and the burden that they impose? >> i am over the meeting happened. we had staff from the relevant program at the meeting. >> what should members of the texas delegation and expect as a result of your discussions? >> he met with the t.c.q. i have been in two meetings and we also of course have companies like energy in texas who say they can comply. so we're in discussions with a number of entities in texas. >> will you provide us and the committee staff with the minutes and memos and e-mails concerning those meetings between yourself and the office manager for the budget? >> i didn't say i had personal meeting. i did not have any. >> but your staff has. the agency has. and can we have the access to that information, the committee staff here? >> i believe so, as long as it

exists, we can get it to you. >> let me -- you testified in response to our earlier question about mr. stern's ask -- >> to be clear, you mean minutes of the texas delegation? >> no. between -- >> between us and the white house? that i'm not sure we can provide. if we get a request. >> it seems the white house is serious about regulatory reform. this is something all parties should be anxious to work together it shouldn't be a adversarial relationship to try to get a problem involved. so people ask us to work together. i'm asking you if we can work together to get this information so we can see how to solve the problem that is going to exist in my state, we were faced with several afternoons of possible blackups last month. i don't want us to face real blackups because of the pressure

of coal power plants. does that seem unreasonable? >> no, not at all. >> very well. >> but i cannot promise you documents that may exist white house documents. we can get you information regarding meetings we've had with the delegation, t. criminal. q. and the company because we're in negotiations with them. >> i would appreciate them. now, you testified about the number of employees at e.p.a. and i believe the numbers are between 17,000 and 18,000. can you tell us how many employees have been hired under title 42 provisions? >> i don't have the number directly with me. we'll get it to me. >> will you provide us that information? actually, the information was provided to the -- a member of

the national treasury union in the response to a freedom of information act request. a follow-up question is can you provide us with a forward looking statement as to how many title 42 employees you are going to require in the future? how many you anticipate having to hire within the next fiscal year? >> well, some of that will depend on when people decide to leave which we can't know until they make those announcements, but from a general standpoint, title 42 which allows us to pay certain rates to very highly qualified scientists is very closely controled from our agency and it goes through a process of approval to ensure that -- >> we as a oversight committee would like to make sure that those rules are compliances is in existence and some of the job descriptions or job titles don't suggest that they are highly qualified scientists. they may be run of the mill

scientists. if we're paying top dollar for biologists in this employment environment, maybe we ought to have an additional look at that. mr. chairman i have a consent request. the first is to have the letter from the southwest power pool letter to administrator jackson made part of the record. >> mr. chairman, perhaps mr. burgess could provide us with copies of those letters to review and so pending that, i will reserve my right to object. >> very well. and also the letter to a member of the national treasury employee union chapter 280 from the environmental protection agency above the title 42 question. i would also like to have that made. >> once again, i will reserve that. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and i will reserve the right to submit additional questions in writing. >> gentleman yields back.

the gentleman from virginia mr. griffin is recognized for five minutes. >> aren't you concerned that the e.p.a. rule that defines secondary materials that are solid waste rather than fuel is going to create to boilers to cement kilns? >> we are discussing as recently as this week. >> you would agree it's probably not the best environmental result as you suddenly throw lots of landfill material like tires and tons of bio mastic that could have been used paper mills into the solid waste system? >> sir, we are still discussing that. i would agree that we need to be careful that there are no unintended consequences like those you may be describing and i want to make sure that air quality and pollution is protected. >> yam. -- yes, ma'am.

let me ask you this. did the plant in california have to comply with any e.p.a. regulations that you're aware of? >> sir, i'm happy to look, but i don't know off the top of my head. >> if you would look at that and see if there are any delayed modifications of any e.p.a. regulations i would appreciate that. >> i would be happy to give that information to you. >> and were you involved from any of the discussions that the white house or the d.o.e. prior to 2011? >> none, sir. >> all right. i appreciate that. and i just wondering if you had an opportunity to see the commerce department's analysis in regards to some of the e.p.a. rules and regulations because while it's not available to the public, apparently, there's a commerce department analysis that's being circulated that would indicate particularly in regard to boiler nine that job losses could be between 40,000 and 60,000.

