off. why? cause they have iowa's money in washington, d.c. let's bring it back home. let's bring it back to iowa. 129. we have 129 miles that are currently under control atur southern border out of 2,000 miles. that is ain credible statistic. that is the highest level of -- 129 miles. let me read to you from the department of homeland security a senior official who said, human smuggling constitutes a significant risk to our national security and public safety and could potentially be exploited by terrorists and other extremist organizations seeking entry. how many of you think that qualifies for one of the greatest understatements in our time? that is absolutely true. let's go to our next set of numbers. 6,000. that's how many pages of rules

has already been written in washington, d.c. to implement obama care. and yothought that a 2700 bill was unwieldy? this is a bill that will never finish being written. because washington will continue to redefine the government takeover of health care. let's go to our next numr. more than 1,000. that's the number of waivers that have already been granted to obama care. is something missing here? aren't we a nation that is equal protection under the law? i guess it's more equal for some than for others when you grant waivers to obama care. in fact, one of steve king's and my colleagues this week anthony weiner from new york came out and -- now, we're nice he in iowa. i just want to remind you. and anthony weiner said he wanted a waiver from obama care. now, this is rich. because our colleague anthony

weiner said that he wrote the bill for obama care. in fact, his quote was the bill and i arene. now, if anthony weiner wants a waiver i want mine too. i want aaiver from the last two years of president obama. are you with me? let's go to our last number. i think becae of the great work that steve king has been doing and i've been trying to do we've tried to let the country know about this figure. 105 billion 464 million. does anydy know what i'm referring to? this was the money that was hiden in plai sight in the obama care bill in order to pre-fund the obama care. i believe that president obama needs to give this money back to the amecan people.

[applause] you won't find one newspaper story, one radio show or one tv story about this money. you can't just do this to the american people. fail to testimony them that when your representative votes for the takeover of health care they're also voting for 105 billion to fund it? you can't just do that. that's why they have to give the money back and that's why also steve king and i have worked very hard in our nation's capital together with other colleagues who have figured out what a problem obama care is. every member of the house of representives voted to repeal obama care. and now we are calling on them to vote to defund obama care by agreeing to not pass one more spending bill unless president obama gives this money back.

[cheers and applause] we've seen what all of these problems are. but the real problem that underlines all of these figur is this. it's the fact that washington, d.c. truly believes that all power and all money should be air gated to them so that they can run and control your lives. is that what thomas jefferson and our founders wrote in the declaration of independence and then in the constitution of the united states? i don't think so. thomas jefferson said he could see into the future that big government would be the problem. he said let's bind them down with the constitution. weren't they wise in what they wrote? that was very wy because what they understood is that the solution to our problems was not washington, d.c. because what did they do? they come up with really great

ideas like cowboy poetry festival. that's a must have. or like telling you which kind of light bulb you have to go down to your hard ware store and buy. and by the way just so you know, i introduced the light bulb freedom of choice act. yes. i think iowaens are to be trusted on the choice of their own libetbubs. and who can access the internet and what are schools can teach? we don't need them to give us the answers to those questions. the ultimate arrogance in my opinion coming out of washington is obama care. because obama care will decide who your doctor is ultimately. they will say oh no we aren't. oh, yes they will. with this bill we're all going to be spending more and getting less. now think of that. you get less you spend more.

what a deal what a deal. no wonder last year every week that rasmussen has been taking a poll never once has it gone below a majority of americans. not just conservatives not just republicans. but never below a majority of americans who want to see obama care repealed. as a matter of fact, this last week it was 62% the highest number of americans yet that want to see us repeal obama care. [applause] this is i believe the greatest power grab that we have ever seen and i believe it is a crime against our constitutional republic because the debt clock is ticking and it's changing now forever. we've seen how this movie is going to end. we've seen it in greece. it's not a pretty picture. we've seen it in the u.k. we've seen it in spain. it's not a pretty picture.

