e about what is happening with the rnc is reid wilson, editor in chief of hot line this morning. guest: could morning. host: how mh our finances being talked about this week? guest: this is a major concern republican national committee. there has never been a debt that the republican national committee has experienced like this. they will report north of a $21

million budget gap over the next couple of months and it is only going to get worse. that is something that the 168 members of the republican national committee are talking about. the goal is to find somebody who can raise that money to fill the budget gap. >> one of your pieces in the national journal talked about how this is the swan song of michael steele. he is still dominating the headlines although it is unlikely he will prevail and win again. >> there are members of the media who have come out here. there are caught -- approximately the same number of media members who witnessed the obama speech at the chamber of commerce. it is a celebrity watch here. michael steele is somebody who has been in the headlines frequently. he has been on the front pages of the paper. that is not -- not something the

members are comfortable with. they are concerned with being in the headlines at all. there are folks who are used to operating behind the scenes. because of michael steele because gaffs- michael steele -- michael steele's flubs and gaffs, that is not something that is happening. the front runner is reince priebus. he has around 33 or 34 public endorsements. that is approximately half of the 85 boats -- 85 votes he needs to win. there are multiple ballot

rounds. there are multiple opportunities for anybody to cast ballots. people will vote and exchange votes and voted for one person on the first ballot and another person on the next ballot. nobody actually have to drop out. this really is like the 1892 presidential election. nobody had to drop out at all. we are going to see multiple rounds of ballots. who knows when even michael steele, who does not have a lot of support after the first ballot, is going to leave the election? >> national journal has reported that john boehner has endorsed maria cino. how does that come into play? >> this is absolutely fascinating.

endorsements mean absolutely nothing. the 168 members are an insular group. they talk to themselves -- to each other rather, it and talking to washington at large. whether it is john boehner endorsing maria cino or john bolton or die ashcroft, some of the biggest names in conservative -- or john ashcroft, of the biggest names in conservative politics. it does not matter. it almost hurts when someone big indoors is a candidate for the rnc chairmanship. there have been big endorsement in the past and it does not matter. >> what are the voters weighing?

are they looking for someone who is different from michael steele and less of a headline grabber and a back room worker? >> they are looking for someone who can fill the $21 million budget gap. they say that money is the hardest mops -- hardest money to raise. back in the 1970's, the chairman established a direct mail program. in the 1980's, there was a good political program. n the 1990's, haley barbour established a donor program. now they just what the rnc to be managed well and operate at par with the democratic national

committee. if they do not have that, they are going to be at a disadvantage when they are trying to run against president obama in 2012. there was a memo put out by gentry collins a few months ago when he decided to run against michael steele. he said had the rnc had the 72 hour program fully funded, they would have been able to pick up governorships in vermont. and they would have been able to pick up senate seats in washington and colorado. funding the rnc is really important. you have conservative organizations like american crosswords --american crossroads. but the rnc is the only one that can do the ground game.

that is what the chairman candidates are trying to convince them, that they will be the ones who are able to fund the ground operation. >> a couple of women who are running at an unexpected factor running against them. the chairman of the national party has to be the opposite gender of the co-chairman. how is this hurting the women who are running for leader? >> it is a bizarre rules of the rnc. gerald ford appointed the only one man who has ever been chairman of the rnc. now they have a rule where the chairman and co-chairman have to be a different gender. it was decided that way that they wanted to make sure a wall and would be in one of the top two positions at the rnc. different people have made the

call-chairman ship different things. some people -- co-chairmanship different things. other people have made it a ceremonial post. now there are two women who are running for co-chairman who have serious followers. anybody who wants to vote for one of those women has a strong disincentive to vote for either of the two women running for chairman. if they vote for the chairman candidate and one of them wins, the female coach chairman does not have a chance to run.

there is an irony that the biggest thing they can possibly do in electing a woman chairman will automatically kill the chances of the two women running for code-share. it has been working against ann wagner and maria cino, they have less of a history than the current co-chairs. they have long relationships and a long history with the rnc. four co-chairmen, for treasurer and secretary, relationships matter a lot more than endorsements. it matters a lot more if you have no a committee member for a

long time that if you are endorsed by john boehner or john bolton or whatever conservative has to -- conservative happens to be on your side. >> is there really a race? >> absolutely. this thing is a race. reince priebus is going to come out of the first ballot on top or near the top. are goingeele's votes to go one way or another. they will abandon him after a couple of balance. saul anuzis has a long history of support on the rnc. he has good relationships with every member of the committee. hove have ann wagner and maria cino.

these are people who have long histories with the committee. before, there was no clear-cut victory for michael steele. the balloting starts at 10:00 a.m. it is going to go a long time. >> thank you for being with us. >> michael steele is scheduled to called the winter meeting to order at 10:30 a.m. eastern we will have live coverage once they get underway. all day coverage starting at 1030 eastern -- 10:30 a.m. eastern on c-span. the call by some politicians of a reinstatement of the fairness

doctrine. >> brent bozell, founder of the media research center. what is your impression of the media coverage of the shootings in tucson? >> before getting to that, everybody should express the nation's sorrow for the tragedy, for the victims, those who passed away and those who continue to suffer and their families. the media coverage has been a national disgrace. i cannot get any more harsh than that. every day that goes by underscores that the national press has had a with less agenda to use this horror for their own ends. on a daily basis, more and more

evidence comes out that prove unequivocally that the media is wrong in what they are saying, but it simply will not let up. but what is it that they are saying that is ron? >> that this is about politics in general and conservative politics. that this is about sarah palin, rush limbaugh, glenn beck, that this is about the tone of politics. we are learning several things about this killer. we are learning that he had no political affiliation. we know that the two workds he sited are "mein kampf" and the open " communist manifesto.

" we know he never watched the news so how is he affected by the news and talk radio? if that is the case, why the continued fascination with wanting to talk about that and how talk radio has to occur itself and it has to do a better job. -- has the curb itself and it has to do a better job. the reality is that those things had nothing to do with it. this is a killer. the question is, is this a demented person? or is this an evil person? the conversation we should be having is, is the same? -- is he sane?

the answer to your question is that it is disgraceful what they are doing. >> brent bozell, the founder of media research center. a piece from "the new york shear. from roger she roger ailes said -- where is the harm in having this discussion about civil discourse? >> i think it is a good discussion. it is a discussion we should have had 10 years ago. it is a discussion we should have today.

do not tie it to what happened. what happened had nothing to do with politics. do not say it is because of sara taylor and the crosshairs on her website. do we want to have a discussion on civil discourse and civility, i could not be more supportive of this. it has deteriorated on both sides. i have no problem brass knuckles politics. the rule of thumb i follow is a simple one. at the end of the day, would you have a beer with the person you attacked and say that to his face? if you can, it's ok. if you cannot, you have gone too far. i was debating with sam

donaldson one night. afterwards, we had a conversation. it was a private conversation, but i walked away with an extraordinary respect. i told him he was ruining my perception of him because it was so much easier for me to dislike him. he wrote me back. he said, remember, always professional. never personal. if we can all remember that, it resolved everything. do you want to have a composition on it, absolutely. let's not tight -- do you want to have a conversation on it? absolutely. but do not tie it to this. >> when you use words like liberal sickos and language that

has its own punch to with, are you adding to the negativity in the dialogue? >> i will respond when someone in the press suggests that i am responsible for this, that the movement i believe in is responsible. because i believe the government is out of control and we have to do something to rein in this flirtation with national socialism, that somehow i am responsible for this carnage, i am offended by that. when they turn around and give me a lecture on civility, may i take the gloves off, too. >> steve is calling us from indianapolis on the democratic line. caller: this young man who killed those people in arizona,

that is the republican party retrain themselves today. -- the trading the republican party. they see the republican party as a terrorist organization. guest: to respond to that is to give credibility to an outrageous accusation. host: do you deny that people around loughner created a toxic environment that included jim? this is from twitter. guest: i bet at some point in this man's live, he went into a dentist's office and there was a newspaper editorial. do we blame the editorial for

this? does he know somebody who listen to talk radio and it influences him? we cannot go down this road. what if it turned out that three hours a day, this killer listen to rush limbaugh. does that make rush limbaugh complicitous? does that make it fair to say rush limbaugh influenced him to do this? if that is the case, are we also going to say that al gore bears responsibility for the unabomber? with their reports that the unabomber had al gore's book? are we going to play in national abortion rights leak -- leagure for the shooter at the

discovery building? of course not. caller: i have a couple of comments i would like to make. i have a question that would go to research. i want to make a comment about the president's speech. i watched it until the cameras were off and he walked away. i am was dumbfounded as to how much of the speech took place about the young girl who was killed. i walked --i watched to wait to .ee him shake the parents' hand he spent a few seconds with them and went off to spend time with political leaders. the second question is talking about the fairness doctrine in talk radio and republicans and

democrats and server chips -- conservatives and liberals. what is being talked about in congress and changing everything is that you are not exposed to classical music and jazz and we are going to make every radio station play every kind of music. that is my comment. the question is, in your research, have you ever been able to research who does the most name-calling? i always feel like when i am having a debate with a liberal or a democrat, if angry words are said or name-calling is said, they are losing the argument. they cannot discuss ideas any more. they go to name-calling, the lowest level of debate. has there been any research to discover who does the most name- calling and goes to that level?