have you seen that document? >> i have seen references to unfounded studies but our range is 6500 jobs created to 3,000 jobs lost. >> and most of the jobs are going to be jobs in retrofitting the boilers. they're not going be new manufacturing jobs, isn't that correct? >> well, they're boilermakers but there could be manufacturing of the pollution control equipment. i met yesterday with a company that is building a factory they make bag houses and that is one of the technologies that would be put in place. they're hiring thousands of people in north carolina. >> all right. and do i gather from your answer that you're still working on the situation with the definition of materials that are solid wastes in regard to boiler magnets and incinerators? >> i have nothing to tell you today but you asked whether i had concern and we are still

continuing those discussions. >> have you acquired all the data to make those decisions? >> if you have any, we're happy to take it, sir, especially from you, but i believe the staff have lots of data from the industry and have heard their concerns. >> all right. i appreciate that and yield back my time, mr. chairman. >> all right. the gentleman yields back. i think we finish. we just have son concluding remarks. but we have a number of documents that we want to put the record by unanimous consent. i allow the gentlelady from colorado to indicate which one's approved and we'll put them in by unanimous consent. >> thank you, mr. chairman. just to make a record, we've got the documents that mr. burgess had referred to. one of them is a letter dated september 20, 2011, from the southwest power pool.

the other one is a document title 42 hiring practices at the u.s. e.p.a. that was apparently produced as a result of a fire request. so we won't object to those documents. there's a letter from the louisiana department of agriculture and forestry dated august 11, 2001, that we did not object to. and there's a -- looks like a page from the d.o.e. website about mercury admission control r.n.d. we don't obbling to that. and we have what appears to be three portions of e.p.a. d. we've got a cover sheet on each one and then we've got portions of the documents. i must say that i was tempted to object to these on the basis that they're just incomplete.

they're just portions of it, but as long as it's with the caveat that we all understand that they're just select portions of these documents, i won't object to those. and then finally, we have a little packet that was given to me and they're kind of different things. so i'm going to reference each one. the first one is a chart. it says figure 614, percentage of total p.m. related mortalities by baseline air quality level. this appears to be one five -- >> is it possible you could approve these without your interpretation? >> no, sir. i want to give a record as to what they are. >> just not giving your interpretation of each one. >> well, in that case, i will just object to having it put on the record. >> i don't see why you're objecting it. >> because they're from different places and i don't want people to give an inaccurate view where they're from. the first document is one slide from a larger document on the

e.p.a. the second page of that is a graph that was prepared by the majority committee staff. the third and fourth pages of this document are just charts or just quotes taken out of other documents prepared by the majority committee staff. and the final page five of that document is apparently a chart that was provided to the committee by fir. i want to make that record and with that caveat, i won't object to those, to that document. and then i've got a couple of documents as well. there's the document august 2011 by the u.s. environmental protection agency improving our regulations final plan for periodic represent speck peck reviews of existing relations. this campaigns all of the different regulations that someone had asked the administrator to provide to this committee. so i would ask unanimous consent

that that be placed by the record. >> all the documents you've mentioned will reflect in the record. >> i have two final records, mr. chairman. these are the studies i mentioned in my opening statement about the positive job that environmental regulations can have and i would ask -- we've shown those to your staff and i would ask consent. >> and they all have sources, right? >> yes, sir. >> so ordered. we have concluded our questioning. we're going to adjourn shortly. does the gentlelady from colorado have any concluding remarks? >> yes, sir, i do. i just want to reiterate our thanks to the administrator for coming today and i would also like to note having sat here now for almost three hours, i haven't heard any evidence that the e.p.a. regulations that are being proposed are actually having a detrimental effect on jobs in this country and in fact as the studies, i just entered

so the record indicate, thousands of new jobs into clean energy environment will be created decision to the -- digs to the -- if digs to the thousands of thousands of lives will be saved because of the better environment and millions of people whose respiratory illnesses will be diminished. i just want to say it's easy to talk about regulatory reform and nobody in this room including administrator jackson believes that we should have overly burdensome regulations. on the other hand, we need to look clearly at science when determining what those regulations should be and we need to balance in a scientific and careful way job creation and the prergs of public health. that's what the e.p.a. is trying to do. i commend them for a very difficult, difficult evaluation and i urge them to keep it up because we need to protect the health of americans while at the same time preserving our economy and creating jobs.

