for a few years, but the kids, children have been cheated that of a world-class education. and for far too long, all of us here, adults, educators, have observed this failure observe ts educational failure. states and district officials have tinkered in these schools instead of treating them as the educational emergencies that they are, and from the moment that i became the ceo of chicago public schools in 2001, they told me not much could be done. i was told not much could be done to transform a failing schools at scale. some said that the barriers were poverty and race and were just too tough to overcome. and those on the right of the political spectrum said the teachers and the unions and the

district administrators would never buy into dramatic and fundamental change. at the national level, it required consistently low performing schools to take action, but in reality, chronically underperforming schools where required to do little, and for years, the federal government provided little or no resources for change. almost no high schools, for example, where included in the efforts. just 15% of the nation's high schools produce 50% of the nation's 1.2 million dropouts. they point to singers. they bicker. at the end of the day, no meaningful change. president obama said america could no longer maintain the status quo in chronically low performing its goals. we cannot continue to tinker.

change is desperately needed. we reject that some schools or some children or neighborhoods are just destined to fail, so in 2009, our administration, with the support of congress, created a new an ambitious program to turn around these schools. it gives four options for dramatic improvement, but all four requires schools to institute far reaching changes. as my friend, the head of the nea says, a tweak here or there will not lead to change. almost $4 billion. that money has gone to over 1200 schools, each of which got a three-year grant. in the first award, almost half

were high schools. we wanted to tackle these challenges head-on. bloggers and pundits almost unanimously predicted that the sig program would flop and that it was a waste of taxpayer dollars. they said that even if the program more to to turn around a few schools, it would never succeed at scale or produce lasting change. fortunately, great teachers, grade school leaders, and great partners and parents did not listen to those -- great teachers, great teachers, and great partners and parents did not listen to that. it is some of the toughest and most controversial work that they would never undertake, but they knew that it was some of

the potentially most rewarding market they would do in their entire careers. it could not be an excuse for inaction. they did not claim to have all of the answers. they approached the work, as we all try to do, with real humility, coupled with a sense of urgency. we are still seeing results from the first year of the sig program. after one year, dramatic gains in learning at a significant number of schools. we all know that none of these schools is where they need to be or where they will be, but there is a sense of progress and momentum and hope which israel. we have about 850 schools in the first sig. in year one, roughly one out of four schools saw double-digit increases in mathematics

proficiency. about one in at 5 -- one in five have another increase in proficiency. in math and reading, it went up in just one year. i want to be clear that these are obviously still preliminary, and we are only talking about the first year of data, and everyone realizes we will need several years of data for lasting improvement in economic achievement. we are also continuing to gather data on other critical out comes -- outcomes, things like dropout rates, discipline, attendance, and other indexes. it is encouraging to see that new york city is also finding they can dramatically improve student performance and substantially boost graduation

rates. even more encouraging, they are doing so districtwide, not in isolated pockets of success, and as we all know, scale is so important to this. as we heard earlier, there has been a big drop, especially since 2008. from 20008 to 2010, the number of high schools where graduation is not the norm -- from 2008 to 2010, the number of high schools where graduation was not the norm dropped. what are the ingredients? what are the secrets to the success? in the sig program, we have seen that those that succeed share at least to double your elements. first, they have a new, dynamic leader.

we are talking about extraordinary principals, like one who works on an indian preservation. every monday morning, he gets up really early and drives 2.5 hours to his school. he drives 2.5 hours back to this family on the weekend after living there. they have teachers and adults who share a relentless focus on improving instruction, both through collaboration and the use of data. this gives professionals in the schools the resources they need to be ambitious teachers. they provide for in -- for development, instruction, and increase learning time, including more time for collaboration among teachers, and they all provide for an improved teacher-evaluation system, which for the most time -- for the first time is aligned

with state standards. but the road to success is not the program itself. it is the focus, the passion, the commitment of the practitioners to drive success. contrary to a lot of the predictions that were made about sig. an elementary school in st. paul, minn., had adopted a. peer system -- a peer-to-peer system. in ontario, ore., teachers are improving instruction in real time. in las vegas, at one elementary school, they instituted a tutoring program which added one our of learning time at the end of the school day, and the result of that additional hour, reading and math proficiency

improved by more than 20 percentage point. down the road in reno, they gave teachers meaningful feedback and daily coaching. students themselves have a big role in tracking and analyzing their own progress and empowering students to take charge of their own learning is so important. all data is tracked for each student in a dated journal. at the heart of all of these successes are those excited about the prospects for change. this would motivate them and get them up every morning and keeps them working until late at night. this is absolutely a labor of love. the teachers recognize how great this work is to fundamentally transform the life chances of their students. they know that school culture is a difficult thing to change, but

they know that all children must be given the opportunity to fulfill their academic and social potential. as one in philadelphia put it, students at turnarounds' schools of feel like they are part of something big. -- students at turnaround schools feel they are part of something big. talking about the sig program, two years ago, roosevelt was named one of the worst in the state. they had a 14% jump in the graduation rate. attendance is up. test scores are up. just as important, those educators have fostered a new belief among students about what is possible to them. the arts, for example, are thriving, and so is the school's drama program.