guest: i do not know about the handshake. i can comment on that. what the lady says about the fairness doctrine is interesting. this is how the far left it has taken this strategy and has played politics with this. they are calling for the fairness doctrine to be imposed because of this shooting. this is what i mean about the way it has become disgraceful on the part of some on the left. the third point she made about the name calling, we came up with a point on our website that itemizes a litany of comments that have been made about -- made by the left on liberal talk radio, on television, on pbs where one after another they

call for the death of conservatives. i challenge anyone where a conservative on fox has ever said anything along those lines. do we have to remember nina totenberg saying she wished senator jesse helms or one of his grandchildren would die of aids. our julianne elbow -- or another commentator saying she hoped clarence thomas' wife would kill him up with bacon and eggs so he could die. host: the founder of the senility project calls it quits. the founder of a project to promote stability in politics is

calling it quits because only three elected members of congress agreed to sign a civility pledge. now, the worst e-mails he received were from conservatives. white and no conservatives see any redeeming value." guest: mark is a friend of mine

and someone i have great respect for it. he is a very strong conservative. it is unfortunate that that would be the reaction. i know all three of those people. joe lieberman is a man with whom i agree with about 3% of the time. and yet, he is one of the ones in congress who i have the most respect for because he is always a gentle man and always civil. he has been on a campaign promoting decency for years. he is my kind of liberal. i think it is unfortunate. i don't know what happened. but i know that market is a good man so there is something there reject but i know that marked -- but i know that mark is a good man so there is something there. i guess, a lot of it depends on

who he contacted for what kind of response he got. host: what is your take about that idea, regardless of what group you are a part of, looking within your own ranks instead of pointing the finger? guest: i think all of us, all of us -- i do not suggest that i am pure as the driven snow. i have lost my temper a time or two, absolutely. we can all look at ourselves. that is a good thing. about 10 years ago, i tried unsuccessfully to lure president bush 41 to washington to give a

speech on the civility simply because regardless of what you think of george bush's politics, father or son, but primarily a father, i don't know if there is a more decent civil service person alive today then that president. i wanted to bring him into the national press club to make a speech. i think it is awful to use this series of murders in arizona to do that. i think we need to mourn the families and the victims and not play politics. host: let's hear from catherine, an independent caller from virginia. good morning. caller: this is about civility but also about gun laws and how

these powerful lobbyists are influencing these gop people as well as it democrats. rupert murdoch runs all of the media. that is not journalism. it is just entertainment. sarah palin is not a politician. she is just an entertainer. she shows her lack of education all the time. host: we will leave it there. guest: i do not speak for the nra. if the laws were in place, they should have prevented this young man from getting the gun. the there is a body of evidence seemingly a mile long that he

was mentally disturbed, if not very dangerous and should have been investigated by the police. if they had looked into it, they would've taken the steps -- host: there is no allegation at this point that any laws were broken when it comes to background checks. guest: these things were not investigated. these complaints were not investigated by the police. if he had been prosecuted, they would have followed up with these complaints. i am not a lobbyist so i cannot speak for them, but what i can say is that it is inappropriate for bill maher to go on tv and say that the nra should be renamed the assassination lobby.

there are millions of members of the nra who support them because they support the second amendment. he has just called them participants in an assassination. when he takes to the airwaves on tv and says that conservatives just want to kill liberals, and even jay leno was shocked because he was dead serious, and interestingly enough there were members of the audience who booed him when he said that. this is the far left using this horror to promote an agenda against conservatives. host: let's go to louisville, kentucky. caller: i have a comment and a question. it seems to me -- if i am mistaken, i wish you would really correct me.

every time i see anybody saying anything in regard to sarah palin, it is always about the congresswoman as a victim from the shooting. the only thing i have heard them do it is at play that. every time they play it, this clip, they expressly say they do not hold sarah palin responsible for it, so i think it would be irresponsible to not show that in light of the congresswoman being shot. the only other thing i would like to say is, when you first came on, you stated how this is being made out into a political thing. i don't see how you could possibly be in the situation where politicians are being targeted and shot and it not being about a political purpose.

he came to the place where a meeting was being held. if he agreed with the lady, he would not have been there to shoot her. because of him not agreeing with her, it had to be politically motivated or he would not have been there for the purpose of causing destruction and mayhem. guest: one, we do not know that. we don't know why he shot the congresswoman. did he do it because of her beliefs? there is no evidence on that. did he do it because she is a congresswoman? is that it did not matter that she was a democrat or republican, he would have done it, too. i don't think that made a difference. she was a member of congress, an important person, a celebrity.

that is why he did it, i think, >> we are going to break away and take you to the republican national committee winter meeting happening outside washington, d.c. current chairman michael steele is just starting the meeting. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> the chair calls to order the rnc 2011 winter meeting. i will ask the national committee one man from new jersey to give the invocation.

good morning, everyone. dear lord, bless us and enable us to go forward as one. we ask that you protect our military around the world and plus their families. we ask that you comfort the families of the tucson becomes so that we can go forward with your everlasting blessing. amen. >> at this time in a particular way, i would ask this session if we would take a moment to pause in silence for the victims of the tucson attacks and for our

representatives. thank you. at this time, the chair asks that the national committee chair from new mexico lead us in the pledge of allegiance. >> please join me. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america. to the republic for which it stands, indivisible --

>> pleats to introduce to all of you those sitting on the stage with us -- pleased to introduce to all of you go sitting on the stage with us. our secretary and national committeewoman from florida, our general counsel and state chair for idaho and the national committeewoman for arizona and parliamentarian for this morning's session. the following members have been designated to serve on a proxy committee. amanda, state chairman for kansas, steve, chairman for kentucky. , national committeewoman for

taxes, -- for texas, the national committee man for hawaii. he will serve as chairman for the proxy committee. indeed semitic proxy's will be considered at this time. -- proxies will be considered at this time. while the proxy committee is meeting, our secretary will call the roll. >> thank you. if i could as a point of privilege, i will say what an honor it is to have served. this is the last time i will do this from this podium. i hope our next the elected

secretary has much enjoyment i have had looking at your smiling faces conducting this roll call. the great state of alabama, ral ph, randy, american samoa, arizona, wendy, arkansas, california, linda, ron, colorado, mark, willie,

connecticut, john, chris, delaware, tom ross, the district of columbia, tony parker, robert cable, paul, sharon, john thrasher, linda, sue, guam, peter, donna, jesus torres,

hawaii, proxy, thank you, jonah. i hope the next secretary does better with these names that i do. idaho, norm, illinois, richard williams son, -- richard williamson, eric, iowa, steve, matt, kansas, mike, helen, amanda, kentucky, mike duncan, gail russell, louisiana, ross

little. , ruth, roger, maine, richard bennett, jan staples, joyce, alex mooney, massachusetts, michigan, saul anuzis, ron, minnesota, mississippi,

missouri, montana, nebraska, nevada, new hampshire, new jersey, new mexico, new york,

north carolina, north dakota, ohio, oklahoma, oregon,

pennsylvania, puerto rico, rhode island, south carolina, south dakota, tennessee, texas, utah,

vermont, burgeon islands, -- virgin islands, virginia, washington. west virginia.

, wisconsin, wyoming. thank you, mr. chairman. if you are holding a proxy -- sorry, we already did that. linda harris. >> if there are any other members who have come to the floor, but whose names were not

called, please check in with the secretary. we do have a quorum, so we may move lower. we would like to call upon jonah for a report of the proxy committee. >> the proxy committee wanted to assure accuracy. we need a few more minutes. >> ok. we will move on to approval of the agenda. rule number 8-a requires an agenda be mailed to you before the meeting. we will conduct business according to that agenda.

hearing no objections, let's proceed. before you is a copy of the minutes from the 2010 summer meeting. we will dispense with meeting -- which reading of these meetings. -- dispensed with the reading of these minutes. the motion passes. i am pleased to announce the election of two new members. the national committee man for new jersey and the national committee man for new hampshire. they will be ratified by the

republican national committee upon their election. do i hear a motion to ratify the election of these two new national committee members? all those in favor signify by saying aye. i am please to officially welcome you as members of the republican national committee. [applause] it is also with a great deal of pleasure that i welcome a new state chairman to the republican national committee. committee men and women serve a specific four-year term. state chairmen are elected throughout the term. it is my pleasure to introduce the state chairman for indiana, the chairman for maryland, the

state chairman for new mexico, the state chairman for new jersey, the state chairman for north dakota. congratulations to each of you in your elections and welcome to the republican national committee. at the regional breakfast this morning, you held elections to fill committee positions. the committees have been elected as follows. regional vice chairman from the midwest region, from the western

region, national committee man from washington and national committeewoman from hawaii. from the eastern region, the national committeeman from maryland, and the national committeewoman for maryland. from the sudden -- from the southern region, the national committee man or a joint and the national committeewoman for the louisiana. congratulations to all of you. [applause] to the executive committee. from the midwest region, the national committee man from nebraska and the national committeewoman for nebraska. from the western region, the national committee man for utah and the national committeewoman for arizona. from the eastern region, tony parker, the national committee man for the district of columbia and the national committeewoman for maryland.

