this is an amazing event. i was so sad to have missed it last year. they spent a great deal of time planning for this to empower and let your voices soar during this particular time in our nation's history. you'll hear from wonderful speakers. ed gillespie will talk about "know your power." there is power in this community, in this room. i compliment you all, and i say, let's do the right thing for our country. [applause] >> i want to thank the organizers of this again. thank you for showing up here and to the panelists. most of us are hispanics here. this is a great country.

you can achieve whatever you want if you work hard. and what the government needs to do is get out of our way to allow us to enjoy freedoms. [applause] allow us to enjoy freedoms and actually the fruits of our labor. i only wish that we will get back on track as a nation. i am convinced that we will. i want to thank you of again for allowing me to share with you this morning. thank you. >> please join me in thanking the panel. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> an nbc news poll yesterday

shows likely florida voters supported met romney, 40%, compared with 27% for newt gingrich. rick santorum trailing by a wide margin. he is campaigning in missouri and minnesota today. ron paul is also is getting florida campaigning. a look now at a couple of the campaign ads that are being shown in florida today. >> florida families lost everything in the housing crisis. newt gingrich-diane. gingrich was paid over 13 $6 million by the agency that helped create the crisis. >> my advice as a historian -- >> a historian, really? sanctions for at six violations. gingrich resigned from congress by disgrace, and then cashed in as a d.c. in sutter. if he wins, this guy would be very happy. >> i am met ronnie, and i approve this message. >> of that man is dishonest to

obtain a job, he will be dishonest on the job. >> what kind of that would disappear -- miss leach's to win an election? this man was, mitt romney. he said he has always voted republican when he had the opportunity. but in the 1992 massachusetts primary, romney had a chance to vote for george h. w. bashar pat buchanan, but he voted for liberal democrat instead. romney says his investments at fannie and freddie were in a blind trust, but he earned tens of thousands of dollars from investments not in a blind trust. romney denied sing a false at his campaign used to attack newt gingrich, but his own campaign paid for the ad. his own voice is on the ad approving its false content. every cannot trust what he says about his own record, how can we trust him on anything? >> mitt romney has three events

scheduled across florida today, while newt gingrich has five planned events. we have uncovered newt gingrich's rally with michael regan and herman cain. that will be at about 2:00 p.m. eastern. then mitt romney's campaign rally at the villages this evening. live at the campaign trail today. tamara, we will bring you live coverage of the florida republican presidential primary result. we will also take your calls entreats and give you can reactions at the end of the evening. campaign coverage will continue saturday when nevada holds carcasses. next week in the state of maine. and then continuing into next month. we return now to miami for now the discussion from the hispanic leadership networks inspiring action conference. a look at immigration issues facing the presidential candidates. the hispanic leadership that

rick is an advocacy action group that is focused on conservative policy issues. >> now, we're picking up the afternoon portion of our conference with a very important discussion on work force and immigrants, dispelling the myths. on the stage for public policy issues are debated, there is perhaps no other topics that lends itself to more misinterpretation, that ends in polarization, the and immigration. welcome our panelists. we're going to start debunking the myths about immigrants and the work force. this is a very important panel, and i think it will be history in the making. alex is the dean of the college of law of florida international university. he has served as law clerk to justice samuel alito, jr. as the longest serving u.s. attorney in south florida and as

a member of the national labor relations board, he has had the distinct honor of being the first hispanic to serve as assistant attorney general for civil rights at the u.s. department of justice under president george w. bush. thank you for being here. [applause] next, carlos guitierrez. we're honored to have secretary guitierrez, our conference co- chair, along some governor jim bush -- jebb bush, with us today. he is currently vice chairman of institutional client group at citigroup. before his government service, he was working with tony the tiger as chairman and ceo of the kellogg company. thank you for being here. adam putnam leads a state agency

with a mission to promote florida's agricultural sector, foster innovation in energy development, provide a safe and abundant food supply, managed forest resources, and safeguard consumers. previously, he served five terms in congress, representing florida's 12th district in the u.s. house of representatives. thank you, commissioner putnam, for being here. [applause] last but not least, secretary spellings, margaret spelling's is with us. the eighth secretary of education. she is a strategic adviser to the u.s. chamber of commerce, where she is also president of the u.s. forum for policy innovation. as secretary of education, she has led the implementation of historic no child left behind. of course, our moderator in chief, the extraordinary doctor doug, who is back. the floor is all yours.

enjoy the panel. [applause] >> welcome to the panel on immigration in the work force, dispelling the myths. i thought we would begin by letting the panelists open with a few introductory remarks on the topic they think is most pertinent. but to avoid boredom, not just going to go straight down. i am going to defer to local politics and let the floridian opened with the remarks. mr. putnam. >> thank you. it is pleasure and honor to be here to talk about one of the most passionate issues. it has generated an awful lot of heat about a whole lot of light. hopefully in separating the myths from the reality, we can build the kind of consensus we need to have. there is always been a lot of talk about a tough immigration policy. what we need is a smart immigration policy. an immigration policy that makes sense in the 21st century. from agriculture's perspective, agriculture in florida is a $100

billion industry, the second biggest industry. even when times are good, when tourism and construction are down, it takes over as number 1. because of the dysfunction in the broken approach in washington, individual states have attempted to move forward on that their round, which is an extraordinarily mistake -- it is an extraordinary mistake. we need one smart national immigration policy, not 50 not so smart immigration policies. it is important the economy. it is board to our security. it is important global competitiveness. we want to continue to be that begin -- beacon that south florida has become. in florida, when they talk about going their own way with an immigration policy, it threatens our place in the world. that is not so the arizona has to worry about. they do not have a place in the

world, do they? [laughter] florida has a sterling reputation. we are the financial center for latin america. we are a destination for international tourism, investment, travel, and international trade. that is what is at stake in my it is so important that we have this single national smart policy that brings us into line and allows us to continue to recruit and attract the type of human talent that wants to build their dreams in united states. >> thank you. >> a couple of observations. first, i love this issue. like education, it is very emotional, and everybody has their own personal experience with this issue, like we do with our schools. i first got acquainted with the issue when i was a policy adviser at the white house and doug and i worked together. prior to 9/11, president bush -- president bush was hard at work going through much more

rational man, market-based, sensible, comments of solution. what we know for sure is that our current system is a nightmare, a mess. bureaucratic, byzantine, does not make sense, arbitrary. a crazy quilt of policy-making. we went to work on that. obviously, after 9/11, that was shelved. in the bush administration, we react the issue in january 2004 with a guest-worker program, and carlos led the major effort. the more you know about this issue, the more obvious these solutions are that come. that is why we had folks like senators kennedy, salazar, mccain, president bosch, you know, a wide swath of folks that were working on this, seeing the way for this more sensible policy. i think the biggest myth in education is that tons and tons of illegals are in our schools

that we are paying the bills for, and they're not able to succeed. so on and so forth. i will tell you that of the five plus million students in this country who have at least one parent who is illegal, 79% of those kids are born in the united states. they are u.s. citizens like us and obviously have all the rights and responsibilities of u.s. citizenship. so i think, you know, our biggest problem, of course, in education is we are doing a woefully inadequate job of educating kids of all stripes, agreed, and colors in our schools, but these kids in our schools are largely u.s. citizens. the other thing i will say quickly is about a bilingual education and the so-called emersion. it is a quasi quilt of state policy that governs that.

likewise, in-state higher education tuition. we will get that more. when i was secretary and i was working on this in the white house, there was one thing i really noticed. it did not occur to me until now. but all of us are from states that have a lot of experience with this. texas and florida. it is amazing to me how folks in other parts of the country do not understand what immigration really does mean it to them. i used to say, you know, have you been anything today? had you stayed in a hotel? do you live in something that was built? and so on. this idea that it is just an isolated few states really is not the case but i am throw to be here. thank you for having me. >> we appreciate it. mr. guitierrez. >> thank you. i am going to talk a little bit about the impact on the economy. and at a time when we're talking about competitiveness and how do we get more competitive against the rest of the world and china

is rising and what are we going to do, one of our biggest advantages lies in the demographics and immigration. every developed country in the world has a demographic problem. japan is a country that is getting old very quickly. even china is going to good old before it gets rich. russia's population decline last year. it actually declined. and throughout europe -- italy, portugal, you name it, spain -- spain, i remember when they used to have 12 kids. today, the average family is not having enough to replace the people who are passing on. so this is a big problem for their economy. we grow our economy on the base of two things. productivity and the number of

people in the work force. if you do not have enough people in the workforce, you have to do a really good job on productivity to grow gdp. the key thing is to have enough people in the work force that allows you to grow. we have the advantage that people want to come here, that we attract immigrants, that immigrants have built this country. so if we get this right, if we get this immigration policy right -- by the way, i agree with adam putnam, this has to be a national immigration strategy that includes legal, illegal, what about the fact that we do not have enough nurses? the laws in agriculture are crazy. we're forcing people to reintroduce something illegal, to go out of business, or to send your farm to mexico. because that is what our law does to them. it impacts economics.

it impacts job creation. immigrants come and they build businesses. as governor romney midge and, more businesses and the average growth of small businesses in the country but you go to new york and watch the dominican republic community, and the number of businesses they have. come to miami, and you will realize what hispanic americans have done for this country. so it is an economic imperative. if we get this right, forget china, forget india. we will have an advantage for a century. if we get it wrong, shame on us, because this could be our biggest competitive advantage for the next 100 years. >> thank you. [applause] >> you know, i would echo a lot of what people have already heard. this is a critical issue and an

issue that, unfortunately, leadership currently is unwilling to tackle. it is a complex issue, and we need individuals that are willing to use political capital, as president bush was willing to do, to take this on and to find real solutions that address both the issue of illegal immigration and a pathway to legal immigration. when we talk about immigration, it is very charged emotionally. and for me, it harkens back to president reagan. some of my earliest political memories are of president reagan. i was a little kid and what i remember about him is his positivism. he has this vision of our nation that that was a shining city upon a hill. later on, i went back and looked up what that meant. i found his farewell address, his final words to our nation from the oval office in january

as he was about to leave his presidency. and i brought them with me, because at the base said a good tone for this issue. he said, and that is about all i have to say for tonight, except for one thing. the past few days i have been sitting in my window upstairs, and i thought about the shaggy the less shining city upon the help of the phrase comes from john winthrop, who wrote it to describe the america that he saw. but he was an early program, and early freedom men. he journeyed here in what today we call a little wooden boat. and like other programs, he was looking for a home that would be free. well, the reality is, today we have people journeying here on a little wooden boats or rafts made of tires tied together, and they're coming here for the exact same reason. because they are looking for a home that will be free. that is an experience that so many of us who grew up here in

miami have two that there is a second side to that we have to take on when we talk about immigration, and that is what happens when that happens illegally. i was a federal prosecutor in miami for five years. i had some experiences that are terrific. i had the parents of an 8-year- old boys sitting in my office. the boy had drowned coming from cuba. they were in my office thanking me because at least they were able to stay in this nation, and they wanted to come by to say thank you. because we were able to have a funeral mass for our son. we're not sure that the passage from cuba was worth his life. as a matter of fact, we are really confused right now, but at least we have freedom. i had a case where a woman was raped repeatedly on her way over from haiti, because the

smugglers, the boats, the coyotes that brought her over the views turk, and she allowed it. because for her, that was the price of passage to our nation. the cost of illegal immigration is not simply exclusion, but it is said use of those individuals coming to our nation, seeing it as a beacon of freedom. we have to address illegal immigration and give everyone a packet to get here legally end in a transparent and fair way. >> thank you very much. [applause] i want to remind those who are not in the hall that you can send in questions over twitter, #hln12. we look forward to that. we will get the audience opportunity for questions as well. i want to echo what secretary

the tereus said, which is if we get this right, we will have an economic advantage for the next century. for too long, immigration policy in the u.s. was viewed not as part of economic policy. it was a tool of family reunification, and every avenue for those seeking asylum and and safety from persecution. but it is actually at the core of our successes and that the economy. it is one of the great costs of the fact that we have a broken immigration system, that we are not going to prosper to the extent that we could pick up the dream of prosperity in america has been at the root of all immigration, and it is one of the sad irony is that we're undercutting it with a broken immigration system. i want to talk to those on the panel about things that come up often in things that make it hard to get the job done. do we need a temporary mark -- worker program, for example? >> from agriculture's

perspective, it is is central to the temporary guest worker program. you know, we have an issue at both ends of the work force, because it is an economic issue. at the high end of the work force, we continue to be a magnet for people around the world, and they come here to go to our university system, and they get ph.d.'s and master's and all kinds of skills sets. as soon as they get their diploma, we kicked them out of the country. that is dumb on one side of the workforce a question put on the other side, if we're going to be food secure, independent, and not reliant on other countries for our food, particularly for our produce, things that tend to be harvested by hand, then we need a method for harvesting that through a temporary guest worker program. if, in the absence of that, then you will see $100 billion industry in florida go away.

and an even larger industry than that in california go away. and we will be dependent on other countries for that supply of food. so a temporary program is as essential, because that is still labor. contrary to the myth, at the peak of the economic boom, only about 10% of by estimates, only 10% of those who were in the country illegally were in ag labor. it is to be focused on ag labour, but there are any number of other industries that we need to continue to refresh the work force in. maybe it is hospitality, hotels, restaurants, construction, and landscaping. maybe it is nursing, as the secretary mentioned. there are a number of gaps in our work force in america. those gaps existed when the and a plate -- when the unemployment rate was 4%. in those gaps exist when the unemployment rate was 10%.

>> doug, the two blind and react with some of the education implications of this. there is a spectrum. we really all aim to want to work for a market-based approach that is rational and makes sense, based on the needs of the economy and the work force, whether it is nurses or engineers or folks in agriculture. if we believe that we're in a global knowledge economy, which we do, then, obviously, education is the pathway to the that the very skilled work force. whether it is technically or academically skilled, that is how we are going to bridge this gap that is why 12 states, including texas, california, and new york, as you may have heard -- texas' tom, have systems that allow their immigrant populations to attend public higher education at in-the state

tuition levels. four states have banned its out right. alabama, india, georgia, and colorado. and the rest have what i call kind of a don't ask, don't tell policy, which basically leaves it up to institutions to sort of there it is out or not. one of the things i have learned from president bush is to always keep your eye on the results. what do we want? we want a human economy. we want to prepare folks to do that work. we want systems the set that up. we're doing anything but that now. it it makes all the sins in the world to me that we educate kids to high levels as quickly as possible and in places like texas and florida and others that have large immigrant populations, that you will be smart about how quickly and how effectively you educated those kids. >> you know, we talk about

immigration as a whole, and we generalize. but where do you get the immigration from is a big question, and this be a a hispanic group will understand that another advantage that the u.s. has is a border with latin america. and therefore, and veterans who come to this country to work and to dream and to have a better life and to have the promise of a better future for their kids do not really come to threaten our way of life. you know, this thing about assimilation is crazy. or about coming no, hispanics not assimilating. it is just another one of these, you know, buzzwords. i wish all kids assimilated the

same way as cuban-americans do, which is the assimilate, but they keep their language. frankly, we need more than one language in the sense of doing business with the rest of the world. >> that is right. >> thank you. [laughter] so i was surprised a little bit with the comment today of speaker gingrich of one government language. what that means is that if you're doing the census, you cannot have a questionnaire in spanish. why not? come on, we are an international country. we do business around the world. the chinese pick up a u.s. planning, and they read it. we could pick up a chinese plant in and get busy. so we need more people, you know -- and [laughter] [applause] one more thing -- the other thing is, in europe, they're having a hard time with immigration, hard time, because

most of their innovation is coming from the middle east. and in some cases, not all cases, but in some cases, they have refused to assimilate. in many cases, they're not going to work, because the people who are going are not of working age. older than working age. so they have the problem. japan has never had immigration. so where are they going to get it from? neither has in china. we have immigration from latin america. latins month's -- and fit in here as good or better than anyone else. language, faith, western values, family. i mean, it is what this country is. latins are what this country is. so that is another advantage. we have a border with latin america. i will tell you, given latin- american is growth and given the

population growth in mexico, there is going to come a time, maybe not in five years, but in 30 years, 40 years, where mexico will say, sorry, but we do not have any more people to send, because our population is not growing fast enough and we needed them to stay here. so, again, it is just another reason for acting now, because the future is so clear. you do not have to be soothsayer to see it coming. >> we're going to open it up to questions from the audience. before we do, given that we have an enormous range of problems in our immigration system -- if you could do one thing, what is the one thing you would work on it tomorrow to improve the look for u.s. immigration? >> the one thing that would do is try to foster a rational conversation about this issue, what it means to everyone, what it means to our economy and our country. >> that is what i am is supposed

to be doing. >> i know, well, that is. but i think it would be useful for the president of the united states -- god willing it will be ours, to have an education effort around this thing. because we're talking past each other. and we get down into defense and all this other stuff, and it is this a red herring nonsense to honestly, in many, many cases. >> totally. and immigration has been a political football. and the democrats have used it very cleverly, you know. every time there is an election coming, harry reid introduces a bill which he knows will never pass. but when it does not pass, he blames it on the republicans. you know? and the hispanic community who were promised are just being used, and they understand it. they realize that they're being taken for a ride, because there

were promised a lot. president has been in power for three years. first two years he had both houses, that the added. it could have made it happen. nothing happened. i am concerned about some of these approaches. speaker gingrich says, well, comprehensive does not work, so therefore, piecemeal. the problem with the political football is precisely because we hand people peace will bills -- piecemeal bills so the play with them. immigrants have this great excitement about something, and suddenly they realize nothing, not even the vote is in place. that is the trap of piecemeal. i happen to think governor romney, what he was talking about, you know, immigration -- the whole thing, the 4.5 million people waiting to get in. what is our national immigration strategy? what is our policy is part of

our competitiveness approach? within that, we are eventually going to get it to, would you do it $12 million for defense, 3 million born here? that is part of the big strategy. the problem is we start there, and we start with the most difficult part. very often we start with the was difficult part because we're just playing with it, using it for political tactics. that is what one of the many things is that bothers me. in the meantime, hispanics keep waiting for something. they keep the promise, but it is all about tactics. just keep your eye on the next time it comes up, and i am sure it will come up over the next 12 months. [applause] >> in east -- i think that is absolutely right. i would put a deadline on conference of the immigration solutions i keep hearing, you know, bills introduced, and they go nowhere. as the secretary said, they're

not meant to go anywhere. they are meant to while of the emotions. but we need a solution. several individuals here on the panel were involved in finding a solution several years ago under president bush, and we need somebody who's gone to say, we have to enact coverage of the immigration solutions. part of that means figuring out what we do with all the individuals that are already in our nation. we needed them here. they provide construction jobs. they provide agricultural jobs. we need to figure out a way to address that. we need to figure out a way to then have the pathway to further future legal immigration. if we do not take it all at once, we're not gonna solve it. you cannot solve part of it without solving the other part. you cannot address immigration without answering, what you do the individuals that are already in the united states?

