much for joining us. guest: thank you. host: we will head to the house steering committee hearing. headed by nancy pelosi. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] [no audio] [no audio] [no audio]

>> our meeting will come to order. this is a hearing of the steering and policy committee of the house democrats. is my honor to be here with our ranking member on the government reform committee of the house of representatives, congressman elijah cummings, a senior member of the committee, congresswoman carolyn maloney and congresswoman eleanor holmes norton. we are gathered here today with a very special guest, ms. sandra fluke. first, i want to say that the purpose of this meeting is one that i wish that did not exist. i wish in the hearing that was held last week, the republican

majority on the house oversight and government reform committee would have heard from sandra fluke instead of hearing a panel of five men. our colleague, congresswoman malachy put it best, asking where are the women. in this debate, nothing could be more critical than hearing the voices of our nation's women and democrats are prepared to hear from a single witness today, are georgetown law student sandra fluke to disappear -- to be before our committee. she was summoned before the paddle -- before the panel that was summoned last week but the republicans did not want to hear from her. we do today. we are proud to bring sandra before our steering and policy committee to deliver the testimony she was denied last week to stand firm and the cause of women's health, to a lot

longer be held silent for its center is a bold and passionate leader for young women and all women at georgetown and across the country. she understands that this issue we are discussing is a matter of women's health, plain and simple. she has said of the fun lies in this debate at georgetown university law and dedicated her time and energy to the battle of human trafficking and domestic issues and served as those of president and secretary of georgetown law students for reproductive justice. she will continue to serve women and our committee as a lever -- as a leader in the field of public law. it is important as i yield to the distinguished ranking member to inform you, sandra, that following a rejection by the republicans from the panel which the democrats had suggested you as their witness, that we have heard from over 300,000 people saying that we want women's voices to be heard

in the subject of women's health and urging the republican leadership to make sure that that happens. having no reason to believe that they will, we're having our own hearing today. i know you will persuade them with your testimony. with that, i thank you for joining us today and yield to the distinguished ranking member, mr. cummings and thank him for his leadership and the important role he played in last week's hearing. >> thank you very much, madam leader, for most of today's event and thank-you ms. fluke for coming here and giving the testimony you're banned from giving last week. when german issa rejected your testimony, he argued that the hearing was not about contraceptives and was not about women's reproductive rights. he said you are "a college student who appears to have become energized over this issue" and that you are not "

appropriate or qualified" to testify and you did not have " the appropriate credentials." obviously, everyone on this panel disagrees with him. as i listened to the chairman try to explain his position, i looked out on a panel of man. i could not help but wonder what credentials they had to talk about the importance of a bill to the lives of women. in my opinion, the chairman committed a massive injustice by trying to pretend that the views of millions of women across the country are irrelevant to this debate and that is what really offends people. even if they did not agree with you, that is no reason to silence you. that is no reason to deny you a voice in the debate or literally a seat at the table. i thank you for coming here

today to finally give the other side, the side of millions of women across the country who want safe and affordable coverage for basic preventive health care including contraceptives. i look forward to hearing from you today. let me add that i fully understand the religious component of this debate. my mother is a strong and independent woman who commands respect. she is also a woman of faith and has been an independent pastor in a small pentecostal church in baltimore for all of my life. i understand the importance of this issue to all women including women of faith. that is why i commend the administration for the accommodation it made to allow women working at religiously- affiliated organizations to obtain coverage for contraceptives through their health insurance companies to unfortunately, last week, completely one-sided hearing, was not an isolated incident. right now, a nationwide

campaign is being conducted at both the state and federal levels to outlaw many forms of commonly used contraceptives. these efforts include legislation and ballot initiatives in multiple states as well as legislation proposed right here in the house of representatives and the senate intended to outlaw the bill as well as other forms of contraceptives such as iud's. the so-called morality legislation is intended to permit any employer including for-profit sectors of companies to deny insurance coverage for contraceptives that are contrary to their religious beliefs or even broadly to any of their moral convictions. under this legislation, a ceo could decide to ban coverage of the bill for unmarried women employees and could deny coverage for routine prenatal care. he could deny coverage for prescribes iu8d's in the name

of undefined moral convictions. madam later, i am obviously not a woman. i cannot fully understand how central this issue is to the lives of millions of women across this country. i am here today to support their right to exercise control over their lives and their bodies and to make sure that they are never, ever, never, ever denied a voice in this debate. and with that i yield back. >> i thank you, ranking member, for your strong statement that i am pleased to yield to rep carolyn maloney. sandra a fluke is here today. >> thank you, leader pelosi for bringing sandra to this committee and your commitment to these issues that are so important to tens of millions of women and men across our

country. when i took my seat at the hearing last week and i looked out of the panel, i could not help, but help " what is wrong with this picture?" there was not one single woman on that first panel, not one, even though we were there to talk about the needs of tens of millions of american women to have access to insurance for preventive health care including reproductive rights, including contraception. the only freedom that was being debated was the freedom to tell women that they would not have access to family planning. what is wrong with that picture? we should not need to remind our colleagues that 100% of those who can have their health damaged by an unplanned pregnancy are women.

100% of those who die from complications related to pregnancy are women. one other% of those who give birth and plan their families are women. but, 100% of those on the first panel talking about the access to family planning, the ability to plan and space your children, and preventive health care, there was not one single woman on. that on what is wrong with this picture? we see all too often in congress in state houses and in the super-pacs that are dominating the debate on the airwaves that those who would take a woman's right to choose, those who compel a woman to undergo medical procedures or she does not want or need, those who would introduce a bill on the house floor to allow hospitals

to deny pregnant women light- saving care are men. what is wrong with that picture? everything. ." thank you very much. i am pleased to yield to the representative of the district of columbia who is fighting to have a full vote on the floor of the house but she has a full voice and every subject and takes leadership, congressman eleanor holmes norton. >> thank you very much. i have a vote in this committee and i call for a vote when our witness, sandra, was excluded. it is important to remember how they hearing occurred in the first place. the hearing arose out of a controversy that had two sides, two compelling sites --

religious liberty and reproductive freedom. by the time the hearing had been called, we are fortunate that the of ministration -- that the administration had worked a compromise that in fact allows women to receive their contraceptive insurance while at the same time recognizing the religious concerns of religiously-affiliated organizations such as universities and hospitals who, under the accommodation, do not have to pay at all for contraceptives which are now to be received through the insurance company and have no involvement with contraceptives. this is very important to bear in mind because in my more than

20 years in the house of representatives, i have seldom seen a compromise that worked out an issue of subject -- such importance to both sides as favorably as this compromise did. the committee appeared to want to exploit the religious side of the issue by excluding the only witness that the democrats requested. sandra fluke was essentially defined out of last week's hearing. in defining her out of the hearing and having a hearing about only one side of a clearly two-sided issue, the majority managed to define out most american women. the silent majority represented

by sandra fluke was not at the table last week. i am pleased, madam leader, that you have convened a series of the concerns of women can be heard through their representative, sandra fluke this morning that i thank you very much and i know that when we get to the question and answer, we will get to other aspects of this. >> for example, at that time, the minority is entitled to a witness at a hearing. would you tell us, mr. cummings -- >> what happened was that we ask for two witnesses. it was miss fluke and a gentleman and the majority, chairman issa said we could only

have one and we said we want ms .fluke. they said now. . we have already said we would not accept the gentle man and we only wanted her so we were denied entry appealed. we then wrote a letter saying would you please reconsider. they said no. >> here we are gathered today and thank you for fighting the fight, in this room which we are happy to have a room but the leadership told us that we could not have a house recording studio and take this public so we thank the members of the press who are here for their resourcefulness with the technology to get the message from this room out which has been barred by the republican majority. it is amazing what legs they will go to so that they don't

have to listen to the voices of women for it we are honored that you are here. thank you for your courage. please proceed with your testimony as you wish, miss sandra fluke. >> good morning, and thank you for calling this hearing on women's health. and for allowing me to testify on behalf of the women who will benefit from the accord affordable care act contraception. i'm a third-year student at georgetown law school and i am also a past president of georgetown law students for reproductive justice. i would like to acknowledge my fellow members and allies and all of the student activists with us and thank them so much for being here today. [applause] we, as george town lsrj, are grateful that this represents

the nonpartisan medical advice of the institute of medicine. i attended just with law school but does not provide contraceptive coverage in the student's health plan. as restaurants have faced financial, emotional, and medical burdens as a result, employees at religiously affiliated hospitals and universities across the country has suffered similar burdens. we are all grateful for the new regulation that will meet the critical health care needs of so many women. the recently announced adjustment addresses any potential conflict with their religious identity of catholic and jesuits institutions. when i look around on campus, i see the faces of the women affected by this lack of contraceptive coverage. especially in the last week, i have heard more and more of their stories. on a daily basis, a year from yet another woman from georgetown or other school or who works for another religiously-affiliated employer

and they say they have suffered financially, emotionally, and i am here to share their voices and i want to thank you for allowing them, not me, to be heard. without insurance coverage, contraception, as you know, can cost a woman over $3,000 during law school. for many students on public- interest scholarships, that is practically an entire summer salary. 40% of the female students at george dunlop reported to was that they struggle financially as a result of this policy. one told us of our embarrassed and powerless she felt when she was standing at the pharmacy counter and learned for the first time that contraception was not covered under insurance and she had to turn and walk away because she could not afford that prescription. women like her have no choice but to go without contraception. just last week, a married female

student told me that she had to stop using contraception because she and her husband could not fit into their budget anymore. women employed in low-wage jobs about contraceptive coverage face the same choice. some might respond that contraception is acceptable and lots of other ways. unfortunately, that is not true. women's health clinics provide a vital medical service but as has been documented, these clinics are unable to meet the pressing demand for these services. clinics are closing and women are being forced to go without medical care they need. how can congress consider the important and blocked legislation that would allow even more employers and institutions to refuse contraception coverage and responded that the nonprofit clinics should step up to take care of the resulting medical crisis particularly when so many legislators are attempting to de-fund a dozen clinics?