and from the southern women -- the southern region, the national committee man from texas, and the national committeewoman for south carolina. congratulations to all of you. [applause] the standing budget committee. from the midwest, the national committeewoman for kansas, for the west, the national committeewoman for utah, from the east, the national committeewoman for delaware. from the south, the national committeewoman for tennessee. in addition, the national committee man from california was elected to fill an vacancy on the resolutions committee. congratulations to all of you. [applause] committee -- are you ready? at this time, we will take a report from the proxy committee. >> mr. chairman, chairman of

the hawaii republican party. the proxy committee met and we bedewed the 16 properties that were submitted to the secretary -- and we reviewed the 16 proxies' that were committed -- proxies that were submitted to the committee. >> all those in favor of the motion, please signify by saying aye. thank you, mr. chairman for your efforts. at this time, we will take our report from our treasurer. >> good morning. before i give my report, it has

been a pleasure and an honor to serve as your treasurer. thank you for the opportunity. as i give my report, something came to mind. as a cpa, i am and ask what do accountants do. the simple answer is that we solve problems you did not know you had. we do it in a way you cannot understand. keep that in mind. as of this past tuesday, we had cash on hand of $1.3 million. as of the year end, our preliminary report shows it was given to the executive committee on wednesday. we have a total of $21.3 million in debt. that break out at $6.3 million

in the form of payables owed to vendors and $15 million in the form of debts to the bank. the bank debt is actually three notes that we approved as a committee. a $5 million notes that comes due on february 28 of this year, a $5 million note that comes due on june 30 a of this year, and a $5 million notes that comes due may 30 of next year. it became my job to meet with the bank and go through the debt we had and to negotiate an extension of the notes that was due at the end of next month, which we were successful in doing with the bank. they agree to that. i was meeting with the bank and going to our cash flows based on

our budget that we will approve later this morning. the bank accepted that. as of tuesday, we will have the formal signing of the documents. they agreed to push back the payment of the notes on february 28 this year to february 28 of last -- of next year. the way the notes are structured is that we have the ability to prepay them. the way the budget is laid out, it actually shows we will begin paying off debt beginning in march, most likely. we will make payments on the debt throughout the year. the plan on the budget is that at the end of the year on december 31, we would still have $10 million in debt. if we do better in fund raising, that would be paid off quicker. that is our goal as a committee,

to pay off the debt as soon as possible. that is my report from the treasurer. thank you. >> thank you. at this time we will have the general counsel's report. on december 22, the committee ratified the state chairman from idle as our new general counsel. i would like to ask him to come to the podium to deliver his report. >> thank you, mr. chairman. welcome all. the office of general chairman became vacant on december 5. the chairman asked me if i would accept the appointment. that plan was ratified. i thank the chairman for serving

in this position. i have only been in the job for a couple of weeks. it has been an eventful months and an eventful year. we have spent much of our time over the last month preparing for this winter meeting, preparing agendas, scripps, election procedures and the like. the staff -- scripts, election procedures, and the like. the council's office continues to manage several pending lawsuits in which the rnc is engaged. dnc versus rnc. although we lost in district court, we appeal to the third

circuit. last month, the court heard oral arguments. we expect a decision in the next couple of months. we are hopeful for a favorable decision. it will body is our outside counsel in that case. the other cases the coordinated expenditures case. it is a challenge to court updated expenditure limits. we lost and that it circuit court of appeals, but last month, week filed a petition with the u.s. supreme court, asking them to be the case. the responses due february 11, and we will have an opportunity to reply. we will find out in the next couple of months whether the court will take the case. the redistricting department of the counsel's office is hard at work right now. the new census numbers are out and on the heels of our major gains in the state legislatures and the governorships, our party is in very good shape for a good

redistricting year and cycle. it is critical that the legal work in the data be done that will allow our states to draw the best plan that will stand up to those inevitable court reviews. i encourage all of you that attended the redistricting committee to take that information to heart, and i would encourage you that were not there to plug in the counsel's office with regard to the information that was provided. it is extensive. course, you all know that the full rnc adopted a new rule, 15 b, governing the timing of state president primaries and caucuses. those rules require that other than the four car about states, new hampshire, iowa, nevada, and south carolina, which are allowed to go in february, can hold the delegate selection process before the first tuesday in march. any state that chooses to go before april 1 must allocate its delegates proportionally. i strongly encourage each of you to make sure your state, and i know you are, doing what is

necessary to apply with this new rule in the counsel's office. we are available to help in any way we can. finally, with regard to what was just brisket -- discussed with regard to the dead, on the legal side we need to look at that, just as the democrats do their $15 million debt, just as our friends at the national republican congressional committee do with a $12 million debt, we need to make sure that everything is done it legal. which has been done. thank you for the honor of serving this position, and i look forward to a great winter meeting. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you very much, counsel. i call on a report by the chief of staff, by michael levin. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate it. in thank you, members of the committee, for giving me a few moments to speak with you. i wanted to briefly touch base on some of the successes that we had in 2010. clearly, with all the various

different things that take place within the committee, it is sometimes easy to predict exactly how successful we were in november 2010. as you all can remember, we had a similar goal, which was to fire nancy pelosi, and thank goodness we did that. and wanted to touch a little bit on some of the efforts that you all did, some of the victory staff in your states did, and then talk a little bit about what the rnc has been doing since the election to prepare for 2011. one of the programs that we were able to offer is micro targeting for every congressional district throughout the entire country, which was a first for the rnc. we also able to work with the state party's, to build and implement over 360 victory offices throughout the country, along with over 360 victory staffers staffing those offices and helping manage over 200,000 volunteers throughout the country, making over 45 million

volunteer contacts. the result of all that work was 63 congressional seat pickup, six senate pickups, and will governor picked up speed a we had over 693 elected republicans, state legislators throughout the country. it was a very exciting year. and it is my pleasure and was my honor to be a reserve during this exciting time. since the election, some key things that we have been working on that the rnc to be prepared for that next cycle. we have done an extensive review, action-after-action, reports for every department at the rnc to make sure that we're able to learn the lessons learned from 2010, so that we can move forward in a more efficient and more productive way -- productive way, learned some good things that we did that were new and learned some lessons that we can carry forward. we have also started preliminary preparations for the 2011

election cycle. it is often easy to forget that we have off-year elections, but there are numerous gubernatorial races in off-year races that we're preparing for, putting together a victory plans, and preparing for that. we have dramatically of ticked our efforts in the redistricting offler, led by dr. tom hartz and our legal department. we have made dramatic gains in the state legislature and the governors' seats. so we're going to be in a very good position, but we cannot allow that to slip away. we have to increase our efforts there, and we have begun to do so. fourth but not last, we have put together an extensive review of our finance projects and finance ever going forward. the finance director and her team have put together a review

from top to bottom of various different events and programs that we are anxiously prepared to move forward on starting next week. i appreciate the time, and i want to wrap up this report by saying thank you very much for allowing me, mr. chairman, to serve as your chief of staff and for working with all of the members of the 168 in the wonderful staff at the rnc. they did phenomenal work this cycle, and it was an honor to be a part of this committee and work with this committee during a historic time. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you very, very much , michael. all right, at this time, we're very, very pleased to receive a report from our co-chair, who has, like so many of us, been out there at the vineyards over the past two years planting

seeds and working very hard to have those seeds grow, and they did. and we're really grateful for her leadership, and i am grateful for her partnership. in the opportunity to serve together over these past two years to the ladies and vigilant, it gives me great pleasure to present our national co-chair, the honorable jan larimer. [applause] >> good morning. the political conversation in this country is driven by numbers. polling numbers, fund-raising numbers, of voter totals, and who is up and who is down in the country. you have all received a copy that i send up a final report from the co-chairman of office, and want to give u.s. announces of everything that we accomplished. 18 million are the number of voters reached by our get out the vote advertising campaign. 1.2 million paid get-out-the-

vote phone calls, generated by the rnc women's program. 128, the number of gop women who inn for the u.s. house and 2010. [laughter] that is a record of 24, the number of republican women who one u.s. house seats in 2010. that is a record. [applause] 9, the number of new women who were elected to the u.s. house. [applause] that is a record. 17, the number of women who ran for the u.s. senate. 3, the number of new republican women who are governors. 5, the number of new women who are lieutenant governors in their state. 100 is the increase in gop women in legislative seats. there are over 40 states that i visited as co-chairmen, and i

logged 300,000 miles. we did 2568 tweets since the establishment of the rnc women's program. 86,000 were the number of voters connected live to our rnc women's program phone calls. 3946 members are rnc women. 60,000 is the number of e-mail addresses that we maintain and visit with each and every week and sometimes multiple times during the week. and we have passed out over 8000 training manuals, which you have all used in your states, to attract new candidates, new campaigns, and to get people elected. i want to recognize three people this morning, because none of this would have happened in my office without elizabeth pierce -- i do not know where you are, i think you're in the room. katie.ndjeia, and

are the three of you in here? you all know that of the have done an incredible job. it has been fun working with them. it has been fun working with all of you. you have seen it snapshots of many of you in what we did the last few years. you are all winners. we're all winners. the republican party did an amazing job, because you are all in the trenches each and every day, and you brought in the kind of totals that two years ago nobody thought were possible. so thanks for all that you have done. thanks for all your about to do for 2012. let's keep on, and let's just keep this train rolling. i am proud to be a member and to serve with all of you. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very, very much, jan. appreciate that. at this time, we will have a chairman's report.

and over the last month or so, we have had a chance to sort of digest the opportunities, the successes, the ups and downs of the past two years. but most of especially the past year. when i began my chairmanship, i thank you for the opportunity to surf. and as we come to this particular crossroads and elections lie ahead for what happens next, i want to thank you so much, so much, for the chance to serve at a time when our party was changing, struggling to grow, regaining its footing, find its voice, reconnect with people, and to stand proud again, and the one thing i have learned in this role, this job, this

responsibility is that it does not get done without you. our state chairman, our national committee men and women. the numbers you just heard from our co-chair are not just numbers on a piece of paper. they are not. there is real effort behind those numbers. the real men and women behind those numbers. and their everyday struggles that were put into action by you. and so i am grateful, as chairman, to have served with one of the best rnc committees in a long, long time. because you did not shrink from the challenge. you did not walk away from the

opportunity. and for the first time in over a generation, we looked bad america and we saw us. and we talked to -- we looked at america, and we saw us. and we talked to each other. and we drew in moms and dads, teenagers, college students, african-americans, women, hispanics. we drew in america. the responded to your voice. the responded to your efforts. so those numbers are not just numbers. they do not get tossed around and dissected and analyzed to score points, to make a point, -- to have to appreciate that behind those numbers are the efforts of your state central

committees, your activists, our friends in the tea party movement. do not lose sight of that. responsibility of leadership in this party, not just in this office, the chairman, not just in the office of the co-chair of the treasure or secretary, general counsel, but in the very offices each one of you hold is to be a leader first. that is what the members of this party expect you to do when you come to the republican national committee. your efforts began in 2009 in a little place called virginia, new jersey, and you shocked the world because we were not supposed to win in virginia, and we damn sure or not supposed to win in new jersey.