>> the ozone rule to what the gentlelady indicated earlier that the president is also worried about overregulations coming from e.p.a. and he had to step in and republicans are glad that he shares our same opinion. i think it was clearly demonstrated by mr. barton from texas that the e.p.a. has hurt jobs in texas. he has cited a couple of power plants. the e.p.a. administrative thinks it's not true but it's killed two large companies over there and he talked about plants in his congressional district. and the third point we pointed out is no one is accusing anyone of trying to dirty america with whether it's water or air. we're all on the same team but we believe that overregulation by the e.p.a. is 18,000-plus employees could damage the

economy and obviously the president agrees. what we worry about is the e.p.a. might be justifying regulation by claiming benefits much, much larger than the science, advisors estimates of public health's risk and that violates order and kills job. the president issued an edict from the white house saying he wants to roll back regulations. e.p.a. is making an effort. i asked them to continue to do so. and with that, the subcommittee is adjourned. i'll keep the record open for any additional questions.

>> today on "washington journal," a discussion on securing ballot access. and elliott ackerman, the c.e.o. of the 2012 group. and after that, the europe's fiscal trouble. and later, a discussion on what employees can do to help secure their employee pensions with rick rodgers. author and retirement counselor. that's live at 7:00 a.m. eastern here on c-span.

>> lamar alexander discusses his decision to step down. and he discusses the key issues in congress including appropriations and dealing with the debt and spending and revenue issues. "newsmakers," today at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. ♪ >> and this weekend in charlotte, north carolina, book

tv and the literary life from the site of the 2012 democratic national convention. on book tv on c-span2, charlotte's banking industry with bank town author rick rothacker and karen cox. how the south was created an american plorp culture and the relationship between independent bookstores and public lesser. and on american history tv on c-span 3, tour 1 th president james polk's birthplace. and visit the reed gold mine where gold was first discovered from america. this weekend on c-span2 and 3. in his weekly address, president obama talks about how education is an important part of his economic agenda and he calls for the raising of standards in the

nation's classrooms. he's followed by senator susan collins who discusses how business owners are reluctant to hire new employees because of the cost of federal regulations. >> over the last few weeks, i've been making the case that we need to act now on the american jobs act so we can put folks back to work and start building an copy that lasts into the future. education is an essential part of this economic agenda. it is an undenial fact that countries who outeducate us today will outcompete us tomorrow. businesses will hire wherever the highly skilled and highly trained workers are located. but today, our students are sliding against their peers around the globe. today, our kids trail too many other countries in math and science and reading. as many as a quarter of our students aren't even finishing high school and we have fall on 16th in the proportion of our young people with a college degree. even though we know that 60% of new jobs in the coming decades

will require more than a high school diploma. what this means is if we're serious about building an economy that lasts, an economy in which hard work pays off with the opportunity for solid middle class jobs, we had better be serious about education. we have to pick up our game and raise our standards. as a nation, we have an obligation to make sure that all children have the resources they need to learn, the quality of schools, good teachers, the latest text books and the right technologies. that's why the bill i sent to congress would put tens of thousands of teachers back to work across the country. work across the country. that's why congress should pass that bill right now. but money alone won't solve our education problems. we also need reform. we need to make sure that every classroom is a place of high expectations and high performance. that's been our vision since taking office. and that's why instead of just pouring money into the system that wasn't working, we launched a competition called raise to the top.