these denials of contraceptive coverage impact real people. in the worst cases, women and made his medication for other medical reasons suffer dire consequences. a friend of mine, for example, has pauli cystic ovarian central manchester take prescription birth control to stop assessed from growing on her ovaries. her prescription is technically covered by georgetown insurance because it is not intended to prevent pregnancy. unfortunately, under many religious institutions, it wouldn't pay. there would be no exception for other medical needs and under the amendments and the bill, there is no requirement that such an exception be made for these medical needs. when this exception does exist, they don't accomplish their goals because when you let university administrators or other employers rather than women and their doctors dictate

his medical needs are legitimate and whose are not, a woman's health takes a backseat to a bureaucracy focused on police and her body. in 65% of the cases at our school, the mouse students were interrogated by insurance representatives and university staff about why they needed prescriptions and whether they were lying about their symptoms. for my friend and 20% of the women in her situation, she never got the insurance company to cover prescription despite verification of her illness from her doctor. her claim was denied repeatedly on the assumption that she really wanted birth control to prevent pregnancy. she is gay so clearly p,olysystic ovarian syndrome was much more of a priority for our breath after paying $100 out of pocket, she just could not afford her dedication and more and she had to stop taking it.

i learned about all of this when i walked out of a test and got a message from her that in the middle of the night, in her final exams period she had been in the emergency room in excruciating pain. she wrote to me that it was so painful i woke up thinking i had been shot. without her taking the birth control, ms of acyst the size of a tennis ball and run on her coat over yet you had to have surgery to remove her ovary as a result. on the morning i was scheduled to give this testimony, she was sitting in a doctor's office trying to cope with the consequences of this medical catastrophe. since last year's surgery, she has been experiencing night sweats and weight gain and other symptoms of early menopause. as a result of the removal of her ovary. she is 32 years old. as she put it, if my body indeed

does enter early menopause, no fertility specialist in the world will be able to help me at my own children. i will let no choice of giving my mother heard desperately desired grandbabies simply because the insurance policy that i paid for totally on subsidized by moscow would not cover my prescription for board control when i needed it. in addition to potentially facing the health complications that come with having menopause as such an early age, increased risk of cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, she may never be able to conceive a child. some may say that her tragic story is rare. it is not. i wish it were. one woman told us that doctors believe she has endometriosis but that cannot be proven without surgery so the insurance has not been willing to cover her medication, the contraception she needs to treat the condition. recently, another woman told me that it also has the same

syndrome and is struggling to pay for the medication. due to the barriers erected by the jurors don't policy, she has not been reimbursed for medication since last august. i sincerely pray that we don't have to wait until she loses an ovary or is diagnosed with cancer before her needs and the needs of all of these women are taken seriously. this is the masses that not requiring coverage of concert -- contraception sanskrit a woman's reproductive health care is not a priority. one woman told us she knew birth control is not covered on the insurance and she assumed that is how georgetowns insurance handled all the reproductive and sexual health care for women. when she was raped, she did not go to the doctor even to be examined or tested for sexually transmitted infections because she thought insurance was not going to cover something like that, something that was related

to women's reproductive health. as one of arrested and put it," this policy communicates to female students that our school does not understand our need." these are not feeling is that male fellow students experience and they're not burdens that melted and must show. in the media lately, some conservative catholic organizations have been asking what did we expect when we enrolled at a catholic school. we can only after that we expected women to be treated equally, to not have our school create untenable burdens that impede our academic success. we expected that our schools would live up to the jessup would create cura personlais, to care for the whole person, to meet our medical needs. when we told our universe is of the problems this policy creative process students that they would help us. we expected that when 94% of

students opposing the policy, a university with respect our choices regarding insurance students pay for completely not subsidized by the university very we did not expect that women would be told in the national media that we should have gone to school elsewhere and even if that meant going to a less-prestigious university. we refuse to pick between a quality education and our health and we resent that in the 21st century, and one thinks it is acceptable to ask us to make this choice simply because we are women. many of the women whose stories i have shared today are catholic women so ours is not a war against the church. it is a struggle for access to the health care we need. the president of the association of just what colleges has said that just would colleges and universities appreciate the modifications of the rule announced recently. religious concerns are addressed and women get the health care they need. i sincerely hope that is

something we can all agree upon. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you very much. that was outstanding. let me say from the outset that there are a lot of us men who were consulted when we saw that. i just want to make it clearer. . thank you for your testimony. you said something but one of the things you talked about was the cost of contraceptives. you said you think it could cost over loss school career $3,000?

>> yes. >> many people assume that there are alternatives if you cannot get it through your insurance. can you talk about that? >> of course, i think it is especially important in today's economy -- many families are struggling with the cost of health care and so many parts of the affordable care act will help especially this regulation. as i discussed, there was a study recently entitled reece" session taking its toll, family- planning taking its toll. " i think it clearly demonstrates that these clinics have to cut back their hours, lay off staff, close their doors, and so the safety net that women have relied on in the past is not there. >> i take it they end up doing

without. >> absolutely, that is what many women have shared with me. >> chairman issa said you were a college student that becomes -- that has appeared to become energized over this issue and you were not appropriate or qualified to testify and you do not have the appropriate credentials to appear before the committee last thursday. what was your reaction when you heard this statement about not being qualified? >> i will confirm that i was energized, yes. [laughter] [applause] as you can see from the reaction behind me, many women in this country are energized about this issue. yes, that part was correct. in terms of whether or not i was an appropriate witness, i felt insulted not for myself but for the women i wanted to represent,

the women whose stories i wanted to convey to the committee and the women whose voices were silenced that day. i have heard some people point out that there were two women on the less primary panel that day and that is correct but they're not women who were there to represent the women affected by this policy. that matters because this is not just about demographics. is about the voices of the women affected by this policy. >> you certainly speak for me and i think chairman issa did not understand why we want you to appear because we were looking for someone to speak for women who want safe and affordable coverage for their basic preventive health care including contraceptives. for the benefit of those who may not understand, can you describe your qualifications for testify about the restrictions on insurance coverage for contraceptives? >> heineman american woman who

uses contraception. that makes me qualified to talk to my elected officials about my health care needs. beyond that, i will say that i, along with the other members of students for reproductive justice at georgetown and so many other activists have been looking at this for years and we have followed the regulations very closely and the legislation and we have done studies on our campus document and the needs of women. this is something we take very seriously and we have studied for quite some time. >> as i noted in my opening, there is currently a nationwide campaign at the state and federal levels not only to restrict insurance coverage but in some instances, outlaw many forms of commonly used contraceptives. if those efforts are successful and prohibit commonly used contraceptives commonly iud's and some form of the bill, it would roll back the clock for women across the country.

can you describe the impact would be on you and your classmates? >> for millions of women, it would be an increase in the number of people who have the medical complications i have been talking about today. one woman came to me recently since this happened and described that teenage contraception to prevent seizures. she has several seizures per month that she does not have contraception to balance her hormones. that is just an incredible intrusion on her life and her ability to manage her daily affairs issue does that have access to that matter occasion -- to that medical prescription. that is one of the huge impact. another impact that is important that we think about is that contraception when it first became available was a revolution in this country and allowed women to enter employment and educational opportunities that had previously not been accessible because they were unable to

control their reproduction in the samurai. i cannot imagine rolling back the clock on that progress. >> my time is up but thank you very much. i think you have done a great service for many, many women and men, by the way. >> i hope so and i can tell you that my male partner is certainly one of those men who is supportive of this policy. there are many others out there like him. >> i thank you for bringing a picture worth a million words. [inaudible] first of all, thank you very much for being here today and thank you for really being quite courageous and standing up and speaking out. this photograph, you are in this photograph. do you see yourself? >> i am right behind that man's

head. [laughter] >> and you are waiting to testify appeared. . i would like to _ part of the statement the ranking member cummings made in that you were they selected democratic witness for the panel and, according to the roles of the house of representatives, we are entitled to select our representative on the panel. i was somewhat taken aback by the fact that even when eleanor and allies and i were arguing that our witness should join the panel that chairman issa said you were not qualified. i would venture to say that any woman is more qualified to talk about women's health needs across america than any man.

again, i said what is wrong with that picture as it pertains in the hearing and i would say in basic policy. can you think of what was in his head when he said that? i know you are qualified for it i know you are speaking for tens of millions of women across this country. can you think of any reason why he would be so adamant that your voice should not be heard? >> unfortunately, chairman issa's head is somewhere i don't want to go. [laughter] what i have learned from this experience is they say knowledge is power and evidently the knowledge of how this regulation will benefit millions of lives of women's is very powerful and i believe to some it is evidently very threatening. >> let's look at the rule.

i see it as very balanced, thoughtful, and fair both to religion, to women, to society as a whole. under the administration's announced common sense accommodation, churches do not have to provide insurance coverage for contraceptives for their church or their synagogue or their religious establishment. and women who work at non-profit religious entities that serve a greater american public such as hospitals and universities can obtain coverage directly not from any religious institution bought from insurance companies. to me, the hearing was about women's rights and insurance companies and their right to

obtain this coverage from insurance companies. in your testimony, you touched on the fairness aspect of this. and equal opportunity aspect of it. why should one woman working for one university have access to reproductive health care but a woman working for another university not have it? it is a basic fairness and equality aspect. i compliment you for bringing out the examples of young women and a multitude of ways that family planning, birth control, medications help women with other medical challenges. i appreciate your bringing that out. i know that many people may be coming to you. the reaction that speaker -- leader pelosi gave to her

letter, over 300,000 men and women responded across this country, saying that this common-sense approach is appropriate and fair and equal and that women should have a voice at the table. >> yes, i cannot say i have heard from that many when men and women but i have heard from many, many women thanking me for talking about this and saying how important this regulation will be to them. one woman who spoke on sunday, she and her husband told me about a nietzsche as for contraception. they recently had their first child and it has been a few months and since she gave birth, her obstetrician recommends that she take contraception following the birth of that child because, for her as a mother and for any potential child and i carry in the future, it would be very

medically dangerous for her to become pregnant again to sen. too soon. that is an important medical concern and that pilots something because this woman is 30-years old, married, and she is having children. we should not be judging any of these women's choices about their health care needs. in the case of this woman, she is doing everything she is being asked to by some conservative voices and yet, she still cannot get access to contraceptives because that is a purpose that prevents pregnancy and even that women is being denied the health care she needs. for me, it highlights that some of the issues that have been brought up are blurring what is really at stake here. this is about, for our opponents, this is about limiting women's access to health care and that is why this cannot occur. >> thanks for your testimony. my time has expired and thank

you for pointing out the other needs for contraceptives and one that is a basic need is the planning and spacing for your children to ensure your own health to be able to have future children protected very much for your testimony. >> thank you. >> congresswoman maloney , i thank you for your leadership for the ongoing and coming down during the break from her district in new york to be here , indicating the importance this issue has always been for her. thank you and to our local representative of national significance, congresswoman eleanor holmes norton. >> i am pleased to represent ms. fluke when she is in washington. what year are you at georgetown? >> i may third year student and i will graduate in may.

