i think that either of us can claim to be a moderate and represent the district. this is a very moderate district. when i tell people in washington, they ask what it is like and i say it is a moderate district. it truly is. that is the mantra of this district. . .

>> i am going to do what i believe is right. i have nothing else to gain. mr. arcuri has been in government his entire career. that is fine, people do that. i am the guy who has been independent. there is a reason why he doesn't have it. >> i was district attorney -- that is not political, but thank you. thank you very much for what you said.

if what mr. hanna says is true, then a thank you. listen to my constituency and i pay attention. that is exactly what you are supposed to do. when i was elected, they said your title is representative, so if that is what you say is true, i did what a good congressman should, i represented my district. [applause] >> it then apparently, your vote on the house bill, which was not what anybody wanted -- [crosstalk] >> moving along to the next question for mr. hanna. the federal debt now tops 13.6

trillion dollars. what action will you take to reduce our national debt? >> it is actually $14.6 trillion. this is the first year in history that is equal to our gdp. our unfunded future debt is over $50 trillion in terms of the programs we have out there that need to be paid for. the growth of government is fundamentally incompatible with our success. we are, with the stimulus bill, which -- only because we traded future prosperity for current prosperity, which is wrong. we borrowed money from our children and they have not earned yet. we need to cut back the cost of government and me to stop starting war of choice. iraq was a mistake. is beyond

what it should be. whatever is left, we should cancel with and not spend. need to cut back and put some sense on government programs so they have to prove themselves going forward. the average public employee to date -- and i don't mind this, i do not begrudge anybody what they make, makes 80% more than the average private employee. we have a government that is basically negotiating with itself. >> let me see if i have that. you did not like the tax breaks in the stimulus, he like the bush tax cuts that took us from the largest surplus we have ever had in american history to the biggest deficit, that you like. that does not make sense. [applause]

let me tell you what i'm going to do. i co-sponsored a bill that takes a 3% cut across the board in all federal spending in all areas except defense, veterans, and homeland security. i have done this myself. we have cut our office budget by 5%. i went to my chief of staff and did. we turned back $120,000 to the federal government. i introduced a bill called the congressional self saving act that will cut our salaries by 5% and budgets by 5%. i will turn back $180,000 to the federal government. you lead by example. >> in the first 50 days, you voted for the omnibus bill, hundreds of earmarks, in the first 50 days, you approved $1.2 trillion in new spending. and you're going to talk about

$120,000? [applause] i realize you have offered to take a 5% pay cut. that's common. you offered last year and it never came in. >> you need to try to tell the truth. i know is difficult -- >> please be quiet. >> but again, the bill that we talked about, the 5% tax cut, that was something i put in because you lead by example. it's not about talking the talk. you need to walk the walk and that is what i did in this bill. if we are not doing it ourselves, how we say to america that that's what you need to do? we need to lead by example.

>> the next question is for congressman arcuri. i would like to stay on the same -- >> i like to stay on the same topic. everyone agrees the deficit is too large and needs to be reduced. about two-thirds of the federal budget is mandatory spending, entitlements, security, medicare, interest on the debt. only one-third is discretionary and that includes defense. if you are going to work to reduce spending, what specifically will you cut and will that include defense budget? >> a -- i think a 3% cut across the board is the wisest way to do it. i would leave out defense, veterans and homeland's security. we don't put enough money toward

our veterans as it is. i think cutting back would be unacceptable. i think we need to do that. again, it is difficult to say let's cut this program by 4%. but by cutting my own budget and my own salary, when people come into my office with great programs and say we would like an increase, i say we cannot. we need to keep the line on spending. just so you know, i'm cutting my own office budget and my own salary. again, you lead by example and that's the best way to do it. >> you talk about veterans -- you voted against giving veteran soldiers one day off every month they were employed. >> i do not think that is the case. >> you voted against allowing injured veterans to receive care in non-va -- we are in a crisis

in a -- in this country. we're going to be the first generation to pass to our children less than we've got. the worst part about it is is not even zero. it is unfunded debt. whether we like it or not, everything is on the table. that's the ugly truth. with the exception of social security, and we already know they want to cut -- i am absolutely against privatizing social security. there is no place in my life that i have uttered that but that is what the commonly accepted way to destroy a person is. everything is on the table. it's going to be like chris christie in new jersey. if we don't realize we have spent our prosperity in this country, we have borrowed more than we can payback, we import more than we export, and we spend more than we make, how hard is it to figure out? those days are over.

that's why i'm doing this. [applause] >> your time is expired. please hold your applause. we are taking valuable time with the applause. >> i think mr. hanna commented last year that all things were on the table including privatization of social security. i think certain things cannot be on the table. so security, defense, veterans' benefits -- social security, defense, veterans' benefits. those are commitments we have. i think the smartest way -- you do not hear mr. hanna talking about possible solutions. i think 3% across the board is a great way to start. >> there is a solution to this. we have 9.5% unemployment. put these people back to work and it will pay into the system and it will be bribing again. >> [audience chanting how?]

>> we are a nation that wages a lot of wars -- we've had a war on crime, a war on drugs, a war on poverty. what is your stance on creating a u.s. department of peace at the cabinet level? >> i think we know where we are coming from today. i would think that would be everybody's department. why the need a special department to talk about peace? isn't that where we should start from? should not be on everybody's table automatically? [applause] >> please hold your applause. >> i understand your point and i agree with that. i thought the iraq war was a mistake. it was a war of choice. the more we look at it, the more we realize that. afghanistan is a war where we went to pursue al qaeda and the

taliban and then pakistan, because that nuclear-weapons and now we are over there and over a thousand years, from the kurds to the russians, afghanistan has proven to be the survivor. it is the graveyard of empires and we are next. we don't have to be there at the level we are there. if you want to talk about cutting back money, that's one place i would do it. >> mr. arcuri. >> i like the concept, i don't know that i would be able to support it in practice. but the idea is absolutely critical. that is something we need to talk about all the time. the days of america being a policeman of the world has to end. do we need to be engaged? absolutely. policeman of the world and have armies in iraq, and afghanistan, absolutely not.

i've been against the war in iraq from the start. afghanistan, i think the president needs to finish the job. i haven't been in two years i've been twice and i saw the incredible work our soldiers are doing there, bravely fighting for us. to bring peace to the world. and i think that's an important part of it. we have to recognize that we are not the policeman of the world. great britain tried to do it for many years. we should not try to do it. we need to bring our national guard home to be used in places like the southern border, we'd have our national guard here four times of national emergency. that is critically important not only to our national security but our domestic security. >> it's time to take a break. we will be right back.

>> this debate is sponsored by the league of women voters, the research center for independent living, the cancer action network, the american association of women, mohawk community college, the national association for the advancement of colored people and wtr tv. >> now we're going to ask questions the audience submitted. the first question is, as a 42- year-old mother and cancer survivor, i would like to know if you support increased funding for cancer research, considering research funding has remained flat for five years. >> yes. >> would like to elaborate? >> my wife is an oncology nurse and bereavement therapist.

yes. [applause] >> please keep your applause down. >> when the folks from the cancer society came to visit me, i started with a speech i told you about a little while ago when i said i'm cutting my salary and we're going to try to hold the line. we continue to talk for awhile. i said i would make this one exception for the cancer society. i did agree and signed on, sending a letter to the president asking for increased funding for the national health association for cancer research. i think it is a critical. it touches so many lives and i think it's absolutely necessary. they have been flat for five years. >> we're going to move onto the next question. agriculture is a non-partisan issue. how would your experience and leadership keep the 24th's district most important industry strong and viable for the future?

>> one of the things i have done after talking to dairy farmers is introduced a piece of legislation that would transfer the cost of shipping milk from the dairy farmers to the processors. that means the right now, a dairy farmer produces the milliken has to pay the cost of putting it in a truck and shipping it to the processor. that could be a huge amount of money for dairy farmers. my bill would shift that expense to the processors. that was a dairy farmers an enormous amount of money. i'm supportive of a bill that would approach but management of the amount of protection. we need to get that into the 2012 farm bill. we need to set ceilings on how much milk farmers can supply, that way the cost would be higher. think about this for one minute. what farmers get for their milk is what they're getting 30 years

ago. the cost of fuel, fertilizer and feed has dramatically risen. we need to do everything we can to help dairy farmers get ahead and that is why i have worked closely with them on this issue. it is critically important. >> the impact of agriculture on this district cannot be underestimated. it is close to $700 million a year. about 80% of our economy. my goal is to be on the agriculture committee and participate in the 2012 agricultural bill. i think we'd better price discovery to eliminate manipulation. the daily discovery, as like other markets for other commodities. i think we should find ways to support our family farms.

it is not just about economics, it's about a way of life and producing our own food in this country. i was brought up, some of the best years of my life, on a dairy farm. it has failed gullikson many others around the district. we need to do everything we can possibly do to support -- it has failed like so many others around the district. i take mr. arcuri and i both agree that that's an asset that cannot be helped enough. >> politics as usual has gotten us into this economic mess. what will you do in washington to change the dynamic and dipping them? >> it's like watching to parties at war with themselves and we're caught in the middle. i'm a guy who said many times that i don't agree with the

democrats or republicans. the democrats want larger and more expensive programs and the republican party wants to cut taxes incessantly. the one component that is missing, and to get back to the bush tax cuts, nobody talks about cutting spending. our deficits hour -- our deficit is our function of our spending disease. it is easy to borrow money from the chinese, but we are not that far away from looking like greece in this country. we are larger and maybe it will happen letter. -- happen later. if we don't act like adults and work in a bipartisan manner to do that, all bets are off. neither party will be relevant anymore. if the republican party wins back the house, if they don't do something in terms of health care and cutting back expenses, and not just tax cuts, they will marginalize themselves again.

