project they slipped into bills with little or no oversight. they run the gamut on bridges to

nowhere, sewer projects, art exhibits, they ride on authorization bills, they ride on appropriation bills, they ride on tax bills. there's an entire lobbying industry that's been created around earmarks alone and i watch this develop over the 20 years that i have been here. they have become a spending progress that has broken face with the american people. house republicans have voted to stop this process this year on our own without cooperation from colleagues across the aisle so we can begin reforming how washington spends taxpayer money. the future of the moratorium will be the collective decision made by our members. but on the question of earmarkings, my colleagues and my swepts know where i stand. i told my constituents in 1990 if you believe it's important to have a representative in washington who will go there and raid the federal treasury on

your behalf, you should probably be voting for someone else. i have never had an earmark. i have a personal no earmark policy the 20 years i've been here and i always will have. but i believe it's our obligation to end earmarking as we know it and to bring fundamental change to the manner in which washington spends taxpayer funds. and i'll continue to be an advocate for reforms to ensure that, that happens. .

we're still going to try to

outmaneuver each other, but why can we make it a fair fight? let's give our members of chance to do the job. let's legislators legislate once again. we have turned members in two voters. -- in the -- into voters. that is about the extent of their involvement in the house. structure dictates behavior. more debates, will mean more intense scrutiny and ultimately, better legislation. just as we have children membership from tough votes, we have also enabled them to write a very bad bills. with all the challenges that are facing our nation, it is absurd that congress spends so much time post offices and celebrating the historical figures of the past. i know the drill. members get their good press at home. leaders get covered while they are stalling on the real priorities.

often these resolutions are fully drafted indicative of previously considered bills. we should consider taking all these commemoratives, moments and handle them during special orders. i think it is time for the congress to focus on what the american people sent us here to do. the ultimate measure of whether we have a functioning house is not by partisanship. our focus should be on working across party lines for its own sake. the true test is whether our ideas, policies, and values are able to stand the test of a fair debate and a fair vote. sadly, that is something we have not seen in the house for some time. of course, it is hard to guarantee a fair debate when the majority has the ability to change the votes in the dark of night.

without transparency, lawmakers can not hold each other accountable and the american people can not hold us to account. that is why we say that -- they should all be published on line for at least three days before coming up for a vote. no exceptions, no excuses. this lack of transparency speaks to a larger problem. the speaker's office has the capacity to unilaterally draft a bill and send it straight to the rules committee. woodrow wilson once said that congress in session is on public exhibition. its president will send went from committee room to committee room today, he would take that statement back. the truth is, the much needed work of the committees has been

coopted by the leadership. into many instances, we have legislators. we just have voters. we need to empower legislators at the committee level. as members -- if members were more engaged in their committee work, they would be more invested to the final product that comes to the floor. printed thousand one-2006, i had the privilege to chair the education and work force committee. a ranking member of that committee was george miller. no one is going to confuse me and george miller for ideological soul mates. in just a few minutes -- in just a few years, you were able to work together to transform our committee from a backwater panel to the center of some of the biggest issues of the day. by focusing on our work, letting their members be legislators,

and setting high standards, we were able to elevate the committee to its proper role. there is no reason why every single committee in the house cannot achieve the same thing. for those of you have watched this for a while, for 50 years, it was the most partisan committee in the congress. while george and i did not agree early on that we could disagree without being disagreeable, much of this is up to the committee chairmen and ranking members themselves. if every committee chairmen started out with the mindset that there committee's bill could be the one that actually comes to the floor, and better legislation would result. the chairman should not be content to churn out flawed bills and rely on the leadership to bill them out. the chairman to operate with the assumption that the bills that

they are producing should go to the floor. they should assume that they will be considered under an open and fair process. if all committee chairmen have this -- chairman have this mentality, the result would be better legislation. at the education of workforce committee, we operated with a set of transparent rules that encourage deliberation and landed the number of problems that we had. first we gave at least three days' notice to the minority that we were going to move a bill. it was usually well beyond that, at least a week's worth of notice. that gave members plenty of time to gain the appropriate depth of knowledge. we also require that all bills the posted on line within 48 hours of being cast. believe it or not, there are committees that are not