>> you are about to graduate from law school. let me put a question to you. the information that your testimony reveals today made your appearance at that hearing we had last thursday even more important. it was no information. -- a it was new information. when most americans think about contraceptives, they think about their own lives and how they are related. they do not have the kind of information you brought forward this morning. i want to thank you very much for putting that information at least on our record and a record of american families. i think we needed to hear it. it is important to remember that we are accustomed to the fact that women live longer today. i wonder if we understand that

that is a 20th-century phenomenon. if you were to go into the graveyard of america, you would be quite amazed with the headstones that speak of the lives of women who typically died earlier than men until the 20th century and fairly far along in the 20th century, at that, from childbirth and its complications. understand what we're talking about and how serious this issue is. the affordable child care act, of course, now covers contraceptives. it is important to also understand that before the affordable child care act, you could have a policy and while

every other part of -- if you go to the hospital where most things having to your health are covered and the insurance companies often did not cover contraceptive health care. incase you think that is something that should be understood, the cost of contraceptives you had something to say about. let me remind everyone that the notion of covering all of what it tends to reproductive health is in itself fairly new. i had two children. there were born in the 1970's. my family paid almost all of the cost of bearing those two children in a hospital. ,s recently as the 1970's

insurance companies paid a tiny portion of the cost of a normal childbirth in an ordinary hospital. not until regulations and law changed in fairly recent decades are we now even covering a process that was normal for most women. half of the births in united states are unplanned. i want to discuss that issue with you. what is the cost of tuition at georgetown law school? >> we think it's $40,000 or more.

it is $60,000 per year in loans or more for the cost of living and tuition. it is quite a bill. >> that is just for tuition and most of you are not paying that in cash. >> i am certainly not. >> do you and most of your friends and colleagues and law school intended to practice law? >> we do, yes. it is quite an investment otherwise. >> in order to practice law or use law and other ways, would most young women of your age find it necessary to spacer pregnancies? >> yes, of course. many women on our campus, the idea they should go without

contraception during law school and risk pregnancy while they are in law school is yet another way of asking them to put their education second. i cannot imagine -- i know a few women who have been pregnant during law school but i cannot imagine how they do that. i think it is not a feasible option either economically or in terms of their ability to balance everything. >> you believe the contraceptive is as necessary as any other health benefits provided by insurance companies? >> absolutely, and especially for young people, it is one of the most commonly used health care needs we have. one woman expressed that if her insurance did not cover this, what am i paying my insurance for? these are young women who were in good health otherwise. this is what they need. >> a young person does not go to the doctor very often.

if you are a young woman, it probably has a lot to do with reproductive health. were you and the other students asking for any subsidy from the university for insurance? with georgetown have itself have had to pay anything for the insurance that you saw to for the university? >> no, our student insurance is entirely not subsidized and that is true of most student insurance. with the new accommodation to these new adjustments to the regulation, even in situations of employers, they would not be contributing their money toward the contraceptive coverage. >> so, let me ask you what is the role of the university? they don't pay and a thing so what is the role of the university in this insurance

that you are seeking? >> to restrict access to our health care needs. i can answer more completely if you like. they place the limits and controls on what type of coverage with an access but they do not subsidize it. >> in your experience, our students to attend the university of many faiths or do they tend to be catholic students. >> there are students of many faiths and that is true of most chess with and catholic universities to provide a high- quality education and students want to go there for many reasons and i am proud to say that on our campus we have university-sponsored centers and student organizations that examine jewish law or groups for moslem students and students of all faiths. thankfully, although students are welcome but unfortunately,

they are all affected by this lack of contraception coverage. >> ms. fluke, we learned also that the insurance companies who will be provided through the affordable health care contraceptive coverage for women do not incur extra cost for this. you have not heard insurance companies pipe up and say what are you doing to us. it turns out that, according to the actuarial tables, it costs and insurance company more if it does not provide contraceptive coverage because of the cost of childbirth and the conditions of attending childbirth. this turns about not only to be a win-win but a win-win-win this will be a windfall for insurance companies. this will provide a

contraceptive insurance and it is a winner in this country that we have this accommodation and if i might say so, as a person who teaches law at georgetown and i did not have anything to do with going to find you. it is the good work of the committee that found do. i can say the georgetown to be very proud of you. you are illustrative of the very high quality of student the georgetown is able to attract and able to attract that quality because it welcomes students from many religions and your testimony here, it seems to me, has been evidence of a young lawyer who is ready to practice and ready right now to offer any testimony we might need at any time in the congress of united states. thank you for your testimony.

>> thank you very much and i would add that there are many faculty members at georgetown who, like yourself, have been supportive of myself and the reproductive justice group and we thank them for their support. it is a frightening thing to speak against the university that provide your scholarships and you are attending. their support has meant a lot to us. georgetown does have an excellent preparation especially for the public interest students and that is why i chose that university. i think that highlights that i should not have had to go without that in exchange for my health care. that should not have been a choice that i was faced with. >> thank you very much i will keep my questions brief. i wish to associate myself with the questions raised by my colleagues and their very valuable statements. , especially in light of

thanking you and in full appreciation for what you brought to the table today. clearly, a woman should always have a seat at the table. unquestionably when the subject is women's health. i was very moved by your statement and by the questions of our colleagues. i was reminded of a statement of a wise and respected catholic leader in washington d.c. who once said about catholic education that we educate long people not because they are catholic but because we are catholic. it was an astounding statement. it flies in the face of what is going on here. the question of who is qualified to be a witness raises the question of who is qualified to have a hearing. does that person or chairman of committee have any judgment on

what it means to a family to personally and religiously make decisions about the size and timing of their family? does that person having knowledge, are they qualified to talk about the dangers to women's health and therefore the care of the family to a mom if she and her husband, their doctor, and their god cannot make those decisions? is that committee leadership of the congress qualified to make a decision about how people exercise their god-given free will to take their responsibility and to answer for how they exercise that god given free will? it sounds to me from their not wanting the public record of their hearing to show what this was all about, about women's health and how their decisions

were impacted yet, how they are not wanting to hear about it, not wanting to hear about it when it comes to a woman's view on women's health and speaking for many women. i contend that the leadership of your committee, mr. collins, is not qualified to hold a hearing on this subject because their judgment is very pour as to what their obligation was to the public in the public record on this subject. i would like to take sandra's testimony to the house so we can read it into the records of the full congress can be aware and not barred from hearing from what you so capably have presented to us. it is a lack of respect because when the president first put out his statement, there were those

who said we want our religious institutions the on the church -- beyond the church and continues to be respected, the waiver for the church and places of worship. and then the president said and the administration said that did not extend to other activities of the church and there was all the uproar. the president then, in an unprecedented way, moved quickly to remove all doubt about what the intentions. it was not about separation of church and state. was about women's health. what was interesting about the progression of events is that following that, some of the leaders of the religious community said that they don't want any insurance for any employer giving benefits to any employee to cover contraception.

i think that really showed their hand. it was not about church and state, it was about an ideological point of view that flies in the face of the respect we need to have four women, the god-given freewill that we have to have responsibility for the role that women's health plays in the lives of their families and of our country and the strength of women. i again thank you for your courage to come forward with such clarity about the subjects and i hope it is a source of satisfaction to you that so many people, hundreds of thousands of people, more than we have ever heard from in 48 hours come over 300,000 people saying there should not be a hearing without women's voices being heard. >> that demonstrates how many

women and men care so deeply about this issue and how much it means to their lives. >> it doesn't speaks the fact that this is what the practice is in our country. if an overwhelming number of catholic women of child-bearing age 14-50 or however old you want to go are practicing birth control, then there has to be some message to the church not to expect employers and insurance companies to enforce an attitude that you have that is not accepted by the laity churchgoing people themselves. we have a problem here which you have really clearly presented and answered to in the voice of a young woman in an institution

of higher learning that is catholic. c capital ahought smallc, let's hope that is the case. i thank you and i invite you and my colleagues to say any closing statement they may wish to have four questions. >> thank you very much. i will be very brief. as i said in a hearing the other day, i ask myself a simple question -- if this were a hearing on prostate cancer and there was a lineup of women and no man, i guarantee you men would not have stuck around. they would have said to themselves, give me a break.

i just thank you for what you have done. one of the things i have often said is out of our pain comes our passion. clearly, you have felt the pain. you have seen. you have empathized with it and tried to make sure that you change things. i think there is a story here, a big story. out of your desire and your classmates desires, as students , to make a difference, now you have not only the congress listening to you but you have the country listening to you. that is a powerful, powerful thing. i want to encourage you to do what you do. we will work with you all and try to make sure that women have

access to contraceptives and make sure that they have what they need to live the very, very best lives they can. i thanked l you madameader >> thank you, congresswoman carolyn maloney? >> i would like to add what is wrong with this picture. a woman should have been at that table, and all of the tables in the country. thank you for your courage, for speaking out, and for your testimony today. >> thank you. congresswoman eleanor holmes norton? >> if we had gone to central casting this morning to find a representative we could not have done better than you today. you have performed another

service that is an unintended consequence of this hearing. for the first time, those who have paid attention to this issue now know that the affordable health care act now covers contraceptives, so women no longer have to pay extra for pills, devices, or other means of contraception. thank you for helping us get back out there. >> thank you. >> thank you. i believe the visibility -- we almost got to thank the chairman for the lack of judgment that he had to create the awareness. it has been hard to convince people that the fight has been about contraception.

we have tried to tell people for 25 years that it is about contraceptive -- contraception, and they say it cannot be. yes, it is. it is not a subject that we like to talk about in public -- personal, private matters, but apparently it is necessary because people who called this hearing do not seem to know what we know about women's health. thank you for your extraordinary leadership, your excellent statement, and with that commitment, we will take your version to the -- your words to the floor of the house if the conceived, to use the word, piece of legislation reaches the house of the floor. please take the last word, sandra.