we've seen it in madison wisconsin. it is not a pretty picture. and so again the president is making the wrong calls. he's making the wrong calls. and i'm thankful that we have republicans standing up like governor scott walker in wisconsin, governor casic in ohio. they'retanding up. for less government, for more freedom. and again, the constitution holds the answer. this venerable document. gee, i don't think it was 2700 pages long. it said this. we, the people we are the answer to the problem today in the united states. because you need to be put back in charge of your own health care. you need to be allowed to create jobs because you're the only one who knows how to create jobs. the federal government doesn't have a clue how to create jobs. you do. and you can choose what cars you drive. not what cars are.

you can choose what light bulbs. you can choose all of these things. we don't need the government because you understand the solution for taxing, for protecting our borders, and research backs it up. it is families that are the solution and the ultimate building block for america. because no stimulus, no entitlement reform, no health care initiative, no educational revamp can match the power of an intact, two parent family and driving economic growth health and well being in the united states. [applause] and i come from a family where my parents did divorce. i understand the difficulty and the difficulty that is single parents have. and this is not to den grate them in any way. but it's also to say our government needs to prefer a

tax code and a policy that prefers family formation and the building up of families so that children have a safe environment to grow up because no one loves them more than mom and d. no government agency, no government bureaucrat. it's mom and dad. we've been told that we need a truce on social issues and i would highly disagree with that because the truth is social conserveatism is fiscal conserveatism. i mentioned just briefly about the fair tax. i am as a tax lawyer as i told you earlier my opinion is this. we make the tax code simpler by first abolishing it. so abolish what we have. and from there we're going to fly. i have no douth.

we need a change in size, we need a change in attitude because the attitude and arrogance of washington, d.c. having the answers is just not working out. because that is not what our forebearers understood that' not what i understand. that's not what you understand. that's n what our children need in the future. what we need is a change in address form for the person that's living at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. [applause] wh my forebearers came here in the 1850s they did not come here for handout they did not come here for the government takeover of health care. they came here because they were wide eyed with excitement at what the future would bring ultimately for a sevth generation iowaen granddaughter and they were willing to risk all to make it happen. they bore the fruit of courageously waging inch by

inch yard by yard, vot by vote the a battle for freedom that we are the grateful recipients for what they have done. which takes me back to another dark horse candidate. you may have heard of him from a large near by state. his name was abraham lincoln. and when he won his very doubtful election which no one thought that he could win he took a whittle stop tour and he stopped off at indianapolis, india and the nation was on the precipus of war. his own life and presidency was in danger and abraham lincoln poured his heart out to the crowd at indianapolis as they gathered and i want to quote from abraham lincoln's words. he said, i appeal to you constantly to bear in mind that it's not with the politicians an it is not with presidents and it is not withffice seekers but it is with you, an

that is the question. shall the union and shall the liberties of this country be preserved to the latest generation? and what lincoln said at the back of the train is still true today. it's with you. it's with you to make that decision. will we survive to the latest generation? will we survive? and as i am here listeng and speaking to people in iowa, i say to you as wonderful as steve king is, don't look to stee king. don't look to me. don't look to any other politician because the preservation of our nation, the preservation of liberty s too importanto entrust it with mere politicians. the idea of liberty is so great and yet so precious that the

founders recognized they could only be entrusted with the brain trust. and that's the people of this nation. because they understood that it was our values that were the underpinning of this nation. john adams wrote it is only from moral and religious nation this constitution that we write. it is wholely unsuited for any other. and that's not saying what kind of religion a person has to have or if they have to be religious at all. but what it is saying is that you cannot build a nation unless it is built upon a rock solid foundation. and america has that. it is the character and values of our people. and that is why i am so absolutely confident in 2012 because that hasn't gone away. in fact what ie seen is the character and the strength and the morals and the values of

the american people are getting more and more excited because america has made their decision. they've decided we are going to take our country back. we are going to be our solution. we are going to be -- have a better day. and so america has dided they're in for 2012. and so that's my question to you today here in iowa. are you in? are you in for 2012? are you going the make it happen? are we going to take our country back? i agree with you. i say we do. i'm in. you're in. we will take this back in 2012. thk you for having me here today. thank you everyone. have a great conference. thank you. welcome a man who lives

the american dream, herman cain. [applause] >> thank you. thank you very much. i am thrilled to be here. our founding fathers got it right. they said, "we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their creator" and i did not leave it out. [applause] never will. we do not need to we write the

declaration of independence. we do not need to rewrite the constitution. we need to enforce the constitution of the united states of america. [applause] they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. life and liberty in the pursuit of happiness is what conservatives believe, but there is an element out there called liberals" who believe that life should be controlled by another person who want to kill their unborn baby. we do not believe that. [applause] the liberals want to reduce our liberties with too much regulation, too much legislation, too much taxation.