currently required to post these efforts at all. if we post these records on line, more members would be -- would do their jobs, attend committee proceedings and weigh in on a bill before it gets to the floor. any amendment that has to be posted online within 24 hours of being adopted. after the committee process, and before it gets to the rules committee. i just do not think that is acceptable. we should require that all committees meet these standards. we should require that all committees, a special the rules committee, post complete transcripts online. with obvious exceptions for those panels dealing with classified information. to insure that there is propped brock -- proper oversight,

congress should review its internal committee structure. this has not been done in 15 years. just think about that. we cannot ask our members to be more engaged if they sit on three different committees and a handful of subcommittees. we currently have a rules require -- regarding member limitation, but they're always waved. -- waived. we need to rethink this. i know i have covered a lot of ground here and run at a lot of ideas. some of them may get off the ground in the next congress, some may not. but i do believe that it is important that we had a discussion and equally vital that that discussion starts right now. reform should always be an ongoing and inclusive effort. i did not have all the answers and i would not pretend that i

had all the answers. i welcome ideas and helping hand from any law maker or any citizens about how to make this institution function again. americans too long for a better government must continue to speak out. when they do, i believe it is our responsibility to listen to them. do not confuse my enthusiasm for any dilution of how well much of this is going to be received by my colleagues. i was doing an interview earlier today and the reporter said that they had spoken to one of the board men around the house and asked, what do you think it would be life if john boehner became the speaker? the doorman said, we will be working longer hours. the reporter said why is that? because there'll be more amendments.

i can remember early on in my career, when i got long stairs from the members, many of them of my own party. someone just what the other way and others would be some right smack in my face. i feel like i have a permanent brews at the top of my chest -- bruise. that is probably a reaction i will get to some of the things i talked about today. we cannot just keep kicking the can down the road. we are running out of road. it is time to do what we say we're going to do. from our constituents, our government, and the people are selling for the next best thing is no longer good enough. -- selling before the next best thing is no longer good enough. he faced an insurgent revolt by both democrats and republicans.

even though this fall from power was imminent, the speaker refused to resign, calling it a confession or a weakness or a mistake or an apology. that right there was his mistake. those powers, they were not his to use as a personal guard or shield. they were given him to guard and shield the interest of the american people. the speaker -- until 1925, he told the house on the day, i want to effectively assist in bringing about the universal recognition of the fact that this house closer as it is to the people than any other similar body and more directly responsive to their will is the most dominant legislative assembly in the world.

let that be our goal. a people's house that is quiet to in its effectiveness, but unmistakable in its pride and purpose. we should pursue this work as if the future of the institution depends on it. because it does. let me thank all of you for being here today. i look forward to your questions. [applause] >> thank you for a splendid talk. the leader has time for several questions. the comments, i will call on people. if you could please introduce

yourself, and give your affiliation before asking the question. >> thank you. thank you for a very thoughtful and constructive talks. a call to return to the regular order. i want to ask you a two-part related question. you called for what would be a much larger number of appropriations bills and by breaking up be a dozen into a whole lot more. you've also appropriately called for more open rules. if you put the two of those things together, it will take a lot of time. i would like for you to discuss how to make that balance. i would like for you to discuss something a little bit further. i believe it would be much better if the house moved to a regular schedule, which would be three weeks in washington, one

week off, five days a week from five -- from 9:00 a.m. -- from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.. would you be willing to think about to or endorse something like that? >> the issue of scheduling the house is one that obviously affects every single member. trust me, every single member will be way -- will wait in. you have to understand that part of our job is here, representing our constituents. part of our time is to be in our own districts, listening to our constituents and trying to find the right balance is a subject of debate and discussion all the time. i do think that one of the most important things that we did in 1995 was published the schedule and about 99% of the time stick to the schedule that was published. that gives members more