but you did. but you know what, it does not get reported that you won mayors' races in 2009. albuquerque, new mexico, the first time in 20 + years, we have the mayor's office. county executive races. upstate new york, everyone was focused on other things. meanwhile, the party was slowly and steadily building brick-by- brick the success that was borne out there. those are the type of efforts that this party has to be engaged in. every single day. some of the members someone to share with you, again, are not just numbers on paper, but they are testaments to the work that each one of you did for each one of you. not just what jan and i did,

it traveling thousands of miles a year, randy looking through sec reports -- sharon out their rallying the troops at the grass roots. it is not just what we did, but what you did every single day. 44 million voters voted for us in 2010. the highest midterm turnout for any party in any midterm in the history of this country. you did that. republicans smashed multiple voter turnout records. 8.5 million more republican voters went to the polls in two thousand 10 than in the last midterm elections. a stunning 24% increase. you did that. all of you played a pivotal role, an important role in opening in establishing 360 victory offices across the country with paid staff who were there on the ground with you, compared to just 154 victory

offices in 2008, and 140 in 2006 but by virtue of the very plans that you put together. for the first time in the history of our party, we had a 50-state strategy. it was not just the contiguous states. we had a strategy in the territories where we won the lieutenant governorship in guam. and we won races in places that people did not expect us to run or wind. you did that. the rnc made unprecedented use of less expensive and more effective new media to boost turnout of the rnc website alone was completely revamped, driving page views of 159%. the e-mail list also was overall. the contact about going chemos was enhanced to become more effective. in fact, our e-mail achieved a 40% open rate, up from about 3% in acted as an aide, and are put

through rate was close to 15%. a lot of us not appreciate that. i know saul anuzis does, because he's probably out there clicking right now. right? but those percentages, from 3% to 40%, a click through rate of 15%, are real people coming to you, coming to our party to get information, to learn, to become involved. that is what you did. on the fund-raising side, we added -- you added, through efforts with your state party and what we did nationally, over 1 million new donors. small, medium, and large. this reversed a prosodist decline of the new donors that we have seen in recent off-year elections, quadrupling the number of an amount raised from new dollars in 2009 compared to two dozen seven but you did that. -- compared to 2007.

you did that. the efforts of our party, a party once tagged as an endangered species, speak to itself. and i hope all of you, regardless of the outcome of this day, and appreciate what you have done. to establish firmly the republican renaissance that we all talked about two years ago. and in those two years, look how we pull ourselves and moved forward. now the task becomes harder. because president obama is waiting for you. the democrat party is waiting for you. and they're going to engage us on the battlefield of ideas, the battlefield of policy, and i thank heavens we have speaker boehner right there on the front lines for us. [applause]

and leader kantor and the leadership of our party on the hill. but most especially, the leadership that we have in our states, our new governors, are new state legislatures. and on that front, because this is the real work that you did, we picked up over 680 state legislative seats. that is an amazing feat. do you understand what that means when it comes to redistricting? let me tell you, 100 and four congressional district lines will be drawn by republicans over the next two years. 44 congressional district lines will be drawn by democrats. that is what you did. you made a difference through planning, hard work, engaging -- not just our base and our

activists but our grass roots, folks who did not even know there were grass-roots folks who are part of our team. that is what a good party does. you have all proven and shown the republican party is a good party. and it is ready and willing to work on behalf of the american people. i have been honored to serve these past two years as your chairman, and i know the work that lies ahead will be difficult and challenging. but i have no fear nor doubt that you will rise to the occasion, because you are the republican party, in action every single day, in states all across this great country, in neighborhoods and communities. it has been such a pleasure for me to watch all of you work outside your comfort zone. and we hope, through the efforts

that you commit to when you leave this meeting, that you're ready to give the democrats hell over the next two years, and you're willing to work and fight on behalf of the american people unlike anything you have ever done before. because the work is too important, the challenges are too great, in our grandkids and our great grandkids are depending on us in this hour to get it right. that is what a good republican party does for the people of america. and i thank you for what you have done so far. god bless you. [applause] speaking of redistricting, at this time, we will move on to our committee reports. the redistricting committee met yesterday morning, and i would like to welcome our general

counsel, who will give the report on behalf of our committee chairmen, john ryder, who is not feeling well right now. our national committeeman for tennessee, but our chairman from idaho will give that report for us. norm -- [applause] >> thank you, mr. chairman. there has already been a lot discussed about redistricting. we know how important it is. the redistricting committee did meet yesterday morning at 8:00. the chairman ran an excellent and very informative meeting. the sole agenda item was to receive a report and information, a couple of presentations anchored by dr. tom hoffler. there is no other business conducted. the meeting was concluded, and that completes my report. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much. at this time, we will turn to

our resolutions report. the standing committee on resolutions met wednesday to consider resolutions. i will turn out to henry barber, the national committeeman from mississippi and chairman of our resolutions committee. >> thank you, mr. chairman. the standing committee on resolutions met wednesday afternoon and have the following to report to the one resolution, resolution and support of the federal reserve transparency it was time listed in submitted for consideration by the national committeeman from mississippi. upon consideration without objection, the committee techno action on the resolution, and therefore, there is no resolution to be considered today by the full body. amen. mr. chairman, that concludes my report. [laughter] [applause] >> thank you for that prayer. [laughter] the standing committee on rules met yesterday and continue its review their rules of the republican party.

at this time, i would like to invite rules committee chairman bruce ash, national committeeman from arizona, for his report. >> at this meeting, the committee continued its discussion with initial look back on release one through 11, concerning the organization of the rnc, as well as the dollar would it really 12, release 17 through 24, related to the convening of the next national convention. it was a lively discussion with numerous amendments offered and debated. regarding gender equality of the chairman and co-chairman position, as well as member elections of the standing resolution and budget committees. we will convene a subcommittee to review various issues, as discussed, and uproot -- approved during the rules committee, which we will report at our meeting this summer. at that time, at our summer meeting, we will review and discuss rules 25 to 42, which serve as the temporary rules for the national convention of

proceedings. i look forward to continuing the open dialogue, as well as review the rules of the party going forward. mr. chairman, this concludes my report. >> thank you, sir. appreciate that. i would like to call on the ethics committee chairman pat brady, state chairman for illinois, for the purpose of delivering his report on the ethics committee. is pat here? [laughter] there he is. >> thank you. first, i would like to thank my co-chair from utah for the work he did on this committee. and i think the work of the committee of the last few years. the big round of applause should rutherford. he deserves a round of applause. [applause] pursuant to the chartered mission statement adopted by this body at the 2010 winter

meeting, we had three basic functions. to make finding is associated with current best practices and procedures regarding the vana job operations of the republican national committee. to make any recommendations concerning changes to those operations. and finally, today, making a recommendation to this body, whether the ethics committee shall be extended temporarily in order to accomplish the stated goals. over the last 18 months or so, we do commission and internal control review by an outside consultant of the internal financial operations of the republican national committee. ensuring the republican national committee is always a good steward towards a donor fund. we obtained that report from the outside consultant. we worked with boyd to make sure that these recommendations were implemented. most of them are, and as we learned and the meeting yesterday, some of them are not, and will continue to be implemented. that was the major accomplishment of the committee of the last 18 months. in our meeting yesterday, we

had three fundamental recommendations. first, that we need to clarify the policies set forth in the rnc employee handbook, as well as other good governance policies adopted by the rnc and that they be applied to all committees of the rnc, including the committee on arrangements, basically piggybacking on with the executive committee had already done at its december 7 meeting. congratulations to them for acting so quickly. secondly, we think the rules committee should consider whether there should be a permanent standing committee. we entitled it good governance and not ethics committee. the ethics connotation sometimes sets off alarm bells, which we did not intend it to do. we recommended it be a good governance -- a good governance committee with two elected directors from each region but the final recommendation today is that this committee be extended until that rules meeting so the committee can finish the work in so far as the review of the internal controls. it will ultimately be up to the

rules committee to decide the form, structure common purpose of this committee. those are the recommendations of the ethics committee. it has been an honor to serve on this committee. and thank you, chairman, for allowing burris and myself to chair the committee. thank you. >> thank you. it is moved that the ethics committee be extended on a temporary basis through the 2012 republican national convention. do i hear it second? any discussion. hearing none, we will proceed with the vote. all those in favor, please signify. all those opposed, signify. the ayes have it. the motion is passes. the committee is extended temporarily until the 2012 national convention. i will call upon lewis powell, our national committeeman from maryland and chairman of the budget committee to give his report. mr. pope. >> thank you, mr. chairman and members of the republican national committee. over the net -- over the last

couple of weeks, you all received a copy of the proposed budget for 2011, and this is a condensed version. several people mentioned that they wanted to seek a greater detail, and i can tell you the greater detail of this budget is available to anyone who requests it or requests to review the records at the rnc. we opted not to mail out the extensive budget and the minute show because it tends to get floated around the country outside of rnc members. but it is available to everyone. the budget committee met on wednesday morning. it was very well-intended, not just by the 11 members of the budget committee but by several dozen members of the rnc as well. we did ratify this budget and the budget we had worked on, but all the work really done on the budget has been done over the last two months.