i think i bring to the table a truly independent thought awful, deliver a voice for those kind of changes that make us feel like we have a participatory government again. we have to blocks of power that are all about themselves and i object to that. i object to it in my own party and i object to in everybody's party, frankly. that is obviously the objective, but when i hear richard say those things, i think he is sincere, but i listened to his speeches criticizing democrats and the president and i think that's exactly the kind of probably half. -- the kind of problem we have. amid talk about what i have done. i am on the transportation and infrastructure committee. -- i over -- we did the

reauthorization bill and i offered an amendment that would allow money being used to be allowed to be studied for consolidation. if localities want to study it, the federal government should help. the ranking member on the other side said he objects, but would you be willing to discuss it? i said yes. i said let's work on it together. a think we can make it work. that amendment passed and is now part of the bill to be taken up by congress. those of the kinds of personal relationships i have brought to congress and that is what i think we need more of. >> i do not make a point of talking badly about president

obama. it is not in my repertoire. i know it is in some of the ads and i know -- but that is not necessarily a criticism, it's an observation. the point is, at the end of the day, everybody wants to go to the same place. i know they want every to have health care and a good job and a revolving head and a comfortable society where everyone can take care of themselves and nobody is on any kind of program. i want that to. the difference is how we get there? what has energizes economy for 200 years is the private-sector, where i've made my good fortune built my life. in 200 years, our economy has provided more people with highest standard of living that neither country mystery. we are and doing it because

we're taxing ourselves to death. my objections of president obama. this law -- philosophically, i understand. it is a matter of direction and approach. i defy you to find it on tape. >> it may be the 527s, but you are a light on the philosophies with issues, whether free trader wall street. -- free trade or wall street. we do need to reset across the aisle, but you don't give any specifics on how -- we need to reach across the aisle, but you don't get any specifics. there needs to be real effort and real attempts, said jack -- suggested legislation that you agree to that democrat had signed onto. those are the real, substantive

ways you reach across the aisle. is great to talk about. -- is great to talk about it. >> your out of time. >> i have to get the job first. >> belong. -- moving along. what is the proper role of corporations in american elections? >> we are seeing what they can do and it's frightening, the potential corporations have. we see money pouring into local elections and what is worse is you don't know which corporations are doing it. some of these are funded by foreign companies and it is companies that are overseas.

that is absolutely contrary to the democratic process, to say nothing of the fact that -- think about this -- these are people trying to affect an election in upstate new york that has nothing to do with upstate new york. they don't like a bill i introduced with respect to regulating oil companies, as they come in with huge money to run ads against me, that is wrong. it isn't american and undemocratic and we need to fix it. that would require people and corporations to have their names listed. i think that's the very least we deserve. >> apparently it is undemocratic, but it is constitutional, which begs the question of the unions. i am a union member, 25 years, have nothing against unions. there is an equal amount of money polluting the electoral system.

but it is unfair to accuse corporations just because they seem bigger and more powerful. in the 2008 election, unions spent about $100 million affecting elections throughout congressional seats. you're going to object to it, it checked across the board and we have some -- >> the question was about corporations, but i think everyone should have their name, whether it's a union or corporation. if we don't think for one minute that corporations are going to try to affect elections even more, i think we are deluding ourselves because they are absolutely -- this is just a start. control on that, if we do not require corporations to least list their names, i agree are opening the floodgates to foreign corporations and other

corporations trying to influence local elections. labor unions, too. >> i think that's an act these asian that has been floating around, but there -- that's an accusation that has been floating around, but there's no evidence of foreign corporations injecting money into this. fundamentally, i read your stead. >> u-turn on the tv and you see it. you cannot help but see it. >> when you are elected or reelected, what can you do to reduce the poverty level in our country? >> poverty is a function of a couple of a great many -- it is a function of a great many things. number one is education. we have neglected our educational system. we are 13th among 36 the developed nations in college graduation. less than 70% of our students graduate from high school. we are 42nd in the world in k- 12.

if there were a football team, the fans would be burning the buildings down. this is harsh, but we need to start blaming the parents again. my wife reads to our children every night, whether she's awake or not. [laughter] we live in a competitive world and is a brutally competitive. if you don't go to school prepared to love to learn, you are doomed to fail. it's that simple. as your educational system goes in this country, so goes your country. i believe that more than anything. >> i agree. i think the education system is absolutely critical. last night, we have a forum with the local boards of education and superintendents. we talked about how important education is and what we can do to improve the educational system. things like race to the top, that gives -- it is important to

bring it to local. it gives local educators the ability to educate. we have to be very careful we pass bills like no child left behind that creates mandate of localities. we want to incentivize teachers to be creative. that is how we make learning fun and raise people out of poverty. but we also have to do one other thing. that is make sure the people who are in poverty have that safety nets and have enough to keep them going. that they have medicaid available for the poor. that is absolutely necessary. it is critical to improve our education and make sure the people are in need, we are therefore. >> we are losing industrial jobs in this country right and left. we are shipping potential

employment overseas. you see that everywhere. part of that has to do currency manipulation, part of as do with education. we need to get back to science, technology, engineering and math. i agree with president obama elite disregard completely. those are where the value-added products come from and that's how we will maintain our standard of living. this is a horrible fact -- for the first time in 70 years, new yorkers incomes went down. >> your time is expired. >> one of the other things that is important is make sure the educational system works for everyone, not just the wealthy, but the middle-class and poor as well. what program, after-school programs, those are critical to keeping people in school and wanting to stay there. that is how you motivate young people to go into science, science bears, those are the

kinds -- that's the kind of innovation we need to -- science fairs, those of the kinds of things. >> do you support full disclosure of all political expenditures and why? >> yes. we do it. it is done right now. it's required to be done. both sides to it. it is the kind of transparency that is good. -- both sides do it. people should see where it is being spent and why. that's one of my problems with the legislation with a 527s. there's a cloak over who the people are who are contributing. if you contribute to my campaign, it is public record and that's a good thing. we need to make sure that happens with outside groups. >> yes. i'm with you. >> what would you do about the

influx of illegal immigrants into the u.s. if you are elected? >> let's back up a minute. there is not a person in this room, unless you are an american indian, who is not an immigrant, including me. the -- this is a source of energy, vitality, ingenuity and labor. they have built this country. immigrants are what made us who and what we are. it is our essential story. but we have a right to know who is here, why they're here, how to contribute, what they cost. i think our borders have become sieves. we need to control our borders. i am in favor of electronic check, if you come to get a job, your employer is required to tell him who you are a given card otherwise he cannot hire you and you become an hirable. that's why most people come here. that's an efficient system.

we should hire the 8000 people i think we have to recognize that people like the person who owns google is an immigrant from russia. we cannot escape that. there are people who want to be here and have what we have that we should welcome. but we need to know they add value to the system because we're strapped to the lead in terms of our ability to pay for people who do not add value to the system in terms of economics. >> living here, we have a huge event it. we have so much diversity, russian, bosnian, hispanic and latino. when you drive along bleecker street, you see somebody different restaurants. it is absolutely wonderful and that's the kind of diversity that's important.

but we need to make sure we are doing the kinds of things necessary to keep the borders safe. one of the things, as richard pointed out, is a bill called the safe act. that requires us to hire additional border security guards, and invest more money in high-tech i.t. it is amazing what i.t. can do. i led a delegation into one of the southern ports of entry and we spent two days with the border control. you have to see what their equipment does and what they can do as far as detecting people sneaking across the border. that's the thing we need to invest in. i think president bush and president obama's idea of using the national guard in a supportive role is a very good idea. that is the kind of use our national guard could be put to and better put to in any case. i think those are some of the

things i would do to approach that problem. >> one of the things people this about mexico is that it has the potential is -- the potential to be the biggest problem have. maybe bigger than afghanistan or iran. we are being invaded. in arizona, 20,000 people were killed on the borders. hillary clinton said last week, we are beginning to fight a drug war, talk about extending our authority, in mexico. it feels like we may have to do that. in arizona, not in favor of racial profiling at all, but you cannot look at arizona and be angry about looking at the united states government saying the same thing. >> we are going to move on to our eighth question for mr. arcuri. i'm concerned with the future of the postal service. do you support six-day delivery?

>> i do and what of the reasons it's critical is because in a rural area like we live in, saturday delivery is absolutely critical. think about this with respect to seniors to get medication in the mail? it is critically have six-day delivery. the gangs the constitution enumerate some, postal service. -- that is one of the things the constitution in numerates. changing the way money is paid in without doing anything -- we're working on this legislation and it would make the post office strong and stable. six-day delivery is critical, especially for areas like ours which are very rural in nature. >> i am not in favor of bills

coming six days a week. [laughter] [applause] but here we are. we talk about the fact we have this enormous deficit and we refuse to acknowledge the fact that may be one of those things -- i don't think the constitution mentions six-day service, but it may be one of those things to look at. because where we start? are we that foolish that we can continue to spend like there's no tomorrow? that everyone in this country becomes a special interest. if there are 300 million special interests, we are in trouble. if the post office looks at this and can do it, they should be allowed to do it. i know that sounds harsh, but the reality is we're spending our kids money and they don't have a voice in this. i think that is wrong and as responsible adults, we should look at everything, including six-day service. i would like to keep it, but i cannot suggest i would keep it at all prices.