there was a first for a public school from portland. to make sure the students could make the trip, one took out a second mortgage on her home. that is a remarkable, remarkable commitment, and we have to figure out how to help her. local unions are looking to improve and strengthen school turnaround efforts. designing a customized support for teachers and a new professional development for staff at turnaround schools. sometimes parents do cling to the familiar, but we are finding that parents and community organizations are in many cases actually helping to drive change and to enhance learning opportunities. community engagement is crucial to a successful turnaround, and as dennis point out, you cannot spell partners without parents,

and that is one reason our administration has announced a new initiatives to foster an expanded community engagement in low performance goals. schools should not and cannot do this by themselves. working with the white house and the corporation for national and community service, we will be expanding this effort to foster more partnerships to advance school improvement. in the end, none of us can do this work alone. promoting the community culture, where educational improvement is everyone's responsibility, it is our national mission. it does take a village. children only get one chance to get a quality education. as dr. martin luther king said, "we cannot wait for reform to have an." we cannot wait for educational opportunity to be realized. i want to thank everyone here

and in the field for their courage, their commitment, and their leadership in bringing new hope to schools, to communities, and most important, to children. this is at heart a movement. i believe it is a daily fight for social justice, and together, it is a fight we will win. thank you so much. [laughter] set and now, i would like to bring up -- and now, i would like to bring up the real stars. we of the superintendent of portland's goals. -- we have the superintendent of portland schools, some from luke moore school. if i can ask them to come out,

please? [applause] i am going to start with the real stars of the show. high school student daquan burley. you are a senior and have been there for four years. i would love to hear what it was like before and what the culture and environment is like now. >> we were so young. when i came, i was 14 years old. everyone was older. my first year there, i was younger, so things were new to me. dudes -- i mean, kids. >> dudes, that is ok. >> i was not used to it. they were smuggling -- smoking,

gambling. >> in the schools? >> yes. i tried to stay away from it, but it was all around. it was hard. a couple of years after that when news staff came, there was not really none of that. >> are you taking education more seriously now? >> yes. >> what changed their behavior? >> doing the work, but even if it was wrong, they would pass us anyway. doing things right now, or we cannot leave. to let me play in a game. >> that is not too tough? >> no. >> thanks. rose, how long have you been at luke moore?

why did you choose to work there instead of that some other school? >> i think it is my duty not only of the product of the d.c. public schools but also a former resident of the city to give back. when i was in school, i head teachers that cared. i had teachers that motivated me. i feel it is my duty. i feel fulfilled every day. [applause] >> as you try to make this an extraordinary school. >> before, we had a very, very low attendance rate. our graduation rate was very

low, as well. we have students that would come to was every day that were disengage, both academically and socially, -- that were disengaged, both academically and socially. we now have students coming to school because they want to be there and because they can see the light at the end of the tunnel towards graduation and being able to move on with their lives. most students now have an opportunity to not only come to school and be encouraged, but they can also receive their graduation diploma much quicker with our accelerated program. that allows them to earn more credits over the course of a school year. >> change is hard. change can be threatening. you were there before. how much of it scared you? how much of it -- just walk me through your thought process. >> for me, personally, i had to

feel empowered myself. i had to get up in the morning and tell myself, yes, i can do this. i do make a difference at the end of the day. and though i cannot reach all of the students, i have been able to touch a few, and seeing them graduate and go on to college and success will be going out into the world of work, it makes all of the difference -- to go on to college and seeing them going out into the world of work, he it makes all of the difference. a fine young man. daquan was one of those students, but he has been in power. he have received quality instruction. he realizes that the skills will make him better with a brighter future for him. i am excited for him as he prepares to graduate this june. [applause]

>> and after a quick question with the superintendent, if you have any questions or the panel, think about them, and i will come to you next. a high school that was not only low performing in portland, one of the lowest in the state. walk me through what it was like before and what you did. just one year, a long way to go, but pretty remarkable progress. walk me through how you got from here to there. >> it was low performing. roosevelt had been a school that had three small schools on a single campus, and we used the opportunity to bring it back together as a unified campus, and as you called out in your opening remarks, the school this year had a 14-point gain in the

graduation rate, double digit gains in achievement, both in reading and in mass, a 28 percentage point -- both in reading and in mathematics, and a 28 percentage point increase in another area. one of the previous things was a down rods spiral -- eight down world -- a downward spiral. one of the key factors, leadership. we haven't really dynamic principal -- we have a really dynamic principal, so i went to give a call out to her. she has been remarkable -- i want to give a call out to her.

she has been remarkable. the transformational model that the school chose to take, and we have participation, building the plan, identifying what strategies will be used, and actually writing the grant an ongoing participation. -- and ongoing participation. there is relentless instructions and coaching, a deep investment in finding time for teachers to collaborate. as part of this, roosevelt piloted a new teacher evaluation tool, which we have implemented across the district, which is a story to itself. this affects how we work together with our teachers union. and the last thing i called out is the partnership, which has been huge, -- and the last thing i call out is the partnership.

we are hoping to build a college-bound situation. nonprofit partners who are helping us work on how we use out of school time effectively. a combination of all of those things, it is a different place than it was, and you feel a student energy there that is really probable, and it is roosevelt on the rise. -- that is really palpable, and if it is roosevelt -- and it is roosevelt on the rise. >> what was your expectation coming into this, if you can think back one year? >> it was not a foregone conclusion that we would even apply for the grants, so even deciding yes, we would go

forward was a deep conversation with our union and our teachers and the administration with the school, and we did a pretty amazing process, where the union leadership and i went and sat with a small group of teachers that had explored what it meant to apply for a grand and evaluate the different options that they presented. -- and evaluated the different options that they presented. the union and i said, "you figure out what we want." that school owning the strategies. and feeling that they are driving this. it is not being prescribed from somewhere else. >> for a change going in? >> i did not think it would be the kind we have seen. it has been transformational.