we met for extensive budget hearings in washington for three days on december 6, 7, and eight. we went through each department. we had each department head at the rnc prepare a budget of the came in. the wind over their numbers. they went over the cuts they made. we tried to make its as frugal as possible. and after that, we went back and said we need to cut this budget further, and we also scaled back some of our revenue projections. the treasurer and in several people from the budget committee met with the revenue department. we scaled-back revenue anticipated by an additional $6 million. we certainly hope to have more than that, but we're all conservative people, and we realize that if you plan to live below your means, you're more likely to do so.

so while we certainly want to exceed dramatically our revenue projections, we based our budget on exceedingly conservative revenue inflow. and consequently, we made an additional $3 million in cuts to the budget from what you saw in your budget package. we also added in something that was not there initially, which was a $1 million down payment on the presidential trust, which will be turned over to the republican presidential nominee after next summer's conventions. we also, as you notice in your budget, there's over $5 million of the debt, which is scheduled to be paid back this year, in addition to interest on that debt. several members have said, and the treasurer said a few minutes ago, that we anticipate paying that down even to a larger extent this year as our revenues

come in. none of us want to be in any type of debt, but we did planned a very austere budget. we have cut it dramatically, and we do plan to pay down that debt as speedily as possible but also, it was mentioned yesterday, something that we have been working on as well. i know the german and the co- chairman and the rest of the staff, and that staff cuts themselves. obviously, the staff got considerably larger during the election cycle. i am happy to report that the staff has been reduced and reduced dramatically. it was about 160 to 170 people. by the end of this month, by the end of january, there will be down to 107 people as we move back to its skeleton crew operating the rnc in the most efficient and fiscally wise manner possible. so that is the budget. and mr. chairman, at this point, i will move for approval of the

budget as presented to the members. >> thank you. i appreciate that. there is a motion for approval of the budget. is there a second? any discussion? >> yes, mr. chairman. i am from texas. i rise to oppose the adoption of the budget. i was one of only four people who voted against the budget last time, because i was concerned that we are institutionalizing a process to ensure that our party would continue to operate deficits. in deference to leadership last time, i did not make my comments public before the election, but i have predicted that we would be $16 million in debt, which is alarming. unfortunately, i was wrong. the debt is about $22 million. i cannot support a budget until i see real commitment to reduce the deficit.

and going to the budget meeting yesterday, unfortunately, i was not convinced of that for several reasons. first, we're only reducing the line of credit payments by one- third, so we will 0 $10 million going into 2012. but that does not include the vendor bills that will be encouraged, even though we may not list them as dead because they're not 30 days old. so i will predict that this budget was actually followed, we would be least $12 million in debt going into 2012. i asked a number of staff members we would have after the budget cuts, and i was told 107. i also ask that the chairman and vice-chairman would be willing to reduce their salaries as a demonstration of leadership down to the levels of michael duncan, told there were not willing to do that. so until such time as i see a

commitment that we try to at least cut our debt in half if not complete with within 12 months and have a more solid commitment to cut staff, i must respectfully oppose the budget. thank you for your time. greg stewart, chairman. >> state chairman of north carolina. i would like to echo my colleague from the state of texas. we cannot be the party of fiscal responsibility. we cannot be a shining example to the country. we cannot lead if we are operating in deficits. i would urge the delegates to reject this budget. i and start the new chairman and staff to prepare a new budget that kids -- and instruct the new chairman and step to prepare a new budget that gets us out of debt before the new year is over. thank you. >> thank you, sir. any further discussion? chair recognizes national committeewoman from delaware. >> thank you.

the budget committee put in unbelievable hours through the cooperation of the officers of this committee. id is a basic budget. we have eliminated, eliminated, eliminated, and i can tell you, i am proud of this budget that was constructed. i appreciate the cooperation of the committee, of the staff, and i applaud the members of the budget committee. i have been on it for a number of years, and i have never seen this kind of involvement, dedication, this kind of cooperation. it is a floor budget. we will encourage, obviously, much more revenue to come in, but it is a solid floor budget. and i urge the adoption of this budget. thank you, mr. chairman. >> dyp to recognize the chairman from oregon. >> thank you. just to remind everybody, the budget committee originally asked for the line of credit of

$10 million, and it was passed, i believe, unanimously by the budget committee. to borrow and extend a line of credit. secondly, that went on to the executive committee, which i also believe was unanimous, knowing that this is going to still be in existence in january, a $10 million debt, and this body ratified that line of credit and borrowing, knowing we would be $10 million in debt, because we were having a once in a long time, lifetime, opportunity to win an unprecedented amount of republican seats. and i believe it was a unanimous effort on this body, knowing that we were going to be in it the position we are in today. so just reminding you from the budget committee to the executive committee to this body that approved that line of credit, and that is where we're at. the budget committee has taken a very prudent and long-term look

at the responsible payback of these dollars, and if we could pay it off earlier, absolutely. and we have a very favorable interest rate. it is a very competitive interest rate, and we did this unknowingly back in october that would be right where we are today, and just a reminder that that is how we got to where we are. >> thank you. to recognizes general counsel. >> as an outgoing member of the budget committee, i want to echo the last two comments. i want to emphasize the following -- over the last two years, this has become a member- driven budget. i do not know how it used to be, but when we are handed a piece of paper by the staff that says here is what the budget looks like right now, we dug into it. that includes the four members of the budget committee that are elected by all of you at your regional breakfast. and when we said we have got to cut the spending and we have got

to be conservative on our revenues, the first two people that step up and cut their budgets voluntarily were the chairmen and the co-chair. so the changes have been made. we had spirited dialogue behind closed doors between the chairmen and the treasure, between the elected members from the west and midwest, and it was a very deliberative process. so the one thing i want to emphasize, in addition to the comments, is this is a member- driven budget. it was prepared by the members that were elected by all of you. >> thank you. >> mr. chairman, i am budget committee member, national committeewoman from south dakota. i want to reiterate what we did as a budget committee. and one thing is on our shoulders as of those who approved a budget, those who approved the line of credit that is also on our shoulders, not to sit back and say that we cannot

do it because the major donors are not giving. we recognize all those things. and some of the future in this next year of the budget, we now have a convention coming ahead. we do not have the white house. we do not have all those things that we used to have. this was recognized by the committee. we're taking this budget down to the bare bottom and sang ok to the 168, it is that you to help us. approve it, and let's make it look even better when it is over. thank you. >> thank you. >> if i can make a couple more comments, because i agree with the chairman from the state of taxes, although i encourage you to vote for the budget. -- from the state of texas, although i encourage you to vote for the budget. we made cuts on the chairman's budget. over $130,000 out of the co- chairman budget.

$215,000 out of general administration to $164,000 out of media. almost $600,000 out of political operations. and on and on and on. we also have reduced the staff at the rnc almost 40%. i did about 36%, up from 165 down to 107. obviously, those cuts will continue. this is an incredibly austere budget, as was just said by priscilla. it is a floor budget, because we are conservatives, and we wanted to have a bare bones budget, anticipating the worst possible case as far as spending and lower revenue. however, like all conservatives, we plan for the worst and we hope for the best. if we do that as republicans, and as we do that as americans, we know that that is a

politically and physically winning strategy, and that is exactly what we did. so i understand the concerns, and i share those concerns. i think all of the 11 members of the budget committee share those concerns. and we made very, very significant cuts to this budget, and we do plan to be out of debt in the strategy is there to do that. but we did make a commitment to win, and when we did, which took over the congress. you all know what happened on election day. but we invested our money in winning the election across the country in november, and we were successful. so i have to tell you, it was money wisely invested by the republican party, and it is not unprecedented for the republican party to go into debt to win an election. we have a significant opportunity this year to do exactly that, and we took advantage of that opportunity,

and it succeeded. over the next year, we will come out of debt, and i can tell you, when the presidential cycle -- traditionally, our revenues are up dramatically. it has been proven cycle after cycle after cycle. in the last cycle, i think we're over $300 million raised. while we currently do carry almost $20 million or a little over $20 million in both bank debt and short-term debt, that would be enormous if it was on your personal checking account. but in a corporation, an organization this size, that is a very durable -- doable process of paying that off. we're on track. we're well aware of yourconcns,r opinions, but i think we have a strategy here. and i again move for adoption. thank you. >> thank you.