there are places we have to go to cut back on the costs of doing government. every dollar you keep in your pocket creates value for someone in your community when you spend it. it is not always a zero sum game. >> that's why it is critical to look at other alternatives. that is why the pension alternative will function. we can save enough money and make the post office function and have six-day delivery. those are the kinds of solutions that it incumbent upon a representative to look at. it is easy to say we need to look at everything, no doubt about it, but if there are not viable alternatives out there, we need to make sure we pushed hard to get them passed. familiar with what he's talking about. if a change in the pension plan would work, then i am all for it. if we can create a solution

without cutting back, i'm fine. >> it is time for closing statements. mr. hanna, you have the first closing statements. >> i am not in favor of privatizing. >> sir, we cannot take that question. >> i have been running for office for three years now. i turned into a pretty good loser last time. i travelled this district and there are things about this community that are profound to me that make me more connected to it in ways i never imagined. "everywhere i go, people feel abused, put upon and is graced with their government. people have begun to believe that our problems are unsolvable and we have a government that doesn't work. what it does work, it does not work for us. they believe that no matter how

bad things are, congress can always make it worse and i'm not sure i disagree. we need a different kind of leadership. people not thoroughly invested in the system, but invested in the jobs of the people they serve. that's what i intend to do. i have two little kids. i look at the fact that new york state is circling drain. anybody who doesn't see it is not looking. we've lost a million and a half people. we have the largest numbers of the diversities and colleges in this district. yet every one of those young people who is well educated as to leave because there's no opportunity here. we need to harness them and harness the energy and their minds. we have forgotten how to do that. new york state was once the empire state because it understood the value of the private sector, the volume of the entrepreneur, the benefit of letting people keep most of what they make. we have got away from that. it's become all about the

government. government growth is fundamentally incompatible with our success. not that i don't think government has a role, but it has gotten out of control. this is our chance to take back a piece of our government, sentiment different to washington. i promise i will work for you and i will do all of those things my life has taught me and created value for me. [applause] >> please keep it down. >> i want to say thank you to the league of women voters and all of you for being here. i think this campaign is about vision. it's about the future and ideas. this morning, mr. hanna and i had a debate and he says things will be tough for young people. i see it the other way. i think our greatest days are ahead of us. when i hear these commercials -- how many of you remember the old

urban renewal program? that was a program that knocked down all the old buildings, but the problem is it did not have the vision on what to put in its place. you cannot just knocked down, you have to have a vision of rocket but there. that's what our campaign is about. we talk about the things we have done. we have created jobs and help companies. we have created a scholarship programs and schools at utica college. these kinds of things create jobs and keep young people here. that is what it's all about. it is fighting for people in this district and fighting to keep jobs here. you cannot just knocked down, you need to have a vision to build. that is what our campaign is about. i want you to think about this going forward. who has the ideas, who has the vision, the ideas for what to do in the future?

that's the best campaign is about and that's what i promise i will bring to you. i would very much like to continue to work for you. thank you very much for being here this evening. [applause] >> thank you for all of you participating in the debate tonight. we like to thank our panelists, thank you for bringing your questions to us tonight. we would also like to thank the debate sponsors, the league of women voters, the american association of at the university of women, mohawk valley community college, the national association for the advancement of colored people and wutr tv. thank you. for the league of women voters, have a great evening. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> thank you for watching the

24th congressional district debate. >> the midterm elections are one week from today. each night on c-span, we are showing debates from key races from the country. here is the lineup for tonight. we start at 7:00 with live coverage of a debate between candidates to be south carolina's next governor. one hour later, the focus is the

indiana senate race. we will show you a discussion on the tea party express. and finally, a pair of house debates from new hampshire's first district and pennsylvania's third. join us later tonight for a look at the role older voters will play in this year's elections. cokie roberts will moderate the program. this gets underway at 7:00 eastern on our companion network, c-span2. here is a short look at tonight's program. >> it is a huge election issue. i would like to see parts of it changed. i think the candidate who supports repealing it is probably not going to do well, a least in our part of the country, but i see major changes needed. >> this health care bill has become an albatross around democrats next. >> is a problem.

if you look at the specifics, there's a lot of things people like. people like the fact that you can keep your kids up to age 26 on your plan. people like the fact prescription drugs will cost less. people like the tax incentives for small business. but they have been given a sense of the bill that is problematic. most people tend to oppose the bill but favored, but seniors are concerned about they have heard there are medicare cuts be made to pay for the bill. the reality is much more complicated. the reality is medicare payments to insurance companies are being cut. not medicare payments to individuals or the services seniors on medicare get. republicans are able to go out there and say the democrats of cut your medicare. that's a problem. >> and that is working. >> and is working because it is the truth. if you pay doctors less, are they going to perform more? if you cut payments to people

who determine whether or not these medicines are provided to people, do you think they will provide them? with seniors have now said, and i understand where things were two years ago, the status quo, as bad as this is better than this health care legislation. at a time where seniors are going to vote, a look at health care, the look of the bureaucracy, they look at the government take over of health care and say thanks but no thanks. i think of all the issues, that one is going to play in your state, nev., i think harry reid will have a problem explaining why he voted for medicare cuts. >> one of the great features of the c-span video library is the ability to clip ensure progress with your friends. during this campaign season, that includes more than 100 bates. if you are new to it all, watch the tutorial on how to clip and share our web site.

search, find and share with the c-span video library. >> the editor in chief of hot line joins us to talk about several different races. we begin with washington state. h washington state. michelle obama was campaigning for patty murray. she travels to california today. let's begin with washington state, reid wilson. that could decide senate control. >> yes, it will be neck-and-neck until the end. instead of people going to a polling place in washington, everybody gets a ballot couple of weeks before the election. that helps to boost turnout. it has held both parties in the past. this year, i think it helps patty murray. i think the democratic base is deflated, is not necessarily going to go out to the voting

polls. and there is no early voting, so everything has to happen on one day. but because it is all mail-in, patty murray should see some benefit from that. rossi used to represent a district near seattle. republicans rely have to hit about 40% in the king county in order to be competive. since he is based there, he has a stronchance. he is the best known republican in the state and he will present marie with a big challenge, but th latest polls have shown patty murray leading the polls. she has a pretty substantial lead. host: there have been other reports that she is only up

slightly. >> in this year i should clarify,ubstantial means two, three points. we have seen some numbe where she is over 50%, and that is key. lately, she has been polling at or near the 50% mark. host: back to california, michelle obama will be there campaigning for barbara boxer. >> carly fiorina, the rublican candidate, is running the most conservative campaign that she -- california has seen in a long time. she is a down only by a small margin, so she is within striking distance. what carly fiorina is part counting on by running this more conservative campaign is a big republican turnout in the

central valley, san diego and orange county. barbara boxer is fighting against voter apathy in traditional democratic strongholds like los angeles and san francisco. the national senatorial campaign committee is here adding about $3 million to fiorina's campaign. barbara boxer is adding about $4 million of her own trying to get her base out. this race is neck and neck. if any race will decide whether republicans can get to the 51 seats they need to control the senate, i would say it is california before it is washington. host: what will you be watching for the next seven days? >> it is critical for democrats to energize their base in los geles, san francisco, and cut

into the roles in orange county. it is becoming less of a republican stronghold. barbara boxer needs to hold down fiorina's margins there, and over perform in los angeles and san francisco. i still think parke -- barbara boxer is the favorite, but it will be a close race. you cannot call it a bellwether, but it could be the one that we stay up waiting longest for as these counties in this massive state count. move on.'s what is going on in this race in south carolina? >> democrats believe they have a chance to pull off an upset.

the latest polls show niki caylee up by a significant margin. somewhere around double digits. but democrats believe they have the zen road. haley comes from the rick sanford part of the republican party. the interaction between his wing and the old establishment that gathers in the state legislature in colombia has fought virtually nonstop during his two terms. haley will sort of continue that contentious relationship with the legislator, if elected, and that is giving some republicans pause and may have them vote shaheen.or vinscent haley is still the favorite, but

some papers are supporting shaheen, putting pressure on haley to work with the state legislature down there. nikki haley was sort of the first sarah palin momma grizzlies. host: those two candidates will square off later on >> an advocate for muslim women's rights told a national press club audience that she sees islam as a threat to the west and says is dangerous to view is, as a peaceful and tolerant religion. she was born in somalia and is the author of the book "no bad" which details her journey to the

u.s. and her relationship with her family after renouncing islam. for more information about the press club, please visit our web site. to donate to our program, please visit our web site. on behalf of our members, i would like to welcome our speaker and attendees of today's events. i would like to welcome those watching on c-span and the public radio audience.

i would like to introduce our guest. the executive director of global internet freedom, per the -- promoting internet freedom throughout the world. a reporter for bloomberg news covering defense policy and the pentagon. executive producer of artistically speaking. the senior fellow with the american enterprise institute and a guest of our speaker. andrew snyder, associate editor of kipling are and chairman of the national press club's speakers' committee. skipping over are speaker, the

president of [unintelligible] and the member who arranged today's conference. reuters washington bureau chief. an editor and reporter with agency press. and the professor of journalism at george washington university and former bureau chief ap, new delhi, london, tokyo and the secretary of the national press club. [applause] he is also president of the foreign correspondents club in tokyo.

when our guest was very young, her father was jailed for opposing the country's dictatorship. she fled into exile. when she was 8, her mother took her and her siblings to saudi arabia to live with her father. the following year, the family was expelled from that country and move to ethiopia where her father is opposition group was headquartered. after 18 months, the move again, this time to kenya. in 1992, she stun her family by fleeing to the netherlands to escape an unwanted arranged marriage. she earned a degree from the netherlands' university and served in the dutch parliament from 2003-2006. in parliament, she worked on furthering the integration of non-western immigrants into dutch society and defending the

rights of women and that muslim society. in 2004, together with director theo van gogh , she helped to produce the now famous film, " said mission" about women in islamic cultures. the airing of the program resulted in the assassination of the director and a letter threatening her life. in 2006, she moved yet again, this time to the united states where she is now a resident scholar at the american enterprise institute in washington d.c. her walk -- her work involves researching the relationship between the west and islam, women's rights and a slump, violence against women propagated by religious and cultural arguments and islam in europe. in 2007, she and her supporters

found a foundation to help and defend the rights of women in the dough west against militant islam. their education, our reach and the dissemination of knowledge the foundation seeks to combat crime against women such as female genital mutilation and forced marriages, honor violence and honor killings, such as portrayed in the chilling bill which was previewed by standing- room-only audience at a national press club screening last year. .

please join me in a warm national press club welcome for ayaan hirsi-alim. [applause] >> thank you very much for having me at the press club for the second time.

christina sommers, my dear friend for the american institute of feminism, and my security coordinator. thank you for coming with me. ladies and gentlemen, today's topic is the statement we often hear. islam is a religion of tolerance. you hear it in different ways. islam is a religion of peace. is it a religion of tolerance? it helps to define the term of the statement itself. tolerance in english is an attitude. it is an attitude, a disposition to allow freedom of choice and behavior, but an attitude is also different from behavior. it is also an act.