>> we will open it up for the audience. we have about five minutes. we have a mic here. do we have another one? let's start here. another mic here. >> hi, i am brenda. from kentucky. i am curious to find out what stereotypes you were confronted with at your school and in the community and how that affected expectations, and i would also like you to look at your curriculum and tell me if you think it and brings to our culture and if you think and effective participation in your school -- and tell me if you think it affected your culture and if you think it affected participation in your school. >> it was easy but tough at times, like things i did not

know, but the teachers made it kind of easing. they stayed by my side until i understood what i was supposed to. >> that stereotype is major for me. it can be debilitating, especially when you are participating in systemwide meetings or across the system. knowing that you worked at a system that is considered the bottom of the barrel -- knowing that you work at a system that is considered to be the bottom of the barrel. let us show you what we can do. with regard to our curriculum -- [applause] with regard to our curriculum, it is, indeed, rigorous and challenging, but we found out that having the highest academic standard, even for individual

courses, they feel that they have earned it. strategies that they can use in the future, so it has been embraced. >> thank you. >> you are welcome. >> hi, i am a director at d.c. public schools, and i have to say that twitter and email is bursting with pride. we are so proud to have you sitting up here with the secretary of education. [applause] my question is about what next, so you are getting ready to graduate, and you have obviously figured some things out that are working, so what next so we can take what you have learned and really tell your story to other kids and make sure other students, not just in dca but across the nation, can listen and learn from what you have done -- not just in d.c. but

across the nation, can listen and learn from what you have done? >> i am not sure. i mean, college, hopefully i will be going to north carolina central. [cheers and applause] after that, i would like to comeback -- come back, the rough trials through high school and things like that. >> my good friend. >> marguerite kondracke with america's promise alliance. there are many representing this at the community level. what is the most effective way for the local nonprofits to reach out and be supportive of these students and these schools

that really need our help? >> at roosevelt specifically, it has taken a number of different forms. there is a stepped-up program, -- a step-up program, directly connected to teachers and students, so there is a deep relationship. we have some communities schools that are present at the roosevelt campus with family engagement support. we have got a family engagement coordinator who is organizing with, hopefully, community-based organizations family night. another has wrapped its arms usually around. it spans a lot of different

types of activities, but this is a mechanism for a lot of individuals to support, and then the alumni association has been hugely engaged in businesses in supporting roosevelt, and the university has engaged individual students with our students, and those relationships carry on once those students go on to college, and they are specific, but they have taken different shapes, figuring out what they have to offer, really focused on what the school is trying to achieve, so they are not random partnerships. they are all in alignment with what roosevelt is trying to accomplish. >> good morning. alice thompson, detroit, michigan. ms. smith, can you specify three or four of these specific and ciliate changes -- salient

changes? >> as those are coming out of eighth grade and going into ninth grade, we have got a ninth grade academy at roosevelt, and we are tracking students being on track to graduate as they entered 10th grade, so having the appropriate amount of credit with a c or better. on-time graduation at a five times greater rate than if they were not trapped, and we are doing everything to make sure that occurs -- a five times greater rate than if they were not tracked. a huge piece of the collaborative problem solving. teachers are doing that instructional practice and about individual strategies to support individuals.

that has been powerful. >> hi, my name is amanda, and i am from the united way of tucson, arizona. using community-based organizations to help with parish engagement? >> yes, we do. as a way of linking families to this goal. we have got a broad definition of what it means to be engaged as a parent. but what you're doing with your students at home to support them academically in school, as well as participating what -- with what is going on at school. we have a parent volunteer morning, where parents show up in force at the school and are just a presence at the school, and we have got an outstanding individual who is hugely

energetic but looks for ways that are the right match for how parents can engage. >> good morning. my name is brian diaz, and i am at a school in northeast d.c. what did you find that you are able to come out, and if you saw appears that were not, how were your parents involved in getting you to where you were at -- and if you saw peers that were not, how were your parents involved? >> they were really behind me. without them, i probably would not be a year at all because they helped me a lot, -- i probably would not be here at all, because they helped me a lot. my parents. following the crowd. i really thank them all jon for that.

-- thank them a lot for that. >> good morning. my name is jenna. i am from connecticut. -- my name is jim. i think inspiring the potential so students achieve greater life outcomes is what i am hearing, and my question is for daquan. martin luther king said intelligence plus character, that is the goal of true education. what have you seen over the last several years at school -- how has it affected your character and the character of the school, and what percentage of that has helped you thrive? >> 100%.

100%. it kind of matured a little bit. i really think -- my first couple of years, i really was not, you know, school was not for me. as the new change has come, i settle down, church a bit, started getting my head in the books -- i settled down, matured a bit. >> you are living martin luther king's dream, and i would like to encourage you to become one of the next presidents of the united states. [applause] thank you. >> he can have my job first. >> good morning. i am with an organization for

volunteers. daquan, i am very proud of you. i have a flashback of me being an intern for senator strom thurmond. a small town, but we have a lot to offer. i would like to offer the audience, are you all proud of sasha and malia obama? so am i, but i am also proud of our nation's children. the objective is to invite students to assist in developing a wishing well that will showcase our nation's children and honor our nation's first children, sasha and malia obama. i know that they are protective of their children, as well, but, mr. duncan, i would like you to review this. >> i will, but we have three

more questions. one, two, three, four >> this morning, everyone. my name is -- one, two, three. >> good morning, everyone. my name is andre. i have seen the distractions. i have a a little brother that was distracted like that, and for you to focus and put your mind in the right place, just know that there is nothing that you cannot do if you want to do it, young brother. you are on the right track. you have the right people with you, and i just commend you, young brother. [applause] >> ithey, how -- hey, how is it going? i am from hampton roads, virginia. i have a question coming from

this side, kind of like the partners that you mentioned. you said there were a lot of nonprofit organizations that were helping out. first of all, what are those non-profit organizations? what are the best kinds? what are the best activities for after-school programs that are most effective, and also for us, trying to engage the high schools, what would you advise us? it seems that you guys were reaching out as schools to them. this is us reaching out on the other side. >> to me? >> yes. >> yes? i would offer one of our nonprofit partners is actually here at the conference and will be presenting this afternoon on scaling up. they have been a long standing partner in our community that starts working with young people and their families in second grade. it is all about keeping them in

school and the relationships they build with those students. they have a terrific graduation rate of the young people they have supported. yes. they will be part of the presentation here. that would be a session that would be worthwhile to go to. what they are doing now is a whole-school model. sei as the nonprofit partner is really ensuring that we are going to be able to guarantee success for every one of the students that are a part of that, so i think that is a great place to start and use your time at this conference. self enhancement inc., and it is about scaling up and is later this afternoon. it is a great example of one of our partners. >> good morning.