to all 50 states we said if you show us the most innovative plans to improve achievement, we will show you the money. for less than 1%, raise to the top has led states across the money to raise their standards for teaching and learning. these standards were developed not by washington, but by republican and democratic governors throughout the country. and since then, we have seen what's possible when reform isn't just a top-down mandate but the work of local teachers and principals, school boards, and communities. that's why my state of the union address this year, i said to congress you need to reform the no child left behind law based on the same principles that have guides race to the time. the rule were admirable. experiences taught us that the laws had some serious flaws hurting our children instead of helping them. teachers are being forced to teach to the test while subjects like history and science are

being squeezed out and in order to avoid having their schools labeled as failures, some states lowered their standards in the race to the boston. these problems have been obvious to parents and educators all over this country for years. but for years, congress has failed to fix them. so now, i will. our kids only get one shot at a decent education and they can't afford to wait any longer. so yesterday, i announced the that we'll be given states for flexibility for high standards for teaching and learning. it's time for us to let schools and states and teachers give our children the skills they need to compete for the jobs of the future. this will make a huge difference in the life of students all across the country. for example, yesterday, i was with ricky hall, the principal of a school in worcester, massachusetts. every single student who graduated from ricky's school went on to college. but because they didn't immediate the standards of no child left behind, ricky's school was labeled as failing last year.

that will change because of what we did yesterday. from now on, we'll be able to encourage the progress of schools like ringy's. from now on, people like john becker will be able to focus on teaching his fourth graders math in ways that improves their performance instead of just teaching to a test. superintendents like dave ester from ohio will be able to focus on improving teaching and learning instead of spend his time on bureaucratic mandates from washington that don't get results. this isn't just the right thing to do for our kids. it's the right thing to do for our country. and our future. it's time to put our teachers back on the job. it's time to rebuild and modernize our schools. and it's time to raise our standards, up our game and do everything it takes to prepare our children to succeed in the global economy. now is the time to once again make our education system the ebb i have of the world. thanks for listening.

>> i'm senator susan collins from the great state of maine. last month, our nation produced no net new jobs. more than 14 million americans could not find work. i have asked employers what would it take to help them add more jobs? no matter the size of their business or the size of their workforce, they tell me that watching the most stop crushing new regulations. some regulations are just plain silly. last year, the federal government issued a warning to a company that spells passaged walnuts. -- packaged walnuts. washington claims that the walnuts were being market. as a drug so the company ordered the company to stop telling customers about the health benefits of nuts. our regulations have far more serious consequences.

the e.p.a. has proposed a new rule on a missions from boilers that would cost the private sectors billons of dollars and thousands of jobs. no wonder employers dread what is coming next out of washington. overregulation is hurting our economy. unfortunately, the problem is only growing worse. right now, federal agencies are at work on more than 4200 new rules. 845 of which affects small businesses, the engine of job creation. more than 100 have an economic impact to more than 100 $100 million each. no business owner i know questions the legitimates rule of limited government and protecting our health and safety

. too often, however, our small businesses are buried under a mountain of paperwork. business owners are reluctant to create jobs today if they're going to need to pay more tomorrow to comply with owner its new regulations. that's why employers say that uncertainty generated by washington is a big wet blanket on our economy. we republicans say enough is enough. america needs a time-out from the regulations that discourage job creation and hurt our economy. republicans have many good ideas about how to tame the regulatory behemoth. we want to prevent agencies from imposing new regulations without first thoroughly considering their costs and benefits. in addition, many of us have

called for a one-year moratorium on certain costly new rules. if a rule would have an adverse on job or economy or america's international competitiveness, it should not go into effect. that e.p.a. rule on boilers is a good example of why we need a regulatory time-out. if it went into effect as written, a recent study estimates that this rule along with other pending regulations could cause 36 pulp and paper mills across the country to close. that would put more than 20,000 americans out of work. 18% of that industry's workforce. and that is just for starters. once these mills close, their suppliers would also be forced to lay off workers. estimates are that nearly 90,000