as opposed to smoking, you may think of yourself as tolerant of smoking, but it is different if you allow a smoker in your house. there is a difference between attitude and behavior. in general terms it has come to be understood as willing to and to recognize the beliefs of others. that willingness is not absolute. it has its limits. when i lived in the netherlands, i remember that. they tried to find a trade-off between those who did not want to vaccinate their children using the latest arguments for the rights of the child not to be vaccinated against things

like polio. that is just to give you an idea. the term religion is commonly understand as the search for a higher being. a second aspect is such rituals as pertain to food and clothing etc.. i think a much more important aspect is the model framework for human affairs as derived from the superhuman agencies and the morality it attributed. islam is an all-encompassing

moral, legal, political, social, and cultural framework. is both the system of belief and the system of practice, and the word means submission. it is submission to the word of fallout. -- allah. it is very important to differentiate between a muslim and the belief system of islam. it is important to make that distinction because belief systems do not think. human beings can change their minds. there are a list of arguments, and there are very many that are used to defend the assertion that islam is a religion of tolerance in our day.

for instance, we now know the famous assertion, and to the then face -- unto thee thy face and an end unto me my face. that is when they tried to convince him to give up his belief of one god and go back to the concept of many graves. the assertion that islam is a religion of peace is also defended in the historical context that compares islamic history to christian history. we are told christians and jews when they lived under islamic domination were given of protected status. that was people of the book, and

that meant they did not have the same rights as muslims, but they could continue to worship their gods and live peacefully, and if you compare that to jews and protestants, and in that same time we were told the jews were persecuted and often killed. historians often compare and come up with when catholicism was dominant, and they compare it to when islam was dominant, and they say the intolerance that catholics had was innovative. if you compare that to islam at that time, mathematicians, astronomers, poets could ride. that was a time when the catholic church was burning

thinkers and ending their work with them. the status of women under catholics not so long and maybe even under protestants -- you will find some historical material that shows women were regarded as witches. they were burned. they were the ninth all kinds of rights that men enjoy it -- denied all kinds of rights that men enjoy. some will say muslims were more friendly to women. mohammad stopped the practice of burying young girls considered to be superfluous. you were superfluous if you were the third or fourth daughter. before we get into arguments of before and against, and before

we examine whether this is historical accurate or not, i would like to say a few words about what is an absolutely not disputed. it is not disputed that islamic jurors to -- your prudence is derived from the carranza, -- quran and in the recordings. and there are six consolations the turn not considered controversial and arabic term meaning reasoning strewn analogy, things that are not explicit in the carranza -- koran, and that is done by scholars.

it is a consensus among the learned one. that is the agreement that has to do only with what is not explicit. islamic law is derived from these four sources. al qaeda, the 57 member states of islam conference and the entire 1.7 billion moslems believe in the legitimacy of all four sources. to believe is not the same as to know. to believe is also not the same as to act on those beliefs. that is why it is very important we maintain a conceptual difference between islam as a set of beliefs and a moslem on the other hand as an individual

or human who may or may not adhere to those beliefs. in order to determine whether islam is tolerant or not, i urge you first to examine the sources of is lawmakers prudence -- islamic jurisprudence. you are illiterate and -- a literate group, so i urge you to make up your mind. i also urge you to examine the history of islam. i have done that, and in the

four sources, i found explicit commands to concord, guidelines on how to go about that, details on how muhamed defeated his enemies. he handed over 60 military campaigns, and they were very successful. i do not think he got where he got by offering his enemies candy verio i also found war tactics. i found the concept of deception. that is when you are weak and the enemy is stronger common it is justified, obligated to buy common and that is to deceive until islam dominates. i found also how to persevere when faced with adversity.

i find there would be a punishment of those who refuse to fight. i also found in those four sources what to do once people are concord curator that is to either convert them to islam and give them an exception in that status. i found the legislation on prevention as a punishment of behavior considered to be criminal. the beheading of murderers, the hanging and killing of adulterer's.

i find precise descriptions that tells the muslim what action is permissible, what is surged and what is discouraged and forbidden. in any country where this system is implemented i have seen an expression of that carrier -- of that. take a look at the plight of those who deviate from the past prescribed in the scripture. a closer look at the sources for, the history of islam, and the actions of many islam led me to conclude that islam is not a religion of tolerance. do not take my word for it. i urge you to do your own store it -- your own studies.

i found there were times of relative tolerance and times of extreme intolerance. i want to empathize -- emphasize most muslims are tolerant. most muslims like most christians, jews, buddhists, and hindus i think our peace-loving. i lived among muslims in saudi arabia and kenya, and most people around may were not violent and did not want to be violent, but many of them ceased to be tolerant and became the island once they were confronted with the demands. even though most muslims are peace-loving, it is the religion that mohammad brought that defines the state of peace and

tolerance at the moment when the entire world population submits to allah and embraces islam. it is only then that this is possible, so the end goal is to maintain the status of peace that can only be obtained once the entire world has been islam icized. that word is not defined as you define it in the united states are in the west. peace in islam does not mean a cease-fire. cease-fires and compromises are considered temporary statuses. how do you achieve that goal? it is through jihad or holy war, through settlement, and through the institution of law that the peace can be achieved.

before the state of universal islam is achieved, it is the duty of every muslim male to wage war. war does not mean you go about killing people. it also means that you preach and set an example, give charity, but you focus on the end goal. do not forget the end goal. that is what it means. i find islam today to be a like the west in two ways. one is on the level of ideas. the agents who do want islam tune dominate want to replace the language of the constitution of liberty with the language of the constitution of islam. on to second level, it is the institutional level, the agents

who want to sabotage the agents of liberty and destroy them from within. if they succeed, they will replace those institutions with islamic institutions. the next question what means will they employ. within islam, among thick agents, there is no agreement on the means to the end. to answer that question, we must first ask ourselves who are the agents of the constitution of islam. now i found three categories. the first is the armed militias. they are revolutionary-minded. think of names like al qaeda, hamas hamas and hezbollah.

they can be lawful. they can be regional. they can be international. what distinguishes them is their mindset is focused on the short term. it is through quick violence that they want to achieve their goals. the second category -- you may be familiar with the term the moslem brotherhood, of which i was a sympathizer. this group is more insidious. they have given up violence for the longer term. they have postponed violence. they apply a message that is very slow. these are non-governmental organizations. they focus on saddling, infiltration and more affective -- on settling, infiltration, and more effective methods. the last group are the state

actors. these are organized in an international body called the organization of islam conference, and they have a short-term mind set and a long term mind-set. the constitution of liberty is attack simultaneously from three different sides and in three different ways. there is no central planning from the agents of the constitution of islam on their attack on the west. what unites them is the shared ideas. central planning is far less successful than decentralized activities, as they tried to obtain a common goal through resourcefulness. the main thing is that the common goal remains clear. the members of the different categories of radical islam may

collaborate. they may fight amongst one another. they may kill one another. they may have no contact at all with one another. think of the term home grown terrorism and how it fascinates and puzzles experts that an individual in alabama or taxes who has had no connection to al qaeda is asked to perform the same objectives. nothing illustrates a common outlook of these three agents of islam more than when islam's founder is criticized or mocked. mohammad. the network of muslim brotherhood organizations will take the offending text and bring it to the attention.

now they oppose it on mine, and translate it. they lobbied the state agents, and then they use the message to stigmatize those who triey to expose the agenda as being intolerant. the second level, the militia's command of what was -- militias demand fatwah and even put a bounty on someone's head. think about the swedish illustrator. you want to know how did al qaeda find that out. members of the muslim brotherhood put that out. the state sent diplomats to the government of the defenders -- of the offenders and demanded

retribution, either that the person goes to jail or that the newspaper is shut down, etc.. recently, the state has successfully lobbied to criminalize some of the criticism of islam, and i think it is more successful in europe as discrimination and defamation of religion, so the proposition that islam is tolerant is not only salacious, but it is also dangerous. why is it dangerous? here in the united states, policy measures focus only on the first group, the militias. when they are operating on the domestic level with homegrown terrorists, that becomes the business of the fbi.

the second group of agents, the muslim network, is overlooked. when they are overlooked, they can focus on the activities of indoctrination with virtually no challenge from outside. on the level of the state actors common we have a formal alliance with almost all muslim countries except iran and syria. on the one hand it is military. on the other, it is diplomatic. on the one hand, saudi arabia is an allied. on the other hand it is funding the discourse to destroy america, a discourse of hostility and animosity towards the west. if you look if the three groups in the categories, they apply the instrument of dividing by

exploiting local differences within the west, and it is very fascinating for people who study politics and power to observe this. you will see this is between liberals and conservatives who get more conflated then in the west. the difference between christians and atheists in the west is made of to be i huge thing where you think either one is going to destroy america. the difference between urban interests and the difference between rural areas. just how dangerous the assumption of islam as a peaceful and tolerance religion is is demonstrated by the war on terror. we have entered the 10th year since 9-11. we have sacrificed the lives of thousands and spent trillions on military and in aid to the

muslim world, and yet ask anyone what the status is on the war on terror, and you will get all around confusion, in coherence, and frustration. there is no sure definition on who the enemy is. pakistan, a nuclear power in a state of anarchy, is ultimately deviant -- devious in her alliance with the u.s., but authorities will say, we like you when you give us your money, and maybe we will help our taliban rev. -- brethren, or

maybe we will not. turkey, a member of the conference richard a chairman is ultimately moving away from islam and to the west. there is still a bitter debate on whether the war on terror is a criminal issue or a military matter, and just to increase falafel of trauma, we are on the verge of another military confrontation with another prominent member of the organization of islamic countries -- iran. the idea that islam is peace, tolerance, and compatible with western theory and values, i think is seen to be useful more as a strategy and not as a pursuit of the truth, and what is that strategy?