my name is ms. green. we know that school counselors are a underlies -- underutilized resource nationally. my question is how are they engaging in the transformation process at your two respective schools? >> at our school, our school counselor does a myriad of things. first, making sure that our students are enrolled in the courses that they need to graduate. their daily schedule. secondly, they take the time to meet with individual students and their emotional needs that they often come to us with and also career planning as well as college planning. we have counselors staff available to help them to fill

out the federal student aid form, college applications, java applications. we work on interviewing techniques and strategies if they desire to go out into the world and worked. this is what -- go out into the world and work. this is what they are doing. >> making sure the students are getting the classes that they need and changing that if they are not on track with what they need. it is an often overlooked strategy. you do not need them going down a path that is not worth working on. and also linking students with community resources as well as personal attention. >> thank you. there is a national movement for career readiness.

if your counselors have not already signed on, please have them do so. >> thank you. [applause] >> hello, i am the executive director of stockton academies in stockton, california. daquan, in response to a question that somebody asked you, you said you were your own leader. there is a pervasive gang problem. what we find is some of the best as we work but are still overwhelmed by this gang issue, whether it be generational or neighborhood wise. so did you find your success is linked to the fact that you did not have those family ties or did not feel a burden to join a gang, or is that something you also struggled with the >> it was not necessarily a struggle.

-- you also struggled with proof -- struggled with? >> it was not necessarily a struggle. where i came from, gangs were a big part of the street. me being me, i just stuck to the books, listened to my parents, the teachers, a couple of my friends that graduated and went on to college. >> and the teacher, i am sorry, i forget your name, do you find there are students that are overly -- that are motivated? >> the streets are a distraction for people -- for young people nationwide. our students come to us, and they see our school as a safe haven. we have students who attend luke moore from all over washington,

d.c., and many times they are dangerous and had gangs and drug selling and all kinds of negative things. but students come to our school and see it as a safe haven. they come into the doors of luke moore, and there is a purpose to learn, to graduate, and to become a successful citizen. [applause] >> thank you. >> thanks to you all for your questions. please give a thanks to rose and daquan. ♪ >> thank you, secretary duncan,

and daquan burley, we have to find out when he turns 35, because i think we heard something about him running for president. our next speaker is a national treasure, and part of his job is to worry about the state of our national treasure. he is called "gene the machine" for his and the taxable -- for his indefatigable efforts. he is a good mid westerner from minnesota, a great tennis player, and a yale lawyer. he is a perfect speaker for this. to close out this plenary

session, please warmly welcome from the white house gene sperling. ♪ >> well, thank you very much. john got most of that right. it is true i went to college in minnesota, but i am actually from ann arbor, mich. and a huge michigan's ban, i am still mourning the tragic loss to ohio. nevertheless, i will hold myself up for these remarks today. i really do want to thank john bridgeland for his commitment and what he has done through

civic enterprises, part of the president's white house counsel for solutions. there are people in this town that are committed to getting this done as opposed to worrying about what party is in power and who is going to get the credit, and i thank him for that, and i want to thank the powells. for her chair in the alliance. i remember its creation. it is still a force in public policy, and obviously, you got to see our commitment in action, c and arne duncan -- seeing none arne duncan -- seeing arne duncan. i will try to make five points quick and let you move on.

number one, a focus on how education and the challenge of preventing dropouts, but beyond preventing dropouts, having higher aspirations, higher achievement, higher graduation rates, higher accomplishment is absolutely critical to our economy and our economic growth. now, there is a degree, and with that, it is just common sense. i am just talking about the basketball playoffs. if you look at any team, any team is stronger, everyone is stronger when everyone on that team is at their highest performance and contributing. of course, if you have an economy where women are not contributing as much, are not allowed to contribute, when you have an economy where too many

people are dropping out of high school, never getting the chance to get the skills to compete, that is not just about the interests of those individuals, though that is crucial. it is about whether you have an economy that is at full strength. now, you have seen the studies. i will not go into all of them. you know them. you know somebody graduate from high school will [laughter] may try [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] lifetime [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] [laughter]

--you know what that means to individuals and their lives. and we know what it means to the cost of our society. the people who have significant education make more, contribute more, pay higher taxes, cost taxpayers less funds. those are all things of which the academic evidence is overwhelming and undeniable. what is incredibly important to remember, and maybe the most important message, is it benefits all of us. let me just give you one example. the president held a conference on in source in the other day, and in the in sourcing conference, -- a conference on in-sourcing the other day, and in that in-sourcing conference, one of the big indicators what what was the completion rates -- was what was the completion rate. the college completion rate was where the recommended somebody. a high school completion rate is better. it is not just those individuals that benefit. that community as a whole benefits. there will be more job location

there. we need to make it clear that when we are funding and inspiring people to have higher aspirations, higher achievement, higher progress, it is not just about those individuals. it is about our economy as a whole. my second point there is really one where i think all of you feel deeply, which is even if that were not the case, my guess is everybody who is here to they would still be here today. because we are fundamentally a people who believe, fundamentally, that the accident of your birth should not be overly determinative of the outcome of your life. [applause] we would not tolerate a law that says if you are born in a poor area, a single parent, on the