>> thank you, madame tweeter, and to all of you for supporting women in this time of need. i appreciate accolades for me as a spokeswoman, but i would encourage all members of congress and the public to go online. women have begun posting videos of what they would say had they been asked to testify, posting videos on how this effects their lives. i hope everyone would have a chance to hear from all of the women of america that are concerned about this issue. -- here from all of the women of america that are concerned about this issue. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

>> we want to let you know the the original hearing how the house oversight committee that prompted today's testimony by sandra fluke happened one week ago. c-span cameras did not cover the hearing, but the committee's own cameras covered the hearing, and we have a link on our website at c-span.org. our live coverage continues at noon eastern when the white house announces new rules designed to correct -- protect consumer paula -- privacy on the internet, with jon leibowitz and john bryson. president obama will be giving a

speech in miami and gas prices and the u.s. needs to reduce the need for oil. we'll be live tonight as retired general james car right -- cartwright talks about iran in u.s. options to deal with its developing nuclear program. >> from this year's world economic forum in davos, switzerland, see the heads of the world bank in the international monetary fund along with other global leaders as they talk about the future of the world economy. >> no one is immune in the current situation. it is not just a eurozone crisis. it is a crisis that could have collateral, spillover effects around the world, and we will hear from others, the what i

have seen and what we are seeing in numbers and forecast is that no country is immune and everyone has an interest in making sure this crisis is resolved adequately. >> i been in public service, mostly public finance for four decades, and i have never been as scared now -- as i am now about the world. looking back at the crisis we is an the 1990's, this very big issue. first of all, i agree entirely with christine lagarde that nobody is immune. we are all connected with each other. >> and you can see this whole discussion tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. will have more from the world economic forum tomorrow including a panel on the future of africa, and the ceo's of many

corporations talk about the role the company is playing in the economic recovery. >> arizona and michigan hold republican primaries next tuesday. earlier this week, republican voters that in maricopa county. they talk about a legal in immigration, and president obama's birth certificate. this is about 50 minutes. >> wow, what a crowd. i do not know that i have never followed one of the top-tier candidates in a presidential primary. what an honor. i am grateful for many of the things that were said. god bless america and our fallen heroes. [applause]

>> freedom is not free, and to use a famous quote, "you have a republic, if you can keep it." that is what this election is about. i'm fearful of our government, and our god-given rights. i made a couple of notes here. i am at the age where i can do without sex, but not glasses. if you see me polo's out, you will know why. i want to tell you how grateful i and to stand here and look across this crowd of patriots. i know many of you very well. i am so grateful. we cannot afford to lose you guys. you will be the backbone of what happens here. we will be here awhile, and i will try to be fairly brief.

i am so grateful for what you have allowed us to do in arizona. we lead the nation. we have changed the debate in washington, d.c., not just in one area, but in multiple areas. we lead the nation in second amendment liberty. we lead the nation in laws to protect the unborn. [applause] >> week passed a little something congress can learn from, we passed a constitutional budget, a constitutionally balanced budget. no gimmicks. we had the largest deficit in the nation, but we were able to do it, because we had folks -- you sent us folks that had the backbone to do what needed to be done. we have a limited affirmative- action. no longer will government be able to discriminate.

your private business folks, we have no right to tell you who to hire or who to pay, that is no one's business. government has no right to discriminate. we lead in many areas. then we talk about the number one issue according to rasmussen polls, and that is our unsecured border, the damage to this republic. i want to tell us -- tell you what we have done in arizona. i can go through a long list of things we have done on property rights, family values, the marriage amendment. we've done some wonderful things to put into place those god- given protections of our founders thought we would not have to worry about what we put in place a bill of rights. now, i do get a little worried. i am not a fan of the patriot

act. you can not suspend my god-given right in good times or bad times. you cannot take away my habeas corpus. you can not put me in guantanamo bay just because you think i did something. i worry about that, and that is the national defense authorization act. it is a terrible bill. well-intended, but when our founders put together the constitution, they did the just worry about bad guys. they worried about good guys doing bad things with good intentions. we are at an impasse. if we do not change washington, d.c., in 2012, i fear we will not be able to turn this around. out of control spending. deficit spending. liberty's robbed from you. undermining the rule of law. it is said.

we had better find a candidate that can win that election, and we have, a couple of candidates that rise to that level easily. i hope we can send a candidate that has a love for those founding principles, freedoms, a respect for the rule of law. [applause] >> to understand what you earn is yours. we have to eliminate some of the entitlement programs. certainly trimmed back. we did not get here over night. we will not fix it overnight. it can be fixed. it starts taking back america one state at a time. folks, again, let me give you some results, and i will be fairly brief. we have been in the middle of the battle. we have led the parade. we changed the debate in washington, d.c., and i am

grateful for good patriots that stood by me and others as we have had this battle, attacked by the left, abused by the left. like the world war two pilots used to say, if you are not taking flak, you are not on target. arizona has taken flak. i see the governor. i want to think these folks that are not afraid. we have changed things in arizona. we can go back, and i have been in this battle for over one quarter of a century. i been in public service, all of my life as a deputy sheriff and as a chief deputy, and as a judge, and i'm grateful to have surge in those capacities. -- to have served in those capacities. we have a violent crime rate that is dropped three times that of the national average. we have a declining prison

population for the first time in history of the state of arizona -- first time ever. we have 600 inmates fewer than last year, carjackings are down, home invasions are down, kidnappings are down. homicides have dropped, 240 to 90. connect the dots. [applause] >> the largest law enforcement association made this statement in september, 2011, and again, i will use those spectacles. "phoenix has experienced a 30- year crime rate low. 600 police vacancies. budget cuts. they did not bring about these falling crime rates.

sb1070 did. when the tools were there, the deterrence this legislation brought about was instrumental in our unprecedented drop in crime, and all of this without a single civil rights violation, not a single racial profiling complaint, or bias complaint." [applause] >> actually, enforcement does work. the left-wing media would have you believe this is a controversial bill supported 2- to-1. tourism, by the way, is up in arizona, not down. channel 3 needs to check their anchors.

we have a lot to be proud of. [applause] >> that fight is a long way from over, folks. again, i'm grateful to stand here and the a part of this great party. i believe this republican party is the greatest hope we have for the restoration of freedom in this nation. [applause] >> not a perfect party, we do not have a perfect candidate, but we have the right formula -- family values, limited government, less taxes, less regulation, protecting the unborn, second amendment liberty, first amendment rights that are under attack -- folks, this is a dangerous time. i pray you will stand behind your candidates, pick the candidate you are going to support, go to their website, help them. it takes money. this obama administration will be well-funded.

unions will pump money in like they have never done before. moveon.org will pump money in like they have never done before. we need you. we need you engaged. we need ever -- every god- loving patriot of this republic to get engaged. make sure your family is out to vote. you are all to vote. make sure we send a candidate that can beat obama and take back washington, d.c. [applause] >> again, i want to personally thank also -- i've worked with rob and tom for some time, and i think we have some of the best leadership we have had in a long time. as i go from district-to- district, lincoln day dinner after lincoln day dinner, tea party group after tea party

group, and, by the way, i was tea party before tea party was cool. i made a statement like that come in the media jumped all over me. folks, i make no apology for my love of this republic. i make no apology for demanding less of my government, not more. i make no apology for demanding that your constitution and liberty be protected. i studied the constitution. i studied the founding fathers. i do not just believe it is a great document, i believe it is an inspired document. i believe god had his hand in the making of america and we have a sacred duty to preserve it. [applause] >> if we do not have a change in president, you have a supreme court turned upside down with those that have no respect for

your constitution, the rule of law, the things our founders have fought for and died for, and our soldiers are fighting for, and the folks that patrol our streets 24/7. thank you for allowing me to take a few minutes of your time. god bless you. may god continue to bless america. [applause] >> i want to tell you one quick story. i remember this minister giving and a rousing speech on gratitude and been grateful. he then opened it to the congregation, and if you felt compelled to share something special, where you felt like you had been blessed and were grateful, please do, so suzy smith stepped up to the podium, and she started talking. bear with me.

she starts talking about recently opening the dunes on her quads, and her husband likes to drive it as fast as he can, and he had a terrible crash. they thought he would not make it. he had crushed his scrotum. bear with me. she was worried about it. operation after operation, they did not think he was going to make it, and they did not think they would be able to use it again, and finally they wired it together, and it looked like he would be ok and able to use it again. she sits down and asks if anybody else needs to step up. the husband steps up to the podium and says it is sternum,

sternum. messaging is pretty important, folks. [applause] >> i love this country, i love our republican party. i am tired of sending folks to washington to see that they are not warriors willing to take back this country, limit federal government, restore our constitutional liberty, and not apologize for any of it. thank you. god bless. [applause] >> he did not use the devil once. -- gavel once. i would like to recognize more people now, particularly our elected officials and candidates, but before i do

that, i see one person here taking our pictures for the party, and that is markets. he does an outstanding job in that -- -- regard. where are you, marcus? stand up. thank you for taking pictures. [applause] >> he is a tea party member and talented with computer programming. i have been informed that doug mckee, who is on your straw poll is out of the u.s. senate race. he is running for the u.s. house from cd4. so, if you would take knowledge of that, he is out of the senate race. i would like to recognize some of our officials who are here today. excuse me if they are not in any

particular order because they come in off and on here, and we try to introduce them as we can catch them. so, our candidates that are here that we are aware of. travis is a congressional district 9 candidate. travis, where are you? travis? travis, quavers your head and yell. -- wave your head and yell. [applause] >> there he is. will carden, u.s. senate, where are you, will? [applause] >> douglas weighed -- wade? here is a famous name, matt

salmon. i did not know what congressional district you are running. maybe you do not know either the way they look at that redistricting program. danny barney, board of supervisors candidate. [applause] >> here is another famous name, bill montgomery, county attorney, and candidate for reelection to county attorney. [applause] joe hoskins, treasurer, arizona state. where is joe? joe hoss, i'm sorry.