certainty about when they are required to be in washington. they will schedule their time borat -- at home more effectively. it was one of the biggest changes that happened in terms of affecting members. we never knew when the next trip was going to start. until the thursday before or friday. we never knew when the week was going to end. you cannot plan your life, -- you could that plan are life or time to see your constituents. it would bring dramatic change in terms of members and their lifestyles and the fact that most of my colleagues have families. they want to see their families. i do believe that things like this require a real conversation between the two leaderships that really happens so rarely. the other issue you brought up was the issue of time spent

doing appropriations bill. i understand it would take more time to break up some of these bills, or you could bring a bill to the floor and you could consider certain sections separately from the others. yes, it may take more time. frankly, open rules take more time. around naming post offices and celebrating someone who died 100 years ago. we might have the time -- we're spending their money. >> [inaudible] >> i am with the hudson institute. thank you for your remarks. today it was announced that bob mcdonnell might be dropping its health insurance coverage for thousands of workers -- mcdonald's might be dropping its

health insurance coverage for thousands of workers 38 how would you solve this? thousands more workers may be using -- losing their health insurance coverage. >> if you believed like i do? obama-care will bankrupt our country, we have made it clear that we want to repeal its and replaced it with common sense reforms that will bring down the cost of health insurance. having said that, at if we are in the majority, there will be a bill to repeal its. i cannot speak for what will happen in the senate and i do not want to speak about what president obama may or may not do with the bell. secondly, there were $550 billion worth of medicare cuts in the health care bill.

what would we use it to save medicare? instead of taking it from medicare that does not have it and starting a brand new program? i would repeal the five and a $50 billion worth of medicare cuts. let's see how many votes that debt -- that bill gets in the house and senate. they will need money from the congress to hire 22,000 new federal employees to run it this monstrosity. i can just assure you there will not be one dime from this congress to expand this. when i say we are going to do everything to make sure that this law does not go into effect, we will do everything. is that clear? >> [inaudible] >> i am from the american enterprise institute. i appreciate your personal opposition to earmarks and york

leadership -- and your leadership. you had said that the decision will be one for the congress, whether to continue that ban. the purpose of the pledge was to let people know in advance of the election what the republicans are going to do when they get into power. >> no. the pledge was about a legislative agenda that can be enacted now. we will do everything we can to implement as much of that pledge as we can implement today. >> my question is, why wasn't earmark ban in the pledge? shouldn't people knelt before they going to be voting booth whether the republicans will continue the air mark band? >> the pledge was about and a legislative agenda that can be enacted today. today, republicans have unilaterally imposed an

earmarked moratorium on ourselves. we have already taken care of that. there is an earmark moratorium in place. it will be up to the next congress, but i'm here to tell you that we are not going to see earmarks of we have seen in the past -- passed under a republican majority find the speaker of the house. -- if i and the speaker of the house. >> american enterprise institute? -- most people see toxicity when looking at the congress. i think he gave a great speech about reforms, most of which will probably move us in the best direction. what can you do to bring the house back to where it was 50 years ago when people talked to each other, drawing together, and so on?

>> there is no question that there is a lot of discouragement that has been created on both sides of the aisle. both parties are to blame. you open up the legislative process. its members in the committee understand that it is their bill that is going to the floor, and the committee chairman understand that their bill that they have to defend, the leadership is not going to wait a rules and bail them out, you will have more in gazed legislators from both sides of the aisle. but it comes to the floor, if there is a more open process, and members are allowed to participate, guess what? it lets the steam out of the place. when you look at what is happening, there are about five people the determine the out, of the legislative process. -- outcome of the legislative process.

that is dead. 430 of us stand on the sidelines and watch. i just think it is reprehensible. when people want to look up to us as the greatest legislative body in the history of the world, and they see how it is working today, it will not surprise the american people. it may surprise those who have not watched a closer. -- watched it closer. >> good afternoon. we have about 200,000 employees in the united states. you talked about oversight, the collective role in congress. oblast decade or so, oversight has been very partisan. -- over the decade or so, oversight has been very partisan. clearly, in our sector, we use

science to measure the outcomes of these projects. if it is successful, you have metrics to show that it is. can you address the -- the oversight role of congress. >> our committee did oversight. i think we did effective oversight. it was not about driving some political agenda. it was about getting to the bottom of how our program is working. we were involved in an effort to bring the wheel trains -- will change and try to ensure that low-income kids had a better shot at a high-quality early childhood development. we had a series of hearings to get to the bottom of what was happening in the head start programs. i thought it helped us develop a much better legislation. i am talking about oversight here. i am talking about having a set