7/1 hundred of you can go to college, we would not tolerate a lot like that -- only seven out of 100 it of you can go to college, we would not tolerate a law like that. we have an obligation. every generation does. to move ourselves closer that your birth does not determine the outcome of your life. particularly too many children of color in poor, urban areas, pour -- poor urban areas, they have the deck stacked against them, that is not something we can sit by and say we will deal with it some other day. that is something where we have

to have a commitment, and the commitment has to be through the elementary school, to what arne duncan talked about, too high school to the work force, and the commitment has to be deep and strong and through that whole process that gives somebody opportunity others of us are too likely born with to contribute and to create economic security for our families. now, the third point i want to make is that i think one of the most critical things for us as a country in making progress is that we establish, and this is what i believe you are trying to do here, that this commitment is something where there is an overwhelming consensus in our society to achieving, because, having been here for 20 years, i will be very honest and say the

following thing. i think there is a deep double standard when it comes to evaluating programs and policies for the poorest children. we do not find out that a particular intervention to cure cancer has failed and therefore decide, well, i guess that is an argument for not investing in research to cure cancer. we do not decide that if a certain military weapon is not as effective as others that we give up on the basic security of our country or the basic goal of preventing terrorism, we find another way that is more effective. yet, i have seen that when it comes to programs for helping our poorest students, if it is not 100% effective, people use that as an argument to give up

on the endeavor, to de-fund the endeavor. how many times have i heard somebody say that this was an early strategy, but some of the benefits fade out, so when i think that we do when i hear that, i think, ok, great, what can we do to make sure those benefits do not fade out? what can we do to make sure those benefits accelerate instead of fade out? and other people say that is the reason we should not do the thing that is working even for several years. that makes no sense to me. i am afraid that it has a negative impact on public policy, because when people feel that the admission of any error or any failure to get the performance desired is going to

be used as a reason to defund the endeavor, people pullback. they are more afraid of experimentation, of accountability. but if we are all -- is not economically smart, not consistent with our values to let an overwhelming, to let large numbers of our children have the deck stacked against them by the accident of their birth, then we will all be in this together, and we will evaluate, and we will analyze, and we will innovate, and if something is not working well enough, we will go back and double down for something that works, not use that as an excuse to pull back. franklin roosevelt said it is common sense to take a method and try it. if it fails, admit it frankly and try another, but above all, try something. that must be our motto when we

engage in the effort to have more children, our young people, have higher aspirations and achievements in our economy. the fourth point i will make is we are in a tough budget time. this is a time of priorities. where are our priorities as a country going to be? i am so proud to work for president obama. i am so proud because every time we get to the toughest situations, the toughest budget fights, and the top priorities have to come into play, what the president puts first or at least at the top of his priority list is making sure we are staying with that commitment to invest and innovate in ways to help children who do not come from the best circumstances have the same opportunities or greater opportunities to succeed. that is why -- [applause]

that is why even in this tough budget, over $1 billion more for headstart, and every budget, we fight and fight and will continue to fight to not have that cut back so that tens of thousands of children lose at least the chance they have to enter school ready to learn. that is why when we can afford relatively few new programs, one of them is $500 million for the early race to the top so we are funding what works. we are also looking to see what can work better, how we can innovate, we can learn so we can do better and invest more in children. that is why of all of the difficult budget challenges, the president has stayed with his historic commitment to pell grants and has not only the largest increase but to protect that increase budget after budget in the toughest times among the toughest choices.

those are priorities that should transcend. political party and political division. that should be about our national commitment to be in the people where every child has a chance to move up -- to being a people where every child has a chance to move up. the last point i will make is that we really, really as a country have to continue to focus and innovate and rededicate ourselves to particularly ensuring that young people, that we reach young people early enough to ensure that they have the aspirations, not to just not drop out but to seek to achieve all that they can. colleges station. -- college education. i think one of the things that you learn when you get older is that you are born with many gifts, but one of the gifts that

many of us as fortunate as myself realize later is that just by our upbringing, by the accident of our birth, we have a gift, and that a gift is a very high expectation that we will go to college, and i have watched friends and relatives. i have seen how they have gone off. that high expectation that they are almost born it is like a magnet that pulls them back on the right track, -- that they are almost born with is like a magnet. whatever their problems, they comeback -- they come back. but so many other children are born without that gift, but that is a gift that we can all play a role in, that gift that you cannot aspire and achieve.

but we have to reach children early enough and keep looking. we have to keep protecting and investing in programs, like currier academies, things that reach people -- like career academies, things that reach people and try to in bed in them the expectation -- try toan expe blessed with. we have the power through the programs we do, through the excellent teachers that inspire, through after-school programs that inspire children, not just in a particular moment, but about what they can be. colleges can play our role of reaching into the neighborhoods

where they exist and helping those children see what is possible, the expectations for what they can and should achieve. some of us are lucky enough to be born with nine guest -- with that gift. we have responsibilities, and that is what brings everyone of us together. there is nothing more important economically. there is nothing more important in terms of our values and what we believe in. thank you very much. [applause]

>> the illinois presidential primary voters go to the polls on tuesday, and republican candidates were on the trail earlier today. next a speech by ann romney in chicago and -- by mitt romney in chicago on the economy. later, kim blackwell -- tim blackwell discusses the republican race. we will focus on women's issues with christina shaffer. arturo vargas talks about the projected voter turnout for latinos. we will investigate how the fda inspects meat with caroline smith.

live on c-span every day at 7:00 a.m. eastern. next mitt romney talks about the u.s. economy of the university of chicago. the event was part of the series of forums. this is just under 40 minutes. [applause] >> welcome. i know you are not here to see me, but a few things. gov. romney received his ba from byu.