the pursuit of happiness, as a result of this liberal attacks on american, is making the pursuit of happiness more and more difficult. our job, our task to make the pursuit of happiness real again. not for us, both for our grandchildren. the last time i checked -- [applause] it is not about us. it is about our grandchildren. the last time i checked on this american idea called the pursuit of happiness, it did not say anything about men being happy in washington, d.c. my dad did not expect the department of happy when he walked off of that small farm. he had his beliefs in god belief in himself, and his belief in the greatest country in the world and i have an

announcement for the liberals. we are an exceptional nation and we will keep it that way [applause] the founders did something else that was absolutely brilliant. i had a caller and to my radio show one night. called up and said, "i am frustrated." i asked why. he said, "i'm frustrated because i believe america is on the wrong track and i do not know what to do. i asked him if he was familiar with the declaration of independence. did he have a copy? yes. i asked him if he could find the part that said "life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. he comes back and i said, "turn to the section that says "life liberty and the pursuit of

happiness," and when you get there coming keep reading. when any form of government becomes destructive of those ideals, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish them. we have some altering and abolishing to do. [applause] the founders got it right. it is within the power of the people of the united states of america to alter stuff we do not like. we do not like radical socialism that is being shoved down our throats. so we have an opportunity -- and we will, to change it because as their results of this attack on the pursuit of happiness and the american dream, we have become a nation of crises. [laughter] we have a moral crisis.

we have a national security crisis. does anybody in here and know what our mission is in libya? i do not. the american people do not know. we have an economic crisis. we have an entitlement spending crisis. i know you have heard a lot in the media about the spending crisis, but it is bigger than that. they're trying to turn around the edges, but they need to address entitlements as well as we are really going to do something about this problem. [applause] we have an energy crisis. the thing about it is we have the resources to become energy independent. we have the resources. it puzzles me why our president is in brazil loading them to

dollars billion and promising that we are going to be one of their best customers for oil. he has a the other way around. we ought to develop our own oil break here. and is already here in the united states of america. and [applause] energy independence is a reality. it can happen. only if we get government out of the way. we have an immigration crisis in go the reason that no progress has been made is quite simple. there's not one problem. there are four problems. one of the greatest things i learned being in business for over 40 years, and i know it surprises some of you, but i have not been in the politics out of so i have no previous experience holding an office. whenever reporters say "but you have never held public office before" and i say "well, all of

the people in washington, d.c., have held public offices before, how is that working for you?" [laughter] [applause] your to know if i have held public office, leadership is about problem-solving. not problem avoidance not kicking in the can down the road, but we have to get serious about fixing a problems. we have four problems with immigration. we must secure the border, enforce the laws that are there promote the past to citizenship that is already there. we just need to clean up the bureaucracy. we do not need a new path to citizenship. use the one we already have in the fourth problem is that what we did about the illegal aliens that are already here? i believe you empower the states

to do with the federal government will not and cannot do. empower the states to deal with the problem on iran. [applause] it is really simple. just take the federal immigration wall and we get to the part that says "the federal government" just add the phrase "or the states." let the states do with the government is not. then the crisis among the crises is d.o.l. not department of labor but a severe deficiency of leadership. [applause] a deficiency of leadership. the me tell you what leadership means to me and what it was when i was in corporate america and what it means to ever successful

ceo and what it means to ever successful leader. that me clarify something. we have some great leaders in washington, d.c. we do not have enough of them. representative steve king is one of them. [applause] i mean that. i am not just saying that because he is the host. senator jim demint is another strong leader, but we need the right leadership in the white house in 2012 and that is why i'm here. [applause] i did not say i was running. [laughter] i just said that is why i am here. stay tuned. leaders take people to where they would not go by themselves.