of standards. i am talking about a uniform way to approach this. it is not about going after somebody. it is about getting to how we are spending the american people's money. where did not spend enough time providing scrutiny to the money that we give to these agencies and how they spend it. let's look at the stimulus bill. it has been a rationale for 20 months. every single day, there is some nightmare story coming out about how those funds are being spent. where is the congress? why aren't they holding these agencies accountable? it is always easier to spend someone else's money. congress has to begin to understand that we have a solemn responsibility to our constituents to spend their money wisely on a program that

works. >> we are over our time. i am going to try to fit into or three more questions. -- in two or three more questions. >> i wanted to know, you have come up with some proposals about how you balance the budget. how do you actually reduce the by refusing to touch the defense budget? >> to balance the budgets, congress has to get its arms around the spending here in washington and we have to have a healthy economy bad debts americans working again so they can care for themselves and their family. you cannot have a healthy economy if you expect to reinvest in the economy and hire more people. i think that the way forward is very clear. to get our arms around spending

and do everything we can to ensure that we have a healthier economy that is putting americans back to work. >> i think the biggest frustration that people have is [inaudible] the budget deficits, the unemployment. [inaudible] >> y del we start with a new microphone? -- why don't we start with a microphone? >> just speak up. >> you were saying frustration. [laughter]

>> the frustration of not knowing information what's lead to those issues. i really appreciate that. back in combination with the republican party purifying themselves has restored a good deal of my face. most people are still getting information from television. i am being one and% at serious. -- 100% serious. we can give the information to the population, so that the voter is educated. they will pick a fiscal conservative. >> i do not have regular conversations with him. it certainly would be beyond my job description to suggest to them how to run his network. i will say this. think about 1994 and think

about 2010. in 1994, we had one radio talk show up in america that no one had ever heard of. we had 124-hour news channel. we had an internet that only a couple of the antiques were using. -- geeks. the law is no facebook, et youtube. when you think about where we are today and the information age, the american people are getting their news from entirely different sources than they did in 1994. almost half of the american people choose to get their news all of the internet. when you looked at these studies about how people are informing themselves, they have got so many choices. they are choosing where they

want to get their information. i just think the explosion of information available to the american people is at the hearts of the political rebellion that is going on in america as we speak. they are getting more information about their converse than they have ever gotten. -- about their congress than they have ever gotten. >> my apologies to those who have been waiting patiently. we have to get speaker -- leader boehner back to his agenda. thank you very much. [applause] >> in a few moments, house speaker nancy pelosi and other democratic leaders talk about what they have done this year in the house. in half an hour, the republican candidate in california talks

with reporters about allegations that she knowingly hired an undocumented worker. after that, the heads of the democratic and republican senatorial campaign committee's look at this year's elections. later, we will we hear minority leader john boehner's comments on the gop agenda. >> a couple of live events to tell you about tomorrow -- the senate -- carl levin will talk about afghanistan on the council of foreign relations. here on c-span, at 2:30 p.m. eastern, live coverage for the first meeting of the financial oversight stability council which was established by the recently passed financial relations law. council members include treasury secretary timothy geithner, fed chairman ben bernanke, and the head of the securities and exchange commission and the federal deposit insurance

corporation. >> mr. cameron, you were an optimist wants. but now, all you offer now is a pessimistic view of what britain can achieve and you hide behind the deficit and how we -- and we will not let you get away with it. >> that was the annual party conference. >> this weekend, explore the reality behind science fiction, the vision of einstein, and the fundamental forces of the universe with a theoretical physicist and author me to, " kaku.hor michio that is sunday at noon eastern. >> democratic leader spoke with reporters on thursday, looking

back at this year's congressional action and looking ahead to what they expect in the elections. this is a half-hour. >> good afternoon. it is nice to see you here. these are newer digs. as we come to the end of this part of the session, it is with great pride that we review the major accomplishments of this congress. one weekend one day after the president stood on the steps of the capital to ask for swift and bold action now to take our country in a new direction, one weekend one day later, congress passed the recovery act. because of that recovery act, 3.6 million jobs were saved or created for our economy. . we proceeded from there with the

blueprint for our future. it was to reduce the deficit, reduce taxes for the middle class, and create jobs. first among equals your, innovation -- first among equals health care, innovation and education. as you know, we pass the health care reform bill and the education bill to make college education more affordable for america's working families. health care reform, all americans have health care now has a right, not a privilege. it is more accessible to many more americans. this was also a job creator.