kieth, i understand you are here, keith russell? >> is represented just like here? -- jeff blake here? jeff, are you around anywhere? representative trent franks. stand up and take about. [applause] >> representative david, are you here? [applause] >> i did not know where he is, he is here somewhere.

he is politicking in the back. thank you, david. [applause] >> jim, phenix city council. i saw you here today -- phenix city council. i saw you here today. he is in the back both. off to my right, andrew, board of supervisors. off to my left. ok. stars up one of our here, our law enforcement stars. he is famous throughout the state, throughout the country. world-famous, if not the

universe's sharons. we have a great deal of attitude -- gratitude to offer this person. he continues to do the battle, attacked from all quarters, particularly the obama administration for daring to protect the citizens of arizona. sheriff, i would like you to come up and give us a few words of your id like to commend and encouragement. thank you. -- i would like for you to come up and give a few words of your enlightenment and encouragement. thank you. >> if they will not listen to you, sheriff, bat them on the head. [applause] >> ok. thank you. thank you. it is good to be with a friendly

crowd. anyway, thank you for inviting me. thank you for the great work the county is doing, and the state. i had the pleasure of meeting all of the candidates running for office in private. in fact, i just met senator santorum for about 20 minutes in private. we have a nice talk. one thing that impressed me with him is that he goes to the grass roots. he goes to the people, and he understands that the people are our bosses. i take that very serious, also. it is the people that he left you -- that he let you, -- elect you, and it is great to have the people behind you. that is what keeps me going.

i do have some people taking shots at me. not literally, so far, but when you are doing your job, sometimes you cannot make everybody happy. the elected sheriff is an honorable position. i take very serious. you must always elect a person official as your share of. it is very important. i am going back into my 50 years of law enforcement, almost 20 years as your share of, and i will say this, -- as your sheriff, i will say this, the senator mentioned his grandfather coming from another

country. i do not think he said it. i will say it. my fifth visit my mother and father came here, legally -- my mother and father came here legally, from italy. they work very hard in the grocery business. i used to deliver groceries. when people say i did not look my age, it is because i drank the olive oil. i served as a director in mexico city, south america, turkey, the middle east as the head of the u.s. drug enforcement, and every time i came back to the united states i kissed the ground. this is the greatest country in the world. [applause] >> i take my oath very seriously, and i always did that in my 32 years with the federal government, many, many years

with the department of justice, and i take my oath serious. i feel when you take an oath, you must comply with the oath of office. so, sometimes i get a little troubled by following that oath of office, and, once again, been elected makes a big difference. i can not be fired except for the people. i have a lot of organizations that want me to resign. that is never going to happen in a million years. i am not going to go into who those organizations are, but it seems to be all democrats. i do not know if that is a coincidence or what, emanating from the white house down. the legal immigration laws -- two laws passed by the sta

legislature. all i am doing is enforcing those laws. [applause] >> i am 30 proud of the fact. sometimes i wonder why this sheriff's office is the only law enforcement agency in forcing those laws. it makes you wonder sometimes. i have to thank bill montgomery for prosecuting these cases, and russell pearce, and the people at the legislature that passed the laws. i cannot enforce laws if i do not have the laws. [applause] >> so, because i and enforcing the laws, i have the department of justice -- and enforcing the laws, i have the department of justice is zeroing in on me, which is ok. you do not see me losing any here. i'm not going to surrender.

they want to take over the sheriff's office and put me under some type of receivership. they will not do that with the elected sheriffs. i am not a chief of police. i am the elected sheriffs. i had about 250 tea party people to sign a petition. i do not know if we have the need here. so, they came to me and asked their sheriff to investigate obama and the birth certificate. so, what should i do? throw it in the wastebasket and forget it like everybody else in this country has done? once again, i take my elected service status very serious, and when the people ask me to do something, i try to do it regardless of the repercussions, the politics, and the media. [applause]

>> so come on march 1, i will have a press conference and reveal what we found out during that investigation. [applause] >> and i do not have press conferences just to get my name on television. when i have a press conference, i talk about something. so, that is coming. i let people it. it is not a secret. when i took this mission and on, i took it on to possibly -- mission on, i took it on to possibly be able to clear the president. i was doing him a favor. we will see what happens. i will go public with what we found out march 1. i have them coming from all

different directions. i know the president mentioned me three months ago at the white house. it was not nice, but that is all right. he has the right to do that. we have to make sure that regardless of who the candidate is, to get behind that person, and do what we can to get a new president in the united states. that is very simple. [applause] >> sometimes people say how do you put up with this? you are not a young guy any more. i am a senior citizen. sometimes they put it in the paper, my age, and i do not know what that means. if i was 25, with this to the 25-year-old sheriff? i do not know what age has to do with it. it is ok.

it does not bother me. i know what i can do. my wife of 55 years supports me. it is important to have a spouse to support you. without her support, i may have a little problem, but as i say, she has never complained, never nagged. maybe that is why i stayed married so long. i never see my wife, but that is all right. in fact, she used to start my car until a guy did put a bomb in my car. so, i do get a lot of threats. i have one coming out again today. but, you know, that is the way the ball bounces, and that comes with the territory. but, to keep my morel up, and i need all of you to support me -- the people of maricopa county. i know i could say i do not need

this job, which i do not. i do not want to be governor, which i do not. i just want to continue fighting for you and our county, our state, and our country, to do whatever i can to make it a better place in my little, old way of doing things. [applause] >> and see what happens. i have to think the president. i know why did this on national television and they thought i was flipping my lid, when i think the president on the illegal immigration thing. the only thing i thank him for was going public and sayin that theya re not going to deport 300,000 people -- that they are

not going to deport 300,000 people. i think him for bringing that on the table. since he did that, every candidate is talking about illegal immigration i want to thank you, mr. president, for putting it on the table -- illegal immigration. i want to thank you, mr. president, for putting it on the table. i do not usually think the president, but i am now. i do not agree with the policy. i do not agree with many of the policies, not only relating to illegal immigration, but other aspects. one way that you can improve the problems with mexico, and i served their four years, is build up the economy -- to other things, too. so, maybe they will -- the economy -- do other things, too. so, maybe they will come here to

work. the majority of them that come, we lock them up. every time we rate a place we rebuild illegal aliens. that makes another opening for u.s. citizens. how come the president does not thank me for doing well i can for the economy? i never get any thanks for the white house. that is okay. it does not bother me at all. once again, thank you. we have good candidates running for president. they are all nice people. i have met with them in my office, or other areas, and i am impressed with their mission to defend our country, to make this a better country. they all have great ideas. so, it will be up to the voters to decide who the candidate will

be for president, and i hope that all of you get involved, make your choice, and that at the end of this campaign you will back up whoever becomes the nominee. so, i know you will do that. once again, thank you. thank you, mr. chairman, for inviting me here, and for giving me a few moments to speak. [applause] >> thank you, sheriff joe arpaio. a couple more politicians and candidates that i failed to recognize earlier -- he has been traveling around the state,

many meetings, van the radio man. and there he is. candidate for u.s. senate. tom horn, where are you? i had him on the list of attending. also, gabby mercer. there she is. [applause] she is running against the candidate who is most famous for state -- for same body, arizona. -- for saying boycott arizona. also, and david bushman also, david bushman, candidate for

congress because it also, david bushman, canada for -- david bushman, candidate for congress, are you here? andy? at this time i would like to introduce one of our key people in the republican party in the state of arizona and he is, by name, bruce ash, and he is the national committeeman for the state of arizona, and is also the chairman of the rules committee for the upcoming convention in florida. so, he is a very important man to us in that capacity, and he is going to introduce the co- chairman of the republican party, and that is sandra day.

bruce has worked with her -- sharon, i am sorry. sharon day. it is a fortunate thing that i have my wife here all the time to correct me, and i'm sure all the husbands are very grateful for their wives that are able to correct so quickly, so accurately and precisely. so, it is sharon day. bruce, come on up. thank you for the service you render to the republican party. bruce ash. [applause] >> good afternoon. thank you, chairman. thank you for the opportunity to introduce a friend of mine that i think all of you will enjoy listening to. do i need that closer or further away? closer -- jesus. ok. it is my honor to introduce the

co-chair of the republican national committee, sharon day. i'm proud to serve as her colleague at the rnc, where she is well respected by her peers as a leader. in the 2000 presidential election sharon day was called upon to deploy ballot counter for brouwer county in the ultra- important recount effort, and was later named by governor john bullish to serve on the committee for election -- de bullish to serve on the -- jeb bush to serve on the committee for election. she and her husband jeff. her husband, larry. they have built a two great sons who have produced five grandchildren, the source of enormous pride.

sharon has been a pc for 20 years, and she is one of us. for getting titles, sharon day is a grass-roots activist. after serving as secretary, she was elected by our members to serve as co-chair in 2011. sharon has been a tireless fund- raiser for the gnp, and as you will see, wherever sharon dagos, she lights up the room -- day goes, she lights up the room, as she will do today. she is a conservative who believes in free markets, less spending, smaller government, and she knows that means more freedom. sharon de is working 24/7 on our behalf, just like us, to make barack obama a one-term president. [applause]