so let's just get it done, and let's get it done quickly. >> mr. commissioner. >> it requires leadership, and that begins at the top. we just have not had that since president bush. somebody who is really willing to have the national conversation about what this means to the future of our country. in the most members of congress understand it. they find reasons not to understand it. but, intuitively, they get it. they know that it is broken. it only takes a passing glance at the patchwork of who was in and who is out, who is in the express late and who was not, to see that it is desperately in need of modernization. what we need first is that national leader who will have that, who will facilitate that national conversation on the importance of this. if you deal with getting the legal path right and the temporary peace right in the vis

a program right and modernize the antiquated system that, as messed up as it was when they're trying to bring the chinese in to build the railroad across the carpet, i mean, it is really that messed up. if you get that part right to the part that is already here takes care of itself. it really begins to take care of itself as you fix the early pieces of security in the legal pieces. you're now creating a natural magnet to get your status where it should be. but everybody who is interested in killing it in its infancy start with the hardest part. >> we are going to go to the audience. if you have a question, we will get you a microphone. identify yourself and ask your question in the form of a question. right here. >> linda vasquez. you have been talking about, --

comprehensive immigration law, which i presume you're talking about federal level enforcement or programs. what about the states? arizona has stepped out. south carolina is dealing with their own laws. to the states have a right to control their own destiny with immigration? to preclude the federal government from either doing nothing at all or stepping in and doing too much? >> georgia, alabama, arizona, i believe, are sort of the headline states who have stepped out there with their own state approaches. florida last year, thank goodness, did not do it, because it would have been devastating to our state, our reputation, to our economy. this year, and to the

constitution, there is a really narrow bandwidth of options for states to deal with immigration. you're talking about international discussions that flows across national borders. so out of frustration that congress is not doing anything and that they really only are allowed to do some things, they're focusing on the enforcement part and it has had devastating consequences for their economy. georgia has a labor report out, and so does alabama, that has been very harmful to their economy. because in it swinging wildly out of frustration that washington has not done something, they have passed bills that are causing their businesses and their economies great harm. they have seen an evacuation of workers. they have experimented with

every pilot project imaginable that has ever been floated for ways to replace jobs that immigrant labor does. they tried prisoners, welfare recipients, all these things, and they lasted until lunchtime. [laughter] from florida's perspective, we watched very closely the alabama and georgia model, and it has given us a real world, a real time example of what happens when you get these state-based policies wrong, and it reinforces the importance of getting it right, getting a smart, and doing it at a national level, instead of having it 50 different rabbits running 50 different directions. >> the gentleman here. >> i am from minneapolis.

a year ago, at the launch of the hln, we heard from lieutenant governor maldonado. and he said it passionately, and i think we have to hear this again. he said that the latinos in california, which are a great percentage of all latinos in this country, do not want amnesty. and i think we have to listen to that. another thing that i do not think we do that well is latinos do not talk about border security but i am and american. i am an american-hispanic. i want a strong border. and do nothing we do enough -- are we doing a good enough job about the community talking about immigration reform, instead of listening to these politicians are not talking about it at all? >> i think you're absolutely right. you bring up a very good point. i do not know what amnesty is,

because any time that someone has proposed a solution, that does not sound like amnesty to me. that sounds pretty punishing. someone calls it amnesty. so, you know, amnesty has become the one word that could kill an idea. oh, that is amnesty, you know? which is very dangerous, because it really confuses people, and people do not then it know how they should feel about a certain issue. at one time, there were calling defense a-- the fence a wall. when i get asked for records, how do you feel about the wall? the kind of put me on the spot. how you feel about border security? well, i think every country in the world has the right and obligation to secure their border. you know, it is not against immigrants.

just secure your border. you do not have to be apologetic about it. and i said that. but it is not a wall, and it is not a wall because all the way across. it is a fence. does it make sense on a functional basis? probably a little bit. but the reality is that 40% to 50% of the illegals come in -- that come in, come in in airports. so the airplane just goes right over the wall. [laughter] [applause] so, i worry, like you. terms like border security have to be understood. some people say that. i believe in my heart that governor romney says it because he believes it. but some people say it as a way of saying -- border security. let us forget about everything else, it is border security. you have to watch it. that is another one of those

buzzwords. immigration is absolutely full of buzzwords, and people are tremendously confused. but, most people in the country, and governor romney said so, are pro-immigration. because most people in this country are immigrants. so i hope people are seeing what you are seeing, this play with words. >> and if i could add briefly to the border security is not simply about immigration. border security is about stopping threats coming into our nation. border security is about stopping illegal drugs. border security is about stopping the other items that can threaten our nation, whether they be biologicals or other items. so border security has multiple purposes. and i think it is dangerous to say it is only for stopping immigration. >> good one. >> question here.

>> i am from texas. i used to be totally against the dream act. but the more i thought about it in the more i got to and the dreamers, a kind of started changing my mind. can somebody explain what the jury back really is? we also talk about these kids. they are in their 30's. they came here big when they were minors. longer we wait for a solution for these kids that came here as minors, or becoming adults. the truth is, can somebody really explain to whoever is listening to this panel, so they can understand why it is important that this is not only for kids, but for people, because we're dealing with people who came here as the children? they did not ask to come, but they're here, and this is their country. >> and not twitter, there is a

question about the dream act. what do you think about it, and how would you change it to make it more successful? >> basically what the dream that says is that kids who were brought here at a younger age, to be determined what that is, but they're not u.s.-born, foreign-born, i am and illegal. that has grown up here, gone through schooling here. like you, i have met some of the dreamers. valedictorians other high school and so forth. came here when there were three years old and so on. without a route for those individuals to continue their post secondary education lawfully, at any price, in this country and chart a path forward is, in my view, humane and smart. say, you know, you have no opportunity here currently in our military or higher education, you know, you're out

of luck. so this act would aim to regularize the illegalize, whatever were you want to use, those individuals who can go on a path away either to military service or to post secondary education. i want to remind you, and this goes back to the myth, this is not a huge number of individuals. i think it's overstated. the vast, vast majority of kids in our schools who are limited- english speakers are u.s. citizens, and we owe them an education. >> we have time for one -- new >> the point about the age struck some people as odd. that is why some people in congress -- i think it was up to 30 or 35, which the questioner mentioned. the dream act, by the way, was used exactly for political purposes.

it was a bill that if you looked through all the facts, some things were just very difficult to accept. but if you did not accept it, boy, you're not accepting the dream act. you are against young stephen immigrants. it did not matter that that clause 35 was the craziest thing in the world. they were setting you up. they're sitting republicans up. and that happens all the time. >> same thing. the dream that has been the most politically manipulated tool in this whole debate. in a very cynical way, particularly, on the left. i think what you see some consensus for is this military service, such as the starting point, and the rest of it being a topic for the broader discussion about immigration. >> thank you. last question. >> vice chairman of the scoreboard in the last school

board in ociella county. it takes so long for people to get here legally. being puerto rican, it is not essential to my community, but i wanted to learn about it. i started looking at it. there is ice, stems, border patrol, department of state of the department of justice. maybe there is to the government. do you think there should be 90 agencies to regulate immigration? the thing that is contributing to the broken immigration system? >> how many votes for the status quo here? >> i was the federal prosecutor, and when there were immigration issues, i had to get out the directory and start figuring out which agency does this and which agency does that. when even the folks on the inside have trouble figuring out the system, that really speaks to it is a very, very broken

system, and it is time to change it. >> just to add to that, when we were looking at ag jobs, and you went to the process that you had to do to get a permit for a temporary agricultural worker. it is this agency and that agency and the labor department, and they could take 20 days -- so it took about four months, by which time the harvest would be rotten. so, again no, you're forcing, by making laws that cannot be implemented, you're forcing people to break the law. or go out of business. >> on that note, our time has expired. i want you to join me in thanking the panel. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

>>, and security secretary janet napolitano delivers what she is calling her second annual state of america's homeland security address this afternoon at a luncheon hosted by the national press club here in washington. we're planning to take you there live at about 1:00 p.m. eastern. until then, a look at the defense cuts that are being considered. host: we're looking at the announcement of the pentagon's budget, with a specific look at the navy. we're joined now by todd sen with the center for strategic and budgetary assessment.

thank you for joining us. the pentagon has said it wants to focus more on the far side of the world and the asian pacific theater. before we jump into the details of this budget, is what they laid out going to be efficient to meet the mission at the pentagon scenes -- sees in the navy and the next few years? guest: we do not know yet. the full pentagon budget will not be ruled out until two weeks from today, february 13. but we got a glimpse last week. on thursday, they made an announcement of what we should expect to see in the budget request and some of the highlights. it is what they want us to see, but what we can tell from that is they're talking about a real shift in resources within the military. the regional focus shifted to asia, but countering a rising tide that in that region. there will be de inemphasizing

ground forces, and there will be emphasizing air and se forcesa to you talked about a number of transitions in programs that they will be protected in that budget. the headline will probably be that enabled it to maintain the 11 aircraft carriers. that has been in question for awhile. even people in the navy have been talking about the idea of a scaling it back to 10 or even nine carriers. for now, they're going to maintain 11 carriers. but it did not without cuts in some areas of the navy's budget. they're going to be reducing the total number of ships over the next five years. host: they are reducing -- there are some like 20 to 25 ships of the next five years that will be cut or slow down. if you want to join in, give us a call. we're doing the standard phone lines.

here are the numbers. if you're outside the u.s. -- forave last year's budget the navy, the total request for the navy was $161 billion. $47 billion for personnel. $46 billion for procurement. operations and maintenance, $48 billion. research and development, $18 billion. you said we do not have the specific details as yet, but what are you expecting the trends to come from when we actually see the navy's budget for 2013? >> i think the trims largely come from procurement. we should also see some reductions in the operations and maintenance budget, because they're talking about retiring a number of ships that are already in the fleet. that will save the operating funds. the personnel budget, i do not expect to see a lot of change.

they're not talking about some of a galley reducing the number of personnel in the navy. there might be some small reductions we have not seen yet. in terms of pay and military benefits, they're not changes that should substantially but the navy's budget or personnel costs. >> the ships taking the biggest hit will be our fleet of cruisers. we're taking a seven out of commission. >> 7 out of 22. host: why were the cruiser is targeted for such reductions? guest: it is interesting. one of the roles they play now is for missile defense. six of the ones they're taking out do not have missile defense systems. they have not been upgraded. it is one of the reasons, as you shift to a posture that is focused more on asia and the pacific abyssal the feds will become more important, because other countries are developing more sophisticated missiles that can attack our ships. you need missile defense systems

to operate in a kind of environment. they're basically taking the ships out of the fleet that do not have the kind of protection. one of the ships is because it had damaged or cracking that will require some costly repairs, so it is not worth it to the navy to keep it in the fleet. host: clear speaking to a defense budget the senior fellow who formerly worked at booz allen hamilton, working with clients that were working with the department of defense in assessing challenges to modernization of different parts of our military. let's go to the phones, starting in illinois on our independent line. caller: good morning. yesterday, mitt romney said that the navy is smaller today than it was in 1917. i wonder if that is accurate? thank you. guest: that is a big question

that has come out a lot. i can give you some of the numbers. the metrics he is using is the total number of ships in the fleet. that is not exactly a good magic to use when talking about the strength of our navy. but in terms of total members of the fleet, we are at 285 writes about. the recent low pour it was in 2007. we had 278 ships in the navy. that was the most recent low point. we have been growing since then as part of the upgrade programmer in the navy. in 1916, that was the last low point and the size of the navy. the total number of the ships is actually not a good metric to use to judge the strength of the navy, especially over such long periods of time. back to 1916, we did not have aircraft carriers, missile defense systems, though nuclear-

powered submarines. so the number of ships we have in the military today, while it might be smaller than it was at other times, it is far more capable than we have had in modern history. host: we have a clip of leon panetta talking about the reduction in shipbuilding and where he sees the role of different ships in the future of the navy. let's go to that. [video clip] >> in this budget, the navy will invest in a design that will allow new va-class submarines to be modified to carry more cruise missiles and developed an undersea conventional strike option. across the force, we will invest -- invest in abraded centers for aircraft, ships, and missiles, and of the most advanced electronic warfare and communications capabilities. host: secretary panetta talking about the future of the navy.

that got to a question on twitter. guest: that is a good question. when talking about if we had the right sized navy today or the future, the question is about what to do. in terms of taking on another country's navy, no, there's no other country that can even come close to the capabilities that we have. china is starting to build up it's sea forces. they have one aircraft carrier now, but they bought a used. it is an old soviet carrier, and they're not quite operational with it yet. that said, we will not necessarily just be going to counter another country's naval forces. it will not necessarily be shipped-on-chip, the future. we use our navy on the other joint operations. the reason operation at the navy in libya, we pulled one of our

guided missile submarines about the coast of libya, and they launched over 100 tomahawk cruise missiles as part of the initial operation in libya to take down their air defenses. it is not just going head-to- head against another navy. host: an editorial today in the "wall street journal" the talks about this. it says a diminished they cannot meet its global missions. the planet is not smaller. a ship can only be in one place at one time. they're asked to chase parts in somalia, a very humanitarian aid to haiti, protect the state of hermes, and keep a muscular presence in the south china sea. to name a few. but the back to the phones. a libertarian from michigan. good morning. caller: good morning. in a recent debate, i think it was at mitt romney who said that the budget should meet the mission, as opposed to the

mission meeting the budget. i think that is misguided, because the military is not profit-oriented. so cost-cutting does not really factor into their planning, as much as, say, private business. i think that, you know, their goal would be always to get more money. i think we should only spend as much on the military as we can afford, really. i was wondering about your opinion on that. should we tailor the budget to meet the mission or tailor the mission to meet the budget? guest: this is the perennial argument, this strategy budget mismatch, and what should be driving the debate here. the reality is that our military strategy has always been constrained by resources, except in unusual circumstances in time of war and we're willing

to spend unlimited sums. we are constrained by resources. right now, the constraint actually is driven by the budget control act of 2011. that was the deal that was struck in congress. it was a bipartisan agreement. people from both parties in both houses voted for it. that allowed us to increase the debt ceiling last summer. but it put caps on defense and non-defense spending going forward. the budget that the president is rolling out right now and the new strategy -- >> we are going live to the national press club now with janet napolitano giving her a second annual report on homeland security. >> for more information about the national press club, visit our website atwww.press.org. to donate to programs offered to

the public through our national journalism library, please visit www.press.org/library. washington, d.c. has declared this week by proclamation national press club weeks ago thank you for joining us. [applause] on behalf of our members worldwide, i would like to mention our speaker and those of you attending today's events. our head table includes guest of our speakers as well as working journalists who are members and did you hear applause from our audience, we would know that members of the general public are attending. is not necessarily evidence of a lack of journalistic objected to. i would also like to mention -- welcome our cspan and public radio audiences, are luncheons are also featured an are member- produced weekly podcast from the national press club on itunes.