>> mr. chairman, as i understand this, the budget is not proposing an operating deficit for the year. the budget, in fact, is proposing that we will have somewhere in the neighborhood of $12 million more revenue than we're going to expend on operating expenses, and that $12 million would be paid to cover the debt that we currently have. >> that is correct. >> we are proposing a budget now that was out of balance in terms of operating expenditures, i would share the concerns of my good friend, the state chairman of texas, but not paying off all that we have borrowed in the past in the next year i do not

think is a principle that we need to fall on our swords for. it is not unreasonable for a national party committee with a lot of assets and a substantial and come to borrow money towards the end of an election cycle in order to do the best we can to win elections. i would like to invite the members to ask what would have happened if we had not borrowed that a $15 million, which would have given as $15 million less for victory headquarters? does anyone imagine that we would have had these excesses that we did if that decision were not made? i think that this is a reasonable budget. it is going to be in the hands of the new chairman, whomever he may be, and so i strongly suggest that there is nothing wrong with us adopting this budget. it is likely to be changed down the road when we find out

precisely how much we can raise. thank you. >> thank you. >> i am from the state of north carolina. the budget is with the budget is. i support the resolution presented. but i call for the question, and it will rest with whoever the new chairman or chairwoman is -- >> the question is to call and go to the vote -- all those in favor? all those opposed? the ayes have it. the 2011 budget is adopted. at this time, we will recess briefly for a box lunch, which is being set up in the room next door. staff, as you leave the room, staff will direct you, and you can feel free to bring the food back into this room to have your lunch. once we reconvene --

[bangs gavel] meeting will come to order. once we reconvene, we will begin the officer elections to elect the rnc leadership for the next two years. co-chairman jan larimer will preside over the chairman's election. without objection, the body will stand at recess for 20 minutes. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011]

>> this is the winter meeting of the republican national committee and taking place just outside washington at a place

called national harbour. we expect this to be an all-day meeting. some preliminary is under way with chairman michael steele opening at the meeting today at about 10:30 a.m. eastern. and the balloting, the nomination, will begin at about 12:45 p.m. or so. the first round of votes will be for the next rnc tear. michael steele is one of the five candidates. the first round should be about 1:45 p.m. eastern. michelle miller of "the hill" newspaper is covering this. -- sean miller. what are some of the biggest challenges that are facing the next chairman of the rnc, no matter who it is? >> it is all about fund raising. they are looking at a $20 million deficit or debt, rather, . they are expecting to compete

against president obama and possibly retake the senate from democrats. the whole campaign has been the question of whether or not michael still has the courage and promised to compete in this competitive environment. >> we're going to show our viewers the comments of the treasury just a short while ago in laying out the upcoming budget for the rnc. how did they get in this shaper their $20 million in debt? >> that is subject to debate. chairman michael steele was criticized for us double-for spending a fair amount of money out. his policy was the centralization of the rnc. . there were misusing funds to entertain. it was a significant amount of

money. a lot of their major donors -- no, we're looking at also. >> is anybody have the inside track with the delegates today? >> the wisconsin republican party chairman is a favorite going into this first round of balloting. people say that they have only committed to that first vote, and if he does not seem like he is the inevitable winner, the supporters might start looking elsewhere for someone who can take the chairman down. michael steele has 30 supporters. he needed a fight -- he needs 85 votes to get reelected. people are suggesting that this

support is dropping off up for the first and second round of balloting. this sort of the nail in his coffin. one of the delegates that i spoke with described chairman michael steele as folks just walking by the courts. so people do not really expect much from him today. then again, people did not expect him to run. people are going to be watching to see whether or not reince priebus has the momentum after the first round of balloting. >> you'll be covering the story all day, correct? >> absolutely. we -- party officials said you're looking at a late evening conclusion to this. the last time they elected the chairman back in 2009, when michael steele won, it went through six rounds of balloting, so it could be a late night. >> read his work online ad

thehill.com. thank you for that update. you talk about some of the challenges. you're seeing video from outside of the meeting room at the national harbor as delegates come and go. it is going to be an all-day meeting. we understand a short recess will be about 20 minutes or so. they are ahead of schedule for the winter meeting today. you heard sean miller talk about the biggest issue facing the next chairman as the budget, the $20 million debt that faces the rnc. the treasury gave his report, one of the first items of business this morning. here's what he had to say. >> good morning. thank you very much for the opportunity.

as i give my report, something came to mind. as a cpa, i am often ask, what do accountants do. the simple answer to that is, we solve problems you did not know you had in a way that you cannot understand. so keep that in mind. as of this past tuesday, the rnc had $1,139,085 cash on hand. also as of year-end, are preliminary report shows it was given to the executive committee on wednesday that we have a total $21.3 million in debt at the rnc. and that breaks out as $6.3 million in the form of payables owed to vendors, and $15 million in the form of debt to the bank.

and the bank debt is actually 3 notes that we approved as a committee. a $5 million note, which comes due on february 28 of this year. a $5 million note that comes due on june 30 of this year. and a $5 million note that comes due may 30 of next year. it became my job to meet with the bank and to go through the debt that we had and to negotiate an extension of the note that was due the end of next month, which we were successful in doing. with the bank, and they agreed to that, and that was actually meeting with the bank in going through our cash flows for next year, based on our budget that we hopefully will approve a little later this morning. and the bank accepted that. as of tuesday, we will have the formal signing of those

documents. they agreed to push back the payment of the notes from february 28 of this year to february 28 of next year. now none of us like that, and we want to pay that off as soon as possible. the way these notes are structured is that we have the ability to prepay them, and in fact, the way the budget law is laid out, it actually shows we will begin paying off debt beginning in march most likely, and we will make payments on the debt throughout the year. the plan on the budget is that the end of the year on december 31, we would still come on the budget, we would still have $10 million in debt. if we do better on fund-raising this year, then that would be paid off quicker. that obviously is our goal as the committee, to pay off the debt as soon as possible. with that, that is my report as treasurer. thank you.

>> republican national committee five candidates, including michael steele. you might have heard our conversation with sean miller of the hill. this could be a long and many balloted day. there are a bit ahead of schedule here, about 25 minutes ahead of schedule.

this is the day lower national harbour, the national harbour just down the river from the nation's capital, the site of the rnc winter meeting nation -- winter nation meeting. we want to your the german report as he gaveled in the meeting this morning. >> thank you very much. i appreciate that. at this time we will have the chairman's report and over the last month or so we have had the

chance to digest the opportunities, the successes, the ups and downs of the past two years, but most especially, the past year. i thank you the opportunity -- i thank god you for the opportunity to -- i thanked you for the opportunity to serve. i want to thank you so much for the chance to serve at a time when our party was changing, struggling to grow, reaching its footing -- regain its footing, find its voice, careconnect with people, and trees down -- and to stand rhatigan. and when they have learned about this jolt -- this role, this

responsibility is that it does not get done without you, our national committee men and women. the numbers you just heard from our co-chair are not just numbers on a piece of paper. there is real effort behind those numbers and men and women behind those numbers and everyday struggles put in action by you. i am grateful to have served as chairman with one of the best rnc committees in a very long time. because you did not shrink from the challenge. q. did not walk away from the opportunity -- you did not walk away from the opportunity and for the first time we both of

america and we saw of us and we talk to us, each other. and we drew in moms and dads, teenagers, college students, african-americans, women, hispanics. we drew in america and they responded to your voice, they responded to your efforts. those numbers are not just numbers. they do not get tossed around and dissected and analyzed to score points, to make a point. you have to appreciate that behind those numbers are the efforts of your state central committees, your county committees, your activists, our friends in the tea party movement.

do not lose sight of that. the responsibility of leadership in this party, not just in his office of chairman, not just in the office of co-chair or treasurer or secretary, general counsel, but in the very office that each one of you hold it is to be a leader first. that is what the party expects to do when you come to the republican national committee. your efforts began in 2009 in a little place called of virginia -- new jersey. and you shocked the world because we were not supposed to win in virginia and we genscher were not supposed to win in new jersey. but you did. -- and we surely were not supposed to win in new jersey. but you did.

in 2009 mayor's races -- and you won the mayor's races in 2009. the albuquerque, new mexico, the first time in 20 years we have the mayor's office. county executives of races, of state new york, everybody was focused on other things. meanwhile, this -- the party was slowly and steadily building brick by brick the success that was borne out there. that is the type of effort that this party has to be engaged in. every single day. some of the numbers i want to share with you, again, are not just numbers on paper, but they are testament to the work that each one of you did. each one of you, not just what jan and i did travel in 400,000 miles per year on a plane and poring over reports -- randy

guay on a plane and poring over reports, but what you did every single day. 47 million voters voted for us in 2010. the highest midterm turn out for any party in any midterm in the history of this country. you did that. republican gop tv had record turnout. 8.5 million more voters went to the polls than in the last midterm election. a stunning 24% increase. you did that. all of you played a pivotal role in opening and establishing 316 victory offices across the country with paid staffs who were there on the ground with you, compared with just 154 victory offices in 2008 and 140 in 2006.

by virtue of the plan that you put together, for the first time in the history of our party, we had a 50-state strategy, but it was not just the contiguous states. we had a strategy in the territories where we won the lieutenant governorship in qualm. we won in places where people did not expect us to run a war win. you did that. the rnc made unprecedented to use ava new media. unprecedented use of new media. and the content of outgoing e- mails was and has to become more effective. in fact, our e-mail achieved before% open rate, up from about 3% in 2008 -- a 40% open rate, up from about 3% in 2008 and are quick to raid was close to 15%.