it goes as follows. given the fact that there are over 1 billion muslims in the world, 1.5 billion, given the fact that the world is globalized, given the fact that america has an interest and that america is a model empire, meaning we do not wipe out our enemies and the same way they wiped out carthage or mahmoud wiped out his enemies, we should use our political skills. we should use diplomacy, tools of persuasion, and other resources, until we are able to get around this conflict. the hope is we will be able to pass a fight islam if we do not anchor muslims, and there is nothing that anchors muslim elite more than the criticism of islam, because you are

challenging their objectivity. unlike christians and jews, moslems do not appreciate questions on the perfection of the karan end mohammed. we are told we will create the image along with the image that islam is perfect and if we communicate that to them, we do not blame the religion, we will be able to persuade the masses to take our point of view. we shall give them financial aid, and we shall address the day to day problems. it is not a war on terror any more. it is a chronic problem. that is the policy of entitlement that has been in place since 9-11. that policy of entitlement has failed. the question now is are we ready to acknowledge that failure, and

are we ready to explore alternatives. thank you very much. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] calle[captions copyright nationl cable satellite corp. 2010] >> we have many questions. first, why did you select a topic? >> i selected that as my topic, because i am frustrated by the continuous believe and i think self-delusion that islam is

only of religion. islam is more than a religion. it is a religion. it does have a spiritual dimension -- prayer, fasting, the rituals of life and death. none of us is opposed to that, and that part of islam sits very well with the american constitution and can be protected, but there is another dimension to islam. there is the political dimension, and i wanted to highlight that. often in my other work when i speak to audiences here and in europe, i talked about the social language, and the social dimension governs the relationship between men and women and the family, and in that, i find a great subjection of women to hold and outdated human rights-violating ideas. >> global public opinion polling

has shown president obama's policies in his cairo speech have not improved the view of the united states among the world's moslems. why do you think that is? >> i know the questions were written before the speech, but i think my speech completely answers this question, because the objections of the agents of islam on the state level, on the militia lovell, and on the non- government level is not to give top islamic juris -- give up islamic jurisprudence. is to use modern means to make islam dominant. if that is your goal, why would you suddenly say, we are muslims. we all gather in cairo, and we are going to take another look at the national interest of the

united states, but this time, because it is communicated by of black man, we are going to change our mind about that? that does not make sense to me. it does not make sense to any intelligent person. the thing we need to be doing, and i think what the administration needs to do is examine closely what the objections of these countries are, what are the muslim masses told to believe in, and i think that is why his popularity has not increased any more than president bush. >> in your boat, you state that you "first encountered the full strength of islam as a young child in saudi arabia. could you please elaborate on this? >> in somalia, first, i was about eight years old, and was

not clever enough to engage in philosophical questions regarding which kind of islam and so on. before we went to saudi arabia, somalia was under secular rule. we were ruled by a dictator inspired by the soviet union. in our daily lives, we did see what that meant, but the state laws pertaining to women at the time to not exist. women and men were treated the same. the different tribes had another idea. i was treated differently from my brother. when we went to saudi arabia, what i saw and what i experienced was the state's prescribing how exactly i should

dress for my mother should dress, whether we can get out of the house or not without a guardian, what aren't new inheritance is. there was an agenda of apartheid imposed by the state, and that is very different from being in somalia. it was different from ethiopia. it was different from anybody except where the law is practiced and enforced. >> there have been several questions wanting your views on the firing of juan williams for his comments, and they want to know what you think about that and also about his comments. >> he was a very famous person,

because i only heard about him after he was fired. it immediately reminded me of europe and the things going on in europe were the lobbyists and the intimidation of the categories, the muslim brotherhood plus the state -- asked the state to criminalize any criticism of islam, but it is not just that. it is also stigmatized socially, saying there must be something wrong with him. that has been very successful in europe, and almost all critics in the netherlands, and i came here and got an open podium to say whatever i want, and williams has met with the success of that policy at npr,

so what it demonstrates to me is that the national public radio in the united states has successfully accepted the premise that if you criticized islam common -- criticized islam, you are races are causing social upheaval, you are generating intolerance towards muslims, so by that logic, the thing to do was to fire him, and i think it is great, because it has exposed that is fair. i watched people calling to privatize that, which i think is better. >> no more government money for them? >> it is government instruments used to silence. [applause] by >> we do not want the

government silencing reporters, particularly here. that would not be very nice. what advice can you give the west regarding successful integration of moslems in our society. the questioner said, i agree this is the utmost importance. you have any suggestions as to what each of us can do as individuals? >> that is a fantastic question because it comes to the heart of the non-governmental muslim brotherhood network, and one reason they want to silence you when you criticize islam is because they want to have complete ownership, a complete monopoly on muslim immigrants who came to the united states first not to spread ms. long, not to settle, but to lead normal, peaceful lives, and for them to incorporate all those

reverse ethnic groups -- not to spread islam, not to settle, but to lead normal, peaceful lives, and for them to incorporate all those ethnic groups, what we can do is say, for a country like the united states, you are seen to peddle your political philosophy for society, but we are also going to do the same, and we are going to go through those same communities, and we're going to educate them on competing philosophies. that entails not only of defense -- i think a bit of it has been, looked at me, but it is also a challenge of the principles of islam, and that challenge is what islam does not want to do. that is what the network does not want to do, because every

human being if you assume muslim individuals are rational, too, once they are provided with alternatives, there is a possibility they may adopt the constitution of liberty, so what you can do is start the competition, and you can start it as a christian, as a humanist, as a feminist. let's get going. [applause] >> as one of the most prominent and respected non-diaz -- theists in the world, you can understand the surprise when you advocated muslims to christianity. widening recommend religious dogma overt secularism. how might we get you to change your position? >> i am not advocating religious dogma over reason and

secularism. what i am admitting is religions are different. i have observed and read about an experience christians and jews and even hindus and buddhists who have devolved from absolutism to tolerance, from compassion to peace. i have also observed the that most people do not really want to be atheists. i would like them to be atheists. i wish i had a magic wand, but i cannot. most people who write to me have not converted to atheism, even though they have gained full inside, not from my book but from their own experience as they say, i do not want to be a

muslim. i completely understand why islam is not a moral guideline, but will you not consider christianity. even the agnostic, but do not become an atheist, so i have to acknowledge that human beings are not inclined towards atheism. it is only a minority of. given the challenge we are faced with, given the resources the faces of islam are putting into their message, given that this is almost a losing battle because we are not taking them on, and given that there are moderate christian to offer a combination of spiritual satisfaction with mundanity and the sacredness -- mundanity -- modernity, i think it would be wrong to not ask christians to

go after the 1.7 5 million muslims and who today are getting only allah, and all zero once only domination, submission, and violence. >> what is your opinion of the schooling most muslims get? does this skew the views in america? what do you recommend we should do? >> we have evidence on what is taught in madrasahs and mosques. some of it it would go in that category of purely spiritual, the prayers, fasting, etc., but a large part of it is criminals,

of imam is telling them not to integrate but to infiltrate. you get infiltrations' done by the fbi. given the fact that we have evidence against -- i am a classical liberal. i do not believe in banning books. i did not believe in banning speech. i think there should be a competition of ideas, and you want to cuddle your idea in a much barraso or other institutions and islamic philosophy is the best way to live, go for it, but i want to peddle my idea to the same audience and let them decide, and i am not going to call you a racist or this or that. i want to be protected from

that. >> another questions about christians converting to -- converting muslims. how do you explain? is it simply trading one belief system predicted on a benevolent god who will destroy an infidels for another one? >> i am an atheist. one thing that means is is it god who created mankind or is it men who created god, and i believe until there is enough evidence to do otherwise than men created gone, and it is not only one god. there are different concepts of a god. i am not advocating religious dogma. i am saying given the fact that most human beings want a concept

of a god, then i humane god, i gotta who allows the qualities of men and women, that allows heterosexuals and homosexuals, that is tolerant of other religions, that concept of god is very attractive. it is like going to the spot. you get all kinds of treatments, and if you get the treatment that tells you i am going to cut you open, most people find that extreme. all at this point is extreme. other forms of god may be more appealing. i am not advocating dogma and intolerance and replacing of one in tolerant dog with another guy. i am only acknowledging the christian god has gone through the enlightenment -- i am not advocating dogma and intolerance

and replacing of one in tolerant god with another god. i am only acknowledging the christian god has gone through the enlightenment. >> what is the foundation and how can people join or help out? >> mcnamethe aha foundation is inspired by american friends here who said, what can we do, and explain to me that in the u.s. you do not change in justices in society only by using government instruments, but civil society has its part, so it is a private foundation, and our mission statement is to protect the rights of muslim

women living here in the u.s. from militant islam and tribal customs. some of the practices, female genital mutilation type is of little children, young women forced into marriage, and if you think it does not happen here, linda texting is -- look at taxes. -- texas. a girl in arizona was run over by her father for her life style. i am talking about a myriad of

hidden in justices with little girls pulled of from school year in the united states, so that is what the institution wants to focus on, to create an awareness enacted in europe, and later we found out in the netherlands, it was too late in some cases because people had died and because the practices have become so entrenched that some european legislators were considereing compromise in it, and the mission of aha is to prevent americans from doing that. >> participants have an aha moment? >> yes. >> we are almost out of time, but there are a couple of things to take care of.

first i would like to remind you of future speeches. jeff bridges will be here to talk about efforts to combat hunger. on december 2, the ceo of coca- cola will be speaking. are you ready for your final jeopardy question? your life story would make a compelling and educational movie. are you considering this idea, and i would like to add, if so, who do you want to play you gunman -- to play you? >> this is the most challenging question i have ever had in public. "infidel" is in the hands of my agent, who is talking to people in hollywood and people who

might take it from the story to a screenplay. i have not been following the status. i cannot tell you the movie is going to be released where and when. who do i want to play me? you will be surprised. the first time i met meryl streep, i said, can you please plame me? >> she probably could. she said, -- can you please plame me -- play me? >> she probably could. >> she said no, that is not how it goes, but if we could find a black actress who is like meryl streep, i would say yes. >> before we go, i have to present you with our traditional --

>> thank you. [applause] >> i would like to thank our national club staff, our executive director, plus our library and broadcast center for organizing today's of men. -- today's the event. for more information, please go to our website at www.press.org.