you can also follow was on twitter. we will have a question and answer session afterwards and i will allow as many questions as can be permitted. i would like each of you to stand briefly as i don't your name. from your right, ron bajen, washington correspondent for the kuwait news agency. peggy, eileen sullivan, counter-terrorism reporter associated press, andrea stone, senior national correspondent huffington post/aol, donna linewan, liz spade, managing editor of "the washington post," allison's fitzgerald, and we have patty julio, and a speaker committee member organizer.

david silverberg,jerry remsky, irv chapman, and mark ramondi. i thank all of you for joining us today. [applause] i am very pleased to welcome our featured speaker, secretary of united states department of homeland security, janet napolitano. as secretary of the department of, security, she leads our nation's collective efforts to secure the country from terrorism threats and natural disasters today she will deliver her second annual state of america's homeland security address. as just the third person in history to hold this position, secretary napolitano oversees a

department with an evolving and of wide-ranging mission and chordates the government response to an increasingly complex and interrelated an array of threats. the department's concerns range from border security and immigration enforcement to disaster preparedness, response and recovery as well as the growing field of cyber-security. secretary and a polish town of's and tenure has been notable for her efforts to address all of these threats by forging new partnerships with international allies, expending information sharing with state and local law enforcement, and build a collaborative effort to detect and disrupt threats early on. at the same time, secretary napolitano has implemented a groundbreaking department-wide efficiency review that is aimed at reducing costs, improving efficiency, and streamlining operations in order to build a leaner, smarter agency that is better equipped to protect the

nation. in an era where there is a growing focus on how the federal dollar is spent, vice president joe biden recently called the department of homeland security possible efficiency review a model average for other agencies. before she was nominated by president obama to lead the department of a homeland security, secretary no politician was twice elected governor of arizona very she was the first woman to chair the national governors' association and was named one of the top five governors and the country by "time magazine." prior to that, she served as u.s. attorney for the district of arizona and was the first female attorney general of arizona. please join me in welcoming secretary janet napolitano to the national press club. [applause] >> thank you for the introduction and thank you for the warm welcome. it is great to be back at the

national press club. i want to thank all of you for coming. established nearly nine years ago, the department of homeland security is still a relatively young agency. its creation represents one of the most sizable reorganizations within the federal government since the department of war and the department of navy were combined to create the department of defense. every day, our work force protect our air, land, and sea borders and increasingly our cyberspace. they guard against terrorist attacks from groups like al qaeda were homegrown extremists. they apprehend human traffickers and other criminals and protect the president and vice- president. they held thousands of immigrants become new citizens of the united states. dhs has over 230,000 please working to insure the safety and security of the american people in jobs that range from law enforcement officers and agents to disaster response

coordinators from those who make sure our waterways stay open to those who make sure our skies remain safe. the men and women of dhs are committed to their mission and on behalf of the president, i would like to thank everyone of them for their service. [applause] i have said many times that homeland security begins with hometown security. as part of our commitment to hometown security, we have worked to get resources out of washington and entered hands of state and local officials and first responders. we have made great progress in improving our domestic capabilities to detect and to bend -- and prevent terrorist attacks against our people, our communities, and our infrastructure. if we supported our nation's network of 72 fusion centers, increasing our ability to analyze and distribute threat information across the country.

we have invested in training for local law enforcement and first responders of all types in order to increase expertise and capacity at the local level. we work with a vast an array of partners from local law enforcement to the private sector to community leaders across the country, all of whom are committed to doing their part to help keep america sixth. we will continue to build on those efforts. at the same time, we have worked to protect americans from natural disasters. last year, our nation saw a remarkable example of resilience grounded in this work. we saw communities across the country bounceback from the list -- an historic number of disasters from hurricane irene along the east coast, to fires in the southwest, from flooding along the mississippi and missouri rivers, to the devastating tornadoes that hit the midwest and south. the tornado that struck joplin, missouri last may leveled

countless houses and businesses. it destroyed most of the schools and killed more people than any tornadoes since 1953. yet, within days, the school superintendent announced that schools start on time this fall. it did. local health officials announced hospital would be rebuilt and it will the city manager was already drawing up plans to rebuild the city downtown. , current late under way. i can relate similar stories as we have seen time and again, americans are by nature a brazilian people. our role is to be part of the team that fosters that resilience. and continue doing our jobs and better and more efficiently. our experience over the past several years has made us smarter about the terrorist threats we face and how best to deal with them. we have learned that we can

apply different protocols in different cases depending on the information we possess about both the individual situation and the threat environment as a whole. for instance, not every traveler or piece of card opposes the same level of risk to our security. the key to evaluating potential risk is information, by sharing and leveraging information, we can make informed decisions about how to best mitigate risk and the more we know, the better we become at providing security that is seamless and efficient. we can also free up more resources to spend on those threats or individuals we are bound to encounter but may not know much about, the known /unknown. if we have to look for a needle in a haystack, we have to use all the information know about the hay. this approach makes us safer and

it also creates inefficiency within the system for travellers and business people. good, thoughtful, sensible security by its nature facilitates local travel and legitimate commerce. simply put -- our homeland security and our economic security go hand in hand. accordingly, security measures should, to the greatest extent possible be designed to facilitate the safe and efficient movement of people and goods while securing our critical infrastructure. the movement of people and goods and ideas have always driven the development of nations that provided opportunities for economic growth and prosperity. in recent years, globalization has brought more diversity to world trade. within the american economy, trade with our international partners accounts for roughly 1/4 of our gdp agreed in other words, our economy is dependent on our ability to secure and facilitate the flow of people and goods to and from our

shores. a crisis or call marbles in any part of the world has the ability to impact the flow of goods and people thousands of miles away. massive flooding in thailand can drive up the global price of computer hard drives just as an earthquake and tsunami in japan can grind assembly lines at american auto plants to a halt. we must therefore continue to look both within and beyond our physical borders and develop strategies from threats that can originate both here at home or on the other side of the world. as the federal department charged with regulating the flow of people and goods in and out of the country, dhs has been transforming how we approach the relationship between security and trade. this transition will be 80

ongoing focus for the department in 2012. as we continue our drive toward a rest-based information-driven approach to information security. what we know about a piece of card or a passenger allows us to better assess its risk and identify threats at the earliest possible moment. we must recognize that security and efficiency are not mutually exclusive. we can enhance security while decreasing wait time, expediting travel, and keeping costs down and we know we can because we are already doing so. this year d alonethishs will help facilitate about $2 trillion in legitimate trade while enforcing u.s. trade laws that protect the economy, the health, and the safety of the american people. how are we going to go about strength and security even more? one key way is to go with the

trusted to shipper and passenger program area this is mutually agreed upon information sharing which allows us to know more about a traveler or piece of cargo before it begins its journey. at the same time, these programs provide an economic benefit for the individuals, countries, and companies involved by expediting the movement of goods and people that are critical to their business. for example, global entry is a program that allows us to expedite entry into the united states for pre-approval lower- risk air travelers. more than 1 million passengers have already joined global entry and president obama recently announced we will be expanding the program in 2012 as part of the administration's efforts to foster travel and tourism. we have also been expanding tsa pre-check, a traveler initiative that and as a security by allowing us to focus on

passengers we know less about and those who are considered high risk of providing expedited screening for travelers who volunteer information about themselves prior to flight. pre-check is currently available to u.s. citizens or already are members of the trust a traveler program as well as eligible airline frequent fliers. pre-check passengers may be referred to a level where they will undergo expedited screening which can include no longer having to remove issues, laptops, jackets, or belts. efforts like tsa pre-check represent an illusion airplane security. -- and evolution of airplane security. both of these initiatives strengthen security while expediting travel for those travelers we know the most about. we are applying the same

concepts in the area of cargo security. we now allow participating shippers to screen air cargo following the strict standards to support the one under% screening requirement of the 9/11 act part cargo transported on passenger aircraft. we are reviewing our foreign partners' cardoza ready to determine whether their programs provide a level of security commensurate with the united states air cargo security standards. those to meet the requirements, are officially recognized to conduct screening for carter traveling to u.s. we are also working with more than 80 countries to prevent the illegal theft or diversion of precursor chemicals that can be used to make improvised explosive devices or ied's. we have already seized more than 62 metric tons of these deadly materials. we are partnering directly with the international trade community to provide expedited cargo processing for companies that undergo extensive vetting

and made strict criteria. last week, announced an administration-wide effort on global supply chain security that builds all of these programs. this new strategy represents a nation approach to global supply chain efforts with two specific goals -- promoting the efficient and secure movement of goods and foster and resilience supply chain systems. our efforts will be guided by three principles -- will find smarter and more cost-effective ways to address security threats and maximize resources and expertise from across the united states foster and all nation approach to perform the critical role of territorial and private sector companies and we will enhance our coordination with the international community and international stakeholders who also have a key supply chain roles and responsibilities.

like the aviation system, our physical borders both land and sea, serve not only as a crucial line of defense on a comes to our security but also as a critical intersection of international commerce. the obama administration has undertaken the most serious and sustained action to secure our borders in our nation's history. it is clear from every measure we currently have that this. approach is this on the southwest border, illegal immigration attempts as measured by border patrol apprehensions have decreased 53% in the past three years and are less than 20% of what they were at. their at caesars of illegal drugs, currency, and weapons are all up. we have increased the number of border patrol agents to 23,000. as we work to combat illegal crossings, violent crime has

remained flat or fall in the past decade. we are using technology in different ways like license plate scanners and cameras and sensors along the land borders. these kinds of technologies combined with increased manpower and infrastructure give our personnel better awareness of the border environment so they can more quickly act to resolve potential threats or illegal activities. we have invested heavily in infrastructure improvements at our ports of entry including over $400 million in recovery act funds to modernize older facilities along our northern border to meet post-9/11 security standards. we have also expanded our busiest ports along the southwest border, ports like san ysidro and nogales and work with our partners across the border. we stepped up cooperation with canada last year to speed inspection of goods like car

parts of the factories on both sides of the border can operate more efficiently. we continue to work closely with our mexican counterparts to share critical infrastructure and expand trusted traveler and sugar programs as part of a declaration signed jointly by president obama and president calderone. these efforts are speeding legitimate trade and stopping illegal goods from entering the country, goods that could undermine domestic businesses that play by the rules. in fiscal year 2011, we interdicted goods representing more than $1.1 billion in retail value. the value of consumer safety seizures including things like pharmaceuticals total more than $60 million, representing a 41% increase over fiscal year 2010. when it comes to the movement of people, our efforts are not just focused on promoting tourists and business travel to the united states. we're also are enforcing our

immigration laws in smart, effective ways to protect communities while to the greatest extent possible, fostered legitimate employment and foreign investment. the bottom line is that our nation's current emigration laws are sorely outdated and in need of revision. president obama views a revision as a matter of fairness and economic necessity. while we continue to urge congress to take up the immigration reform, we have acted on clear and common sense priorities when it comes to immigration enforcement under the existing laws. we have reduced bureaucratic inefficiencies in these programs, streamlined the past four under par to wish to bring their business to america. we have improved and automated the process for identifying individuals applying for or in possession of a visa who might pose a national security risks. we are ending practices that break up american families by

shortening how long their spouses or children of american citizens must wait abroad for a u.s. and the said that we know they will obtain. for the first time, we have prioritized our enforcement resources so we can concentrate first on those individuals who are in our country illegally and who are also committing other crimes. we're also focusing on the removal of repeat immigration by letters and recent [inaudible] before they enter our country's interior. this year, we begin reviewing the hundreds of thousands of immigration cases languishing on the immigration court docket to speed the removal of criminal aliens while administratively closing the cases of those with no criminal record who pose no risk. such as students who are brought here through no fault of their own are members of the military. we have also focused on employers who hire illegal labour and by doing so, unfairly compete with employers who play by the rules. none of these actions substitute

for statutory reform. we can, we have, and we will seek to inform the law and a way that best meets our needs and our ideals. in today's high-tech security and commercial environment, we must also focus beyond just the physical movement of goods and people across our borders. in the area of cyber-security, we're moving to create a secure environment for the flow of cyber-commerce and help support a secure market place. we are deploying the latest tools across the federal government to protect critical systems while assuring timely and actionable security information with public and private sector partners to help them protect their own operations. beyond protecting the computer networks on the civilian side of our government, we are leading the effort to protect our nation's critical information infrastructure it is the systems and network that support the financial-services industry, the electric power industry, and

telecommunications to name just a few. we have dedicated representatives for these and other key economic sectors working at dhs alongside our own cyber-security experts to prevent identify and address cyber incidents. we continue to work with the private sector, other government national security, and law enforcement agencies and the international community to mitigate the risks and reduce the potential for a malicious actor to be successful. last year, our computer emerges a readiness team responded to more than 100,000 incident reports and released more than 5000 actual cyber-security alert to our federal, state, and private sector partners. we're working with our international law enforcement partners to share expertise and resources to combat electronic crimes such as identity and intellectual property theft, network insurance and a range of financial crimes. these efforts to show results.

in the last year alone, the u.s. secret service prevented $5.6 billion in potential losses to financial crime investigations and $1.5 billion through cyber- crime investigations. at the same time,ice disrupted or dismantled several crown will -- criminal organizations. no one understands the need for security more than the business community. one break in the supply chain and put an entire company at risk. in today's world, it is not just big business that feels the impact of the global securities network. small businesses are inextricably linked to the larger commercial world and, in many cases, are serving as the engines of security and an ovation. if we want to encourage innovation. in fiscal year 2011, dhs awarded

almost 30% of our total contract dollars to small business results -- resulted in more than $4.2 billion in prime small-business contracts. our investment in businesses of all sizes is paying off and the development of new security tool. for example, our new commercial- first approach leverage is the innovation and development done by industry to support the department of nuclear and radiological detection equipment needs. the initiative facilitate interaction among industry, stakeholders, and researchers to develop technology that is better and more cost-effective. businesses are also essential to rebuilding the community after a disaster or other tragedy. we have changed how we work with businesses before, during, and after a catastrophic event rate we have seen that the more we do to make sure we're prepared for disaster, the faster we will rebound. that has immense economic

consequences. last year, which supported 99 major disaster declaration and. s. there was flooding across the central united states and devastating tornadoes that hit the midwest and the south. in all of these instances, we have shown that we are dedicated to helping communities rebuild after disaster strikes. one of the many new ways we do this is by awarding contracts to local small businesses and adhering to this principle -- hire local, buy local and help communities get back on their feet. last year, had the honor of attending the opening of the new 9/11 memorial in new york city. that moral, like the one at the pentagon and in the fields out shenksville stand as a reminder of those we lost and will never forget that these memorials must

serve another purpose. they must stand as reminders of our need for vigilance in a dangerous world and as a symbol of our resilience as a nation. we're a nation that has proven time and again that we will always come back stronger from tragedy and adversity. we have come a long way over the past year and over the past 10 years since 9/11. we have learned a great deal about how to better secure our country but we remain aware of house -- a successful terrorist attack and natural disaster can inflict damage far beyond its human toll. threats against our nation whether by terrorism or otherwise continue to exist and the ball. dhs must continue to evolve as well. while we resolve to remain ever vigilant, we also commit ourselves to deploying security measures that promotes the movement of goods and people and that build and our national resilience.

today, we are breathing new strategies to this effort not only to confront an ever- evolving set of rules but support the economic engine that makes our nation great. we will do even more in 2012 and beyond. i want to thank you for your interest today. and for your continued engagement. thank you very much. [applause] >> what do you consider the most pressing threat facing americans today? >> i don't rank them in that way. it is not like the top 10 basketball teams. i think we have to constantly be vigilant against a range of threats. terrorism did not begin with osama bin laden and it is not over with his death. there are other al-qaeda-related groups. we have the growth of homegrown

extremists are working on countering violent extremism is important for us. the whole range of intrusions that can interfere with the movement of people and goods -- cyberspace is an increasingly busy area for all of us. you never know what mother nature will do. that is why we have to work across the country now. that national capacity building, that it is a phrase that means when you have a lot of disasters happening simultaneously like we did this year, communities already have the ability to handle the response and we can come in as part of that team. they're not just waiting for us to show up. >> like every federal agency, you will be undoubtedly be asked to do more with less. does your department of all the tools and resources it needs to keep america safe? >> well, look --