>> please give a warm maricopa county welcome to the rnc co- chair sharon day of florida. [applause] >> thank you. oh. what an honor it is to be here, and it is many a day that my husband wishes that jeff was my husband, and not him. what a wonderful day to be with fellow conservatives and republicans all across the state can't -- all across the state. i want to thank rob for putting this together. this is a hard job. i ask you to join me in giving him a huge applause for what he does for this county. [applause] >> it is wonderful to be in a state with a strong woman

governor, and i kind of like that figure in the face. she is a broad. you have to be proud of her strong values. he should also be very proud and very pleased -- you should also be very proud and very pleased to have represent you your committee folks. bruce ash, he is the chairman of the rules commission for the entire committee, not just the convention. you have the parliamentarian on the national committee, and serves as every meeting to make sure we go in the right form. you have tom morrison, a brand new chairman who is becoming a well-respected member of our committee. you are well served there. absolutely. you actually have four national

committee members. right here, in your proud city, you have an extra committee representative in jan larimer, who i would ask to stand could she lived here part-time, and she is here today. -- to stand. if she lived here part-time, and she is here today. it is great to see here. you guys are lucky and blessed. you have four, not just three. i looked the governor as she waved that finger, and i like to believe she was not talking about what was said in the book. i like the comment that was said earlier, she was saying ", one more year." if i were there, i would say mr. president, you are going home, going back to chicago, illinois, in a boeing 787 built in south

carolina despite you and eric holder thinking you have the right to tell a business where they can build a start up business. [applause] we know he is not going to win arizona. we know you are going to do everything you can to make sure he does go home because like me you know this has probably been the most of the administration that we have ever seen. i mean, let's get real, did we ever think there would be a president worse than jimmy carter? we now know there is that possibility. as i look out and share this great event with you, this lincoln day dinner, and we look at presidents month, yesterday was presidents' day, and we look at the president's our proud party has had, and we looked at what the democrat party comes up with, and we look at our side,

again, abraham lincoln. he was our first president elected to the grand ole -- grand old party. we were born to a party that believes slavery was wrong, a man that stood up and said a country divided cannot stand. he thought it was right for every man, woman, and child to be able to live their who lives with those god-given rights that were our re--- were a gift to mankind. -- were a gift to mankind. if you look at ronald reagan, he protected us in a time when communism was gaining strength, standing up, code-to-toe, and stood firmly to say "and bring

down that wall," and what happened? at the wall went down, and the east and west were reunited. now you look on the other side. jimmy carter. no. barack obama. big no. when you look at what we have accomplished as a party and what they accomplished, you know we are in the right direction. i come from a part of the world that has a lot of water. i am from florida. i will tell you how we are similar. we are similar in our values, the things that matter to us, in that we are going to do everything we can to make sure barack obama is a one-term president. [applause] >> together, we are going to

make sure that we take back the senate. we are going to help mr. obama as he talks about repeatedly that do-nothing congress care -- congress. we know that it is the senate, not the house. the house has sent 30 bills to the senate to help our economy, grow jobs, and do we need to do to become a stronger country, and not one of those bills have seen the light of day thanks to the senate controlled by harry reid and the democrat party. this do-nothing congress that he says, again, not republicans, but democrats, have not passed a budget in 1028 days. can you run your businesses without a budget? no. can you run your houses without a budget?

now. if you listen to jay carney, a spokesman for barack obama, he says it is not that big of a deal. we will show him how big of a deal it is to have a budget, how big it is to live within your means, and we will show mr. obama exactly what it means to talk about cutting that deficit, cutting that spending, and making sure that every man and every woman that wants to have a job has an opportunity for one. as we look, and we go forward, and look to we have to do, we know the work we have to do. we know the responsibility that we have to the next generation because when i look out at this room, and i look out that each of you, we know that the responsibility that sits on our shoulders is we can be the first generation that leaves america

in a less place, less opportunities than we, ourselves, inherited, where we can step up and stop this president from another four years. we can stop the senate from gaining power in continuing to do what it does in stopping our ability to pass our laws or a budget, or we can sit back and let them continue. we can send more republicans to congress so we can help those individuals we sent in 2010, and i think you would agree for the first time in a very long time, we have the opportunity to see those new congressman talked about cutting spending, talk about stopping raising the deficit as we go forward. the current president, let's be

honest -- he is not a uniter. he is a divider. he is not an individual that believes our best days are in front of us. he is an individual that thanks i want to take from you to give to you -- that thanks i want to take from you to give to you. he has built his entire administration on the fact that if i can take from you and give to you, i divided the country by class warfare. he sees not a country built on aspirations, he sees a country built on government control in our lives. we know, again, our proud president's -- linkedin, he was a leader. he was -- president lincoln, he was a leader. he was united. we look at ronald reagan. he ended the cold war. we know what we need to do to

make sure the next president of the united states is a proud republican. we know we need to do to stop the decline of our country and the decline in our faith and our belief in ourselves. we have a president that goes to foreign countries and makes comments to other leaders and says that republicans have gotten a little soft, and a little lazy. well, do you think you are a little soft? do you think americans have become a little lazy? no. or, do we think the president has killed every opportunity that he can to increase jobs for american citizens? at the rnc, i can tell you we proudly stand with any candidate that comes out of this primary. we are are there and we are united. in our fourth quarter, we raised

more money than the democrat national party with a sitting party and control of the senate. they raised -- we raised $27 million. they raised $23 million. absolutely. we just had the best of your fundraising ever. and we have left no stone unturned. as i'm here today, our chairman is in my home state raising money and meeting with donors. we reduced our debt substantially. in fact, we are in the black. we have now $23 million cash in the bank. [applause] with that $23 million, we are committed to tell you that, when there is a candidate, we will take those funds and we will immediately write a check of $20 million to give that candidate. so all like the last time, when john mccain was trying to raise money and the democrats were

allowed to define who he was as a candidate, we will not let that happen to the next candidate and we will make sure that the funds are in place, the tools are in place to make sure that one of these individuals is the next president of the united states. we have what i think is the greatest communications team and the british research team that we have ever seen. they're building what we're calling probably the book. what we're doing is researching on a daily basis with everything that this president does, everything is president promises, and everything this president does not deliver. when we have a candidate, that canada will not have to research and find his own information on this. we will be able to give him these tools and we will hold mr. barack obama accountable for his failed promises, his broken

promises, his failed administration, and his over recent -- overreaching government intrusion into our lives. but we cannot do it alone at the rnc. we need all of you to help us. i tell you -- and i mean it from the bottom of my heart -- i am not here today and you're not here today because we love our party. we are here today because we love our country. we know there is an opportunity for stopping what is done to this country in the past three to four years as we go forward. so i will ask you to give

everything you can in the next days ahead to make sure that we select your local candidates, those individuals who are putting themselves out there on your behalf, to make sure that barack obama does not serve another day after january. so make sure that we can do everything that we can do to make that difference. if we do,, every second of every day, if we give the maritime, if we think we have given every penny that we have to give, every penny that we have to give to our candidates and the party and we find 50 cents more in our part, we reach in and give it to that candidate -- if we do that, we will make a difference and we will stop what has been the damage that has been done and take back this country. so together, you and i, we have, as president reagan once said,

we have a rendezvous with destiny. will their rendezvous be one of great success? of the next generation having an opportunity for all of the things that we had in our life? for us to go forward in aspirations? will we step back and i give all that we can and wonder what would have been? no, we will not do that. this is their call to action. this is our call to arms at this time in our life. together, we will knock on doors. we will put the signs in the yards. we will make the phone calls. we will raise the money. we will do everything we possibly can. because this is our responsibility for the next generation. and together, you and i will

make the difference. you and i will send barack obama back to illinois. you and i will take back the senate. and you and i will turn this country back with strong leadership into the exceptional america that it was before this president was elected. it will be again because our brightest days are ahead of us. i know many of you in this room, you have different candidates that you are supporting. and i will ask you, no matter who that candidate may be, no matter who you work your heart out to come out of the primary -- when it is over, brief for 24 hours. grieve for 24 hours for what you got to be or may not be, but

you will know will be who will be the next republican as president of the united states of america. you and i will elect the next president of the united states of america as our president. and together, you and i will continue the exceptional as of end of this proud country, this proud country we love, this proud country we love america. god bless each of you. god bless america. and god bless our proud military men and women. thank you for all you do. [applause] c-span3 [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> thank you for joining us

today. >> now we will take you to the eisenhower executive office building in washington, d.c., next to the white house, for an event outlining the obama administration's new internet initiative. it is part of a compass is a plan to improve consumers' interactions on the internet. this blueprint will give consumers more control and how they use their personal information on the internet. speakers at this event will include commerce secretary john bryson, national economic council gene sperling, and john leibovitz. it should get underway shortly. president obama is not at the white house this afternoon. he is in florida. he will talk about energy

policy. we will cover that live at 2:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. as we wait for this event to get underway, we will take you to this morning's "washington journal." here's michael article from the "l.a. times" yesterday. he writes --

a loss by romney in a michigan would only increase such speculation. the number who are not very satisfied or not satisfied at all are 44%. more republicans raided the gop field as weak than strong. a new gallup poll shows that 55% of republicans and republican- leaning independent voters wish someone else were running. but that same poll found that those voters would much rather have a nominee who had secured enough delegates to win the nomination before the august convention that to have the nomination decided in tampa. so republicans only this morning for this segment. a brokered convention or the g.o.p. nominating contest. this is from the washington times february 16, cary picket writes --

"the lesson we have a brokered .onvention was in the 1940's we are four weeks and four states into a process. i literally spend as much time worrying if some space alien attack happens." that is what he writes in "the washington times." the first call upon whether a brokered convention is a good idea comes from cal in cookeville, tenn..

good morning. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. no. i don't think a brokered convention is the way to go. we've only had seven or eight states. i think the media is a little bit wrong with that. i saw the debates and thought for sure mitt romney hit a home run last night. and he's a guy we really need. he is a businessman building staples and a few others. so i don't think we'll have to worry too much about that. there will be talk about other candidates but in the long run i betemit romney will end up with the nomination. host: here's "usa today's" take on the debate last night. santorum gets smacked around in arizona, and in this article they talk about when they were asked to define themselves. the candidates were asked so define themselves by one word. here were the answers in case

you didn't see the debate. ron paul said consistent. rick santorum said courage. mitt romney said resolute and newt gingrich said cheerful. in westchester, pennsylvania, carol, you, too, are opposed to it, why? caller: thank you for taking my call. i watch c-span a lot. especially when commercials are on. i was kind of surprised when they said only 42 -- we still have 42 -- eight states to go. i am following mitt romney. i read his book and listened to it again on tape last summer. admittedly his points like 63 or 59. it's complicated. anyway, i am from pennsylvania.

i would love to see a mitt romney-santorum ticket. thank you. and thank you for taking my call. host: carol thank you for watching c-span. republicans only, do you support or oppose or are you opposed to a brokered convention? (202) 737-0002 if you oppose a brokered convention. if you support, (202) 737-0001 from last night's debate here's mitt romney attacking rick santorum. >> the reason we have this is because arlen specter, [video clip] >> you endorsed in a race, he voted for obama care. if you had not supported him, we would not have obama care. so don't look at me.

take a look in the mirror. >> i supported arlen specter number one because he was the senator of the judiciary committee at a time when there were two to three supreme court nominees and one pore two or >> watch all of today's "washington journal" on the seas and library. we will go back to the white house on the unveiling of the obama administration new internet initiative. >> is distinguished one of the speakers. we will hear first from the director of the economic council, gene sperling. we will hear from the department of commerce, from the chair the federal trade commission, jolly boys, and finally, the final policy director. we're thrilled to have them all.