thank you very much. we are adjourned. how do i stop it? i cannot stop it. >> every weekend on c-span 3, experience american history tv starting saturday. american people telling the american story. eyewitness accounts that shape

our nation. visit museums, historical sites, and college campuses as top history professors and leading historians delve into america's past. all weekend, every weekend on c- span 3. >> the local vehicles are traveling the country to get the most closely contested house races for this year's midterm elections. >> it is important to me to bring back michigan. your i have had a family member lose his business after six years. >> it went down, and we have nothing. >> i am concerned about employment. the auto industry has changed.

michigan used to be the wheels that used to run michigan. jobs were plentiful. we need to address that issue. >> the unemployment rate is around 12%. the state averages around 14%, and foreclosures have been horrible. it has been horrible around the state, but it has been horrible in the county, too. >> the economy is really scary right now. people are losing their homes and their jobs. there does not seem to be a big enough recovery quick enough, and there is a real anxiety, especially here in michigan with the auto industry. we have one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation. >> our states is hurting. we were an industrial state. the automotive industry has shrunk or downsized. a lot of jobs have been of

source. we need to recover from that. >> i have to businesses close that i owned. i have friends who moved to arizona, san diego, out of state. dallas, it is affecting me, because i am moving out of state, too. >> i just want to come and ask for your support. >> i am a democrat, so i am on. >> thank you. we are going to keep working hard. >> i am a teacher, too. >> especially in michigan we have had challenges. you today realize that everything washington does somehow impact of. it impacts everything from our health care to the taxes we pay to how our schools are educating

our students. >> there are two candidates. gary peters is the incumbent democrat. he is the first democrat to win the seat in more than a century. and the republican is andrew "rocky raczkowski. is a military event. he is on the finance committee and wants to bring money back to michigan so businesses have the ability to get the money so they can expand their businesses. >> i love this -- obamacare -- make it hurt. >> he is very upset with the obama administration. he is also interested in jobs for michigan. the district is oakland county. it encompasses the northern suburbs of detroit, and it has always been a very republican district, but over the last 10 years, it has trended more

democratic. voters have been voting for democrats as president and governor in the last four or five election cycles, and just this past election cycle in 2008, democrats have won a lot of seats and a lot of different areas. >> we have to keep working, but we are hearing good things, and the key thing is to get our message out. it is going to be important just to get him to the polls. >> they are not doctors. they have never been employed. >> it is a big republican year, and i think if in have stayed even a little bit of the same as it was in 2008, peterson would have no trouble getting elected at all, but with the mood of the state and the county, it makes it a much tougher race. peters has no plans to ask the

president to campaign for him. the president has come in a couple of times for fund raisers, but he has not been by for a while, and peters has said, obama is not on the ballot. i am on the ballot running on my record. it is indicative of what kind of year it is going to be it could throw the majority of congress one way or the other. it's gary peters loses year, i expect republicans will take over the majority of congress. good >> leading us to the november 2 midterm elections, we are visiting congressional districts where some of the most closely contested races are taking place. for more of what they are up to this season, visit our web site.

cspan.org/lcv. we are hoping to bring you live coverage. we are having a problem with our live signal. we are going to try to fix it. in the meantime, we will hear more about another race. .

>> ohio 15 is a microcosm of the country. this race is on the national radar in many respects because it is such a typical district in the midwest, and the pedal -- typical district in the u.s. and allied any factor you would see playing out on the national stage you will see playing out

in this district. mary jo kilbourne is the incumbent democrat who was elected in 2008. her republican opponent is steve stivers who ran against her and lost by a small margin. there are two minor party candidates on the ballot. four freshmen, she has been active. she was involved in crafting some of the financial regulations that were processed. her opponent has made an indictment of nancy pelosi. >> people are angry. they have not seen the recovery and the attention of wall street has given. we have stopped the hemorrhaging of jobs. there are people who are out of

work and there are still parents who are worried about their children's future. i understand that and i know how angry people out because i got a great one we saw the wall street executives, aig, take some of the -- take money and pay themselves big bonuses after the taxpayers had just built them out. which is why i voted against the second round of t.a.r.p. >> they are not running away from her role. they are suggesting her role was positive. she has a role in a majority that is doing a lot of stuff. they're not trying to minimize her as a member of the congressional majority. they're trying to push back on stivers as a former bank lobbyist. some with they see as basically

a stooge for what happened under the bush administration, someone who would roll the clock back to an era of unregulated markets, sort of greed and at sutter's thing. -- that sort of thing. >> issues that come up our jobs and spending. occasionally the health-care bill but that is a subset of jobs and spending. the unemployment rate is having -- is at 11%. we want to make sure that we move this country forward. we need to get people back to work. >> he worked for bank in ohio that was acquired by a larger bank. he was their top lobbyist in ohio and you will hear that over and over again. his role was essentially a push for policies that favored deregulation and free-market and he likes to talk about his time as a job creator in ohio.

after that, he became a state senator and served as state senator for five years. he left two years ago and has been a private sector person ever since. mary jo gilbride in terms of her popularity this year, against 2008, 2008 she was helped out by obama turnouts on campus and the other parts of the district that saw a wave of turnouts the seceded with obama's election. this year, the top of the ticket is the governor, not the president. turnout will be less. she will be maybe a higher profile in terms of her profile in the district. she does not have a president to give her political coverage. it is notable that 2008, obama carried this district by a large margin. kilroy carried by a smaller margin. the basic math does not come out in her favor if she is underperforming the president

and there is no precedent to top the ticket. it will be tougher. >> i have had this opportunity to serve for about 20 months into my first term, working hard for the people of this district and i want to continue to do that. >> please help us work all the way through november 2 and i will work hard every day if i am lucky enough to be your congressman. thank you. >> leading up to the november 2 midterm elections, where traveling the country and a visiting congressional districts where some of the most closely contested house races are taking place. for more information on what the local content vehicles are up to kamala visit our web site. -- up to, visit our web site. >> we're still trying to fix that technical problem with a debate between the candidates for south carolina's governor. nikki haley and vincent sheheen. campaign 2010.

first lady michelle obama is on the campaign trail. about the hispanic vote in the campaign of 2010. first, we have chris russo from hot line. we begin with washington state. michelle obama was campaigning for patty murray. she travels to california today. let's begin with washington state, reid wilson. that could decide senate control. >> yes, it will be neck-and-neck until the end. instead of people going to a polling place in washington, everybody gets a ballot a couple of weeks before the election. that helps to boost turnout. it has held both parties in the past. this year, i think it helps patty murray. i think the democratic base is

deflated, is not necessarily going to go out to the voting polls. and there is no early voting, so everything has to happen on one day. but because it is all mail-in, patty murray should see some benefit from that. rossi used to represent a district near seattle. republicans really have to hit about 40% in the king county in order to be competitive. since he is based there, he has a strong chance. he is the best known republican in the state and he will present marie with a big challenge, but the latest polls have shown patty murray leading the polls. she has a pretty substantial

lead. host: there have been other reports that she is only up slightly. >> in this year i should clarify, substantial means two, three points. we have seen some numbers where she is over 50%, and that is key. lately, she has been polling at or near the 50% mark. host: back to california, michelle obama will be there campaigning for barbara boxer. >> carly fiorina, the republican candidate, is running the most conservative campaign that she -- california has seen in a long time. she is a down only by a small margin, so she is within striking distance. what carly fiorina is part counting on by running this more

conservative campaign is a big republican turnout in the central valley, san diego and orange county. barbara boxer is fighting against voter apathy in traditional democratic strongholds like los angeles and san francisco. the national senatorial campaign committee is here adding about $3 million to fiorina's campaign. barbara boxer is adding about $4 million of her own trying to get her base out. this race is neck and neck. if any race will decide whether republicans can get to the 51 seats they need to control the senate, i would say it is california before it is washington. host: what will you be watching for in the next seven days? >> it is critical for democrats

to energize their base in los angeles, san francisco, and cut into the roles in orange county. it is becoming less of a republican stronghold. barbara boxer needs to hold down fiorina's margins there, and over perform in los angeles and san francisco. i still think parker -- barbara boxer is the favorite, but it will be a close race. you cannot call it a bellwether, but it could be the one that we stay up waiting longest for as these counties in this massive state count. move on.'s what is going on in this race in south carolina?

>> democrats believe they have a chance to pull off an upset. the latest polls show niki caylee up by a significant margin. somewhere around double digits. but democrats believe they have the zen road. haley comes from the rick sanford part of the republican party. the interaction between his wing and the old establishment that gathers in the state legislature in colombia has fought virtually nonstop during his two terms. haley will sort of continue that contentious relationship with the legislator, if elected, and that is giving some republicans pause and may have them vote shaheen.or vinscent

haley is still the favorite, but some papers are supporting shaheen, putting pressure on haley to work with the state legislature down there. nikki haley was sort of the first sarah palin momma grizzlies. host: those two candidates will square off later on >> we will not be able to bring that debate to you. we will try to have it later in our schedule. stay tuned. at 8:00 p.m., we will talk with the chief strategist for the tea

party express. right now, the role of hispanic votes in midterm elections. joining me at the table now is brent wilkes, the executive director of the league of latin american citizens coming here to talk about the hispanic vote in campai 2010. what is your group doing specifically to get hispanic voters out? guest: we are doing a massive campaign tried to get the hispanic community is to turn out and vote. we are working in local communities making sure that those who have registered are primed to vote on election day. host: the hispanic vote could be crucial for democrats. in 2008, 85% of registered hispanic voters went to the

polls. we have seen other polls leading into 2010 that says a latino voters are not enthusiastic. guest: i think there were a lot of hopes with the new administration that there would immigration, for example, and they are not quite as excited, but recently, we have seen a jump in enthusiasm. over 10% increase in just four weeks. we believe this is just because people are starting to focus on the race. host: your center shows that latinos favored democrats by 62%. guest: we are a nonpartisan