[laughter] anyone can come up here and say i can always use more and that's true. i think the key thing is will we have what we need to maximize our ability to protect the american people? i think by finding new efficiencies and levers and resources and realizing that we're not the only ones involved in security, there are many other partners, they bring their own resources to the table in consolidating and coordinating. i think we can do the job we need to do for the american people and with the american people. >> on border patrol, in canada, the beyond the border agreement includes a pilot project for clearance and cargo on the canadian side. when will this product be awarded and will there be a major border crossings like the

peace brridge considered? >> this is doing the whole customs process abroad. we have that in several locations around the world. it is an important tool that we can use. it is expensive. we cannot do it everywhere but in certain places, weekend. we think we will be adding some more ore-clearance locations in 2012 rate in canada, item we're moving toward that pre - clarence. the issue with the peace bridge is associated with that that is something we're working on very hard with the authorities there. >> we seem to continually hear that the next great threat will come in the form of a pandemic or other health-related biological crises. how would da just co cooperate

with other branches of the government is of such an event? >> i want everybody to make sure you wash your hands carefully. [laughter] don't forgets. one of the first disasters i pandemico thehin h1h1 very we didn't know what kind of fluid would be. be.qt would and the course of that court nation, we learned a lot of things. one of the things we learned is that a lot of the kind of security emergency response community across the country is not necessarily linked copper as tightly as it needs to be with the public health community. we continue to work withhhs and other partners to bring that more tightly together. we work as well and diagnostics.

that is a key area for us. many people don't know but we actually have a science and technology directorate within the department. we run some very important laboratories including the laboratory and plum island which looks at large animal diseases and vaccines for those. we're working with other laboratories across the country. the international aspect of this is key. if there is to be pandemic, it will be by nature international. working with our partners across the globe, we also of a unified effort there. suffice it to say that less and learn h from1n1, not only have we learned from them but we have now deployed than an exercise them across the federal government and across the administration so that we will even better able to respond

should there be another pandemic. >> sometimes more than one federal agency response to any event or catastrophe and collectible cassettes of in verizon and evidence. what is being done to better coordinate their response in each and st. anne agencies and local responders? >> i'm assuming this is from an criminaltheme? normally, the first responders to most crime is going to be your local police. they are the front line on most things criminal. almost across the federal government, we work closely with the justice department and the fbi, particularly on the joint terrorism task forces. that is the criminal investigative side on terrorism. next to the fbi, we have the highest number of agents assigned to those. there are times when it seems like there are duplications or

redundancies but i think through greater use of task forces and things like jttf, those things are getting worked out on the ground and in the field. >> despite 9/11 and many natural disasters, as americans and the business they work for ignore basic prepared us recommendations. why is that and how you encourage preparing this plan? >> i would be interested in some of the media strategies because it is constant messaging. around the beginning of hurricane season, we really are pushing that be prepared and have your badge ready and your plan and where you will unite the family of your divided, that sort of thing. and yet, we still find from surveys and a bill like that the majority of people really don't have those things together.

one of the ways we are dealing with that is to do more education in the schools themselves, educating young people because not only will they hopefully urged their parents to be prepared also as they grow into adults themselves, hopefully, of a worldi havenculcated those values pre we're always looking for ways to press in that issue a new ways to develop -- to deliver the message. one of the things we have done over fema is a much greater use of social media. that is because that is the way a lot of people receive their information now. when need to get information packaged in the form it comes to people the way they receive it. we will continue to press the message and will continue to work in our schools and we will continue to use social media and we will continue to convey the message that people would take that time to really prepare and

think through, then there were -- when there is a major disaster, we can focus our efforts and equipment on those who are totally disabled from helping themselves. >> to the public the most visible face ofdhs "is the if you see something"is something campaign. our people acting on this? >> this is our campaign that really reflects the shared response of security and how everybody can the situation we aware if they see in some -- seen something safe, paired with that, with a training program for law enforcement around the country call sarr which is a defined protocol for how you get information and analyze it and then share it to us so that we can share it back to the country.

that is the way to directly involve low law-enforcement and our efforts. see something, say something, started with metropolitan transit authority in new york and has spread across the country. you see on buses and you hear on the metro. you see it on amtrak and major sporting events. all of the that have adopted this program public, this has developed a momentum of its own. it is a very straightforward way for people to just be aware, just be aware. we have had some very significant cases where, because someone saw something and said something, we have been able to prevent death or serious injury to others. >> there is an increased fear in muslim communities after news of alleged spies in mosques defined as a problem? -- do you find that as a problem. >> i come to this from a

prosecution point of view where i have been a u.s. the tennessee and an attorney general. my view is that profiling is not effective law enforcement. it is not necessarily intelligence-driven. it diverts resources away from things that are more effective. within our shop, within the department of justice and other elements of the federal government that are involved in law enforcement, keep sending the message that profiling is not thing to do it and provide the training and supervision that helps guide us in our efforts to those who would really pose the greatest risk. we have matters on which we spend a lot of time and we have tried to think through these things very we have our own civil rights and civil liberties organization.

our own work with other faith based leaders has helped think this through and how to maintain safety and security without resorting to profiling. >> you said the everyday travelers is not pose the same threat. how do you determine that? >> i will not tell you all of it -- [laughter] for example, we have information that leads us to believe that certain travel routes are problematic. we can see that for my purpose travel history. we add information that we are looking not only for all people from a particular country but certain males who may have traveled here and are the ages

of 20-50 and we could be looking for that. it is really taking the intelligence and information derived from around the world, analyzing it and putting into a format that gives us something to look for that. as i said in my talk, it really defines the size of that haystack. >> do you think terrace will try to be t5 used thesa pre-screen function? >>tsa gets a lot of pressure. revolving threat environment, aviation remains a target. aviation's sector is so critical to the global economy not to mention the potential loss of life should one of these potential attacks succeed. as a move to a wrist-based

strategy where we don't treat every passenger light, it is important to carefully and we pilot things. we just finished the pilot for pre-check and now we can move across the rest of the country. i think we have in seven airports now. we will be adding up the others over the course of the calendar year but we go slowly so that we make sure that security values are not lost in the rush to have something that most travelers will find very easy to use. we have got to get the balance right. >> what information-gathering technologies for cards of the federal government find the most dependable? it depends on what kind of cargo we're talking about. >> i think over the course of the next year, as a keep working on a global supply chain strategy internationally, i

think we will do better. we should be able to reach common standards about cargo and information-related to cargo and how manifest are prepared and how early in the shipping process they are provided. that information sharing more than any other device, that information sharing will probably be the most useful thing we have in the near term. at some point, there may be technology developed that would allow us to wave a magic wand and know what is in cargo and whether it is dangerous or not. in the absence of that, we do some of those things. that information-sharing part, again as i said earlier, that part made more robust and made inclusive gives us the best way to mitigate risk. ."

>> do you think u.s. foreign policy can help you in having to have all the countries cooperate together? >> one of the banks that is surprising when i took over a at only the third secretary and i have gotten to build on what tom ridge and michael chertoff did. 's work.reallyyeoman one thing that has evolved and mature over the past few years is the international regional department. we have people now in 75 + countries. i think we are the third most large international but britain and other government agency. what i spend my time on is the question is about which is forming these international partnerships of -- that would allow us to do things like

screening as far away from our physical borders as possible. that maximizes our ability to prevent someone from getting into the country or someone getting into the country that we don't want. over the course of the next year, yes, we will be work very rigid be working very s ascent -- working with partners. the whole pre-clearance issue i described for you is an international partnership. it is all designed because the nations of the world have an interest in making sure that people remain safe and the global economy can truly move safely and securely. taking advantage of that joint interest is kind of the sweet spot. >> can you elaborate more on how we guard are thousands of miles of coastline and borders,

especially those that are not border -- are not secure? >> the southwestern border is a combination of manpower, record manpower, technology, more and more off-the-shelf technology is that our borders troll -- or patrol agents used for infrastructure. one of our rail infrastructure challenges it is improving the physical land ports themselves. we can shut down 11 between airports but the ports themselves which is where you get livestock go all the rest of thit. that is for major improvements are required. these outposts are designed to help us control the border. the northern border is a different strategy.

it is bigger and more densely populated and the weather is different. we have to use different strategies out there. it is the same kind of thing -- perhaps greater use of aerial maps in terms of the pacific and atlantic, i also mean down on the caribbean and the like, the coast guard is our lead. they have existed since the 18th century. they are charged with protecting our nation's coastline and protecting our waterways. they work a lot with state and local officials who are actually in communities that have large ports but there are charged with making sure that our maritime environment remains safe. >> can you elaborate perhaps and pat yourself on the back and talk about how the u.s. customs fees. >> ok,

[laughter] i shouldn't do that. because it is not my work, is the work of another site. i get to describe it but is the work of many women in this department. it is ice which is the lead on the interception on precursors. this is a very robust and specific information-sharing agreement that will allow us to monitor and track the shipments of the kind of chemicals used to manufacture of ied's and make sure is that commerce moves and some of these are chemicals used in agriculture, for example, they have legitimate uses and illegitimate uses. being able to separate those in making sure we should -- the recipient is the right recipient, getting the right amount as properly prescribed is what this information-sharing agreement works. the way these agreements can or

better is our ability to connect data is so much more robust than it was 10 years ago or indeed even three years ago. our ability to unite different types of data bases so we can make the kind of queries necessary to say that we need to know whether this particular program is moving and where. >> do you believe the u.s. shares responsibility with mexico? >> i think the issue with mexico is they are close neighbors. they are number two or three trading partner. there are thousands of jobs in the united states that relate to our travel and commerce with mexico. they have been engaged in a valiant battle against cartels. that is particularly in northern mexico.

manufactured narcotics package shipped into the united states and sun canada. we want to partner with them and share with them in any way we can our efforts. there's a joint interest in making sure that the battle they are fighting is successful. we're going to continue to do that. obviously, if the question is referring to things like that some curious, i the government had knowledge that serious mistakes were not made there. key questions and ensure that those kind of mistakes are never again repeated. >> you mentioned the current immigration laws are outdated. what would be your number one priority to change it? >> i cannot limited to just one thing. when you work in this area, there is time and again, i will go to meetings with businesses

and they cannot -- bears a can i get visas for their workers. i go to meetings with communities and hear about families that have been torn apart. if you have to pick in this whole area one segment would be young people who were brought here usually as small children, brought here by adults, they have been raised here and they met -- and they may not speak the language of their country of origin. they have gone to school in the united states and done well. they have played by the rules. as they reach adulthood, they come into contact with

immigration and all of a sudden, they are in line for deportation for removal. these of the so-called dream act kids. if you have to take one element out of the whole universe of immigration that needs to be fixed, should be fixed, and can close to being fixed by the congress last year, it would be that category. >> what is your vision for dhs with the national security program to remain on schedule with budget reductions that are coming? >> every element of government has an obligation to find ways to do what we need to do more efficiently and more cost effective manner. we have been looking for these ways for three years. we have gone through this. it is cutting down expenses related to procurement.

it is doing cert and things withit to cut costs there. it is eliminating subscriptions to unnecessary periodicals not from anyone represented here. [laughter] it is a whole host of things. we're getting a lot of good ideas for our own employees. where can we cut costs? where are we doing things that don't need to be done. as we do that, we're finding that week l and geteaner and meaner. we will keep trying with and so -- within the structures we have given the fact that we probably have one of the most complicated set of missions of any department. >> we have some students today hear from georgetown university and one of the vast a question -- as a woman in national

politics, do you think your gender has given you a unique perspective -- perspective and what advice would give a woman entering government service? r >>un. [laughter] 1 of the things i found -- public service is a great college. c --alling. you can do wonderful things and a public service career and the public service career can take many different forms. but, as someone who has been in elected office, one thing i encourage young women to do and running and holding elected office is a grand privilege. it is serious business but it is something that also has a certain amount of joy to it, the whole process of meeting the people and working with the people you will represent.

i would not unfairly to oneself say that you will not consider running in your own right. everybody in this country has the ability to do that. is it -- it is a wonderful experience with its ups and downs but truly rewarding. of time andost out before we as the last question, we have a couple of housekeeping matters to take care of. i want to remind you about our upcoming lunch and speakers. on february 21, a we havedanita patrick. then we have patrick kennedy discussing the mental health parity act and on april 4, we de drepak chopra, and i would like to present our guest with the traditional npc

mug. >> oh boy, thank you very much. [applause] >> i have one last question. you talk about that all of us should be prepared and i would like to know what you have you're ready bag. >> i have the king of ready bags. i have my set of clothes, first- aid equipment, extra batteries, extra chargers, a couple of good books, and the phone number and e-mail address of everybody i will have to be in touch with if i have to use that ready bag. all of you all should have a ready bag as well, thank you. [applause] >> i want to thank all of you for coming out today and i would like to thank the national press club's staff including the

library and broadcast center for organizing this event and here is a reminder that you can find more information about the national press club on our website. if you like to get a copy of today's program, please check out our website www.press.org and i would like to thank you very much. we are adjourned. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] [room noise] lligiblee ununte conversations]

[room noise] [crowd noise] >> we will have more live "road to the white house a" program and shortly. we will bring you newt gingrich in tampa, florida shortly. mitt romney and newt gingrich

are campaigning today. at this hour, mitt romney is holding a rally in dunedin, florida, on the west side of tampa. newt gingrich has five events today, including the one we are going to bring you to shortly in tampa, florida. a little bit later he will be in forfort myers. rick santorum is skipping floated today, and will be in missouri and minnesota. ron paul has no campaign events today. mr. gingrich will be our right thing -- will be arriving shortly. we will have live coverage when he gets here. in the meantime, a look at how

c-span viewers see the candidates. host: this peace starts out saying that "americans don't mind the candidates being rich as long as they have the common touch." "nelson rockefeller was the grandson of america's richest oil magnate, but he won backslaps and once when, as governor, he showed up at new york's ethnic eateries. george h.w. bush, in contrast, came from a fortune nowhere near as large, yet when ann richards described the republican nominee as being born with a silver foot in his mouth, the

image sttuck. mitt romney saw his campaign numbers tumble after newt gingrich began portraying him as a detached millionaire." why do americans admire some wealthy politicians but not others? "one simple answer is that americans love a self-made man and tend to be suspicious of those born with money." line goodrats' morning. caller: i don't relate to any of the candidates, including president obama. why doesn't it c-span talk about gun violence in america these days? we see a whole bunch of pictures of congressman giffords, but we don't hear about what happened. giffords was shot, but there

were fibers six other people who died in the incident. there was a little girl who died, she was 9 years old. two 80-year-old lisa died. we have a problem in this country. president obama never goes to the poor neighborhoods. he never speaks about poor people's issues. they never mentioned gun violence. they take a whole bunch of pictures with gov. giffords -- host: congresswoman giffords, former congresswoman. caller: the country is having a problem with guns, and children being shot, seniors being shot, but we never hear anything from washington. it is just ms. afghanistan -- when president bush was president, sees that

always had something on iraq. now that president obama is president, you don't hear anything about afghanistan, the reserves going to afghanistan. the reserves aren't going over there to defend afghanistan. come on, america, we are better than this, we have better candidates it than this. i don't think any of the candidates, democrats or republicans -- the american people are better than these candidates. have a good week, everybody gu. anotheret's go to caller, morris county, new jersey. caller: good morning, libby, how are you? host: which one do you relate to? caller: i don't really relate to any of them, and it is not

because they are not african- american. bill clinton was in, and i voted for him, i voted for jimmy carter. i don't think any these candidates have any idea what it is like to be black in this country. unfortunately, the republican primary voters seem to be so susceptible to these quasi- racist talk about food stamps and a subliminal messages about black people that they -- it is almost as if they cannot speak to black people, because somehow it would turn off the primarily white conservative evangelical voters. i find that sort of that sad and disturbing in a way. as for that last caller who talked about the president or

national politicians, i would say that he needs to talk to his local politician, his city council member, his state representative and state senator. it is important as we engage in the political process that we remain connected to those races as well. it is not just about the president and congress. it is about local elections as well. we ought to remain engaged from top to bottom. host: a tweet. jay, independent mind, springfield. caller: well, good morning. how are you guys doing? host: good, how are you? caller: good.

thank you for taking my call. i am an elderly gentleman b. the first one i voted for was barry goldwater in 1964, which gives you an idea of my age. i had been a republican most all my life. i officially changed my registration to independent during bush ii's administration, and that was primarily for economic reasons for fiscal reasons -- or fiscal reasons. i cannot help but make the observation that it seems the republican establishment seems to be bound and determined to anoint a moderate republican for the white house. i cannot help but notice that whenever the republican establishment does this, republicans lose. george h.w. bush came into the oval office writing on a -- asing on reagan's coattails

a conservative but conducted himself as a moderate, ran for reelection as a moderate republican, and lost. in 1996, the republicans anointed and bob dole, ran him as a republican moderate. he lost. john mccain, whom i know personally -- i yamar chilly from arizona -- i am originally from arizona -- won the nomination as a conservative, but the rnc ran him as a moderate republican and he lost. it makes me sad that the republican establishment seems determined to anoint and other moderate. to me that is our recipe for failure. host: let's look at the "palm

beach post." "romney and gingrich exchanged insults as the primary nears. one sign that the state that romney's presidential hopes four years ago appears ready to hand them a big victory on tuesday. gingrich stepped up his attacks on romney throughout the day, calling him dishonest and attempting to sharpen the ideological distinction between himself and romney." let's hear a clip of "meet the press" on nbc, historian doris kearns goodwin talking about how candidates are reliable. [video clip]