[applause] >> thank you very much. thank you for being here. obviously, i want to thank a couple of people. i want to thank our great to.ence advisor, our former ce i want to thank secretary bryson for his leadership on this and so many things. i hope i am -- you can find ways to stick it to us. [laughter] inouye, who defy compromise you

in anyway. [laughter] we are looking forward to working with her on advancing this blueprint. of course, i would like to think some of the people who really were driving forces behind this, weitzner. snar obviously, the issue leaders and consumer groups who made this kind of cooperative voluntary announcement possible. we have a few speakers who can make some basic points. number one, when we ask ourselves, as we should, economically, what can we do that lays the foundation for growth and shared prosperity in our country, you ask what you

can do to lay the foundation for the growth sector and our citizens to provide that growth prosperity, and what is fitting for the role of government beyond laying the foundations for an excellent infrastructure and skills of our people -- it is trust. it is stressed in engaging in commerce. trust and the way that we communicate. it is the trust in the quality of products and the reliability of the currency, the trust of the banking system, all of these things that are part of what gives -- that makes us take for granted that we exchange -- the changes that take place, the commerce that helps drive our economy. there's no question that a critical part of that trust is the trust of information between

any of us and the intended recipient of our communication. we have taken for granted that we have laws that protect our communication through the mail, through the phone. you're not allowed to open someone else's mail. and those laws that protect the privacy of those communications, we take for granted. although confidentiality is fundamental to the trust that helps strive not only our participation and democracy, our desire to weigh in on public matters and personal communications, but also in economic commerce and exchange. i think it makes sense that, as we move forward, as technology moves forward, that we ensure

that that basic sense of trust is part of the technologies of the future and the present. this is not a group that anyone needs to tell how critical now the internet is. not only to our personal communications, to our democratic communications, but to our economic communications. i could read no shortage of statistics that any gave me. [laughter] -- that annie gave me. [laughter] of the importance of internet revenue, even for small companies starting up now, for the hundreds of thousands of people involved in app innovation that are driving our economy. it is not only appropriate, but

necessary for us to build in that level of trust into the internet'. and as quickly as we can. the president said, as part of this announcement, "never has privacy been more important than today in the age of the internet, the world wide web, and smart phones. the internet has been able to enact political engagement among citizens around the world and creating jobs of the future. much of this innovation is enabled by novel uses a personal information. so it is incumbent on us to do what we have done throughout history, apply our timeless privacy values to the new technology systems of our times." this is an area, like many areas, where legislation is appropriate, is needed, is fading. but it is also an area, like so many, where we do not have to

wait for legislation, where we as citizens have an ability for government and industry and consumer groups to come together and make progress on our own. and this is a terrific example of that. today is adoing -wait effort. -- a we-can't-wait effort. we are very pleased to recognize the initiative of the internet and the media industries through the digital advertising alliance to provide users and easy one-click way to opt out of online tracking if they want to avoid targeted

advertising. today, the hundreds of companies that are part of this alliance developed with help from the world wide web consortium, to make it easier for users to opt out of tracking if they choose, this is the type of example of voluntary industry action to increase the trust in the internet that is essential to the development of our economy going forward and makes the progress and leighton's the burden of legislation and the government -- and lightens the burden of legislation and the government. barack obama road, one thing we should be clear on is that we must reject that privacy is an outmoded value. it has been at the heart of our

democracy since its inception and we need it more now than ever. with that, it is my pleasure to introduce secretary of commerce john bryson. [applause] >> it is a great pleasure really to be with all of you here in the room today. i know there are many listening who are deeply concerned in this deeply important subject. i thank all of you here. i want to say that, in my years, in my private life, what i did prior to coming here, i had many opportunities to work with mary bono mac. we worked on many issues in

southern california, pertaining to water and other subjects. i want to say thank you very much for your interest and leadership. i know i absolutely do know that she is a sound and thoughtful legislator. it is a pleasure. [applause] we have not seen each other for some time. so what a great treat to see each other. i think you know that the work we are addressing today is really the result of bringing together a broad representation of privacy experts, consumer groups, internet companies, and many others. i think you for being with us. as we all know, millions of americans shop, sell, bank, learn, talk, and work online. in fact, we're now in a

situation in which there is stunning growth. the on-line retail sales in the united states now, just that portion of sales, are now nearing two hundred billion dollars annually. the challenge here is that we have also seen stories of consumer data being lost, compromised, or stolen. and privacy and trust online, i think, has never been so important, never been more important to both businesses and consumers than it is now. an increasing number of consumers are concerned about the information being safe and also being used only as they intended. today, we need strong all mine protections for consumers --

strong all line protections for consumers. and we need those with principles to help guide their policies and decisions. and we need this now. we cannot wait. the consumer privacy bill of rights will help protect consumers' personal data, provide businesses with better guidance on how to meet consumers' privacy expectations, and ensure that the internet remains a truly strong platform for commerce, for innovation, and for growth. this blueprint was greeted with the input from these groups, consumer groups, industry, academia, a technical expert, and includes seven basic protections that consumers should be able to expect from companies. let me take you throw those. i will do them one by one very briefly. number one, individual control

and what kinds of data companies collect. no. 2, transparency and how those companies plan to use that data. third, respect for the context in which the data is provided and disclosed. fourth, secure and responsible handling of that data. fifth, the ability of consumers to access and insure the accuracy of their own data. sixth, reasonable limits on personal data that on-line companies try to collect and retain. and seventh, accountability from companies for strong privacy measures. we will be working with congress to implement this through legislation. but we are also moving forward now. we feel we just cannot wait.

the commerce department national telecommunications information administration nti, that he will convene businesses, consumer groups, and other stakeholders. the stakeholders will work towards consensus on codes of conduct based on this blueprint. what we like about this approach is that it gives us more speed and flexibility than traditional regulatory processes. from there, companies can voluntarily choose whether to adopt these principles. as a former ceo, i know that many of them will have an incentive to do. i have had that experience. in many cases, i think a meaningful faction of many businesses customers will want to seek out strong privacy

protections. already, it is great to see the commitments are made with tools that allow for more individual control. and this includes the digital advertising alliance and its community of internet advertising and media companies. finally, we envision that this plan will be of great interest internationally. we plan to support broad cooperation and consensus on this issue. the commerce -- e-commerce, after all, is global by nature. i simply want to underscore that this blueprint is a first step toward fostering a culture of trust and respect for privacy across america's businesses and consumers. thank you very much. i will move on with new

introductions. special thank you to john leibovitz. he does not follow immediately, but i wanted to recognize the role that the federal trade commission very meaningfully played here. then i want to turn now to stew in this who is the counsel to the -- stu ingis who is the council who helped move this along. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you and good morning. it is a pleasure to be here and see so many friends and people that have worked on these issues for many years. the digital advertising alliance also known as the daa is a consortium of the largest marketing companies and associations in the country. it is our pleasure to have four

of the ceo's -- five of the c -- five of the c eo's, at chalet -- here with us today. there were here -- the daa was developed to provide information to consumers that they needed to make educated decisions about information practices. the business community, or the last two years, through the digital advertising allies, has responded to calls for all might be hero advertising and multi- site data. these are multiple codes of

conduct envisioned here by the department of commerce that further innovative offerings to consumers while providing transparency in the form of the universally recognized blue icon that we see all over the internet as we surf these days and corresponding choices to consumers. we are pleased that the achievements and commitments of the daa on privacy are publicly recognized today and applauded by the white house, the department of commerce, and the federal trade commission. for writ -- furthering the mission, we are announcing today that the daa will add more work to add tools by which consumers can exercise their provinces under these principles. once implemented, consumers, through the browser, will have the ability to choose and exercise choice. the daa intends to work with

browser providers and other participant companies, the leaders in this space, to develop consistent language across browsers' regarding the consumer choice mechanism that will be simple to use and will describe in a clear manner to consumers to the effect of exercising such a choice. finally, the association that convened the daa also worked to ensure proposals and emerge from the multi-site process hampered by choice to consumers while dynamic- while providing offerings. >> thank you for your leadership in this area. what a pleasure it is to be here today to spotlight the efforts

of the administration, congress, mary bono is here, the federal trade commission, and to protect the consumer on-line. in doing so, all of those promoted thriving internet marketplace that is a cyber hope and a cyber driver of our economy. at the turn of the century, one genius used technology to transform the economy and transaction of consumer goods. this century was the last century and the genius was henry ford. he said, "it is not the employer who makes the wages. employers only handle the money could it is the customer who

pays the wages. he was exactly right. it is all about the consumer. the ftc understood that when talking about letting consumers choose when be on line. and you, the captains of industry, acknowledged it when you stepped up to that challenge. respecting consumer privacy and protecting the personal data online encourages trust in internet commerce, which in turn fuels growth in the cyber economy, and really does pay all their wages. we are honored -- does pay all our wages. we're honored to be here today. two of my fellow commissioners are here. commerce is is engaged in extensive study and research that has resulted in a white house blueprint. the blueprint is the bill of rights and think that is terrific.