that is what they do. they identify the right problems. leaders make sure that the organization has assigned the right priorities that you surround yourself with the right people. you know, people who know how to fix stuff instead of just messing and up more. leaders put together the plans to attack the problem. this is what successful leaders do. this is what we have to do in washington, d.c. if we start to focus on the right problems, the right way the right people, with the right leadership, there is no doubt in my mind that we cannot get america back on the right track. stay informed. that is why you were here. stupid people are ruining this country. [laughter]

you will notice that i do not try to be politically correct. i am just trying to be correct. [applause] stay informed. there is so much disinformation, so many lies that go through some of the media that a lot of people who are turning out are confused. they do not know what to believe. you and i have to be the educators to help people listen. as i was telling an audience last night in new hampshire look. we are not going to save all of the liberals up there. that's just save enough of them so we can take control of the white house and the senate. that is all we have to do.

[applause] saved disable. -- save the saveable. that me give you three tips to have a conversation with a liberal who will listen. i discovered this on the radio. they would challenge me. "liberals, i have figured out they only have three tactics." their objective in every case is the destruction of something that we believe in. they only have three tactics. the next time you get in a conversation with one or you listen a liberal and conservative going at it listen. f-i-n tactics. the first is that they shift the subject. if they do not have a larger argument -- a logical arguarguments,

they will shifted to, "what you think should be done in afghanistan? bush got us into iraq." we are not talking about iraq. they shift the subject. every time. second they ignore the facts. facts. nearly $1 trillion in spending has not turned this economy around, then they are ignoring the fact that spending has failed. we cannot spend our way to prosperity. we must grow our way to prosperity with a direct stimulus by allowing workers to keep more money in their paychecks, allowing businesses to keep more of their money on

their sheets come and get government out of the way to stop overtaxing us so we can stimulate the economy. that is a direct stimulus. not in direct stimulus. they ignore the facts. president obama sold the american people, at least the did not sell all of us, on the stimulus spending by saying a lot of it would be used for "schaeuble-ready projects." -- "shovel ready projects." one and a half years later he says there is no such thing. how stupid does he think we are? we are not that stupid. it is an insult to the american people. they ignore the facts. unemployment is going to come down below 8%. no, it has not. the economy is going to recover. no, it has not.

it has stabilized. do you want to know why? i said on three corporate boards or when i did until last week. when you consider running for president, you become unemployed. i did not regret it at all. let me tell you what corporations are doing. they were on a productivity blitz and they succeeded in stabilizing the economy. do not by the rhetoric that things are ok and this economic growth is going to take off. it is not going to happen. they ignore the fact that this economy is not truly in the turnaround when our g.d.p. growth last year was 2.6% and the year before it was 2.1%. china is growing 10% year over year and in the 15-20 years they

will have a g.d.p. the same as ours. i consider that a national security threat. we have got to outgrow china and not sing it kumbaya out with them. [applause] the third thing -- they shift the subject, ignore the facts and they named col. -- and they name call. i have been associated with their tax movement, americans for prosperity, the tea party all of them. because i describe myself -- i do not like people to label me. i've labeled myself. this is america. i used to tell my callers when they wanted to call up and assign a label to me i would say, "let me tell you how i described herman cain. i am an american blackett,

conservative -- -- black conservative a b c and proud of it." i'm an a-b-c. because i had been affiliated with the conservative movement and had the audacity to do a radio talk-show and grow conservative principles, i have been called a racist. go figure. i have not figured that one out yet. i have been called a whole lot of other names as well for being conservative because i will not stay on the democrat plantation just because of the color of my skin. it is not about color. it is about content and character [cheers and applaise] it ain't about color. [cheers and applause]

and for those people -- [applause] and for those people who believe that just because you disagree with the president that it makes you a racist i have two observations for you. number one if you are black and disagree with the president, i have told some of my callers that it may shock you, but some black people can think for themselves because it is not about color. and number two if we ever reach a point where we can criticize constructively, our elected leaders, we are no longer your public are founders intended. we have become a nation of