he then went to a lesser institution in cambridge, but he .as a connection to usfc in his namesake was the star football player of the university of chicago and went on to play for the bears, sir you recovered. if you have not checked on line this morning, the delegate count is 516 for mitt romney. santorum is the closest, and he lf that. have ha fivelf romney has the edge in illinois , and eight-point age nationwide, and he is coming

back from puerto rico. we are sure to talk about issues during your -- about issues. that is what this is about, trying to get some clarity about what we experience. it is my pleasure to welcome you. [applause] >> thank you, thank you. thank you so much, thank you. thank you. thank you. i appreciate in particular your mention of my dad's first cousin, who played football here at the university of chicago and also for the chicago bears.

my name being mitt romney, they assumed i would inherit those athletic talents. i did not. it is good to be back at this family familiar place, and i appreciate your introductions today. it is good to be here at the university of chicago and i appreciate your hosting me here. it is also good to visit the campus that houses the friedman institute. milton friedman played an extraordinary role in our nation and the concepts of the economy that i am going to talk about today. he used to tell a story about having gone to asia in the 1960's and some government official asked him to visit one of their massive work sites, and when he got there, he saw thousands of workers trying to build a canal with hand shovels. milton turned to one of the engineers that was there and

said, "why aren't you using machines?" "you don't understand, this is a jobs program." without hesitation, he replied, "i thought you were trying to build a canal. if it is jobs you want, give the workers spoons, not shovels." president barack obama has not understood the government does not create prosperity. for last three years, the president has expanded government instead of empowering the american people. he has put his deeper in debt, and he slowed the recovery, and he has harmed the economy. i believe he has attacked the cornerstone of america's prosperity -- economic freedom. today i will talk to you about economic freedom and why believe it is so critical and how, as president, i would restore it to get our economy going again, not just short-term but long term.

as you know, this november, we face an important decision. our choice will be not one of just a party and personality. election will be about principles, our economic freedom will be in the ballot. i intend to offer the american people a choice -- i spent 25 years in business, by the way. business is to take me to different parts of the world and i was often struck by enormous differences between different nations that in many cases were living right next door to each other. i was interested in the difference in their prosperity and how was that nations so

close to each other could be so different in terms of prosperity. look at mexico and the united states, israel and egypt, chile and ecuador. i read a number of books that purported to explain the differences, one of them by jarod diamond argued that the difference was due to the minerals in the ground and natural resources. that did not explain it all. i happened to read a book by professor david landis. in that book he traces the history of all the great civilizations on the earth, those that have come and gone. after about 500 pages of analysis, he concludes with this observation -- he says if we learn anything from the history of economic development, it is this -- culture makes all the difference. culture makes all the difference. culture.

what is it about america's culture that has made us the greatest economic power in the history of the earth. the willingness of americans to take risk, our commitment to honor, contract, our family devotion, our commitment in ourselves and our patriotism. i believe one feature of our culture that propels the american economy stands out -- freedom. the american economy is fueled by freedom. the american people and their free enterprises drive our economic vitality. the founders wrote that we are endowed by our career with the freedom to pursue happiness. in america, would be free to pursue our own course in life and we would have economic freedom just as we have political and religious freedom. we would not be limited by the circumstances bowerbirds or directed by the supposedly

informed hand of government. we would be free to pursue happiness as we wish. the founders were convinced that millions of people all freely choosing their occupations as they wished and their own enterprises, all pursuing their individual dreams, would produce great prosperity and of course they were right. economic freedom, as you know, is the only force in the history -- history of the earth that is consistently succeeded in lifting people out of poverty. it is the only principle that has created sustained prosperity. it is why our economy rose to rival those of the world's leading powers and has long since -- and has long since surpassed them. today, our status and standing in the world are in peril because the source of our economic strength is threatened. over last several decades and frankly, over the last three years, washington has consistently encroached upon our freedom.

the obama administration is the principal reason why the recovery has been so tepid. if we don't change course now, the assault on freedom could damage our economy and the well-being of american families for decades to come. we see this attack on freedom in every corner of the economy. let me start with taxes. by their very nature, taxes reduce their freedom. their only real role in the free economy is to fund services that are essential like our national security and education and providing for people who cannot care for themselves. yet the president has proposed raising the marginal tax rate from 35% to 40%. he has also proposed special breaks for his favorite industries and further increases in taxes for businesses he does not like. there are endless subsidies and credits intended to shape behavior in our economic society. think about what that does to the freedom to pursue one's demand started business or to

grow a business. i happen to be in st. louis last week and spoke with dr. bernard and he and his son make amplifiers for electric guitars. they recently had to lay off two very pleased. this owner said that by his own calculation the government takes 65% of what his business makes. president obama, would take that up to 70%. if you're one of the few, the very few of these entrepreneurs who seek success and generous profit in your business, the president wants to take 40% of that for federal income tax and then you have to add the payroll tax, the gas tax, the state tax, the city taxes, property taxes, excise taxes and so forth. on top of that, you have to factor in the regulatory burdens. the cost exceeds the total cost of all income tax payments in this country. pretty soon, those kind of taxes and costs add up to produce substantial burdens. businesses shut down.

jobs are eliminated and dr. bernard decided is too risky and too costly to started -- an entrepreneur is decide it is too risky and to cause it to start a business. another example is dodd-frank. it is an 848-page behemoth that will be followed by thousands and thousands of pages of new regulations. regulations of course are essential to the functioning of a free economy. burdensome outdated regulations serve only to restrict freedom and therefore imperil enterprise. the victims of the regulations are not the nameless, faceless banks. they are the employees, the business owners, the customers who rely on those financial institutions.