innovation begins in the classroom. it is the way that we keep america number one. we passed to the education bill as well. it reduces the cost of student loans, making sizable contributions to our minority serving institutions and the list goes on. following that, we pass of the wall street reform legislation with a sort regulation that had not been done in decades, to reform wall street. included in that, there is consumer protection. the list goes on and on. we are pleased with what we have done for veterans. again, there were historic transformation of changes. our investments in small

businesses are taking us to the end of recession. we started on the steps of the capital. we have come to a point where, this week on monday, the president signed the small- business bill, providing in $3 billion for our citizens. we all did all of this in a fiscally sound way. economists have told is, if we had not acted with the recovery act, a cash for clunkers, and other federal initiatives, we would have 8.5 million more people unemployed, 13.5% unemployment, and we would have had even worse and deeper deficits. we are proud of the work of the congress. we worked closely as a team and as a partnership in the leadership to make this happen. of course, none of it would have

been possible the out the visionary leadership of president barack obama. as we go forward, our members left last evening with a spirit of optimism. we're pleased of taking the message of fighting for the middle class, of moving america for and not moving back, and making it a met -- making it in america. it includes tax cuts for all americans, not just at the top. and to preserve social security and medicare and not privatize it and cut them. so these are the priorities we have as a go into the elections. -- as we go into the elections. we created good paying jobs here

and not shipped to them overseas. the great leader in that regard has been our great leader steny hoyer. he is leading the effort to make it in america. mr. hoyer. >> thank you very much, madam speaker. our entire agenda has been designed so that every american, every individual can make it in america. when president obama and the 111th congress took their oaths of office, merkel is facing the worst economic crisis since the great depression. -- america was facing the worst economic crisis since the great depression. we were in a record amount of debt. from the day we began our work, congress had the overriding goal of stopping the free fall, creating jobs, and building a

solid foundation for the future. there is no doubt that americans are still hurting. there is still a long way to go. but we are moving in the right direction. the economy has added about 3 million jobs. american manufacturing is on the rebound. we added 136,000 manufacturing jobs during the first seven months of this year. the longest sustained growth in 13 years. to build on that success, democrats have worked hard to pursue the make it in america agenda. a plan to continue the rebound of american manufacturing, create reasons for companies to create jobs in america and not take them overseas, not to outsource some, building an environment that encourages investment, and innovation in america. the most recent which make it in

america bill was signed on monday by the president. it includes $12 billion in tax cuts for small businesses. which it is a shame that on some 16 of are those that cut taxes for small businesses our republican parties voted against 16 -- against 15 of them. to provide an additional $30 billion for small businesses to get loans and expand and create jobs. yesterday, we passed another important make it in america bill. it holds china accountable for its currency manipulation. this bill, which works to level the trade playing field, which helps americans keep their jobs and create new ones here in america. in the long run, our economy will show if our children are

drowning in debt. republicans ran up record debt. democrats are putting us back on a sound fiscal plan. president obama treated the bipartisan fiscal commission to tackle our deficit. -- president obama created the bipartisan fiscal commission to tackle our deficit. there is a lot to be done before our economy has fully recovered. on behalf of working families, democrats contrast sharply next to republicans on the exact same agenda. our agenda has been and will be terry instill the confidence --

to agree instill confidence of every american for they themselves, their children, and there neighbors. i will yield to the extraordinarily successful democratic minority whip from south carolina. >> thank you very much, mr. leader, madam speaker. i do not think there is anything more central to families making it in america than for us to protect the men and women who protect america. on that, this congress has been iextremely successful. we give our troops of perry's and equipped them -- a pay raise and equip them with body