tyranny and some of us are not going to let that happen on our watch. we will not let it happen. [applause] we are in the process of taking this country back. we're boy to take back the senate and the white house. we have to stay informed and stay involved and state inspired. you see the liberals want us to believe that we cannot take it back. on november 2nd, we showed them that the movement is on. game on. we now have to take back the senate and the white house. stay inspired. do not let them tell me that the citizen movement is going to die down. not from what i have seen all over the country. it is getting a bigger and stronger. let me tell you a few things

that inspire me. i have time to share one of them, but i have a whole list of them. when the biggest things that inspires me is back in 1999, my first grandchild was born. january 22nd, 1999. i go to the hospital just in time for the blessed arrival. i went in to deliver the room -- in the delivery room and i asked my daughter how she was doing. she was doing fine. how is the baby? she is fine. would i like to hold her? of course. i took this little 15-minute old baby in my arms, looked into that face, and the first thought that crossed my mind was "what do i do to make this a better

world?" that was 12 years ago. a few months ago, i finished a long board. -- board meeting and my good friend was taking me to the airport to go do another speech at another rally. i was tired hungry, and i said to my friend "joel, have i lost my mind thinking about running for president?" he said "no." i should go home and be comfortable like everyone else. he reminded me of matthew 25:4 where we are all asked to use our talents to the best of our ability. then, five seconds later right

after i was complaining i got a text from my granddaughter "love you paw paw." i told him to take me to the airport because i had gotten my second wind. [applause] let me finish sharing with you why i believe that we're going to take back our government and put this country on the right track. it is really simple. the founding fathers did their job. it is now up to us to be the defending fathers of the greatest country in the world. but in being the defending fathers of the greatest country in the world the spirit of the american people that i called the sleeping giants have a

weekend. with the liberals do not want to believe is that split -- this sleeping dry does not going back to sleep. it is the same spirit that started this country, the same spirit that kept this country together during the civil war the same spirit that got us for world war i, the great depression, through world war i i, and the civil rights struggles. it is the same spirit that has awakened a today that will take back our government. abraham lincoln said it best. "america is never going to be destroyed from the outside. if we falter and lose our freedoms, we will have destroyed ourselves."

we have an announcement for all of the liberals. the united states of america is not going to become the united states of europe. not on our watch. [cheers and applause]>> okay. it is an absolute honor for me to introduce our next speaker ambassador john bolton. [applause] you can trace his conservative roots at least to his running a students for goldwater campaign. after a legal career, he served three republican presidents beginning with ronald reagan. it was during his time at the justice department that he was

tasked with shepherding justice scalia through his confirmation process. he served both bush administration's. s. it was during the tumultuous senate commission hearings that senator joe biden compared sending john bolton to the u.n. to send in a bull threw a china shop. -- sending a bullet through a china shop. it may be the nicest thing anyone has ever said about john bolton. at a time when we have not had a full discussion -- would have to have a discussion on what america is in decline. it is critical that u.s. foreign and national security is part of the debate. we have no one better to discuss these issues and our next speaker.

a big welcome for john bolton. -- ambassador john bolton. [applause] >> thank you very much. they a of you for staying here all day. i want to thank steve king where the opportunity to join you today. this has been a fantastic events. you have heard from a lot of fascinating speakers. i would like to turn the discussion to national security. i want to assure you that i am acutely aware that me and thad are the only ones standing between you and well-deserved dinner. national security is absolutely

critical as we look toward 2012. the political commentariat like to say it does not affect their lives. it has direct and tangible a facts on our independence, our freedom, on peace and security, the independence we need to preserve our constitution and our sovereignty freedom against foreign economic domination, and peace and security throu protecting ourselves from international terrorism the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and other threats. it is true that foreign policy and national security on told differently than domestic policies and the bay. things do not wait on our schedule -- differently than domestic policies and debate.