americans would lose their jobs. even that is not the end of the story. people in businesses would still need paper. where do you think we would get it? we would be strengthen the economies of other countries like china, india, and brazil while america's economy grows weaker. american businesses need pro-growth policies that would end the uncertainty and kick-start hiring investment. american workers need policies that will get them off the sidelines and back on the job. the american economy needs a time-out from excessive and costly regulations. in sports, a time-out gives athletes a chance to catch their breath and make better decisions. american workers and businesses are the athletes in a global

competition that we must win. we need a time-out from excessive regulation so that america can get back to work. ♪ >> president obama spoke at the closing ceremony and awards dinner at the congressional black caucus foundation. he talked-a-the efforts of his administration to help those in need and urged congress to pass his jobs plan. this 30-minute event was held in the nation's capital.

>> hello, c.b.c.! thank you so much. thank you. [applause] please, everybody have a seat. it is wonderful to be with all of you tonight. good to be with the conscious of the congress. thank you. mr. chairman cleaver and brother pane for all that you do each and every day. thank you, dr. scott, president and c.e.o. of the c.b.c. foundation. and all of you for your outstanding work with your internship program which has done so much for so many young people and i had the chance to meet some of the young people backstage. an incredible unbelievably impressive group. you know, being here with all of you, with all the outstanding

members of the congressional black caucus reminds me of a story that one of our friends, a giant of the civil rights movement, reverend dr. joseph lowry told one day. dr. lowry, i don't think he minds me telling that he turns night in a couple of weeks. [applause] he's been causing a ruckus for about 89 of those years. a few years back, he and i were together in brown chapel, a.n.e. church in selma. [applause] we have some selma folks in the house. [applause] and dr. lowry stood up in the pulpit and told the congregation the story of chad rack and in the fiery first, you know the

story. it's about three young men bold enough to stand up for god. even if it meant being thrown in a furnace. and they survived because of their fate. and because god showed up in that furnace with them. now, dr. lowery said that those three young men were a little bit crazy. but there's a difference, he said. between good crazy and bad crazy. [laughter] those boys he said were good crazy. at the time i was running for president, it was early in the campaign. nobody gave me much of a chance. he turned to me from the pulpit and indicated that someone like me running for president, well, that was crazy.

he supposed that was good crazy. he was talking about faith. belief in things that are not seen. the belief that if you persevere, a better dailies ahead. and i suppose the reason i enjoy coming to the c.b.c. what this weekend is all about is you and me, we're all a little bit crazy but hopefully a good kind of crazy. [applause] we're a good kind of crazy because no matter how hard things get, we keep the faith. we keep fighting. we keep moving forward. and we've needed faith over these last couple of years.

times have been hard. it's been three years since we faced down a crisis to begin on wall veto and spread over main street and hammered families and hammering already hard hit black communities. unemployment rate for black folks went up to nearly 17% the highest it's been in almost three decades. 40% almost of african-american children living in poverty. fewer than half convinced that they can achieve dr. king's dream. you got to be a little crazy to have faith during such hard times. it's hardbreaking and it's frustrating and i ran for president and the members of the c.b.c. ran for congress to help more americans reach that dream.

[applause] we ran to give every child a chance whether he's born in chicago or she comes from a rural town in the deltas. this criteria has made that job of giving everybody opportunity a little bit harder. we knew at the outset of my presidency that the economic calamity we face wasn't caused ornlte and it wasn't going to be solved overnight. we knew long before the recession hit, the middle class in this country has been falling behind. wages and incomes have been stagnate. since the financial security have been slipping away and since these problems were not caused overnight, we knew we were going to have to climb a steep hill. but we got to work. with your help, we started fighting our way back from the brink and at every step of the

way, we faced fierce opposition based on an old idea. the idea that the only way to restore protest -- prosperity can't just be to let every corporation write its own rules or give out tax breaks to the wealthiest and the most fortunate. there has to be a different concept. of what america's all about. it has to be based on the idea that i am my brother's keeper and i am my sister's keeper and we're in this together. [applause] we are in this thing together. we had a different vision. and so we did what was right and we fought to extend unemployment insurance and we fought to extend their income tax credit and we fought to expand child credit which benefitted most of