>> teddy roosevelt was in the rough riders. fdr had polio, which took him out of the privileged life and allowed him to connect to ordinary people. the problem with romney is that maybe he had those expenses, but it does not show when he says he wants to make a $10,000 debt, or makes $24,000 in speaking fees, small change, or "i like firing people." that shows that his experiences have not connected him empathetically. we care if somebody understands our problems and can empathize with us. host: we are asking which candidate in the republican field you relate to. which of their stories speaks to you, what about their family and values, morals, political convictions. edward in miami, florida, on the

independent line. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i cannot vote for any of them, but i connect someone with newt gingrich because of the grand ideas and whatever. as far as romney, he is a corporate raider. ron paul scarce me. -- scares me. this guy has ideas that are too radical. host: edward, you are in florida and you do not feel you can vote for the candidates. are you sitting out? caller: i'm not voting for any of them, no. host: ernest on the democrats' line. where are you calling from? caller: bowling brook, illinois. i'm not exactly addressing the

question as far as republicans go, but as far as relating to candidates, barack obama would have to be the one. he came from basically humble beginnings, he achieved great success by his own initiative and drive, he rose to the highest office in the land. and he has character and honesty and integrity. these other guys reflect some american values, but come on, when you make $60,000 a day, how can you mess that up? how can you screw up? i would say barack obama emphasizes the character traits that we look for in a leader. host: let's look at a story in "the wall street journal." "female support slips for

gingrich. ted woloson back to newt gingrich in the election, but his wife and a different choice. 'i voted for mitt romney because he lives the kind of like i approve of.' baggage,' oo much says an 18-year-old who voted for mr. romney." oregon, andy joins us. caller: good morning, libby. just to speak to what i was thinking, i think mitt romney, of the candidates, has the character -- that aspect of him i find admirable. if he was more forthright in supporting his own record over the years, which, as one of the

conservative scholars said, is moderate, but something that a lot of americans could agree with, and he would have much more appeal. i don't think i would vote for him, but there are many things he has done that are transportable and potentially good for america. he is the kind of smart leader who could make things happen in this country if he was elected. host: gail collins has a piece in the sunday "new york times." "gingrich might go down as the canada to prove that voters don't care about a politician's sexual behavior." this is a different take on it, which ties into what our last caller said. "gingrich says his marital

issues make him seem more normal. he said it makes them seem more normal and that a person who wanders around seeming perfect." he did an interview with david brodie of the christian broadcasting network -- david brody of the christian broadcasting network. "the evangelicals he spoke to bring up the word 'forgiveness.' asked what the sentiment of forgiveness tells him, gingrich responded that it is importeant that he has not hidden from the facts of his life." good morning, john. caller: good morning. how are you this morning? host: good. which candidate do you relate to? caller: i cannot relate to too many of them under the conditions the political process is in right now.

probably gingrich more than anybody. i think obama is very unqualified, and i don't even want to go into that. host: what is it about newt gingrich? is it his personal life, what he has done politically? caller: i think the man has experience inside the beltway, and unfortunately, in these days and times, you need that. he can bring people to gather as he did with the clinton, and working with democrats, i don't know if that is possible anymore, with just the whole climate of everything, the vitriol and all this other stuff going on. i want to make one quick comment, and it is not directly related to this. i want people to understand that this mortgage foreclosure situation that is going on, there are thousands and thousands of people that are still in their homes that had been paying on their homes for years and years and years but they are just sitting there and did this modification, not

paying any payments, not attempting to pay payments, and all the toxic assets are just sitting at there that no one is doing -- i note to people personally? and in their homes over 18 months who have not -- i know it two people personally it who are in their homes or 18 months to have not attempted to make payments. obama has redone the modification think anything else, and that has a lot to do with our economy. george bush i led a lot of this, go ahead and roll it into a toxic asset and light it off the board and it seems like it's gone on and on and on. host: let's take a look at an article that relates to what you are talking about. this is from npr's "morning edition" in coordination with propublica. "whenever freddie mac's restrictions blocks people who had a short sale in the past

from refinancing following the short sale. freddie mac has invested billions of dollars betting that u.s. homeowners will be able to refinance their mortgages at today's lower rates, according to an investigation by npr and troubled putan propublica. these investments, while legal, raise questions about conflict of interest at freddie mac." scott simon says" we were shocked that they did this. it seemed so out of line with the mission, out of line with what congress wanted them to do." occupy protesters blamed police for oakland turmoil. there is a conflict right now in oakland going on related to the occupy protests.

"leaders of the movementd that police acted illegally by arresting hundreds of demonstrators and could face a lawsuit. the mayor was among those inspecting the damage caused when dozens of people broke into city hall on saturday, smashing glass display cases, spray paint graffiti, and burning an american flag." looking at the situation in washington, d.c., this is a story from wusa.com. occupied ec is going to be kicked out of mcpherson square and freedom plaza -- those are locations here in washington -- by the national park service today. "protesters have apparently worn out their welcome with the national park service, after complaints of trash and rat problems, especially in mcpherson square, including a formal complaint by mayor vincent gray. at noon, police will begin enforcing the ban on camping and

the use of temporary structures for camping in mcpherson square and freedom plaza. protesters said that even if they are no longer allowed to camp out here, the occupy d.c. movement will continue." a question this morning is the field for the republican nomination for president -- which candidate do you must relate to? florida. angela on the republicans' line. caller: hi, how are you? host: good, how are you doing? caller: good, thank you. the candidate i must relate to is newt gingrich, because he is the only one who can restore the pride and that we have in this country when ronald reagan was president. host: we just read a story a few moments ago about the decline in women is supporting him, according to polls. angela, what do you think about that? caller: i don't think that is

necessarily true. i think in south carolina he won the women's vote and he will also here. it is not so much a question -- i don't, in fact, agree with his personal life. but at this point, we are at such a critical state in this country that we have to look outside and we have to believe that people repent and are sorry for their behavior. it all at incidents in our life and -- we all have incident in ally for we have things that we regret. the big picture is that he is, and the assault that has been here in florida -- he is a true conservative, and the assault that has been here in florida -- we witnessed the assault at the obviously experience in iowa. romney has really assaulted him, his past has come out. he is the one who began the

negativity in this campaign, yet he is the same ones who will not call president obama a socialist. he called him a nice guy. this is not key to winning. he is destroying his fellow republicans, yet he doesn't -- he goes with kid gloves with obama. host: what do you think about some of the negative ads against mitt romney? caller: i don't think they are the greatest, either, but they are not as devastating as the ones that have come out. it is not only mitt romney. it is the republic and astonishment that has come out against newt gingrich. -- it is the republican establishment that has come out against newt gingrich. as one of your callers said, they put up all losers. they have control. i don't think i will stay republican mitt romney is the

nominee, because we will lose again, and it makes me wonder why the republican establishment is doing this unless they just don't want to listen to the will of the people. host: angelo, have you done early voting yet? caller: i'm going to vote tomorrow. host: let's look at a campaign ad by mitt romney. [video clip] >> florida families lost everything in the housing crisis, gingrich's cashed in. >> my advice as a historian. >> historian? sanction for ethics violations, which resigned from congress in disgrace, and then he cashed in as an insider. if he wins, this guy would be very happy. >> i am a mitt romney, and i approved this message. host: what do you think,

richard? caller: good morning, libby. definitely ron paul haiti is the one who is going to give the country back -- definitely ron paul. he is the one who is going to give the country back to the people. does the country blind to the establishment of the parties or will it go back to the people? there are corporate wars, there is no objective any more. people are spending a lot of money paid for what reason? in the military -- i spent a lot of time in the military. military people are supporting ron paul. romney cannot be elected. this guy has been on the left side of abortion, gun control, and his health plan is the same thing president obama has installed with the obamacare. when the media gets ahold of that, it will make him look like a fool.

republicans -- i agree with jay, the earlier caller, who say they seem to go with a moderate. romney is more progressive than a moderate. he is a rino. host: is there something about ron paul personally that you relate to? caller: oh, yes, he has always kept at the same philosophy about his politics. the constitution will protect us when the parties get away from it, too far away from that, and it becomes a tyrannical country. that is the direction we're moving in right now. the president we have right now is basically a global marxists. we go back to the constitution, and the power goes back to the people. host: let's go to an e-mail that agrees with you.

>> i have never really endorsed -- >> candidate newt gingrich is holding a rally in tampa. he is joined by herman cain this afternoon and michael reagan, who is doing the introduction. >> people are saying he wasn't there weren't there. [applause] and the fact that i was, and during the 1980's, newt was there with the reagan revolution. 1990's, newt gingrich gave the republican party the largest majority ever, give the congress of the united states the first time we get at it in over 40 years. [applause] balanced the budget four times,

reform welfare. he did all that as speaker of the house. but it was uplifting them, what a great guy -- back and, everybody was uplifting him, what a great guy. boy, what a difference a few years make. when he left congress, he went around this country, raise more money for the republican party than anybody, helped republicans to state, local, national office. he has done more for this party that anybody in the race running today for president. [applause] it wasn't really a hard choice for me to say to what i support, because, you see, i remember the years when amy father was running, and we used to run at the reagan conservatives against the rockefeller republican side of the party, and that is the same race we are in today. [applause] we have the rockefeller wing, and we have the reagan conservative wing of the republican party.

guess who is part of the reagan conservative wing? the man who voted for ronald reagan. he did not vote for liberals in the 1990's. he voted for conservatives in the 1990's and he helped republicans go to office and, in fact, stay in office. my father back in 1976, just to tell you how important i think this election is -- 1976, when my father lost the nomination of this party to rockefeller republican, my father was asked to come down to the stage and say a few words to the nation and the people there bank assembled -- the people at their bank assembled. he looked out in front of them, and he told us of a daunting task that he was asked to do. my father was asked to write a letter to be put into a time capsule that would be open on the 300th anniversary of the united states of america.

he said, what a daunting task, to write a letter to people who knew everything about us but we would know nothing about them. what do i write about? we write about nuclear proliferation -- do i write about nuclear proliferation? do i write about freedom? freedom is so important. he said, if we don't make the right decision today, the people who live on the 300th anniversary of this nation may very well not have the freedom to open up the time capsule to read the letter that he has put into it. that is how important this election is. are we not using our freedoms won by what -- each and every -- are we not losing our freedoms and one by one each and every day? is that the government encroaching on our freedoms and more and more each and every day? do you worry about your freedom is being taken away? you have a chance to get those freedoms back. you have a chance to give ronald reagan and in this country what

he always wanted and what you want, freedom. it is not just given to us, is not passed down, it is not given through dna. it is something you have to fight for each and every day, and we have to fight for those freedoms. [applause] there is a lot of people i know, to events like this, and that they go home and put in their diet or tell friends that i was in this great event, michael reagan was there, herman cain was there, and you go home and you forget about it. guess what -- if you think of the liberals, think of them as termites, eating away the foundations of your home each and every day. that is what they do every day. we cannot afford to let them keep doing that. we have to be involved in each and every day if we are going to

stop all that. my challenge to you is this. what i want you to do, if you want to be reaganesque, write a letter, make your own time capsule, and write into that time capsule when you are doing today, tomorrow, the next day and the next day to be ensure that your grandchildren or great-grandchildren, who live on the 300th anniversary of this nation, are enjoying the same freedoms that you have today, and challenge them to write a letter to their children in the future to make sure that we have those freedoms. do that, fight for it. i know there is a lot of people looking for ronald reagan, and my god, we would all love to have my father back. [applause] but let me tell you something, if you wake up in the morning and you yearn to be free, if you

wake up in the morning and you see that shining city in the hill and you want that shining city in they'll back where it belongs, and you want america to once again be the proudest nation in the world and people look up to us, then guess what? you have found ronald reagan. he is living in each and every one of you. go out and fight for it and vote for newt gingrich tomorrow. [applause] but i am not the last speaker. i'm just the warm-up act for a friend of mine. [laughter] [applause] you know, you have to fight for the food -- i'll take that. thank you. there is another man here. a good friend of mine, a good friend of yours also. i spent a lot of time with him and his staff over the last year

or so. i want to bring him out. he is my friend. i guess he is going to be introduced -- herman cain, he has backed there hiding. -- is back there hiding. [applause] thank you all very much, charlie, and tomorrow is an important day. fight for your freedoms. [applause] >> i get to come back up here. let me tell you a story, for those of you who don't know, i was chairman of this county, republican party, for 4.5 years. we used to have this summer dinner series. 3.5 years ago, i put an announcement out and said i was going to have a gentleman, to speak at the summer dinner series, and people are like, "who is that? ."n't know him

i had to send back at his speech at the southern republican leadership conference, and all of sudden, people like tom "oh, we liked this guy, all, this guy is great." i have the privilege today -- someone who was stood for conservatism, someone who has stood for the grass roots, someone who has stood for we the people, and a decent,, someone who stood on saturday night -- with a new gimmick -- and 80's and gentlemen, someone who stood on saturday night with newt gingrich, my good friend herman cain. [applause] >> good afternoon. aw shucky ducky! my kind of crowd.

, onedidn't know better could get the impression that you all like me. [applause] but even better, i like newt gingrich for president of the united states. [applause] of course, you are not my enemy. now, let me give my speech, ok? [laughter] you can have the mic when i am done. i have had some fun in the last few days, ever since i endorsed newt gingrich last saturday night. [applause] the fun has been the kind of questions that i get from some folk in the media.

for example, why didn't you endorse speaker gingrich earlier? answer, i didn't want to. [laughter] another question, were there any promises made by speaker gingrich in order for him to get your endorsement? i said, this may surprise you, i didn't ask for anything, he didn't offer anything. my only expectation is to be able to help him win the nomination and the white house. [applause] that's all. you know, it is difficult for some people to comprehend that not everybody has a political

objective or political motive when they want to do something to help save this country. that is my mission, that is my passion. [applause] but then when i get a question, ok, how would you summarize why you decided -- well, first of all, there was a process. i was on a tv show this morning. they could not comprehend what i meant by a process. i said it had nine steps. [applause] i had to complete all nine of them before i made my decision. that i published my weekly commentary that you can find on cainconnections.com, cainconnections.com, and in my weekly commentary, it was entitled "9 reasons why i

endorsed newt gingrich." [applause] i am only going to share three of them with you before i introduced the speaker. number one, he is the only candidate that talks about and supports the idea of throwing out the tax code in order to get jobs going in this country. throw it out. [applause] and no, he didn't promise it would be 9-9-9. i would not do that to the speaker to try to pigeonhole him. but he did ask me if i would co- chair is economic growth and advisory council. what you think i'm going to advise him on? [applause] number one, he is the only one talking about from out the tax code. the other candidates in pinker around the edges. you heard me say this in one of

the debates -- ranging the -- chairs ofg the dekck the the titanic will not get the economy going. [applause] yes, speaker gingrich and i have had several conversations leading up to the decision. my second reason -- many of the solutions you heard me talking about speaker gingrich also supports. energy independence using all of our natural resources right here. [applause] rebuilding our military and stop gutting our military. we are on the same page. [applause] and then at third major consideration -- whwen i lo -- when i looked at all the

candidates, who would be the superior communicator to draw the distinction between a failed presidency of barack obama and the message that we will be taking fourth, and that is we want power out of washington d.c. and back to the people, and he is that superior communicator. [applause] and one of the other amusing questions i got today -- i've done 7 interviews already today, folks. i flew down here for this because i wanted to be here to support newt and see you. one of the other questions that, you know, i often get concerns, well, you know, newt is behind in the polls in florida, he is

in trouble. does that concern you? >> no! >> my response was, he was behind in south carolina. how was that working out for you? [applause] there are a lot of undecided voters in florida, just like there are a lot of undecided voters in south carolina, there are a lot of undecided voters across this country. you and i are going to help those voters decide for newt gingrich. [applause] and so i must leave you with the challenge, because we can win this. we can win this nomination, if everybody, as emeril lagasse

used to say, crank it up a notch. rememberou to ra three things. number one, stay informed. don't be buffalo'd with the distractions and the attacks and negativity al there. stay informed. as you know and i know, stupid people are ruining america. and we ought to stop that. [applause] number 2, stay in fall. the fact that you are today is part of your involvement. the work that you have agreed to do -- you may not realize the power you have as an individual with your friends and family. if you know the facts, if you understand the differences, and i just gave you three of the differences i have used to

communicate with folks, and that relates to he wants to throw out the tax code, he is the only one was been specific about that, he is a superior communicator, here in america -- and he believes in energy independence here in america. you have to stay in fall. the third thing, stay inspired. you know, we have got to believe we can do this. the liberals, the administration, president obama, they want you to believe that the game is over. game's just starting. it is and not overpaid state inspired. state -- inspired. it is not over. stay inspired. stay inspired. one of the things that inspires me to be out here trumping conservative values and company solutions -- trumpeting

conservative values and solutions, it is and not about us, i guess about the grandkids. it is not about us, it is about the grandkids. the founding fathers got it right with the declaration of independence and constitution. we've got to be the defending fathers and mothers. we must defend those ideals. they got it right. [applause] i have m -- my first grandchild was born in 1999. >> 9-9-9. >> that's 1-9-9-9. y'all. making this up, >> where you got the idea. >> that's right.

january 1, 2012, my fourth grandchild was born, new year's day. [applause] not about us, it is about the grandkids. i am happy at this point to introduce to you the person that i believe can not only win the nomination, but also has shown his fearless leadership qualities in order to not only win this nomination for the republican party, but i firmly believe that he is the leader for our time. ladies and gentlemen, speaker newt gingrich. [applause] americay in only in america ♪

>> we love you, newt. [applause]

fire!t's on >> listen, i have to confess, as a former teacher, talking with part of the class behind me makes me worry about what exactly they are going to be doing. [laughter] we are thrilled to be here. callista and i are very grateful. i want to introduce our younger daughter -- where's jackie? you may have seen her on a fox about 30 minutes ago. she did a great job representing us. she is the mother of my great debate coaches. we are thrilled to be with you. tomorrow is a really, really big day. let me say, the polls are all over the place. we got word of a brand new poll about an hour ago that says we are tied at 35-35.