-- and our click through rate was close to 15%. those percentages, from 3% to 40%, a click through rate of 15%, are real people coming to you to learn about our organization and to get involved. that is what you did. on the fund-raising side, and you added to your efforts at the state party and what we did nationally, over 1 million new donors, small, medium, and large. this refers to the press of this decline of new donors that we have seen in off-year elections. we cuquadruple the rate of off your daughters from 2009 --

often year donors from 2009 to 2010. you did that. i hope all of you, regardless of the outcome of this day, appreciate what you have done. to establish firmly the republican renaissance that we all talked about two years ago and in those two years, but how we have -- a look how we have moved forward. now the task becomes harder because president obama is waiting for you. the democrat party is waiting for you. and they are going to engage us on the battlefield of ideas, the battlefield of policy. and i thank heaven we have speaker boehner right there on the front lines for us. [applause]

and leader kantor and the leadership on the party of our hill. but most especially, the leadership and our new states, new governors, new state legislatures. and on the front, because this is the real work that you did , we picked up over 680 state legislative seats. that is an amazing feat. do you understand what that means when it comes to redistricting? 190 congressional district lines were redrawn -- will be redrawn by republicans in the next two years. 47 will be drawn by democrats. that is what you did. you made a difference through planning, hard work, and engaging not just our base and are activists, but our grass roots, folks who did not even

though they were grass-roots folks who were part of our team. that is what a good party does. you have all proven and shown the republican party is a good party and it is ready and willing to work on behalf of the american people. i have been honored to serve these past two years as your chairman and i know the work that lies ahead will be difficult and challenging. but i have no fear, nor doubt that he will rise to the occasion -- that you will rise to the occasion because you are the republican party. in states across this great country, in neighborhoods and communities, it has been such a pleasure for me to watch all of you work outside your comfort zone. and we hope through the efforts that you commit to when you leave this meeting that you are

ready to give the democrats held over the next two years. and that you are willing to work and fight on behalf of the american people beyond anything you have never done before. because the work is too important. the challenges are too great. and our grandkids and great grandkids are depending on us in this hour to get it right. that is what a good republican party does for the people of america. and i thank you for what you have done so far. god bless you. [applause] speaking of redistricting, at this time we will move on to our committee reports. the redistricting committee met yesterday morning and i would like to welcome our general counsel, who will give the report on behalf of the

committee chairman who is not feeling well right now. our chairman from idaho will give that report for us. [applause] >> thank you, mr. chairman. there has already been allowed to discuss about redistricting. i will just give a report on what the committee has done. the committee met at a -- at 8:00 a.m. yesterday morning. it was a very informative meeting. the sole agenda item was to record and receive information, a couple of presentations anchored by a doctor, toffler. there was no other business conducted. -- by dr. tom hougler. there was no other business conducted. that concludes our report. [applause] >> thank you very much. at this time, we will can -- we

will turn out to resolutions reports. chairman of our resolutions committee. >> the comments of rnc chairman michael steele earlier this morning as the winter meeting opened up outside of washington d.c. at the national harbour there in the -- at a national harbour. they are in the midst of a break entered gavel back in soon. there are five candidates, including michael steele, ann wagner and maria cino as well. >> a lot of political work going on there with the banners for each of the five candidates.

>> looking at some of the politicking going on, part of the process of the winter meeting of the republican national committee. this session should come back in shortly. we spoke to a hill reporter, sean miller, earlier about reactions so far. sean miller is covering today's deliberations. he writes about it in the hill at thehill.com. what are some of the biggest challenges facing the rnc, no matter who wins? >> it is all about fundraising. they're facing a $21 billion debt as they go into this next cycle. they have to raise close to $400 million -- $400 billion to compete against obama and

democrats. the question remains whether michael steele has the fund- raising prowess to compete in this competitive environment. >> and we will show you on c- span the comments of the treasurer just a short while ago in layout the upcoming budget for the rnc. how do they get in this shape where they are $20 million in debt? >> that is up for debate. german steel was criticized for sending a fair bit of money out to states he thought the money would be better spent by state parties. in seattle, they were misusing funds to entertain at a bondage club. that was not a significant amount of money, but he threw a ahold blanket over the community's fund raising.

a lot of people are saying i'm going to donate my money elsewhere. >> tell us about the politics of the day. the chairman and foreman can -- and four other candidates. is there anyone on the inside track? >> we have no idea what is going to happen. reince preibus is the favorite going in, but if he does not seem like the inevitable winner, his supporters might start looking elsewhere. steel has a support to get reelected. people are suggesting that if his support starts to drop off after the first or second round of balloting, that is a nail in

his coffin. one of the delegates, our committee members that i spoke with -- or committee members, was saying that people did not expect him to run. will be watching to see if reince preibus has the momentum after this first round of balloting. >> and you will be up on the hill all day, correct? >> absolutely. the party officials told us asically we're looking at late evening conclusion to this. in the last election it went to the sixth round of balloting. it could be a late night. >> sean miller from the hill, thank you for that update. we have been looking at some of the politicking and meeting and

greeting outside the main ballroom where the rnc is meeting to elect its new chairman. there are five candidates, including the current chairman michael steele. the nomination should get underway sometime between now and 1:00 p.m. the committee is in a bit of a recess here and should come back shortly. the headline today from the times" --on * he will get an estimated 51st ballot votes. mr. steele is getting opposition from some first-round voters. he says many committee members think that his hard-core support will migrate primarily to

michigan rnc chairman favored by most conservatives. some video there of the chairman speaking earlier. again, the process coming up, the nominations of the five candidates. and we will hear later today from the winner when it is all said and done. look for a report from sean miller late afternoon, early evening conclusion. you are watching live on c-span.

>> a moment ago you saw reince preibus, one of the five

candidates for the national chair, the chair currently held a of course, by michael steele, who is making his way back into the room. we want to let you know that on our website c-span.org we have a link not only to the bios of the candidates, but you can weigh in on our facebook and twitter pages as well with your comments about what you see and what you think. i just want to read one hear from john. he says, "is very simple. the new chair should be someone who reflects the conservative base of the republican party, someone who can use the momentum of the 2010 election and keep it going for the 2012 campaign." one of the many postings at facebook/c-span.

this is the republican national committee, the winter meeting and they are going to chose -- choose a new chairman. it could be michael steele, of course. we are keeping an eye on proceedings. also, outside 2 with some of the politicking going on. -- also outside, too, with some of the politicking going on. also on our order page, a gop strategist mike murphy as out and he tweets, watching the rnc hallway feed on c-span. this is the white mecca of public land dress shirts. -- polley-planney-blend dress s.

at the gaylord national harbors outside washington d.c., members of the republican national committee have gathered for their winter meeting and to select their chairman for the next two years. the "washington post" writes about some of the challenges ahead for the rnc. hundreds of major donors have abandoned the rubble -- the rnc, leaving a $20 million in debt .

coming up, what we will see is the nomination of the five different candidates. five separate nominations and then launch of voting. it could be several rounds -- and then lots of voting. it could be several rounds. if you saw this in 2009, good, long stretches of people trying to convince each other to vote for their candidates. we can anticipate likely seen that as well throughout the afternoon and possibly into the yearly evening here on c-span. -- the early evening here on c- span.

>> the 2011 winter session of the general election will now reconvene. i would like to call on [unintelligible] from the virgin islands to give the indication. >> good afternoon. in the aftermath of the civil

war, a wounded nation healing, a writer like gilbert joshua hollen, editor of the "springfield republican" wrote a poem and a prayer and i felt it was appropriate for this occasion. kerpen " god gives us leaders -- "gaudette as leaders a time like this demands, strong hearts, true faith in ready hands and give us those whose lust for office does not kill those who spoiled the office cannot buy those who possess opinions, and will and who have honor and will not lie give us leaders who can stand before the demagogues damn his treacherous flatteries without winking.

stand tall, son proud, and live above the fog in public duty in private thinking for while the rebels with their.com torn trees, their long positions and where little deeds and will in their cells try -- and incur in their self strife, low, freedom weeks waiting justice the slaves. corn -- freedom weeps waiting justice sleeps god bless america. >> i ask that helen sudden, national committeewoman from kansas lead us in the pledge.

>> i pledge allegiance to the flight of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> good afternoon. i want to introduce to you the sergeant at arms. a national committee man from montana. he will serve as the sergeant at arms for the election today. our assistance sergeant at arms can be identified by the red hat's bair waring. i asked -- red hats that they are wearing. i ask that they always their hands at this time they are over here on the wall to my left.

they are responsible for controlling access to the general session floor. we will keep very strict access to this floor. please give them your full cooperation. and there will be absolutely no politicking on the floor. -- on the floor while the meeting is in progress, and that applies to candidates and members, except when we are in a recess. as you know, this body is crowned by the provisions of 5b, which reads the chairman, co-chairman and elected officers will be elected in odd number years. all officers, except the vice chairman, shall be nominated from the floor, and have at least the majority of votes from the republican national committee members from each of have these three states in order to have their names placed into

nomination. there will be no nominating committee. under rule #6 of the roles of the republican party, only the election of officers may be voted by secret ballot, by the majority vote of the rnc members. without objection to all we will conduct today's elections by secret ballot. howard general counsel -- our general counsel will describe the procedures of this election. >> thank you, madam chair. good afternoon. the election procedures have been sent to all members. and anyone who has requested a copy on at least two occasions and they are all maunders now. -- members now. during both the adis and recess portions of this meeting -- at

both of the attendees and reassess portions of this meeting for members only, only the candidatemembers, ballot pry holders, and nonmember candidates will be permitted on the general session floor. the state chairman for the destruction of columbia, he has the responsibility of determining the number of votes any member will be entitled to cast. if you are carrying a proxy, you must advise bob when you are receiving your balance, so, for authentication can be made in the committee's report in the world. each candidate has designated a teller, who was authorized the witnessing of the ballot counting. no other person is authorized to be in the ballot counting area, other than the ballot counters from the rnc's accounting firm

will officially count the ballots. election shall be held in following order, chairman, co- chairman, treasurer and secretary. a lottery held at the council offices yesterday afternoon determines the order in which each candidate will be officially nominated here today. speech -- each not letting speech will be allowed five minutes total. nominating people -- not attending speeches from the podium. secondary speeches will be made from the floor. members may indicate their support by seconding within the five-minute time limit. our timekeeper's and the at the front of the room will hold up green cards when two minutes remained, yellow cards when 30 seconds remaining and red guards when time has expired. the chairman will strictly enforce the time limits. q. which for the record youth reflect your support and your out of your time and, please

give that information at that time. the ballot box is located at the front of the podium. the sergeant at arms, will keep the floor clear. only proxy's will be allowed on the general for during balloting. each accounted and certified packet contains exactly 168 ballots. based on the roll call and a proxy committee reports, the representatives from the firm will remove the proper number of ballots, if any, from each package, at the beginning of each round of balloting to ensure that the proper number of ballots is district added. the proxy will be asked -- is distributed for each round. the proxy will be asked to report any changes to the full committee prior to the next round of balloting, if necessary. in the event that the balloting continues for more than $1 to my different colored valid

will be provided -- for more than one round of balloting, a different colored ballots will be provided. the election process this year is designed to fully protect the secrecy of each member's balance. the secretary will call the role of state. when your state is called, please stand up and walk across the road toward the wall to my left, to your right. then form a line in advance toward the front. the chairman and the tellers will be standing at the designated dodi area and will check each members or proxy older car -- proxy holders named. after you have received your ballot, proceed to the next open election booths at the front of the remand clearly right in the name of the candidates for whom you wish to write your vote. it contains two blank lines.