really, members of congress on both sides of the aisle and both sides of the capital, from jay rockefeller and jim barton to marry boehner matt is here to carry waxman and back to john kerry. they have demonstrated how important it is that consumers personal data be treated with care and respect. protecting privacy online and off is a central part of the ftc's mission. we have gone after dozens of companies that broke their privacy promises, scores of telemarketers who call consumers on the do-not-call registry, and those who peddle spam and spy where. most notably, last year, two of

the largest internet companies both honored the privacy commitments to hundreds of millions of consumers worldwide and hired outside auditors to monitor their privacy practices. since their founding in 1914, the ftc has also had a policy that is focused in recent years on privacy. just last week, we released it privacy mobile app for children. no one has the right to keep parents from taking a firm hold of their child's hand as they crossed the information superhighway. now we're working with industry to make sure that parents get the information they need. the principles underlying much of our work on privacy and is laid out in the 2010 draft

report on privacy. it called on companies to follow three principles. privacy by design, more consumer choice, and transparency. how many of you actually read privacy policies online? that is about a third. maybe that is 20%. you're a pretty sophisticated audience. [laughter] we recommended a do-not-track system that would allow consumers choose what information is tracked about them all line and how it is used. for the past several years, the online advertising agency has been working to develop an icon that consumers can click to opt out of targeted ads. today, while it is still working promise, the ad industry delivers 90% of all my behavioral advertising. and with the better business bureau, it has a staff listed to addressith peacteeth

not compliance and enforcement. if they do not enforce it, and i believe they will, we can. it is moving toward simplifying and ensuring that, when consumers do elect not to be tracked, their choice is respected. very early on, the companies that made web browsers, microsoft explore, fire fox, and apple, they stepped up to our challenge to give consumers a choice on how consumers are tracked online. [laughter] they did. up until now, the vendors have operated on parallel tracks, but separate ones. but today, with the advertising industry announcing that they

will honor this, consumers will be able to opt out of trekking through either the icon on advertisements they see or through a browser settings. america will really be moving further down the road to protecting consumer privacy. while these developments are encouraging, we still need to ensure that all companies that track users, including the ones that are not advertisers, are at the table. at the world wide web consortium, it gathered engineers, consumer groups, and participants across the broad technology industry to create a universal standard for do-not- track. we look for to their deliberations. -- we look forward to their deliberations. we spend a lot of time as an agency bringing cases against companies that fail to honor their privacy commitments. the current do-not-track initiatives are not complete.

but these issues aside, let's take stock of how far we have come. american business is committed to improving tacking controls and at a more basic level for letting consumers choose other data is handled and shared. that is protecting consumer privacy. henry ford once said "coming together is the beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success." with the encouragement of this administration, which has so keenly recognized the importance of engendering consumer trust and internet commerce, the private-public partnership as come together around one small agencies do-not-track initiative. apple, but will, and other technology companies announced yesterday -- apple, google, and other technology companies announced yesterday that they will follow of this.

from here, we can see success and that will come as long as we continue to work toward one common goal, a thriving, innovated cyber -- innovative cyber economy for privacy and personal data is handled with care and respect. thank you. let me introduce the extraordinary allan bloom. -- an extraordinary ellen bloom. [applause] >> i am not so sure about the extraordinary, but i will take it, thank you. it is a pleasure to be here today and be part of this announcement. what we have just heard from our distinguished speakers is really good news for consumers. so i am really delighted to be your offering support on behalf of my organization, consumers union, which is the policy and

advocacy arm of consumer reports, and also representing consumer federation of america. our two organizations are all about listening to consumers. when consumers tell us that one of the real concerns they have about the internet is privacy, in a recent poll conducted by consumer reports, 80% of consumers told us they were concerned that online companies may be passing their personal information to third parties without permission. if people do not trust that their on-line information will be handled with care and respect, they will be very uncomfortable signing up for new services. that will be a killer for innovation and growth. today's privacy initiative recognizes that. we agree with the administration that comprehensive privacy legislation is the ideal. and we will work to that end. but this action today takes us on a path to taking credit control over how to our information is collected and used on-line.

we preach it the administration posture leadership role as well as the ftc's tenacious work. we believe that the administration consumer internet privacy act will put focus on transparency run data collection and its use and giving individuals more information or more controls over their personal information. we are thankful for the multi- stakeholder class's announced today. this will bring consumer privacy groups and industry together to hopefully develop consensus-based enforceable privacy codes of conduct. we expect the consumer voice will be a very loud and forceful voice during that process. we will do everything to make sure that happens. you can count on it. we're glad, too, that the ftc and the advertising industry will be breathing new life into

the do-not-track for consumers. we are pretty pleased with that. this is a welcome step toward one day having a single, simple, and persistent tool to opt out of being tracked on line. we hope that day comes soon. we fully support the ongoing negotiations through the worldwide web consortium. while we are encouraged by today's announcement, we're not ready to rest. we're definitely on the right track. but we need to stay committed to the goals of educating consumers about how their information is collected and used on-line. and giving individuals the means to make meaningful privacy choices. the internet gives us an extraordinary tools to interact with each other and society. it has raised about concerns about what is fair when it

comes your personal information. we look forward to working with the administration, the ftc, and industry to come up with fair rules of the road so that we can all stand behind them. thank you very much. [applause] >> that is it. it is time to get going. modee in the we-can't-wait about this. we need all of you who are here to help out with this process. the internet has come about because of the cooperative efforts of the wide range of individuals and organizations that are represented in this room, that have gathered all around the world, the care about progress here. we're critically dependent on all of you working together to

make this happen. i want to say to those of you who are involved in all of the discussions that got us here of the last two years, we have seen a tremendous collaborative spirit. we have seen a lot of flexibility. we have seen trust-building, i hope, in the idea that we can all work together. and that is really our task forward. i want to close very quickly by acknowledging a couple of people at the commerce department who really have had the laboring oar is on this effort. art shorts, john morris, aaron bernstein, dole tester. i am leaving out a lot of people. they have done a great job. [applause] i wanted to thank all of our colleagues across the white house. shannon got us all together and organized. and kristin did as well.

is anish here? all right, thank you, anish. thank you again for coming. [applause] >> this event at the eisenhower

executive office in washington, you can see it in the video library at c-span.org. the president is not at the white house today. he is headed to florida to talk about energy. the president is promoting an energy strategy that the administration says will reduce dependence on foreign oil in the long term. the cost of $3.58 per gallon is the highest price for this time of year. we will have this love for you here on c-span at 2:30 p.m. eastern. >> also live today, we will have

the retired general james car right taking part in a discussion with retired admiral william fallon. they're talking about iran and u.s. options to deal with its developing nuclear program. that is at the center for strategic and international studies at 5:30 p.m. eastern here on c-span. also, coming up in prime time tonight, from the world economic forum this evening, the heads of the world bank and international monetary fund discuss the global economy. c-span 2 has booked tv prime time with the authors of books of notable african americans beginning at 8:00 p.m. eastern with henry louis gates, jr. and c-span 3 has the life of george washington with george norton smith in mount vernon, virginia. all that is coming at 8:00 p.m. eastern. >> we got started because there were a lot of conservative think

tanks. but before cap, there had been a symbol progressive organization that oregon economic policy, domestic policy, and more. >> the mission of the washington d.c.-based think tank. >> there is often an ideology behind decisions made in washington without little facts behind them. the evidence-based arguments behind their own views, i do think that sometimes the facts do not argue for positions because we fundamentally believe that the most important thing is to be right about what your views are. >> a look at the center for american progress sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern and pacific on c-span "q&a."

>> at the 1968 olympic games, john carlos and tommie smith raised their fists in the black power salute. >> this is black power. they intimidated so many people, white people in particular, by using that phrase -- black power. when you use the word or that phrase, many people thought that black power meant destruction. like blowing up the statue of liberty or ground zero, destroying america. this is not about destroying america. this is about rebuilding america and having a new paradigm as how we truly can be each and every one of its pledge when we go to elementary school and junior high school about the land of the free and the home of the brave. we all wanted to be brave americans. as young americans, we found -- we wanted to take time to

evaluate and bring up the discussion. >> on the tv on c-span 2 and online at the c-span video library. search and share from over 25 years of c-span programming at c-span.org/videolibrary. >> speaking at the justice department but history month program, the government cannot "become complacent on voting rights." this is about 50 minutes. [applause] >> good morning, everyone. good morning and welcome to the 2012 department of justice african-american black history month observance program. my name is richard torrez shawano, the director of the

equal opportunity staff. it is an honored to join attorney-general holder, our distinguished speakers, and all of you as we discussed the contributions of african- americans to our nation and to the justice department. to begin our program, i'd ask that you please rise for the pledge of allegiance. leading us in reciting the pledge of allegiance is missed in a page, director of the department of the executive secretary office. miss page. >> i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

>> please be seated. thank you, dana. at this time, i would like to formally welcome our distinguished speakers. first, we're grateful to have was our attorney general, the hon. eric h. holder, jr. welcome. i also like to extend a special welcome to our speakers who, today, through a dynamic panel discussion will address a number of topics pertaining to the national theme for black history month -- black women in american culture and history. first, are today's panel facilitator, miss suzanne bell, a deputy director for legal management executive office for use attorneys. next, our panelists, first, ms momet.

our sincere appreciation for each of you for participating in this important program. as previously mentioned, the national team for african- american history month is a black women in american culture and history. this theme invites us to reflect on the strength and resilience of american women throughout our nation's history. it acknowledges the very important roles that african- american women have played and continue to play in our local communities, academic and cultural institutions, and here in the justice department. it also reminds us of the continuing struggles that we still must overcome to achieve equality in all aspects of our lives, including in the workplace. today's program provides another unique opportunity to highlight the rich diversity of our nation and the efforts of the justice

department to embrace diversity and foster working permits where everyone's voice can be heard. leading the department and its diversity management efforts is the hon. eric h. holder, jr., the first african-american named as the attorney general of the united states. [applause] he embodies strengths, understanding tenacity and more importantly, the american spirit that provides millions of people, regardless of background, the opportunity to achieve their dreams. his commitment to equal justice and opportunity for all is unwavering. it is evident in the support he provides to all employees, serving in the united states -- serving the u.s. at home and abroad. as we acknowledge african- americans and recommit ourselves

to breaking down barriers, we take comfort in knowing that attorney general holder is guiding our efforts to achieve a more perfect union by enforcing the law and defending the interests of the united states according to the law. ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming the honorable eric h. holder, jr. [applause] >> good morning. thank you, richard for that kind introduction. i like to do evens with him because he comes up with wonderful things to say about me. some of which is actually true, but i will not tell you what is not. i want to thank you for all the wonderful things that you have done to make this a black history month a celebration -- a memorable one this year. thank you for joining us. among to thank -- i want to t

hank dana, as well. millions of people come together to celebrate the contributions that generations of african americans have made in in strengthening -- in strengthening our nation. throughout this month, americans of all races and backgrounds are called upon to reconnect with one another. to rededicate ourselves to the principles that lie at the core of everything that we must stand for. in particular, all that we fight for here at the united states department of justice. over the course of two centuries and even within the span of many of our lifetimes, our nation has made remarkable progress in the struggle toward equality and opportunity for all citizens. there is no question we have come a long way since the days when segregation