all african-american children in this country and millions of americans are better off because of that fight. [applause] as to the family struggling to make ends meet if that few extra money from the payroll tax made a difference. they'll tell you. ask them how much that earned income tax or that child tax credit makes a different in paying the bills at the end of the month. when an army of lobbyists from special interests spent millions to crush wall street, we said the time has come to protect consumers from credit card companies that jack up rates without warning. we sign the strongest consumer financial protection in history. that's what we did together. [applause]

remember how many years we tried to stop big banks from collecting taxpayer subsidies for student loans? well, the cost of college kept slipping out of reach. together we put a stop to that once and for all. we used those savings to make college more affordable. we invested in early childhood education and community college and hbcu's. ask the engineering student who thought he might have to leave school if that extra pell grant assistance matters. [applause] we're taxing the cycle of poverty but steal the future from too many children. not just by pouring money in a broken system but by building on what works. we promised -- with promised neighbors modeled after the good work up in harlem. choice neighbors, rebuilding crumbling public housing in the communities of hope and

opportunity, strong cities, strong communities, our partnership with local leaders like cleveland and detroit. and we overcame years of inaction to win justice for black farmers because of the leadership of the c.b.c. and because we had an administration that was committed to doing the right thing. [applause] and against all sorts of setbacks, when the opposition fought us with everything they had, we finally made clear that in the united states of america, nobody should go broke because they get sick. we are better than that. [applause] and today, insurance companies can no longer drop or deny your coverage for no good reason. in just a year and a half, about one million more young adults have health insurance because of this law. [applause] one million young people, that is an incredible achievement and we did it with your help, with the c.b.c.'s help.

so in these hard years, we've won a lot of fights that needed fighting and we've done a lot of good, but we've got more work to do. so many people are still hurting. so many people are still barely hanging on and too many people in this city are still fighting us every step of the way. so i need your help. we happen to do more to put people to work right now. we got to make sure that everyone in this country gets a fair shake and a fair shot and a chance to get ahead. [applause] and i know we won't get where we need to go if we don't travel down this road together. i need you with me. [applause] that start -- [applause]

that starts with getting this congress to pass the american jobs act. [applause] you heard me talk about this plan when i visited congress a few weeks ago and sent the bills to congress a few days later. now i want that bill back. passed. i've got the pens all ready. i am ready to sign it and i need your help to make it happen. [applause] right now, we got millions of construction workers out of a job. so this bill says let's put those men and women back to work in their own communities, rebuilding our roads and our bridges. let's give these folks a job rebuilding our schools. let's put these folks to work, rehabilitating fore closed homes in the hardest hit neighbors of detroit and atlanta and washington. this is a no-brainer. [applause] why -- [applause] why should we let china build

the newest airports? the fastest railroads? tell me why our children should be allowed to study in a school that's falling apart. [applause] i don't want that for my kids or your kids. i don't want that for any kid. you tell me how it makes sense. when we know that education's the most important thing. for success in the 21st century. let's put our people back to work doing the work america needs done. let's pass this jobs bill. [applause] we've got millions of unemployed americans and young people looking for work. but we're out of options. so this jobs bill says let's give them a pathway, a new pathway back to work. let's extend unemployment insurance for more than six million americans don't lose that lifeline but let's also

encourage reforms for employees to get their foot in the door. let's give summer jobs for low income youth that don't just give them their first paycheck but arm them with the skills they need for life. [applause] tell me why we don't want the unemployed back in the workforce as soon as possible. let's pass this jobs bill. put these folks back to work. [applause] why are we shortchanging our children when we could be putting teachers back in the classroom right now where they belong? [applause] laying off teachers, laying off firefighters all across the country because state and local budgets are tough. why aren't we helping? we did in the first two years. then this other crack came into congress and now suddenly they