[applause] you know, the reporters have this kind of horse race mentality, the they always want to get down to process questions, and always say to me, "what are you going to do next is when we announced, it was announced by the is that this meant that we were dead -- by the establishment that we were dead. we came back in december by running a totally positive campaign, with almost no money. romney decided that the only way to stop me was a $3.5 million- campaign in iowa. we came back from that and beat him in south carolina decisively. [applause] "the new york times" reported

that the sunday morning after we won in south carolina, romney team came together and decided that we either destroyed or english or we cannot win. they have spent $17.5 million on falsehoods. when i say it falls it's come i mean that both "the wall street journal" and "national review" asset what they are saying about me is false. you just saw michael reagan, because what romney says about me and reagan is false. washe 1980's, he independent, in 1992, he voted for paul tsongas, the most liberal candidate, and he is questioning my credentials? it tells you how out of touch with honesty mitt romney is capable of being. that is why i am so glad michael reagan is lying around. you saw one of the great grass

for -- its populist is -- i am so glad michael reagan is flying around. you saw one of the great grassroots topless in the country -- grassroots populits in the country endorse me. when rick perry called to endorse me, i asked if he would take a project to take the 10th amendment and develop the strongest possible platform plank for the summer and developed a bill we would put in the contract this fall to pass it next year to take power out of washington and bring it back home to the people. [applause] similarly, having worked with herman as early as the fight against hillarycare and on issues of tax reform, knowing his background as a business leader who actually ran a company, not just an investor, but a guy who actually ran the company and made it work, i've

asked herman to chair a project on jobs, growth, and economic tax reform, which he has agreed to do to develop any set of ideas to have a better future. i will tell you up front, he will walk in the room, and everyone of you knows what plan he will put on the table. [laughter] make him happy, what is the name of the plan? >> 9-9-9! entire just made herman's day. this is the most important election of my lifetime. reelecting barack obama will be a disaster first order and will permanently weaken this country, and therefore we have to defeat him,. . who can best to defeat him? >> newt!

>> you're getting the idea. that was pretty good. [laughter] renominated in a moderat we nominated -- we nominated a moderate in 1996 and we lost. mitt romney is more moderate than any of those candidates. we had articles in "the wall street journal" and at an article by the former lieutenant governor of new york, here is exactly how similar romneycare and obamacare are. i am a reagan conservative. obama is a saul alinsky radical. that is enough distance that we can have a really good debate. [applause] let me talk about current things to give you a sense of how different we will be. were at mass i

last night, and i believe in every catholic church and the country, they are meeting a letter about the obama administration's attack on christianity, and they are using strong language, because this is a fundamental assault on the right of freedom of religion. [applause] our declaration of independence says we are endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights. no politician, no judge, and a bureaucrat can come between -- no bureaucrat can come between you and god. if you help me win the nomination and then win the election, on the very first day i'm inaugurated, i will sign an executive order repealing every

obama attack on religion across the government, period. [applause] let me also say that there is a fundamental difference between my position and governor romney 's. governor romney impose on the catholic hospitals of massachusetts opposition against their conscience. -- a position against their conscience. governor romney cut off kosher meals for senior citizens on medicaid, saying that you cannot follow your religious prescription. i think we need to have a government that respects our religions. of being lectured about respecting every other religion.

i would like them to respect our religion. [applause] let me share more with you about the opening day. we will really change things. this is a major difference between me and romney. this is a brand new article that came out of your last night, with george soros, the left wing billionaire, talking to europeans -- this is on tape, i am not making this up. soros says to europeans that there is really no difference between romney and obama. i am comfortable with either one. with gingrich, that would be real change. [applause] george soros is right, i am real change, and that is why the establishment in both parties is

terrified, because we will change things. [applause] .hat's very good [chanting "newt"] every once in awhile you see innovation and artistry. i don't know where you got this. >> i'm an angry voter! >> is this available online? did you do it on computer? put it online and let us know where people can get it. >> absolutely. >> make no mistake, obamacare anis romneycare. this is pretty good, this is a real leadership. if you put this on line, i will sign this right now.

[applause] wait a second, i want all of you to listen to this. do not put this on ebay. >> no, it's mine! >> you should offer it online for like $1 a piece. >> have your campaign get in touch with me. >> this is another difference between romney and me -- i love people power, not money power. i think people power will win. [applause] we are going to run as a team this fall. i chaired the first capitol

steps event for ronald reagan. 1994, we brought a team together, 350 candidates, signed the contract with america, largest one-party increase in american history, 9 million additional votes over 1990. we have to replace bill nelson with a conservative. [applause] me, if we win and we carry the senate, i will ask the house and senate the weekend of january 3 to stay in office ride than to repeal obamacare. [applause]

i will ask them to repeal the dodd-frank bill, which is killing small business. [applause] i will ask them to repeal sarbanes-oxley. [applause] i never had a class that was quite this rowdy. here is the goal -- when i get sworn in, there are three bills that they can put down their bank, and on the first day, we will repeal obamacare, repeal dodd-frank, repeal sarbanes-oxley. that is just the opening.

[applause] i already mentioned the war against religion. the first executive order i will sign will abolish all the white house czars. [applause] we will also have an executive order instructing the state department to open the embassy in jerusalem. [applause] one of the topics and went to the very first day relates to one of the president's most destructive decisions. that they amazing president of the united states would be to the keystone pipeline. just to take care of his environmental extremist friends.

it makes perfect sense for the pipeline to come out of central canada, go straight down to houston,, and then you have 30- 50 years of processing the resources. the danger is that the canadians, out of frustration want to build a pipeline straight west across the rockies to vancouver, which would be more expensive. if they believe it is the only option, they will do it. i will sign an authorization ok'ing construction as of that day to go ahead and build it. [applause]

mukasey -- that canadians will know that night they did not have to build a pipeline across the rockies. the minute people realize obama is gone, that is how the size of the change will be and how rapid it will be. let me say one other thing. we have an absolute obligation to develop american energy so that we're not dependent on iraq, iran, saudi arabia, or any other foreign dictator. we need to develop enough error -- american energy so that no american president ever again bows to a saudi king. [applause]

let me briefly describe one last thing which is the challenge of radical islam. i say this in this city. we need a much larger, much more comprehensive strategy. we are up against opponents who are religiously motivated am prepared to kill themselves to kill us and ouare trying to impose their civilization on ours. let's start by willing to be honest about the threat. the obama administration refuses to talk honestly about the threat and has made it against the rules to talk honestly about the threat. we know there are people conspiring to kill us across the planet. we know what they have in common, and it is not that they

belong in the rotary. in the obama administration, it's inappropriate to use the language. second, i am opposed to the use of sharia of in any american party. [applause] i am comfortable with legal immigrants who want to become american. i am comfortable with every immigrant from every background, including as long. i have no confusion about our background, our laws, our civilization. if they wish to join us, that's fine. we will not accept sharia and its imposition of us. [applause] let me be clear. we really need your help.

we need you on facebook. we need you twittering, if that is what you do. we need you to e-mail and call people. many of you have been calling, and it has been helping. we need you occasionally talking face-to-face with people. at the grocery store, a drug store, when your family gathers, what ever. i believe that the conservative movement has come a long way. i believe that we have a clear understanding of what we stand for. we stand for the declaration of independence, the constitution, the federalist papers, american history, ltd. it constitutional government, the judges who obey the constitution and operate within the constitution. [applause]

we stand bureaucrats to understand that there are public servants and we are citizens. they are not public masters and we are not subjects. [applause] finally, we stand for elected officials who put america above everything else and will put america first in trying to solve our problems and are willing to work together to help american get ahead. with your help, we will win a great victory tomorrow. when we do, we will send a signal to george soros, goldman sachs, new york, and washington establishment. money power cannot buy people power. people power stands on conservatism and we're prepared to take back our country. thank you, good luck, and god bless. [applause]

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

>> new dean grinch wrapping up the stock, the democratic florida primary. -- newt gingrich wrapping up this campaign stop. what does, traveling to fort myers. no stops in santorum in florida today. he has moved on to missouri and minnesota. ron paul is not campaigning today.

met rummy's then later today will be at a retirement community in central florida. we will have live coverage of that off at 6:10 p.m. eastern on c-span. c-span's wrote to the white house coverage takes you live on the campaign trail. >> you'll find more and more people there recognize the mass of opportunity for a change in trade. if i'm president, one of the things i will do is to begin an economic initiative of drawing the latin american businesses and american businesses closer together. this is not charity but opportunity. >> this is about building a new grand coalition of about americans to come together because they want to create a country where we unleash the spirit of the american people and rebuild the country that we love.

that is what 2012 is all about. >> i'm 105 years old. >> good to see you, sir. >> at you every kind. thanks. thank you. >> tomorrow night, watch our coverage of the florida primary results with candidates' speeches and your reactions on the phones, facebook, and twitter. tonight, fcc commissioners as they tour the consumer electronics show in vegas. this is the second in a series on developments in consumer technology. "the communicator's" at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span2. >> jary carney today talked about the downfall of president

assaad as "inevitable." the u.s. is having intense discussions about syria and confirmed secretary of state hillary clinton is heading to the u.n. security council to discuss the next step. this is about 40 minutes. >> it got so quiet. good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. thank you for being here. i hope you are enjoying this spectacular weather. it should be getting warmer this week. i wanted to remind you that later today the president will participate in an interview with hulu and google +. it will be held in a google + hangout, the first virtual interview. the president will answer questions submitted in voted on by a citizens across the country. through the white house youtube

channel, more than 133,000 questions were submitted and cast 1.6 million votes leading up to this interview. president obama will answer a selection of the top of voted questions and engage with americans in locations across the country virtually in the google + hang out. the white house launched an official presence on google + earlier this month and delivers news, engagement opportunities come and behind-the-scenes content of followers. is it to kick soccer series of white house hangouts in which members of the obama administration will continue to use the spot form to engage with citizens on a range of issues. the video will be streamed on whitehouse.gov and in the briefing room at 5:30 p.m. >> can you explain what google + is? mediais google's social

vehicle. for more questions, i would refer you to the good people at google. you are right to ask. the associated press. >> it there are reports out of cairo that the embassy is giving shelter to americans to prevent them from arrest. is the white house taking any steps to secure and bring them to freedom? >> i can confirm there are a handful of american citizens at the embassy. we are not aware that they are in any danger. the handful of citizens has opted to stay on the embassy compound while waiting for permission to leave. egypt, as you these are citizens who have been told they cannot leave egypt. we have had discussions with the

staff where we have made clear our concerns about this issue. it seems several citizens are not being allowed to depart egypt in connection with the government investigation into ngo's. we continue to work with the egyptian authorities to resolve this issue as soon as possible. >> do you know how many? >> i do not have anything more specific than that. i do not have a precise number or individual names. >> they are in danger of arrest? >> the issue, as i understand it, is that the egyptian authorities have said they cannot leave the country. i do not know that there is an issue of arrest. >> is the president growing frustrated at the pace of change

in egypt? >> it is important to step back and note that egypt has been achieved several historic milestones and transitions to democracy in recent days including the first seating of democratically elected officials, and the staff announcement it was taking steps to lift the state of emergency that had existed in egypt for several decades, also the official commemoration of the revolution that made the steps possible. we congratulate the egyptians on these important steps towards fulfilling the promise of egypt's revolution. -- it isember important to remember is that

egypt has come a long way. we are concerned about and are in discussions with egyptian authorities about it. >> what else on the domestic front? sometimes you comment on the republican campaign trail. i was wondering if you have a reaction to the chairman of the rnc comparing president obama to the italian ship captain who abandoned the passengers. >> let me just say that if you are so desperate for attention that you make an analogy that michael still deems inappropriate, you probably gone -- michael steele deems inappropriate, you have probably gone too far. >> what is the u.s. position on

the talks to resolve the serious crisis? is there concern this will further delay the process of a exit?- assad's >> we do not have details on the meeting. in general, lease are supportive -- we are supportive of the attempts. there is a disturbing rise in violence in syria. we are discussing with the russians and other partners how best to use all weaver's -- levers to press the syrian government to stop the harmful repression. we are working with all our partners. we believe the security council, it is important that the security council take action.

>> what about the arab league? >> we believe the security council should not -- we do support the arab league's role in the process. governments who act to prop up his brutal regime will find themselves in a small minority and criticized preventing further human-rights violations. it is important to look at where the process is heading. his ball is inevitable. with regards to further steps that need to be taken, it is important to calculate into your considerations the fact that he will go. the regime has lost control of the country and will eventually fall. >> is the u.s. involved in or

aware of international efforts to arrange his going into exile? >> i do not have any information on mount -- that. we support the syrian people in their transition to democracy. we're working with partners to continue to pressure the assad regime to get it to stop its brutal and appalling behavior and step aside so that the peaceful transition to democracy can take place. >> the president in his weekly address said a senator was going to hold all nominations. is this a complete breakdown of the system? partt's examine the first of your question. it is an example of how the system has broken down.