it is like humphrey bogart said in open with casablanca." . it seems that fate has taken a hand. on january 20,009, when it came to national security matters when president obama took the oath office, he was not qualified to be president of the united states. [applause] today, more than two years later, he is still not qualified to be president of the united states. this reflects a crisis in american international leadership. we ask ourselves why does the president perform this way? there are a couple of reasons. first, he does not care much about national security. it is not what motivates him. it makes him the first president, republican or democrat since france and

roosevelt woke up on december 7 1941 -- since franklin roosevelt woke up on december 7 1941 not to put national security first. he did not want to talk about the global war on terrorism. he did not want to talk about the threats we face. he called iran, a tiny country as if a tiny country with few nuclear weapons cannot to ruin your day. [laughter] he feels comfortable with the notion of america in decline with america and not taking the leading role to protect its own interests. this does mark him as a different kind of president. in the days gone by, a president with those characteristics might have become an isolationist. not to this presiden he is the oldest example of multilateralism in the operation.

we can see it today in the way he is handling the crisis in libya. this is an attitude that very gravely threatens american sovereignty over the long term. sovereignty is a concept people debate over. a lot of people think it is abstract. in the united states, we understand exactly what sovereignty is. it is not an attack -- not an abstraction. our constitution says, we the people. we are a sovereign here. you hear suggestions that we share sovereignty or cede sovereignty to international organizations. it is like saying, you have too much control over your own government. that is a truly remarkable statement that everyone in this room rejects. not barack obama. he is fascinated by international law. he talks about it all the time.

on monday, you will hear more about it. it is something that does not receive the kind of attention it should. a lot of it is said by academic law professors. get the connection -- who like to theorize about these things. let me give you an example. in 1999 during because of low prices the secretary general of the -- kosovo crisis, the secretary general said the following -- and less -- we are on a dangerous path to anarchy. i would like to hear our president say whether he agrees with the former u.n. secretary general or not. i think legitimacy or the united states comes from itself. we do n need to ask anyone else if we are permitted to use force. [applause]

all this talk about international law -- we need a president that will say unequivocally that in the secular matters for americans there is no higher authority than the united states constitution. [applause] our present it seems to have trouble with this. i think that is because he is our first post-american president. it is a carefully chosen phrase. i did not say unamerican or anti-american. i said post-american. he is beyo all that patriotism stuff. he is a citizen of the world. he doesn't believe in american exceptionalism. he does not accept the unique role for america. he was asked on his fst trip to europe if you believe in american exceptionalism. he said, yes i believe in

american exceptionalism just as the british believe in. exceptionalism and t greeks believed in greek exceptionalism. carefully done. when he gets in the first third of the sentence he took back in the second 2/3. he could have continued. just as the new guineans believe in new guinean exceptionalism. if everybody is exceptional nobody is exceptional. that is the obama approach. this is not the first major leader in the democratic party to hold this view. it is the first major leaguer to become president. it is similar to what george h. w. bush said in 1988 about his democratic opponent that year,

governor michael dukakis. bush 41 said my opponent sees america as a another pleasant company on the united nations role call. you could say the same thing aboubarack obama. what should the republican rethought -- republican response be? ceainly it is not doing nothing in the international sphere. it is not isolationism. buneither is it succumbing to the woodrow wilson in view of the president or oers in our political debate. the answer is not multilateralism. protection and security for the united states are not going to be thought in the united nations system. nor is it and in this wi-- endless wilsonian crusade.

let's not or get bitter roosevelt's response to wilson. he said, first we are to make the world safe for ourselves. that is the policy we should be pursuing. on a subject i know is a sensitive one i want to be clear here. the way we do that is to pursue the policy of peace through strength. that means sufficient budgetary expenditures for our military that no adversary dared to challenge us anywhere in the world. -- pudares to challenge us anywhere in the world. there is waste and fraud in the defense department. of course there is. it is part of the governments. we should find the waste and fraud and root it out. we need to plow that money back into our dispense expenditures.

the obama administration has already cut $300 billion, our defense base line. a couple of months ago the secretary of defense proposed $78 billion more expenditures. it will have to keep that level of defense spending up, i am privately happy to find offsetting domestic programs that cut even more deeply than some have proposed. -- deals look perfectly happy to find domestic programs that cut even more deeply than some have proposed. -- perfectly happy to find domestic programs that cut even more deeply than some have proposed. let's run through some important issues we are facing now. how about the war in libya that our nobel peace prize-winning president announced last week. of crse it is not war. how could it be war?