one for the office and one for the nominee. however, it is not necessary to write for the office. to move, through the process as quickly as possible, simply write the last name of the candidates on the ballot. incorrect spelling will not disqualify the candidates. [laughter] i like that one, too, with my last name. what immediately to the ballot box to deposit your ballots. each ballot must be cast individually. if you are by proxy voting more than one ballot, each ballot must be placed individually, not on the same ballot or fall into the other. the chairman and the common council want to ensure that the process is followed. immediately return to your seaton to the voting process has been completed. the assistance order that arms will serve as a common shares to be sure that the aisles are clear and the vella process run smoothly.

any conversations must be moved off of the floor to the guest room. if you're voting as proxy, you must identify yourself as such when you come forward. any nominee may remain in contention until he or she wrote chooses to withdraw or until one can take receive the majority of the vote. voting will continue until it can evade maintain their majority. if a candidate wishes to withdraw, he must rise and be recognized by the chair, following the completion of a ballot, but before the next has commenced. without objection, a speech announcing the withdrawal of a candidate must be made from the floor in one minute or less. following the balloting to allow representatives from independent accounting firm, magladry in poland, will designate the winner in the quarter. the tellers and office staff

will week -- will observe the accounting. no communication devices, such as cell phones and black berries, will be permitted in the accounting area. the teller will provide the chair with the results, which the chair will then announce. perata then adjourned, the chair will declare the session informally at ease. it will be close to nonmembers, except for those that are holding proxies' or are candidates at that time. following the announcement of the results, should we need to go to a second or subsequent ballot, we will have a 20 minute recess before when the next round of balloting. the chair will strictly enforce this time limit. if any candidate with draws during a recess, the chair may extend the time before the next round of balloting.

during this recess, the general session floor will continue to remain close to nonmembers, except for those who are holding proxies' or candidates on the ballot at that time. thank you. >> thank you, norm. without objection, these are the procedures that we will follow today. are there any questions regarding the nominating and seconding of a candidate? hearing none, we will move to the nomination process. the secretary has confirmed that five candidates for chairman have demonstrated the required support for nomination. the chair recognizes john ryder, national committee man for tennessee for the purpose of nominating a candidate for rnc chairman. i believe that we have lost john writer's voice.

>> yes. >> i am chair of the tennessee republican party and i'm standing in for john writer. on behalf of all of the rnc members in the state of tennessee, i am proud to nominate ann wagner as the next year of the republican national committee. [applause] we have some good people running, but i believed ann wagner stands alone who possesses -- as a candidate who possesses the complete package of skills necessary to lead the rnc. she has served our party at the local precinct level, as a township committee woman, the state level as a state party chairman, and as co-chairman of the rnc. i know that ann is a dedicated volunteer and enable leader, and for me, ordaz -- and this is very important -- a solid conservative. we all know how critical these

next two years are going to be. these are critical times for america and the current administration would like to change this country in a way that i do not think any of us want. the republican party is the equivocal organization to take our country back and put it on the right track. as a german who raises money on a daily basis, the rnc has lost credibility with donors, both large and small. in order to restore the credibility, we need a chairman who can raise the money and manage the money that she raises. and offers those abilities. as a campaign chairman and state chairman, ann has demonstrated her ability to raise money. as co-chair, she raised $284 million during the election cycle $390 million. during the 2009 election cycle. she served nearly seven years as the republican party chairman of

her stay. -- state. she has worked to create a new team won 20 program form? doug barnard. the program will also include a regionally -- a team 120 program for maxed out of donors. the program will include a regionally elected leaders and will -- and having served as a campaign official, she has been a customer of the rnc and she knows what we need to deliver to the state entered the campaign in order to elect republicans to office and when the white house in 2012. ann wagner will run a tight ship at the rnc, instituting changes at the committee level that will structure is more like a business. she knows what it will take and she will run a like a ceo. and she will run a member- oriented committee. she is not the candidate of any presidential campaign, any

special interest, or any vendor. and she will be a co-chairman and a members member, like she was a co-chairman. bottom line, she will be an excellent leader. in short, ann wagner will bring the full package to the rnc. i urge you to join me in voting for ann wagner as our republican national committee chairman. [applause] >> thank you, chris. the chair recognizes the national committeewoman from maine, james staples for the purpose of seconding. >> we have an opportunity to elect a woman to chair the rnc. i therefore, i rise to enthusiastically second the nomination for ann wagner for chairman of the rnc. >> national committeewoman for

oklahoma. i also second the nomination for ann wagner for chairman of the rnc. she is the complete package. >> i enthusiastically second this nomination for ann wagner for chairman. >> national committee man from missouri. i enthusiastically endorse her as well >> at a committeewoman from kentucky. i am proud to second the nomination of ann wagner. >> of west virginia, i join in my -- with my fellow members in seconding the nomination of ann wagner. >> david cole, chair of the great state of missouri. it is my distinct honor to second the nomination of ann wagner. she was a great co-chairman, as everybody knows. please join me in supporting ann wagner as chairman of the rnc.

>> thank you. [applause] >> the chair recognizes steve king, national committee man from wisconsin for the purpose of nominating a candidate for rnc chair. >> on behalf of the governor of the great state of wisconsin, scott walker, our newly elected senator, ron johnson from wisconsin, our congressional delegation, including paul ryan, and on behalf of the republican party of wisconsin, i stand proud and happy to stand before you and nominate for you the next chairman -- nominate for the next chairman of the republican national committee, mr. reince priebus. [applause] i have been involved in politics at 37 years and have

watched over the last dozen years the career and leadership that reince has brought to our party and our state, culminating a couple of years ago when he became our leader. immediately upon becoming chairman he retired our debt. he ran the house. he hired the best people. he raised record amounts of money. he included numerous candidates. he represented as wonderfully. he stayed on message. he wrapped his arms around various coalition groups to include the two-party and the resultant -- the results november 2 showed it. never before in the history of our state have we turned our sit around. governor, both houses, the u.s. senate and two congressional seats. a state that was totally black and blue came totally red. hawes a casa -- became totally red. now he is offering that kind of

leadership to our national party. reince is the leader that we need to unify our committee, bring the resources that we so badly need if we are going to build on the successes of to -- of 2010 into 2012. i urge your support for the next generation of leadership to our party, reince priebus. [applause] >> thank you, steve. the chair recognizes betty hill, national committeewoman from montana for the purpose of seconding. >> i am happy to second the nomination for reince priebus today. he is one of our exciting young, state chairman and he knows all about winning. >> national committeewoman from wisconsin. i am extremely proud to second

the nomination of my state chairman, as i have learned his -- firsthand his strong work ethic and his commitment to leadership. >> mississippi. i am supporting reince for many reasons, but one of them is that it is going to be a great fund raiser. he has called for financial leaders from our party. >> don mckeown, national committeewoman from oregon. i am happy to support reince priebus. i believe he will provide the oversight that we need for the next election. >> jim bob from indiana. i second the nomination because i found that in working with reince, he shows uncommon respect for every member of this committee and he will show that as a chairman. and second, he is a committed

conservative. we need to lead the way in 2012. >> the national committee man from nebraska. i am excited to second nomination of reince priebus. he will bring back the fiscal discipline this party needs. >> from georgia. i am proud to second. i believe that reince will serve as a way that unifies us. he is a most humble person. >> national committeewoman from arizona. i am supporting reince priebus for rnc chairman because of the way that he works with the tea party organization. >> national committeewoman for iowa. i am seconding reince priebus for chairman because i know he will uphold our pro-life platform. >> the youngest state chairman from the status of a call -- oklahoma. i think he has the ability to

reach young voters. >> i am supporting reince because i know he has a laser focus on electing republicans and especially focusing umbrian the white house back to us. >> i am supporting reince priebus because he is the full package and a great neighbor to the east. >> your time is up. if there are any others that would like to second reince, please let the secretary know and she will do we put it in the records. the chair recognizes how the national committeewoman from a wide for the purpose of nominating a candidate for rnc chairman. -- the chair recognizes the national committeewoman from hawaii.

>> it is my pleasure today to make this nomination. i do not have to remind this group that together, we all fired nancy pelosi in 2010. and now we have a majority in the house of representatives. we have accumulated another 600 nineties 690 legislators seats -- we have accumulated another 690 legislators scene. i would ask you to join me in reelecting michael steele, so we can to get their defeat barack obama in 2012. -- so we can together who defeated barack obama in 2012. thank you. [applause] >> the chair recognizes the national committee man from florida for the purpose of seconding. >> i am proud to denominational michael steele and thank him