this administration's regulations are even invading the freedom of everyday americans, not just the banks and corporations but citizens. mike and chantal sackett run a small business in idaho and wanted to build a home on their property but a few days after they broke ground, an epa regulator told them to stop digging. they said they were building on a wet land. their property is not on a wetland register. it's in a residential area. nonetheless, the epa would not repeal the decision for there were told it could not go to court. in this case, an unelected government bureaucrat robbed them of their freedom. no recourse, no remedy, they could do what the epa wanted or they could face millions of dollars in fines. under president obama, those same bureaucrats are insinuating them selves into every corner of the economy. they prevented drilling rigs

from going to work in the gulf, they keep coal from being mined, they impede the reliable supply of national gas, they are even telling farmers what their 15-year-old sons and daughters are allowed to do on the family farms. you remember that famous quote from will rogers -- he said this country has come to feel the same when congress is in session as we do when a baby gets a hold of a hammer. it is a question of how much damage he could do before you can take it away. will rogers was concerned about the damage congress could do. today, our freedom is never safe because unelected, unaccountable regulators are always on the prowl. under president obama, they are multiplying like proverbial rabbits. the number of federal employees has grown by 140,000 people under this president. those regulators do a lot of

damage. with regulation, there are unintended consequences, unestimatable costs, and unwanted influence of special interests who care very deeply about how those regulations are written for their benefit. the bureaucratic impulse is to make more rules, never to get rid of old rules, and each of those regulations tends to erode our freedom and stifle our prosperity. by the way, the obama administration's assault on economic freedom is not just limited to actions against individuals and free enterprise. it extends to intrusion in the workings of the free marketplace itself. when government rather than the market routinely selects winners or losers or puts its hands on the scales of justice, then enterprises and entrepreneurs cannot predict their prospects and free enterprise becomes or is replaced with chronic capitalism, solyndra and others. when government put $500 million into solyndra, you can

imagine the scores of other solar energy entrepreneurs who either lost their investors when that happened or failed to find any. when the nlrb tried to keep boeing from opening a plant in south carolina, it sent a signal across businesses of all types that they should be dissuaded from making investments in right to work states, limiting their freedom. when general motors shares were directed to the uaw, political payback replaced the rule of law under bankruptcy. rule of law is absolutely fundamental to the functioning of a free economy. when the free market is imperative in this nature, it is devastating to opportunity

and when the heavy hand of government replaces the invisible hand of the market, economic freedom is the inevitable victim. for centuries, the american dream has met the opportunity to build something new. some of america's greatest success stories are the people who started out with nothing, just a good idea, perhaps, in a corner of their garage. too often today, americans look at what it takes to start a business and don't see promise and opportunity. they see government spending in the way. the real cost is not just the taxes paid and the money spent complying with the regulations. it is the businesses that never get started. the ideas that are never pursued, the dreams that are permanently deferred. we have built an interstate highway system and the hoover dam. today we cannot even build a

pipeline. we once led the world in manufacturing and exports and infrastructure investment. today we lead the world in lawsuits. labor unions once served as a symbol of worker rights and fair treatment and a growing middle class. today the two of them represent the worst of special interests and crony capitalism. after spending three years attacking business, president obama hopes to erase his record with a speech. in a recent address, he said we're all inventors, we are builders, we are makers of things, we are thomas edison, we are the wright brothers, we are bill gates, we are steve jobs. the reality is that under president obama's administration, these pioneers would have found it much more difficult if not impossible to innovate and invent.

under dodd-frank, they would struggle to get a loan from their community bank. the regulator would have shut down the wright brothers for their debt solution and the government would have banned thomas edison's light bulb. oh yeah, they just did. [applause] every great innovation, every world changing business breakthrough begins with a dream. nothing is more fragile than a dream. it is essential to the genius of america that we have developed a culture that nurtures the dreams and dreamers that honors them and, yes, that rewards them. there has always been something uniquely brilliant about america. i don't believe the president understands this fundamental secret of america and day-by- day, juggling regulation by regulation, bureaucrat by bureaucrat, he is crushing the dream and the dreamers. if we continue along this path, we will be ruled by bureaucrats

and boards and commissions and czars. that erodes freedom and deadens their entrepreneurial spirit that is so unique. freedom is becoming the victim of an unbounded government's appetite and so is economic growth, job growth and wage growth as government takes more and more. there is less and less of an incentive to take risks and invest and innovate, to hire and the proof is in the weakness of this recovery. this administration thinks our economy is struggling because the stimulus was too small. the truth is this economy is struggling because our government is too big, too intrusive, too invasive of our economic freedoms.

i am now running for president in part because i have the experience and the vision to get us out of this mess. i'm offering a real choice and a very different beginning. i have a conservative economic plan that will deliver more jobs, less debt, and smaller government. my agenda takes america in the right direction. it preserves freedom and encourages risk and innovation. foster competition. it allows americans to pursue happiness as they choose and will lead to greater opportunity and instead of expanding government, i will shrink it. instead of raising taxes, i will cut them. instead of adding more regulations, i will reduce them with an overriding concern. do they help or hurt jobs? that is just the beginning. they're still more we've got to do. before we can create enduring prosperity, we have to restore our economic freedom. to build a strong america, we have to empower americans to pursue happiness as they choose, not as government directs. we have to restore the world's most competitive economy, not relinquish it to cronies or bureaucrats. we've got to elect a president who puts his faith in free

people and free enterprises and in the founding principles that made this country the greatest nation in history. together, we must restore america's promise by renewing our economic freedom. let's affirm our conviction that america is a land of opportunity and freedom and usher in a new era of prosperity and leadership. thank you so much and god bless this great land. thank you. [applause] i think we will invite professor howell to come back and start some questions. i look forward to what you have to offer. thank you. you can use this one if you want. >> hello? [laughter]