he cannot keep that nobel peace prize. this is the verbal nonsense that reveals the utter lack of clarity in the president also thinking. i believe that the united states has a strategic interest in removing muammar gaddafi from power. if we do not, there is every prospect he will return to international terrorism of the kind that brought down pan am 103 over lockerbie scotland that killed many americans on their way home for christmas vacation. he would almost certainly return to his pursuit of nuclear and chemical weapons. we cannot allow that to happen. had we intervened early promptly, and decisively, we could have tipped the balance of power to the opposition side. this thingould be over by now. his inability to undstand that

risks a long-term involvement with no clear conclusion. for what reason? we do not know what his objectives is? protecting innocent civilians? how can you protect innocent civilians when you cannot use military force to remove the thing that is the greatest reat to the innocent civilians? he said in el salvador -- he said referring to the international coalition, it means we have confidence we are not going in alone. it is our military that is being volunteered by others to carry out missions that are important not only to us, but are important internationally. our military is being volunteered by others? who is the commander in chief here. i think the answer going forward is to do what ronald reagan did in 1986. our military has a wonderful euphemism called national

command authority. it is a legitimate military target. in libya muammar gaddafi is national command authority. i think that is the answer right there. [applause] libya certainly has our attention. there is came out in the rest of our middle east policy as well. the president had four different positions on hosni mubarak before he finally left. the idea that we are on the easy path has already been defeated by ebay in the last few days. let's not lose -- it he did by the events in the last few days. -- defeated by the events of the last few days. this is not an abstract strategic argument. if you have been to the gasoline

station recently, you can see the forecast of what would happen if iran got complete control over those oil-producing regions. a company that serves as the world's central banker of international terrorism, that is close to achieving is 20 year- long objective of deliverable nuclear weapons -- we have no policy on iran. we cannot find ways to support the opposition forces to mop mood, then a job -- to mahmo ahmadinejad. if iran can get a pro-iranian regime in that country it can threaten saudi arabia and our other arab allies in the gulf and our economy will be held in complete jeopardy at mahmoud ahmadinejad's discretion. the instability in the middle east that is to undermine the stability we have saw for

decades, which is peace between israel and its arab neighbors. there is every likelihood a new egyptian government will revise the camp david accord and israel's security will be threatened once again. our forefathers, when they came to this country often referred to america as a city on a hill, quoting scripture. they referred to america as the new jerusalem. i think it is critical that the new jerusalem notorget the old jerusalem when it comes under pressure. that is exactly what we see today. look at the other threats, the contuing threat oforth korea's nuclear weapons program, the increased belligerence of china its territorial claims in the east and south china sea that threatened the nations of

southeast asia, its continued protection of north korea and the nuclear weapons program there. look at russia and its increased assertiveness. when he was still president vladimir putin said the greatest catastrophe of the 20th century was the collapse of the soviet union. most of us think that was a great way to end the 20th century. he has a different point of view. he has been pursuing that policy with great vigor threatening our friends in western europe enough their oil and natural gas supplies. we have only a few months when we think about it until the 2012 election. we need a sustained and on limiting discussn of the failures of the obama administration -- unlimiting discussion of these failures of the obama administration -- unremitting discussion of the

failures of the obama administration. wherever the standard of freedom and iependence has been our shall be uncurled - unfuer led. she is the champion and indicator only of her own. thank you very much/ . [applause] >> next, live your phone calls.

then se seal richards. then former senate. >> as the >> for me the data comes first. i don't decide that i'm going to talk about a subject and then go out and look for data. i really do search for data first and see if there's something interesting and kind of agrees with an opinion that i have or kind of confirms something or surprises me and i think would surprise my readers. >> q&a tonight on c-span. >> this morning "washington post" reporter perry bacon. and the washington bureau chief for al-jazeera discuss the latest military actions against libya. then former united nations ambassador thomas pickering talks about u.s. efforts in