armor. we expanded va health care services for women veterans. we provided retroactive pay for trips in service who have been extended. and we ensure that vietnam veterans and survivors will receive all over the benefits. we expanded the new gi bill, passed by democrats in the last congress, to provide college education for veterans of iraq and afghanistan, to all children of fallen trips since september 11, 2001. despite their rhetoric, republicans failed to make necessary investments in our troops, jeopardize the economic security of military families,

and short changed veterans' health care. we are also moving american veteran families forward. coverage is more affordable now for small businesses and families. we implemented a patient bill of rights lastly to stop insurance companies from denying children with preexisting conditions or dropping people when they get sick. it ends what time coverage limits. health reform reduces the deficit by $143 billion in the first 10 years. and $1.20 trillion over the next 10 years.

unfortunately, republicans are promising to repeal health care reform and the benefits that come with it. we cannot go back. we must continue moving america forward. my next speaker is out and about making sure that every one of those people who voted for all of this landmark church legislation come back here next year and -- this landmark legislation come back here next year to keep america moving forward. >> thank you. as the speaker and all of my colleagues have said in discussing these major legislative initiatives, they all reflect choices, choices made about the priorities for the american people and the way forward. the choice we made was to begin

to rein in the power of some of the big corporate special interests who have their sway during the previous eight years. the previous eight years had an economic agenda that served the interests of a very few special interests at the expense of american workers and american taxpayers. the choices we made were in support of american workers, american taxpayers, and american consumers. let's start with the wall street reform bill. we will ensure that, never again, will tax payers be left picking up the tab for bad decisions made on wall street. never again will workers across the country be held hostage by reckless gambling in parts of wall street. that piece of legislation also

ended the tarp initiative, the bank initiative launched by president bush and former treasury secretary paulson. amazingly, not only did our republican colleagues oppose it, but they have now made as one of their central planks of their platform repealing it. accomplishing what a lot of very well-paid lobbyists in this town were not able to do, to turn back the clock and give that power back to the banks on wall street at the expense of american consumers and others. there are a number of other examples. we talked about the higher education legislation, making sure that kids could afford their college education. what choice did we make their? the choice we made was to say we do not think some of the biggest banks need to be taking this big

cut the tax payer dollars without taking any significant risk. let's make sure that money goes to students who are struggling to pay their way through college. they need it. the big banks do not need it. that choice was reflected when it came to making sure that teachers who are about to be laid off around the country, that would have led to smaller class sizes for our kids, we made sure that local school districts had the funds to make sure those teachers were in the classrooms when all our kids went back to school. how did we pay for it to? we pay for it by shutting down these perverse loopholes in the tax code that reward multi- national corporations that ship jobs overseas. our colleagues on the other side of the aisle said, no, to that. putting the interest and the profit of multi-national

corporations above the interest of american workers right here at home. interestingly, even though the issue of outsourcing was one of the most popular recommendations made by the american people, when republicans did their tour, you will not find one mention of outsourcing in the 47-page document that republicans put forward. why? because it did not fit with the economic agenda, the same one they pursue for the previous eight years. similar choices were made with respect to health insurance. during the previous eight years, health insurance premiums and profits went through the ceiling. under the new bill we passed, we will rain and the cost of premiums and we will ensure that no longer will kids in america

be discriminated against because they have asthma or diabetes or other pre-existing condition. finally, on the health care issue, we saw the choice they made. they put a budget on the floor of the house last year that would cut medicare by 75% over a period of time, no more guaranteed benefits, and say, hey, you are on the private insurance market with this basket of claims rally. that was their health care proposal. it is one that would benefit insurance companies that oppose the health care reform bill. let me just end with this. we have seen the response of a lot of the special interest whose power has been reined in as a result of the wall street reform go, the health care reform bill, the end to special tax breaks for corporations that