want to stop? tell me why we shouldn't give companies tax credits for hiring men and women two risk their lifes for this country? our veterans. they shouldn't be fighting a -- to find a job when they come home. [applause] these republicans and congress like to talk about job creators. how about doing something real for job creators? pass this jobs bill and every small business job owner in small owner will get a tax cut. you say you're the party of tax cuts? pass this jobs bill and every worker in america including nearly 20 million african-american workers will get a tax couple. pass this jobs bill and prove your fight justice hard for a tax cut for ordinary jobs as you do for all your competitors. [applause]

these are questions that opponents of this jobs plan will have to answer. because the kinds of ideas in this plan in the past have been supported by both parties. suddenly obama's proposing it. what happened? [laughter] what happened? y'all used to like the bills. right? [laughter] what happened? reverend, you know what happened? i don't know. they used to love building some roads. ha.

[laughter] [applause] now, i know some of our friends across the aisle won't support any new spending that's not paid for. i agree that's important. so last week, i laid out a plan to pay for the american jobs act and to bring up down our debt over time. you say the debt -- here we go. i'm ready to go. the plan that says if we want to create jobs and close this deficit, then we've got to ask the folks who have benefited most the wealthiest americans, they biggest most profitable corporations to pay their fair share. we are not asking them to do anything extraordinary. [applause] the reform we're proposing is based on a simple principle. middle class folks should not pay higher tax rates than millionaires and billionaires. that's not --

[applause] that's not crazy. or it's good crazy. [laughter] warren buffett's exactly shouldn't pay a higher tax rate than warren buffett. a teach ear nurse or a construction worker making $50,000 a year shouldn't pay higher tax rates than somebody making $50 million. that's just common sense. [applause] we're not doing this to punish success. this is the land of opportunity. i want to you go out, start a business. get rich. build something. our kins based on the belief that anybody can make it if they put in enough sweat and enough effort. that is wonderful. god bless you. but part of the american idea is also that once we've done well, we should pay our fair share. [applause]

to make sure that those schools that we were learning in can teach the next generation. that those roads that we benefited from that they're not crumbling for the next bunch of folks who are coming behind us. to keep up the nation that made our success possible. and most wealthy americans would agree with that. but, you know, the americans are already dusting off their old talking points. that's a class warfare, they say. in fact, in the next breath, they'll complain that people living in poverty, people who suffer the most over the past decade don't pay enough in taxes. that's bad crazy. [laughter] when you start saying at a time when the top 1/10 of 1% have seen their incomes go up four or five times over the last 20 years and folks at the bottom

have seen their income tax decline and your response is that you want poor folks to pay more? give me a break. if asking a billionaire to pay the same tax rate as a janitor makes me a warrior for the working class, i wear that with a badge of honor. i have no problem with that. [applause] it's about time. they say it kills jobs. well, that's going to kill jobs. we're not proposing anything other than returning to the tax rates for the wealthiest americans that exists under bill clinton. i play golf with bill clinton today. i asked him how did that go? [laughter] well, turns out we had a lot of jobs. the well-to-do, they did even better. so did the middle class.

we lifted millions out of poverty. and then we cut taxes for folks like me and we went through a decade of zero job growth. so this isn't speculation. we've tested this out. we tried their theory. didn't work. tried our theory. it worked. we shouldn't be confused about this. this debate is about priorities. if we want to create new jobs and close the deficit and invest in our future, the money's got to come from somewhere. and so should we keep tax who fall for big oil companies or should we put construction workers and teachers back on the job? [applause] should we keep tax breaks for millionaires and keep -- should we ask seniors to be paying thousands of doctors more for medicare as the house republicans proposed? or take young folks' health care

away or should we ask that everybody pay their fair share? this is about fairness. and this is about who we are as a country. this is about our commitment to future generations. when michelle and i think about where we came from, the little girl on the south side of chicago, son of a single mom in hawaii. mother had to go to school on scholarships. sometimes we got food stamps. michelle's parents never owned their own home until she had already graduated living upstairs above the aunt who actually owned the house. we are here today only because our parents and our grandparents, they broke their backs to support us. [applause]