group. we just want latinas to go either way. they have shown to be a sort of a swing vote. with the obama-mccain race, hispanics voted in favor of president obama. host: this is "the financial times" this morning -- 20.3% of colorado's population is hispanic. guest: that is what we are seeing across the nation. states that matter, they have the potentl to be the deciding population. and the fact that populations are growing and becoming more

engaged, thewill play a decisive role in this election. host: does your organization spend money on getting the ground game out? guest: yes, we do that sort of thing, facebook adds, but most of our efforts are on grass roots efforts, making sure there are people on the ground encouraging others to vote. a lot of latino voters are of age but they are not citizens yet, so they are not eligible, so we try to get them to apply for citizenship. once they register, of course, we want them to vote. it is a three step process, but we have started to see dramatic gains in the latino vote. host: how is your group funded, how much do you spend all that effort? guest: we have member dues. we have thousands of members

across the country but we also have support from major corporations, foundations, and even some government support. but the majority of the get-out- the-vote effort is generated by corporate. not a huge amount compared to the other groups that are spending millions of dollars. we are a very grass roots, volunteer-driven effort. it is very different from these campaigns amassing $150 million. host: latinos for reform raa tv ad telling latino voters why they should not vote. you ran your own tv spot refuting that. let's talk about that. >> don't vote. >> now that we have your

attentn, let's address the immigration reform. both parties have failed the latino community. republican rhetoric has been brother responsible, but so has the democratic party's inaction. this november, when you vote, demand respect. do not just give your vote away because it is expected. do not reward irresponsible behavior. demand respect when you vote. >> it is election time. litical operatives are once again trying to suppress us. these self-described patriot to undermine the democratic process by increasing voter identification requirements. running ads telling latinos not to vote. not be pushed into silence. we are latinos, d we are

americans. we are strong and united. we will be heard on election day. vote on november 2 and show the country that the latino community will not be silenced. host: why not stay home if you are a latino voter? if you have not seen action from the democrats and you do not like what you see from the republican side, if hispanics want action on the issues they care about, why not stay home and send a message? guest: your voice is your vote. if you cannot vote, politicians will not spend time focusing on your community. we think politicians would be much more spots the ball if they had a voter coming to their door asking for something rather than

someone on the sidelines just protesting. your vote is your voice. the message that he sent out is exactly the wrong message. actually, he cleaned it up a little bit. it used to say just do not vote. that was the first time and had had been run that encourage any segment of the public not to vote. it is extremely frightening to see that, people try to undermine the democratic process. people are not going to be fooled by that ad. we have seen recently that the enthusiasm hastarted to pick up. host: what is the percentage of eligible latino voters? guest: of the total population, you have to look at the fact that you have to be over 18, the fact that the latino population, not as many are registered yet.

it is about 5 of those who are ready to vote. host: how do you consult with hispanic voters about the issue of fraud, citizenship? guest: we certainly do not encourage anyo to commit fraud. that has been an example where people had made a lot of nothing. there was not a case where an undocumented immigrant register to vote in the u.s. and the fact that people would bring that up as an issue -- there are so many other problems, people being intimidated, boats being discounted. the facthat there had never been a case of an undocumented immigrant falsely voting -- there have been cases of legal immigrants voting. often times you have your

naturalization ceremony prior to becoming a full citizen, and i registered at a time in between those two. not technically wrong, but something we can imagine. there is really no immigration fraud when it comes to voting issues. immigrants are notoriously the community that does that stand up and makes themselves apparent to the community, unless they have to. it does not make sense that they would try to register to vote. illegal immigrants, of course, they are here illegally, -- legal immigrants, of course, they are here legally, and sometimes they want to jump the gun in the process. there have been a small number, and it does not influence the results of the election. however, there are a lot of people out there trying to

depress the latino vote. not just through these ads, but through intimidation with id systems, trying to challenge folks at the polling place. host: we areith the leader of the league of the united latin american citizens. you can see here the largest hispanic population is in texas next to that, arizona. next phone call. caller: congratulations to c- span. it is just great to be able to express my opinion. i remember my grandfather saying, black folks need to vote because the white folks do not want you to vote. i want to s to all of the hispanic people. white people do not want you to vote. the only way you can be heard is to go and vote.

it does not matter who wins. you need to activate your vote. host: jack in albuquerque. he is hispanic. we have set aside a special line for our hispanic colors. 202-628-0184. -- callers. caller: i am actually a white amican, but i have some hispanic in my blood line. you do not get a pass. i do not care if you are black or white. people fought and died. that is why black people are so adamant. it is your responsibility, as an american.

host: robert on the republican line. caller: you explained mostf it while i was holding. let me have you explain to me -- you said a lot of people went out to the neighborhoods to canvas, the first step was to get themo register to become a citizen, and then go through those steps to become a citizen, and then register to vote. could you drop us a picture of the people that live here who are not citizens that are whogible to be citizens, hav they are and how they got here? guest: certainly, there is a strong immigration tradition in this country. people coming here to work hard for the american dream. they want to work hard, create a new opportunity for our children. a lot of immigrants have failed engage in the political process because they feel in

some sense they are guests in the country and they are trying to work hard, not trying to cause trouble. but it is important for eveone to purchase a bit in the process. we tried to reach out to those folks in the community who are eligible to become citizens but have not started the process yet, and so we held them. some cases, they are nervous about taking a test, taking the basic steps to become a citizen. to but once we go through the press, it is fairly simple. if they pass, of course, they are citizens, and most of them feel it is their most important moment of their life. host: tampa, florida. audrey. go ahead. caller: i hope hispanics

understand how imperative is for them to go to the polls. if republicans take control of the house and senate, nothing will be accomplished. they established that by blocking the president successively over the past two years. they need to vote. host: mike, independent line. oklahoma. caller: good morning. my question is, if the latino voters are so disillusioned with both parties because of a lack of immigration reform, what kind of reform do they want? what do they demand? guest: when we are looking for is to fix the broken immigration system. the u.s. economy, when it is normal, demands about a million workers that we are uble to

provide domestically. so we had folks coming into the country legally and undocumented to fill those jobs. we want to fix the system so there is a process for illegal immigrants to come. right now, there are only 40,000 legal immigrant coming a year. if we can fix the process and have people coming legally, enough to meet the needs of our economy, we think we can fix this problem. as well, we have a large undocumented population in the country. how can we allow those folks to pay their fines, have some sort of punishment, adjust their wages, because we understand they are contributing to the economy, and they are also using the goods and services that americans rely o and finally, if you have a loved one that you want to bring into the country, you do not have to

wait 15, 20 years. we want a reasonable immigration process for people to be able to reunite with their families. if we could do that, i think we could do a good job solving this immigration syste host: john on the democratic line. troy, michigan. caller: i understand you do not but -- support any particular party but i am curious why you do not support a stance. the tea party person that was on prior to you did not speak about the needs of the hispanic population. i would think that you would be more anti-republican, anti-tea party.

most of them belie that there is a rush to the border, but rather it is more of a magnet that is attracting these people to the border. guest: i think you have a point. we focus on issues about candidates. certainly, we are concerned the are candidates who are misusing the issue of immigration for their political benefit. that is also being borne out when you look at the polling in e latino community, the enthusiasm factor for conservative latinos have gone way down. more liberal leaning latinos are more enthusiastic and the more conservative-leaning ones are more depressed. the reason for that is they have

seen these attack ads. they are vicious. not just immigration, but they make an appeal to a racially tense argument. they show brown faces of the enemy, white faces of the good guy. we find those reprehensible we hope all candidates, regardless of where they are from, does not tack the latino community for their benefit. host: next phone call. caller: i am in south texas. we have a big hispanic family, most of the community is hispanic. everyone talks about legalization. conservative hispanics are depressed. i am depressed. i am sad we are not doing more to stop illegal immigration. that is what these people are

talking about. i wish texas would do something like arizona did. i think ms. brewer is doing the right thing. host: where were you born originally? guest: yes, my family are descendants of e of the families from the alamo. my family has always been here. i have family that was born in mexico that says the same thing. host: that they want something done about illegal immigration? caller: yes. guest: we all want to fix the immigration system. in the senate, there was an effort from democrats to pass a comprehensive democrats -- immigration bill. they brought republicans to the table. lindsey graham started to

negotiate on the bill, but in the end, they decided to pull away because they thought it would be politically better for them not to support it. the reason we do not have immigration reform is not because of harry reid but because of the republican but walked away from the table. if hispanics want to put pressure on both parties, they need to come to the table. we need a program that will allow people to come in and meet our needs and at the same time, enforce the rules and time havee country. i think it is not an easier -- an either/or type of thing. we can do it. we just have to get the politicians to stop using politics as a way of dealing with this issue. host: joshua in uniontown,

pennsylvania. caller: your current speaker is talking about his disillusionment with both parties right now. that is the same situation as most or all of the people in this nation. there was a democrat that started to do some true comprehensive reform and ron paul had to measures on the republican side of that were true comprehensive reform. other than that, have not seen any true leaders in either party. i wonder if we should try for a new party, a constitutionalist party, perhaps, or the libertarian party, and maybe that could solve problems everywhere. guest: i think something is broken in washington.

the parties are debating issues not based on the merits of whether it succeeds or fails, but the advantage of one party over the other. the idea of additional parties may not be a bad idea. the first thing we need to do is get money out of politics. the first united decision was a horrible decision by the supreme court because it floods our airwaves with more attack at and that really cheapens our discourse. we need to have a sound, rational debate. in order to do that, we need to get money out of politics. we need to look at perhaps, a multi-party system. host: fe on the democratic line. caller: everyone needs to remember that president reagan gave us the amnesty that open our borders to anybody that could come in. they did not have to have documentation.

e republicans didhis in order for the big corporations to have workers that they did not have to pay. host: did work in the 1980's? guest: well, you actually had to be in the united states continuously for six years out of status. yes, they were working hard. one thing that people tend to ignore is that these folks were not just producing things that nobody uses, but building our homes and serving our kids and serving us in restaurants and in hotels. in some sense we have created a syst that ty cannot come in legally, so they come in any way they can because they want to feed their families. and then we abuse them after that. we want a workable immigration system. at least then they will have some rights and they will be able to demand wages. i agree that they are abused when they are out of status.