a single senator can hold up all nominations. that is highly unfortunate. that is why the president mentioned in his weekly address. it is not how the system should work. to hold up the process and claim that no nominations will be cleared until the president removes the consumer watchdog so vital to the implementation of wall street reforms that were put into place to prevent the kind of disastrous financial crisis that caused the greatest recession since the great depression is shocking in and of itself. it is not a position that would be broadly supported by the

american people. it may not even be a position supported by the constituents of the senator in question. it is the wrong approach. it is not conducive to getting the work the american people want done, done here in washington. >> there are reports that freddie mac has securitized large sections of its mortgage holdings to earn interest at the expense of homeowners who could refinance. if they did so, freddie mac would lose money on their investment portfolio. does this constitute a conflict of interest? >> we saw the reports. they certainly raised some concerns. this is an independent institution with independent governments. -- governance, so we do not make

those kinds of decisions. i believe treasury is looking into it. >> the president has requested they make financing easier and more affordable. >> i am not an expert on this. i do not know that it flies in the face of that at all. i think is an adjustment worth looking at by an independent agency. the president's commitment to making refinancing more available is absolutely firm and not changed by anything this independent agency is doing. you will hear more details about that from the president this week, about the refinancing initiative. >> how much of the drive will be continued debt problems increase have on u.s. economic economy? >> we have said and it continues to be the case that europe

remains a concern. the europeans have taken important steps towards dealing with their financial and markets issues. there have been positive developments. more work needs to be done. this is a european issue. the europeans have the capacity and wherewithal to resolve it. we have been very engaged at the level of the president and secretary of the treasury in an advisory capacity. we have some experience dealing with this kind of financial crisis, mitigating it, and resolving it. the fact that in a global economy a problem in europe could affect our economy only reminds us and reinforces the

fact that we need to take every measure we can on the issues we control to ensure that our economy keeps growing and creating jobs. that is why the president. for the american jobs act in the fall. that is why he looks forward to the congress extended the payroll tax cut to one and 60 million americans as well as unemployment insurance. it is why he will continue to press on the initiatives contained in his state of the union address aimed at economic growth in the manufacturing sector and innovation. because it is a world filled with potential problems to our global economy that may or may not transpire, you need to do everything you can as a member of congress and the president to

create some insurance for our economy that can continue to grow and create jobs. that is what this president is committed to doing. >> has the president in making phone calls? what specifically has he been doing? >> i do not have any recent bull calls to read out to you. for many months, he has been engaging with his european counterparts on this issue. that is by telephone as well as in meetings. the g-20, for example. secretary geithner has as well with his counterparts. he has traveled to europe. while is a european issue that requires a european solution, we have important experience we can bring to bear in advising, offering our advice and counsel to the europeans. we urge the europeans to continue to take the measures

necessary to stabilize the situation and build a firewall necessary to ensure this is resolved. >> during the state of the union, the president was talking about the importance of keeping young people in school. he said he is proposing that every state requires that all students stay in high school until they graduate or turn 18. what specifically is the president going to do to push this proposal forward? >> i do not have any more details on the proposal. the president believes it is very important that in today's economy it is vitally important that the states take action to ensure americans stay in school

and get the education they need, the minimum education they need to be competitive in the workplace. the president's commitment to education as a cornerstone to our economic growth has been clear for three years. his approach has been to reform in a way that has enjoyed bipartisan support. he continues -- he looks forward to continuing to work with members of congress and other stakeholders to push education reform forward. it really is about our economic future. we need to make sure we have the most skilled work force, the most educated work force, because that is our competitive the vantage with other countries

around the world. >> are we going to get any details about the buffett rule or will it be in the budget? >> i would not expect more details from us prior to the budget. the buffett rule is the principle -- principle that will guide the president's approach to tax reform. in an environment like the one we live in where we have important investments we need to pay for, whether it is national security or investments in education, everybody needs to pay their fair share. it is not fair to have a tax code that because of loopholes

and other things and it -- init that you have millionaires and billionaires paying less of their income than middle-class americans. you will get more details but not prior to the budget. >> vice president biden attended a to treat -- a retreat where he shared details about the decision making process on the obl rate where he says he recommended against it. is that accurate? >> vice president biden was one of the handful of people involved in the process. i know he is speaking accurately. the broader point the president has made is that this was not a

sure thing. the president had so much faith in our special forces and their capacity to fulfill the mission that he made the call to go forward. i think secretary gates has spoken about this as well. that is why it is a presidential level decision. as with a lot of decisions, and your advisers come together and have compelling arguments on either side. you have to make a call. that is what the president did in this case. roger. >> mr. ferment -- furman mention corporate tax return. will that be part of the budget?

>> i think you will hear more about that around the release of the budget. i mean around that date. i do not want to pin it to a specific date. >> a senator is introducing legislation to give congress the authority to approve keystone. will the white house way in -- weigh in in opposition to that? >> it is important for you and everyone to remember in looking at the issue how we got here. the process is in place consistent with the president where the state department is reviewing the request for a permit hearing. when significant concerns were raised about a pipeline routes

-- the pipeline route, a decision was made to seek an alternate route, one that did not run through territory over the offer -- aquifer in nebraska. the president concurred with the decision to require an expansion of the time. to review the request that would be appropriate. as far as i know, the alternate route still has to be identified. there was clear warning from the state department that doing so would put them in an untenable position. they chose to insert the extraneous measures, insuring the state department would recommend nine to permit -- denying the permit because you could not grant a permit on the

pipeline route that had not been identified. that is why we are where we are. whatever actions are taken in congress, it is important to have that as a backdrop when you are writing about or discussing it. >> i am wondering if the white house has a sense of -- >> let's see what happens. i do not have anything to predict. >> will the president be asking georgia to contribute more troops in afghanistan? what kind of impact may it have on u.s.-russia relations? >> the president looks forward to the meeting with the georgian president today in the oval office. this is the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the

united states and the republic of georgia. they will discuss further strengthening the charter on the strategic partnership by enhancing cooperation in the field of trade, tourism, energy, science, education, culture, and security. he will underscore the importance of defense contribution -- cooperation. he will reinforce the importance of their territory within the recognized borders. he looks for to discussing upcoming elections in georgia and the reforms that will ensure their continuing transformation into a vibrant and stable democratic state. how is that for an answer? [unintelligible] >> we can wait for the meeting to happen and then provide a readout. our approach to georgia and their relations to russia have

not changed. this meeting, the president looks forward to it for all the reasons i just described. >> recognizing the upcoming budget will have elements of restraining spending and also try to preserve the economic recovery, which direction will tilt toward? more spending to make sure recovery does not go south or really getting a handle on the debt? >> as you know because you reported on it, spending has already been decided through the budget control act. the overall amount that will be put forward in the budget was decided in august in a bipartisan vote. it is important to remind everyone that when it comes to deficit reduction in dealing

with long-term debt, this president has already locked in over $2 trillion in deficit reductions through spending cuts. more needs to be done. you can be sure the proposal the president last fall for comprehensive and balanced reductions will be reflected in his budget because it is the right way to go. every independent bipartisan commission has said that, which this president from one believes. the balanced approach has to include revenues as well as entitlements. the president has been committed to the approach from the beginning. he remains committed to it. you will see it reflected in the budget. spending was decided with republicans last summer. >> secretary panetta says it is

possible iran could have a nuclear weapon within a year should they decide to try and do that. senator lieberman says at some point, the u.s. is going to have to decide whether to act militarily to prevent that. the president has already said all options are on the table. will he have to make that decision within a year? will he have to decide whether to use military force to deal with iran's nuclear program? >> president has said he is determined to prevent iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. that is our policy. he has also said he takes no options off of the table. the strategy has been pursuing -- he has been pursuing with broad international support has resulted in the most onerous sanctions ever placed on iran

that have had a clear affect -- effect on the iranian economy and regime. they have isolated iran more than it has ever been. we will continue the pressure using all the means at our disposal working with the international community to pressure iran into living up to its international obligations. >> do you agree with that timetable, that he will have to make a decision in the year? >> i think the secretary went on to talk about delivery vehicles and the timeline for that. i do not want to get into analyzing timetables. i can tell you this president's policy is clear. he has stated repeatedly that he and his administration are determined to prevent iran from

acquiring nuclear weapons. we have a comprehensive strategy we have been executing with the international community that is having a clear impact on the iranian economy. we continue to make it clear to the iranians that the way to relieve the pressure is to live up to its obligations. that is the right approach. it is also the right approach to take no option off the table. >> i do not deny the impact the sanctions are having. they also do not seem to be dissuading iran from moving forward with the nuclear program. does the secretaries assertion they can do it in the year. pressure on the president to make a decision within a year?

>> it is an estimate based on the administration's view of the development of the process in iran. it does not change our strategy which is to continue to put pressure, continue to isolate, continue to make clear to iran what its options are and how their behavior has caused it. it is also to make it clear that we're not removing options from the table. we can then move forward. >> other than having an impact on the iranians economy, is it having any other effects? >> what effect would you look for economic sanctions to have other than on the economy? they are having the desired effect.

ultimately it the diplomatic/sanctions approach, we hope will have the effect of changing iranian behavior. it is important to push the process forward working with our international partners. it is a fact that we have a situation where the world is united against iran on this issue. iran internally is divided. that is the reversal of the world as it was when president obama took office. much of the world was blaming the united states and its approach for what was clearly iran's problem. through the policies of this president and you. she has taken, the world now sees iranian behavior for what it is. that has resulted in the kind of sanctions -- for the policies of this president and the actions

he has taken, the world nazis iranian behavior for what it is. that has resulted in the kind of sanctions that are having an effect. >> can you say specifically where the ship is headed? >> i would refer you to the department of defense. >> could this be headed towards iran? >> i would refer you to the department of defense. our presence in the gulf and the strait of hormuz is part of a rotation that has not changed at all. insurers we maintain a significant presence in the gulf -- it ensures we maintain a significant presence in the gulf. on the specific issue, i would refer you to the pentagon. >> over the weekend, 400 protesters were arrested in oakland. today, the national park service is clearing out

protesters as we speak from a site in d.c. what is your reaction? is the administration concerned the protesters are taking it too far? >> with regards to oakland, that is a local law enforcement matter. here in washington, i would refer you to the national park service and park police for specifics. our position continues to be that we need to balance first amendment concerns of the right to demonstrate and speak freely with public safety concerns and public health concerns. we understand local law enforcement and park police are weighing those considerations

when they make decisions as appropriate. >> says mr. grossman was unable to get into pakistan, has the president had a conversation about the state of our relations with pakistanwhich i will give . >> i am not aware of any conversations with the president. i can give you our view of u.s. pakistan relations and the fact that that relationship has been and continues to be complicated, but it is very important to our national security and dressed in our fight against al -- interest and our fight against al qaeda. >> have we got any kind of announcements? why has the fall off?

can you talk about any meetings he has had? >> it is obviously a high priority, a national security priority. we are concerned about the implementation process of the strategy. as we begin the transition to afghan security lead to 2014. in terms of meetings, the afpac group, it is an issue that is discussed frequently in the president's national security time with the national security advisers. >> the turks tried to have talks

had come to a settlement. they told the president that this is not working and we have to move on. i wonder why in light of that precedent, you even said -- the use of the somewhat open to the russian effort. >> we support efforts to bring about a solution that results in the assad regime leaving, the transition to the peaceful democracy that the people deserve. we welcome the efforts by those ens. -- ends. we share the goal here. it willorrect,

not stop us. >> hillary clinton is going to new york. >> we just announced in this, we won't allow the regime to assault its people. and government that acts to prop up the regime will find themselves in a minority and criticized. assad's fall is inevitable. as countries make this determination about the approach they want to take, they should understand that the genie is out of the bottle. the status quo will not pertain again. everybody needs to work towards a peaceful transition in syria. >> the administration was

willing to give the turks a little bit of time, and it sounds like this time you are saying to the russians, this is fine, but we will go full steam ahead. >> these processes don't happen when you snap your fingers, it is part of working with the international community. as we saw over the weekend, the level of carnage in syria seems to be increasing, the appalling brutality is not abating. it is important that the international community come together to make clear that this is unacceptable and it has to stop. >> there are rumors about the purchases in new york, but what is the rumor -- >> i am shocked that your the one that ask this question.

usually the standard for british tabloid reporting was the assumption that was false. in this case, it is utterly false and it is irresponsible for an american organization to repeat a story. i am not going to go there now, it is false. >> can you tell us the president's thinking in going to the dinner on saturday night? >> the president has attended this particular dinner before, it is a tradition in our great nation's capital for a sitting president to attend these functions. i think they all wished that it were a will. it has not been a leader with the listener or the gridiron. he enjoyed himself, he hopes that his speech entertained.

i thought it was funny. >> how you did not put out a transcript, why is that? >> we are pushing the envelope here in terms of its traditions and our release of excerpts. carol, you're awfully quiet. >> are you guys monitoring those questions or is google? >> google plus. we're not taking the questions. connie. >> have they said anything about the law on the standing debate -- that these are really good things for the country? >> the president believes the

primary process is the way that we choose our nominees. he participated in a very long process for years ago and he looks forward to the time when there is a nominee from the other party and for that debate to be joined. this process has a long tradition behind it. >> there was a report a week ago that the labor department and other agencies have already given their thumbs up to an executive order that would expand the executive order barring discrimination in federal contract iing. the issue is at the white house for review. can you confirm the report and do you know if and when the white house will -- i i cannot confirm, but

can take the question and let you know. thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> florida's primary is tomorrow. mr. romney holds a campaign rally in central florida tomorrow. you can see the event live at 6:45 p.m. eastern. gingrich is campaigning with ronald reagan's son, michael. he intended a -- attended a campaign. here are a look at some of the campaign ads. >> florida families lost everything in the housing crisis. newt gingrich was paid over $1.6

million by the agency that helped create a crisis. >> my advise is a historian? >> thank you for ethics violations. he cashed in as nbc incentive. this guy would be very happy. >> i approve this message. >> he will be dishonest on the job. >> what kind of man would mislead, distort, and to deceive to win an election. this man. he says he has always voted republican when he had the opportunity. he had the chance to vote for george bush or pat buchanan but he voted for a liberal democrat instead. his investments were a blind trust, but rodney earned tens of thousands of dollars from

investments not in a blind trust. in his own campaign paid for the ad and his own voices on the data proving its false content. if we can't trust what he says about his own record, how can we trust him on anything? >> c-span's road of the white house takes you lied to the campaign trail with the candidates. >> more and more people recognize the mass of opportunity for exchange and trade. one of the things i will do with my first 100 days is to get an economic initiative of drawing latin-american businesses and other businesses closest together. this is not of charity, but of opportunity. >> this is about building a new, a grand coalition of americans that come together because they want to create a country that will unleash the

spirit of the american people and rebuild the country that we love. that is what 2012 is all about. [inaudible conversations] >> tomorrow night, watching the coverage of florida's primary results with your reactions by following facebook and twitter. tonight, fdc commissioners as they tore the consumer electronics show in las vegas. this is the second in the series on consumer technology. the communicators, tonight at 8:00 eastern on c-span [applause] . -- c-span2.

>> panelists talked about implementation of the move act which allow people to vote in federal elections regardless of where they are stationed. >> it is a spirited discussion and i am glad to moderate the discussion. let me emphasize this is precisely what this is going to be. it will be a discussion between and amongst those that have come in dressed in facilitating participation of the men and women in uniform, that most fundamental of american rights, the right to vote. we live in a representative republic where the underlying premise is that through the process of americans, we choose leaders that represent our point of view. the voters that we trust will enact laws overseeing regulations and insure that

justice is enforced at all levels of government. and could agree that the actions of these elected officials impact our lives, no where is the impact more profound than those folks that are in uniform. all should have been dressed in participating in the process with movies -- in which a the representatives are chosen. we know that being a citizen does not require that we exercise that right to vote. the choice not to vote is itself a choice. the greatest example of representative government, only occasionally do a majority of those who have that fundamental right actually exercise that right. only 37.8% of the voting age population voting in the election of 2010 which was a

non-presidential year, when we compare numbers, we will compare between non-presidential years and presidential years. the last presidential election, 56.8% voting. the highest participation in the last five decades or so was 1960 with 63%. the highest non-presidential year was 1966 with 48.4%. when we talk about motivating men and women in uniform, motivation to vote extends not only to those in uniforms, but to all americans. and what motivates an individual to exercise this right to vote is dependent on them and those folks that would provide that motivation which surrounds the campaign and politics today. what brings us here today is how

to best facilitate those men and women in uniform and their families the opportunity to exercise that fundamental right to vote. without the opportunity to exercise that right to vote, we are denying that right. whether they choose to exercise it or not. to deny that right to the men and women in uniform that protect that right does this honor to them and dishonor to our country. that is sort of the premise why congress enacted the move act and all those other initials we talk about. we're here today to talk about how we are doing given men and women in uniform that opportunity. let me just briefly read the

bio. jocelyn benson, raise your hand. she is an associate research -- a professor at wayne state university. it boasts a project that of transparency and integrity in elections. in 2011, she was elected to serve with sandra day o'connor on the national board of directors. in non-profit created by justice 'connor, she is a fomermer member of the committee for election law. she published the first major book on the role of the secretary of state, and in 2010, the michigan democratic party's candidate for secretary of state. she previously served as a law

clerk on the u.s. court of appeals in six districts. nice to have you here. bob was appointed director at the federal assistance program in 2009. where is the rest of your bio? he served as executive director of the national defense committee. he was commissioned in the navy, served on destroyers, carriers, and was a bomb to be a navigator. -- bombadier navigator. he served as a senior policy advisor to the secretary of

energy. he he has been called to active duty for times. -- he has been called to active duty four times. tom is a legislative associate for a iraq and afghanistan veterans association of america. he is responsible for executing their legislative goals, working with other decision making bodies and veterans' organizations. in iraq, he earned both combat action badge and the bronze star. thank you for your service as well. >> that was close. >> i practiced that, but it kept

coming out the same way. hans has a wide range of expertise in civil rights, civil justice, immigration and related issues including finance reform, voter fraud, election administration, standards, on and on. he served as the virginia committee on the u.s. commission for civil-rights and published countless national newspapers. he has been on countless radio and television shows. he made a multiple regent multitude of presentations. candace, how are you? candace garvey national military

family association's staff in june 2007. prior to that, she served in the organization including chairman and ceo. as government relations director, she addresses issues relevant to quality of life for families including responsibility for absentee voting rights and a host of other responsibilities. she represents this association has a number of the alliance. she is also the co-chair of the personnel committee for military coalition which is comprised of military veterans organizations representing 5.5 million members. she was an air force spouse of 22 years, and knows the

assignments, in deployments, and transitions of the military families. we want to thank you for your service as well. >> a couple of things. this is a discussion amongst friends, and we share a common interest. there may be disagreements, but we will keep those disagreements of zero. i have been to enough of these and of the sometimes we revert to the acronym language which leaves a whole lot of the civilian population totally mystified. which may not want to use them as freely as we would normally. i know what a filibuster looks like. we will try to avoid having a filibuster on any of these issues. let me begin the discussion.