outsource. they are now spending millions of dollars around the country trying to defeat people who are trying to rein in their power and support people who will return to the economic agenda that serve the interests of those particular entities. that is what is going on. that is why, when it came to be disclosed though, where you can send you can say whatever you want about the records of the members of congress, go ahead. just tell us who is bankrolling. tell us who is paying for the debt. the voters have a right to know. the fact of the matter is that they do not want to tell the american voter who is paying for it. we are finding out. as we find out, it is becoming more clear that it is the special interests that were served by the special interests in the previous eight years and whose power was reined in by the measures we took in this

congress. those are the kinds of challenges -- kinds of choices our members made and those are the kinds of courses that were on the other side. we hope that, as the american people look at those records, they will see the choices that were made on both sides and those that were made ahead of us. >> i think my colleagues, the majority leader, the majority whip, the assistant to the speaker, and the head of the democratic national campaign committee for being here. we are free to take any questions you may have. >> you talked to a lot about choices. but there are some choices that your caucus was unable to make this week, unable to make this year. there was no budget. there was no decision or vote on what to do on extending tax cuts. what can you say about republican charters that say you have run out of gas, that you do

not have the will to govern anymore? >> do one of my colleagues want to take up before i do? [laughter] >> as all of you know, the budget covers the upper level spending. we passed that. the budget beyond that is subject to committee allocations. we passed it. and we will follow that budget enforcement resolution. for the second part of your question, we will make sure that no american is taxed any additional tax on their income up to $200,000. 100% of america will not have any increase on their taxes up to $200,000 and families up to $250,000.

>> on the same note, there is more than a month until election day. your members are paid by the taxpayers. is it not strange that taxpayers are funding your members to go out and campaign for the next month? >> our members are called representatives. as i say to them over and over again, your job description and your title are one and the same, rep. our constituents want us to hear what they are saying about the issues so they can represent us. so our members are doing the other part of their job. toy're paid for listening their constituents priorities so they can come back here and fight for those priorities. the job is not just what happens in washington, d.c.

there is the job in your district and the job in washington, d.c., to come here and legislate and vote. our members work very hard. it is up to the constituents to make that judgment on how they would like to spend their time. >> across town, republican leader boehner is giving a speech. he talks about the house you are running now. he says it is in a state of emergency. the institution does not function or delivery. it is not functioning for the will of the people. >> would you like to take that, mr. hoyer? >> certainly. i think everybody is very aware of the fact that mr. boehner, the republican leader, was part of the republican party in the house that engaged in a number

of efforts that were not held in very high regard by the american people, beginning with the case street project, which followed the recall was an effort to have this fusion between special interests on k street and the legislative agenda of the republican party. what we're finding out when we look at their platform and their recommendations is that that fusion remains to this day. mr. boehner invited a whole bunch of wall street lobbyists down here to washington and met with them behind closed doors to plan to sabotage and killed the wall street reform bill. i guess it is no surprise now that that is a major part of their agenda if they were to return. the measures that were taken by the speaker in this house will

represent a dramatic change from before. number one, when it came to making sure we held our members accountable, we set up an outside group to review all the cases that may have been made, all the allegations made against members, so you had an independent body making judgments about those and 40 recommendations. the republican colleagues opposed that. -- and make recommendations. the robot compton -- the republican colleagues to oppose that. i want you to look at their 47- page document and i challenge anyone to find anything in there about earmark reform. we dramatically reduced the number of earmarked. they quadrupled during the time

that mr. boehner was part of the republican vanguard. as a result of the actions taken, the process is transparent. the number has come way down. and we no longer provide any funding in that form to for- profit corporations and interests because we think that distorts the market. the republicans opposed that. it is very clear that they would return to that, since they did not mention that in their document. finally, i will end with this, when it came to the process of holding members accountable, when their members got in trouble, they actually changed the rules retroactively to protect them. it is very interesting to see. and they fired the chairman of the ethics committee who brought serious charges against their members.

i think it will take a great leap of faith for the american people to believe that one of the people who was one of the architects of those republican policies is somehow now going to reform them, when, in fact, their own document that they released the other day shows that continued cozy relationship between the policies they expressed and the lobbyists. >> the republican strategy has been and continues, to this day, to create gridlock and failure. that has been their objective. that is in the house and in the senate. what was the result? they failed. this i