we need to make sure that there are enough immigrants coming in to meet the needs of our economy. that has been an engine of our economy since its founding. it is not new. that is what has made america is so strong kabir to other nations which highly restrict immigration anend up havg -- compared to other nations which highly restrictive aggression ended up having an increase in the gdp. host: charles on the republican line. caller: he actually mentied about how we have in this country the whites and minority better coming into this country -- and the minority that are coming into this country, we look at them into a defense -- in a different way. when ronald reagan opened up the the russians ind all of

came into the country, the minute they came off the plane they were getting welfare and social security benefits. they were even using the v.a. hospit because in world war ii they were our allies. we just keep abusing people from south america. and the media puts them down as, you know, they are just no good. but really, it is the stuff coming in through plains. host: mr. wilkes? guest: i think there definitely is a difference between how we treat european immigrants, for example, and how we treat immigrants from latin america or other parts of the world. but in years past, european immigrants were treated very poorly. kiron -- the irish and italians, for example. it is not a new phenomena. it is just that the preferred immigrant has changed and and

preferred immigrants have change, and they are. but the truth is, immigration has been part of this country, except for native americans. we just need to open our hearts and have a process that allows folks to come in easily and that just like our ancestors, they want to live the american dream. if we have a balance, that is what we're looking for. right now, we are out of balance and to many workers coming in out of status. that does not benefit anyone. but we have got to fix the system. we surely -- we certainly should not try to spit of canada, -- pitt communities against each othe host: next call from washington, good morning. caller: i thank you guys for doing this sort ely in the morning. i would like to say that

hispanic citizens, we are ready to vote. we are not sleeping. we are not thinking about something else. no, we are ready to vote. and we are going to vote for obama. this tea party and the republicans and all of that stuff, it is all the same team. they always vote for notice, know that, notice, know that. -- they always voteor no this, and know that, and notice, and know that. host: ok. your next, ann day. -- anna. caller: i think most voters are confused with regard to immigration in that and why does the government go after the

actually illegal workers instead of going after those who generally rich and fat cats who are hired illegal immigrants? i wonder if that confuses the hispanic voters. and i have always found hispanic voters, from what i know, more consistent -- they're both are more consistent with generally christian or catholic and values. -- their votes are more consistent with generally christian or catholic values. would you say that in terms of values, those voters generally go to a democrat because those christian values are generally lked, for example, it jesus would want everyone to have health care. guest: i do not know if they are somewhat confused as they are angry. the folks that are hiring undocumented workers, they are the ones to blame.

we should really target them. if we want to stop the phenomena of undocumented immigration, the first and only place that we should focus on i that those employers more hiring people have to make sure that they are here with proper authorization. if we did that, then all of these punitive efforts and walls that we are putting up would be unnecessary. we overlook that and allow that to keep happening and try to make le in america so tough on these immigrants that maybe they will stay home. the truth is, they really want to work and it will put up with all of these issues that we put in their way as long as they can work and they will work as long as these employers keep offering their jobs. host: united latin american citizens have been here since 1977. larry, go ahead. caller: i have a problem.

all of the southwest states belong to mexico city. the second point is illegal immigrants voting. he said that he took it to the court and the court said it would not make a difference, so they threw it out. the problem i have with you is that you have hispanics that have been in the congress for 35 to 40 years and they have no power. but the democratic party thinks

it's in control and hispanics are simply the peons that have to vote in their order. why don't you tell the democratic party you want -- since seniority is the primary way of getting power, that you want all of the hispanics that have seniority the chairmanship's? host: ok, got your point. guest: two things. the first, we do not in any way support or condo that its portion of the united states and should be returned to mexico. the leader of an american -- united latin american citizens. the reason we have that name is because we are citizens. we have more medal of honor

winners as a percentage of the total latinos that have served than any other community in the country. they are very proud of defending the united states. yes, it is true that we marched to mexico city and forced them to surrender half their territory. i do not think it is a good idea that we and exmoor. but when it comes to the issues in -- and acts more. but en it comes to the issues in congress, i think it is true that the members have not on the assignment that they could have as a whole. although, a latino is the no. 3 position in the congress. if you look at the important german ships, -- the important

chairmanships there are some of those as well. but it is the still an important issue. we want to make sure that once latinos are elected to congress that they also get plum asgnments as well. host: lester is a democrat. helme with the name of your town. -- help me with the name of your town. caller: [unintelligible] host: ok, go ahead. i live up here -- and caller: i live up here in nevada and there are whole lot of tea partiers here and i think they do not want to talk about the racism because on within the teagarden and. a lot of them are -- within the

tea party. a lot of them are hard-working folks. they come with their kids an they want them there to succeed, but they have been bamboozled by all of this money and those who have secretly met the two-party. -- the tea party. everything that has done to make it great,hey want to take us back to the 1800's. host: there was not a question there, but do you have any reaction? guest: yes, i think there are good people in any party and bad people. but we are very concerned about the use of race in this election or in any election. it has no place in elections. we should not have people making racial appeals. and i have seen, as the

gentleman mtioned, an increase of that in this election. i think we need to as americans fight against that and reject that message. you should tell them it is wrong and avoid association with that individual, regardless of what party they are with. host: what brought you to washington d.c.? guest: i came to washington because i wanted to make a difference to help the fastest- growing population in the country. by the year 2050, 30% of the population will be in latino. host: where did you grow up? i guest: grew up in the albany, new york area. i went to college in new hampshire. that is where i started getting

interested in politics and government philosophy. i went to mexico to study spanish where i fell in love with the culture and realized one thing i needed to do to help confront the issues were latinos here in the united states. not only is voting an issue, but if you look at the educational issues, probably 95% of what we do is try to help latinos get a better ucation and work on health care and housing as well. but the big thing is that we want to make sure that the latinos are ready to take up the leadership of tomorrow. housing is critical in that effort. host: brand will has been wi the united latino's citizen association. and many hispanic voters will be making a difference in some of these races as well.

los angeles, maria, go ahead call: thank you for the work that you are doing. hispanic americans. i was born here and my parents came here in the 1940's. they were legal. my mom to the vantage of the programs that came with the civil rights -- took advantage of the programs that ce with the civil-rights movement. she went from being a factory worker to becoming a schoolteacher with a master's degree. i was also able to learn from her examp. she always voted. i became a nurse. iust want to letou know that i am very much pro-immigration reform, but there are also a lot of latinos born and raised here, and some of those that are immigrants who are legal, and we

are concerned about other things like higher education, things like jobs. i think it is very important, the work that you are doing, and i appreciate it. i am also concerned about health care, especially being a nurse. i just want to commend you and i thank you for the work you are doing. host: maria, i just want to let you and other viewers know that our next topic that we are talking about is a college education and the debt that college seniors are facing when they graduate. brent wilkes guest: when you look at the latino community, typically, immigration is now the main issue -- is not the main issue. they're concerned about the things that all americans are concerned about, getting good education and that their careers

are meaningful andhat they can support their families. the health care bill was a big one for latinos because so many latinos are uninsured. about 30% was uninsured until the passage of the bill. and almost half of their children are uninsured. these issues tend to be the bread-and-butter issues with all americans and especially draw the attention of all latino voters. people use it as a wedge issue when they are using excess to address race. they use it to attack. and you have groups of their running attack ads against the latino community. when you have that, immigration rises to be perhaps one or two on the issue list. host: let's go to rose on the republican line. caller: my father's family came

over in the 1800's. we were immigrants, but they had to go through ellis island to pass a physical. that is what concerns me. i'm not talking about just mexicans, asians, middle eastern, europeans -- i do not care where you come from. that is why i think that doing it legally is the right way. we do not know if you come from africa or from where. we do not know what kind of diseases that they are bringing in that could spread and cause more problems for themselves and for their community. that bothers me. againstwhy i'm so illegals coming across the borders like they are.

host: brand wilkes, final thoughts here. guest: we will turn our immigration system to the way it was when your ancestors came in. you are right, all they had to do with step off the boat and take a help desk and they were in. the process now is far more restrictive. it is almost impossible, for example, for a mexican national who wants to come to the u.s. who does not have an immediate relative here ready to sponsor him, or a job ready to go -- they cannot even get in line to come in. the way we treated immigrants in the past, that process was much more generous than the way immigrants get treated today. we argument -- we are not even asking for that. it is possible to become leg, but you still have to go through a rigorous process and that

includes a health test. by being so restrictive and setting the legal immigration levels so low, we are putting ourselves at risk because then folks coming in do not undergo any kind of health screening. i think it is way overblown, this concern about diseases. we have seen radio and tv show hosts blowing that it out of proportion. -- thdata out of proportion. but a few are concerned about it, you should say, i want a legal process and >> with days until election day, follow the key races and candidates. with debates every night and go

online to view archives at the c-span video library. visit our politics page for coverage and other resources. see the jon stewart and steven cole their rally live at saturday at noon. we will show lots of campaign events and biz and open our phone lines for your comments about the campaign. follow c-span election coverage through election day. in a couple of minutes, we will have a debate between indiana senate candidates. daniel webster is leading by 7 points. the latest research institute poll shows scott murphy trailing his republican challenger by 9 points. 51% to murphy's 42%.

jim kosta is one house democratic incumbent who has not been in the top tier of for foldable democrats until now. the committee released an internal poll showing him leaving his republican challenger by six points. a 47%-41%. go to our website to watch debates from your home states and see profiles of races around the country and rallies and twitter fields. here are a few tweets. betsy markey tweets, "only one more week. i need you to get voters to the

polls." >> the bill i voted for includes an office dedicated to consumer protection for service members. senator barbara mikulski writing she spoke at a steel worker hole in maryland. you can go to our website and join the conversation. >> it is time to get your camera rolling for this year's student kim. the documentary competition open to middle and high school students. make a video on this year's theme, washington d.c. through my lands. you can win the grand prize of $5,000. the deadline is january 20, 2011. for complete details, go to your site. >> the c-span networks provide coverage of politics and