but they also understood that they would get a little bit of help from their country because they met their responsibilities this country would also be responsible, would also provide good public schools, would also provide recreation, parks that were safe, making sure that they could take the bus without getting beat over the head, making sure that their kids would be able to go to college even if they weren't rich. we're only here because the past generations struggled and sacrificed for this incredible exceptional idea that it does not married where you come from. it does not matter where you're born. doesn't matter what you look like. if you're willing to put in an effort, you should get a shot. you should get a shot at the measure dream and each night

when we tuck in our girls at the white house, i think about keeping that dream alive for them and for all of our children. and that's now up to us. and that's hard. this is harder than it's been in a long, long time. we're going through something we haven't seen in you are a lifetimes. -- if our lifetimes. and i know at times that gets folks discouraged. i know. i listen to some of y'all. [laughter] i understand that. and nobody feels that burden more than i do. because i know how much we have invested in making sure that we're able to move this country forward. but you know, more than a lot of other folks in this country, we

know about hard. the people in this room know about hard. [applause] and we don't give in the discouragement. -- in to discouragement. throughout our history, change has often come slowly. progress often takes time. we take a step forward sometimes. we take two steps back. sometimes we get two steps forward and one step back. but it's never a straight line. it's never easy. and i never promised easy. easy's never been promised to us. but we've had faith. [applause] we have had faith. we've had that good kind of crazy that says you can't stop marching. even when folks have hit you over the head, you can't stop marching. even when they're turning the hoses on you, you can't stop.

even when somebody fires you for speaking out, you can't stop. [applause] even when it looks like there's no way, you find a way. you can't stop. through the mud and the muck and the driving rain, we don't stop. because we know the righteousness of our cause. widening the circle of opportunity, standing up for everybody's opportunity. -- opportunities. increasing each other's prosperity. we know our cause is just. it's a righteous cause. it's on the face of troopers and tear gas. folks stood unafraid. let somebody like john lewis to wake up after getting beat within an inch of his life on

sunday. he wakes up on monday. we're going to go march. [applause] dr. king said before we reach the majestic shores of the promised land. there is a frustrating and bewildering wilderness ahead. we must steal faith's hilltops in opposition and gigantic top but with firm determination, we will press on. [applause] so i don't know about you, c.b.c., but the future rewards those who press on. with patience and firm determination, i'm going to press on for jobs. i'm going to press on for equality. i'm going to press on for the sake of our children. i'm going to press on for the sake of all those families who are struggling right now.

i don't have time to feel sorry for myself. i don't have time to complain. i'm going to press on. [applause] i expect all of you to march with me and press on! [cheers and applause] take off your bedroom slippers. put on your marching shoes. shake it off. stop complaining. stop grumbling. stop crying. we are going to press on. we've got work to do. [applause] c.b.c., god bless you. and god bless the united states of america. [cheers and applause]

♪ >> this weekend in charlotte, north carolina, with book tv and american history tv. throughout the weekend, the history and literary life from the site of the 2012 democratic national convention. on book tv on c-span2, charlotte's banking industry with banktown author rick rothacker and karen cox on dreaming of dixie. how the south was created from american popular culture. and a visit to park road books to learn the relationship between bookstores and public

lesser. and on c-span 3, tour james polk's birthplace. a discussion with charles jones on his experiences during the 1960's lunch counter sit-ins and visit the reed gold mine where gold was first discovered in north america. this weekend on c-span2 and 3. coming up on "washington journal," we'll take a look the day's news and take your calls and twitter comments. after that, "newsmakers" with lamar alexander on his decision to step down as republican conference chairman. and later, the c-span series "the contenders." looking at the life of william jennings bryan. this morning on "washington journal," a discussion on securing ballot access and third-party candidates with elliott ackerman, c.e.o. of the group americans ele 2