i think they represent more directly the interest of the active military duty, how are we dealing in giving the armed forces personnel the opportunity to participate in the voting process? >> i would say that we are doing better than we have done in the past. we have seen a 27% rise in more for dissipation on the part of the military community, but we have also seen the fact that we still have very high numbers, route 29% not receiving the ballots in time to be able to get them back in order to vote. there is still a problem with being disenfranchised and making sure we are cutting out on the time, and that the family still can vote.

when we are talking about absentee voting, they are not always voting from overseas. our families vote absentee as well. how many are living in shared household where the service member may vote in one state in this house may vote in another. >> it is certainly getting better, in 2004, i was a platoon leader. it was an absolutely ridiculous process. just because i personally am a little bit more political, i literally had a binder that was about 9 inches thick and it took roughly an hour to get one person registered to vote because you have to go through the general thing, looked of their state level stuff, it took a lot of time.

frankly, i did not have because i was getting ready to go to war. can this really brought out an important point. -- candace really brought up an important point. it is not just living detached from your home of record, there are a lot of cultural concerns, a much younger population that has a much lower voter turnout. you are generally not that political. i was not watching election coverage, i was watching the desert. one of the things we haven't quite figured out yet, is it because of the structured problems for access? a think we have gotten better in fixing those, and the is it

because of apathy? one of the things about this issue is that it is not something that you contract over a few years because elections are iterative. let's be honest, we only count numbers every four years. we would like to pay attention to all of them, but the reality is that we passed the move act in 2009. it will take a couple trial runs before we can figure out where the holes are. we can implement a program and figure out how to fix the program. it will take a lot longer, and it will make the problem of infinitely more difficult to solve.

methods increase at a much faster rate. >> bob, obviously what we have heard is that there have been improvements that were made, improvements that need to be made. i have read through all of your material and the other material provided by that. there is a 29% participation rate. are you happy that we are making progress? is there impediment for making that progress? i know you have the numbers. how do they look? >> the issue is, is insufficient? it becomes an overall policy issue of what you want the voting assistance program to be. if you want a get-out-the-vote effort, that is not what is right now. the law says to provide equal

opportunity as you discussed earlier, right now, what we have tried to do is say, he military voter participation rate is part of the general population. is that indicative of the structural issues? i believe is both. we have actually broken it down. we will try to figure out how those compare. for all of the age cohorts except the 18-24 year-old, the participation rate is actually higher. that is important because 60% of the military is under 29 years of age. only 6% is over 45 years. you know, 53% of the general

population is over 45 years of age. the other element is exactly the dispersed nature of the military population. physics plays a part. a bag of mail wheys and takes up a certain amount of space. going out to the fort operating base, badly matters. -- that weight matters. it replaces troop and medicine. we are trying to focus on the electronic delivery of the ballots to take that out of the escalation and take out the time line. it takes 20 or 30 days horrid got to get overseas. we want to reduce that to 20 or 30 milliseconds.

the concept is taking a paper based system through hierarchical command-and-control methods, having the voting assistance officer get up and read from the book, have everyone fill it out and go along. what we say now, we have copied a lot of this stuff online, we have taken the entire voter registration process and reduced it to a process where we ask the questions. that is a construct that we can take, i have a grant program to provide a greater ability at the state level to have the on line ballot delivery and have voters have access to the online ballots and the services to be able to provide greater electronic tools to get the word out to folks. >> based on the methodology you have used, we have made

measurable progress and we are moving in the right direction. this method has been used by the pentagon for how long? >> 25-30 years, they conduct a number of these surveys. one of the advantages we have -- >> you are confident that the data is valid. hans, i know this is a softball to you. >> i hate to be disagreeable, but people in the that i tend to get in trouble in this town. i say what i thinkk, that's a no-no. this whole idea has been the significant improvement -- the evidence is not there for that. the survey has been criticized by the gao specifically because it was a survey.

they sent 123,000 forms and got back 15,000. what the commission put together every year were they call state officials and get the numbers from them about how many overseas voters requested ballots and how many did you send out? this is just a survey of people, and what did they say about the report? they said that they don't conduct a non-response bias nalysis that omb says is a necessary step. not conducting such an analysis limit to reliability. i don't want to get into a statistical debate here, but anybody that doesn't surveys know that there is bias in who actually sends them back and how accurate the information is when

it comes back. the other problem with the samples, it did not accurately reflect the overall military population. the surveys were completed by senior officers and their spouses even though they are only about 12%. >> surveys are never perfect. it weighted? >> the gao says they didn't do it. i would argue we don't have significant evidence of improvement. i will tell you, one of the biggest problems we had in the past two years, i don't know if it is in detention or incompetence by the department of justice, but let me give you a quick example. the move act passed in 2009 and

was supposed to improve its, had put in the 45 day requirement that everybody agreed was needed for states to send out the absentee ballots before that date. d.o.d. sent a request to t.o.j. saying there is a waiver provision in the law. please send us guidance because doj is the enforcer. please send us guidance on how you intend to enforce the law and what we should take into consideration? doj never sent them any guidance and put out no guidance to the states on how they're going to enforce the law. contrast that with 2002 when doj put out all kinds of guidance. d.o.d. was supposed to designate

particular offices on installations to be the equivalent of voter registration agencies, the same way public assistance offices are. when did they do that? the law was passed in october of 2009. they did the designation on november 15, 2010, two weeks after the election. there is even a letter in march in which the congress said, not all of the branches have done that. one of the key problems for overseas folks in the military is that they move around so much. many of the ballots that get sent by election officials overseas come back with bad addresses. on one of the ways to solve that is to make sure that you -- the offices on every base that

process people coming in that have been transferred, the navy fleet family services, you are given a checklist. you take care of housing, pay, and on that checklist should be what ever the office takes care of payroll, housing, that should be the designated voter registration agencies. you have to fill out your changes of address. instead, they really didn't do that. they picked miscellaneous offices, places where people don't necessarily go. that mistake should not have been done. the law needs to be changed. >> hold that idea because i want to highlight this on everyone with regard to the data and we will come back to talking about

that. i saved you this because of your current position and background. when you look at what they have said, you understand the situation from a practical standpoint. we have these laws that have been enacted, the losses that were supposed to provide us -- are we doing the job we are supposed to do? is the job getting done that congress asked to get accomplished? if not, what do we need to do in your mind to change that? >> i also wanted to thank susan, i appreciate her invitation to serve with this very knowledgeable and esteemed group. i want to take this conversation away from statistics and down to the level of the voter with my own experience as a military spouse with the husband addition

of an overseas base, the experiences i have seen firsthand. as someone who believes the way in which the infrastructure is building, the structure has an impact on who votes. we also know it is much more than that and there are a election administration issues, cultural issues, and non-profit issues all of which can be improved. we do ourselves a disservice if we focus on what the government can and cannot do better. from the perspective of someone that has worked directly with voters overseas on active duty, on bases, trying to get their ballot and, here is an anecdote or a story that illustrates how this plays out. let's say a soldier is sent overseas to germany or italy.

he arrives after labor day. you don't get your address right away, so you can't necessarily request your ballot to be sent to that address. let's say you get set up on a training mission or assignment. you leave that base and when you come back, let's say you come back the last week of october. you can still request your absentee ballot, that does not mean the election administrator is going to know to transmit that ballot electronically. in the story i experienced, the ballot was not sent electronically even though we asked for it to be sent electronically. it arrived too late, you don't get your ballot on time, and let's say it arrives the monday before election day, you have to mail it back. it arrives, at least in michigan, 8pm on election day.

i believe there are improvements and believe there have been significant improvements because it encourages states to electronically transmit these ballots there. there is practicalities that minimize the impact of the federal law. the federal voting assistance program has been very user- friendly. as i continue to work to assist these voters and one individual who is my husband, it has been great to go to the web site. it is very clear and user- friendly, but it misses the overall relevance of voting for these service members overseas. many of their spouses are facing high levels of poverty, they are on food stamps and have many other stresses. kids and all the rest take the place as they do in other communities of voting.

we need a holistic approach, we need a whole semester's better trained on compliance with the law. we need a stronger message on the local level on the importance of those administrators in value in the overseas voter. we also need to build a stronger physical presence of the voting community. the information comes to us from television, the armed forces network, e-mail's that we get. there needs to be more service member to service member conversations about voting, and the michigan center for election law has developed one program we areing on the local l recognizing and engaging voters, sometimes it is the best method is for people they know and people they trust.

the assignments in michigan to reach out to those serving actively encourage those to vote, reaching out through electronic means encouraging them to vote. we're watching that program for 2012 and we hope that will be an effective way of encouraging the relevance of voting. >> be term, culture, it keeps coming out. -- the term "culture" keeps coming up. maybe the military is not embracing the idea of coming out to vote. is there a problem with the methodology that we used to measure? tom, you referenced that as well. this isn't like going down to the church, this is something you needed to end the people are in very stressful situations.

>> it is our job as advocates to make the ability as easy as possible to vote. what she pointed out as one of the most significant things, voters are not necessarily voting where they live. if you are voting remotely, the elections are not about president, senator, or congressman. that is usually have paid in the half or two pages long. if you are not living in your home town, you know exactly nothing about that. it is damn hard to find that unless you're going built for it. -- to look for it. learning about training myself, it is not a

presidential election, so there is virtually no major media coverage. know what propositions 8-15 on there. there might be one person's name my recognize because it is not what i am worried about. to the part about implementation, maybe i have been d.c. for too long, but if it doesn't have to a deal with a direct combat, it is pretty damned impressive. i have been doing this for a while and i have passed bills that have very serious programs that the d.o.d. needed. if they get it implemented, they get a damn medal. that is a statement internally, but like i said, we have only had one iteration. let's not that everyone feels

because we have tried this missing once. let's focus on how to make is easy as humanly possible so these people can choose to make an informed decision or another. >> first of all, we did notice that our military service members and our spouses do register to vote. about 85% for military service members, 83% for spouses. there is engagement there to begin with. part of the process is moving all the time, this happens in the military communities, we are going back and forth. as we are moving, it is not the first thing on people's mind, you can't change it until you get to the duty station anyway, most of us know where we will be living until we get there. you can't lead the discussion,

you can't leave this to begin with. you have to wait until you get there. once you are in the duty station, there are things going on that you're trying to get settled. that is where the focus is for families. a big part of the problem that i see for families, trying to get into the local part of your elections, understanding who to vote for. we are not going to make an uninformed vote. being able to push that information to us, being able to e-mail that he was, i think that will help a great deal. one of the problems with military families, they want to know that not only is there vote received, but it is counted. we don't have assurances. you either do the old-fashioned

paper ballot can you fill it out or do the electronic one. you don't know that it is counted, but you hope that it is. when you are somewhere else and you fill out the ballot in the send it back in, you have no way of knowing whether or not it has been received. we can buy things on line and get a push immediately. he by the way, it will be sent in two days. why don't we have ways to be able to let the voters know we have received, thank you very much. counting is a harder problem, but at least let them know they have received if and their efforts are not in vain. i think that will help with voter turnout for the absentee votes as well. >> bob, why don't you talk about

the methodology for the survey? i am sure there are some questions about here, will go to them. >> required the states to have a balanced record to make sure that it had been received and they can say if it has been counted or not because they separate the ballot from the identity, but they can go online and link them all to the state by state website. if we can come up with my slide, i will talk about some of the methodology issues. there is a hypothesis that the data at the state report -- a survey is, by the very nature of are we able to

bring that up at all? we did a survey of elected officials, and in 2008 and 2010, we compared what the local exact samegave to the lac question. in 2008, 23% answered of our survey and there is. survey andr theirs. the answer very by 56,000. in 2010, the exact same questions that were answered by 33% of the election officials varied by 54,000.

there is this attitude that the program data is contradictory. it is not, it is complementary. we asked them how many you call about. they said 118,000. they said 107,000 to the officials. probably within the margin of error. about 1/3 of the military and about 3/5 of the spouse's vote in person at the polling place. a number of these voters are within 50 miles of their home, they are supposed to show up to the polling place. subtract that out.

37% of the military and 70% of the spouses and use this data at local forms to request absentee ballots. most do not allow you to designate yourself as a military voter. subtract out the federal absentee ballots. it's 89,000. it's not that the data is in contradiction, it is that the data is a subset. i think that is an important element. on the criticism of the 2008 survey, the was one of the first things i instituted and we had a non-response by as analysis. it determined that the statistical methodology counter the non-response by is that would otherwise be inherent.

talk about moving around a lot, this is why we truly believe that moving toward electronic absentee ballots is so important. in my time in the military, i have been recalled to active duty four times since 9/11. i have had the same e-mail since i joined the navy. post the ballots online. if you post them on line, anyone can access them at any time, whenever they want. as far as the voting assistance offices, we have stated that the service needs to replace these in well-trafficked areas. the family support centers, i was there for reserve duty.

anyone could get access to it. fundamentally, the department has been consistent. we should be doing this at the unit level. we should be doing this at the unit level and we can do all of this stuff that is called for more efficiently with higher compliance and much cheaper. by forcing this to happen, what we are saying is, ok, you just reported aboard your ship. there are 63 ships in your an 18-year-old kid without a car. leave your ship, go down, catch the bus, travel to personnel support, go in there, but the exact same form that your assistance officer would of been able to do for you, come back to

the ship, and your chief petty officer is saying, where have you been? we are setting ourselves up for failure by forcing us to do all this when we have 14,000 unit voting assistance officers already that i encourage them to say, don't fill out the paper form. you have a printer at the unit. >> cloture vote in a minute. >> a quick question. tracking rates is good, it is something we should do, but rates of voter turnout doesn't necessarily follow from ease of the program. they can be related, but there are plans to not necessarily look at voter turn out as the metric, but actual implementation has and ease of

vote. >> we ask them how interested are you in voting, we correlate how they did vote. we're trying to find a comparable civilian measure. and also how did you find the systems? we found a vast majority of the personnel said they wanted to receive their ballot electronically. a large portions that they wanted to return their ballots by mail. >> you are agreeing with that? >> i would add another element here, closer attention to the state side of things and the actual administration officials at the local level, evaluating the servicemen her attitudes and their attitudes as well. we have been told things that it just did not work out for you this time.

those things -- the second piece, underscore the need for more information about local election campaigns and the methods of providing that. also the physical presence on the local level and not just of an individual officer but an actual kiosk. in some view. great to have a polling place where you can go and cast your ballot and see it counted. or handing it to someone else to transmit back for you. our resistance to that is financial as well as local officials not fully embracing the concept. i hope we can move in that direction because when we talk about decreasing relevance and the meaning, you are very disconnected from your state, and to feel like there is the presence of your country, there is a presence of your poll

worker, a kiosk in which you can return your vote, it can be a critical way. i of the alabama secretary of state has explore that option and it is something i think an increase because activity to the process. have ourgive ready to audience participation. one thing that we have identified is how we measure. we all have that. interested in is focusing on the differences rather than focusing on writing a consensus as to how to resolve those differences. there are questions. >> i have a question. >> can you ask a question, susan? >> would like one or two

sentence answers from the panelists. what could voting organizations -- what can the people in this room do in the next 90 days to improve military voter participation in 2012? >> short answers, start at that end. >> put on the website, information on local elections in your area, a basic animation on judicial elections and as far down as you can go. information about the candidates, the campaigns, the ballots, those things are critical. utilize the social networks offer voters a serving abroad and overseas to encourage them to vote and unable that communication about the importance of the election. >> two things.

one on the issue of convincing military folks overseas that they need to vote. there are non-partisan veterans groups that have access to military installations. the rules that prevent them from being able to conduct voter registration drives -- i'm not saying all groups should have access to these bases, but veterans groups should have access if they want to. i don't see any reason why that cannot be done. this is from a legal standpoint, the one difference between -- i had a texas judge once that referred to it as avocado. [laughter] the voting rights has it, it's

that those laws can be enforced by the justice department. if the justice department isn't enforcing them, you have a private right of action. it does not have a private right of action. i can talk to appear for a long time about the mistakes doj made in the 2010 elections and things they didn't do, but private groups should be able to help members of the military sue states and others when they don't comply with the law. there is actually a bill that is introduced in the senate but it hasn't gone anywhere. information.ss and if you can't access the ability to register your vote andhe