>> it's magic. >> i've got three questions here and i will read them verbatim. the growing deficit and escalating debt are the top risk factors of the u.s. economy. as a student at university, i would like to know the key steps that you would take as president to address these concerns especially considering you have proposed recently a package of tax cuts that will only make these matters worse. >> first, i want to correct that last parenthetical which is the tax cuts. my tax plan actually cuts the marginal rates across the economy by 20%. instead of the president raising taxes, i take taxes from 35% to 28% to create jobs. that generates revenue for government. that is the best way to make that happen. i also point out that i will reduce and restrict deductions and exemptions at the same time so the combination of reducing some of those tax expenditures

and creating more growth will mean the policy is revenue neutral. i will not add to the deficit with my tax plan. by getting growth into our economy again, i will reduce it. i've also got to cut spending and i recognize that. i have a three-fold approach to how you cut federal spending. we have to eliminate programs. some programs we like and some we're happy to get rid of but we have to eliminate some programs. there are too many and it is a majority of washington elected officials who go there and come up with a program so they can go home and say look what i created. you know how many work force training programs are in washington? 47, 47 different work force training programs reporting to eight different agencies. think of the overhead. no one in business would allow such a thing.

i will take all those programs and collapse them down to one and send the money back to the states and say you create the programs. we will eliminate programs. i will get rid of obama care. that is $95 billion we cannot afford. [applause] that is easy. subsidies to amtrak and pbs and the national endowment for the arts and the national endowment for the amenities, planned parenthood, i will eliminate those subsidies and those organizations will have to stand on their own. then we need to send programs back to states. medicaid, food stamps, housing vouchers -- i would take these anti-poverty programs and give them back to the state to run in the way they think is best and limit how they grow to the rate of inflation. finally, i would shrink the size of the federal work force that remains by 10% to attrition and links the pay of government workers with the pay that exists in the private sector.

[applause] that is good enough. >> second question -- many young people have been affected by the recession more than most. given that you have delivered this talk at a university, what might you say specifically to young people about your economic policy? how can you address crippling student loans in a lagging economy that would speak to the struggling young adults particularly in america? >> i don't mean to be flip with this because i actually believe it. i don't see how young american can vote for a democrat. i apologize for being so offensive but in the humor there is some truth there. that party is focused on providing more and more benefits to my generation and mounting trillions of dollars in annual deficits that my generation will never pay for. the interest on that debt is going to young people in

america. some have called this the greatest intergenerational transfer of wealth in history of humankind. my party is consumed with the idea of getting federal spending down and creating economic growth and opportunity so we can balance our budget and stop putting these debts on you. these debts are not frightening to people my age because we will be gone. they should be frightening to people your age who are concerned about your future and wonder what your tax rates will be and wonder whether social security and medicare will be there for you. adding insult to injury is the fact that we have an administration that when they were running for office said that social security and medicare were in deep financial trouble and yet 3.5 years later, have offered no proposals to balance those programs and make them sustainable. i have. you may not like my ideas but at least i put ideas out there

to save those programs for your generation and i have laid out, with my economic plan, proposals that preserve economic freedom, creates growth, will provide jobs for you as you come out of college, and will make sure we don't pass our burdens of debt onto you. that is at the heart of what my party is about, making sure we preserve this extraordinary unique nation in the history of the earth, this exceptional place which is imperiled by debt, lack of willingness to deal with the challenges we have, by stagnating growth and by an attack on economic freedom among our other freedoms that are being attacked. that is what it is about. i shake my head that we're not doing as good a job as we should be doing to connect with young people across the country. you should be working like crazy for me and people like me, conservatives who want to keep the cost of government down and give you a brighter future,

thank you. [applause] >> i believe we have time for one last question. as president, what would you do to target poverty in areas like the south side chicago? >> one of the best things i can do is take money associated with poverty programs in washington -- i mention this before -- take money that is in poverty programs like food stamps and housing vouchers and welfare programs and take those monies and bring them to the state and to the localities and say you know better than we how to help your own people. what kind of work force training is needed? what kind of housing opportunities are there in your region or your state? as opposed to the federal government telling every state and every locality how to put in place anti-poverty programs, give states and localities the power to do that themselves.

i happen to believe in the concept of federalism. associated with that -- as one piece -- the money goes closer to the problem. a second piece is changing our education system to put the education of our young people first and the interests of organized union labor and the teachers units behind. [applause] the cost of crony education is not born in a wealthy community. among wealthy people are people of higher income and above. they are able to choose neighborhoods to live in, communities where they think are good schools. they can decide to go someplace where there are good public schools or go to parochial schools or private school and pay the extra tuition and may have opportunities for charter schools.

if you are poor, your opportunities to move to some place with a great school is limited. i want to fix our schools in the urban centers of our nation and we know how to do that. this is not a mystery to us. there have been great institutions like the mackenzie institute, which is a great consulting firm, they have an institute that does studies around the world and they looked at education in some of the most effective places in the world like finland and south korea and singapore and chicago and boston and other places. they found that classroom size was irrelevant to the quality of education which was not apparent. that is not what people anticipated. spending did not seem related. overwhelmingly, the characteristic that had the most impact on the quality of

education was the educational attainment and scholarship of the teachers. in places like finland, they choose teachers from the top five or 10% of college graduates and in our country, in many places, we are choosing from the bottom 1/3. why don't young people want to go into teaching? because it does not pay well and the teachers' unions are focused on people with long tenure about to retire and retirement benefits, pensions, health care benefits. we need to be more concentrated on the starting conversations of people coming out of college so we can attract the best and brightest and give them a career path not based on tenure but based on accomplishment. we have some examples for this. we have higher education. we do pretty well in higher education. these principles we have to bring to our schools to help people in the most troubled areas of the country and give

the resources to the people closest to the challenges and provide education which lifts people out of poverty and communicate that the principles of america -- hard work, education, family formation - these principles will help provide people with a future that is more prosperous and promising. i appreciate the chance to be with you today. our questions are over but i have enjoyed the chance to speak with such an esteemed group. i appreciate the number of faculty and students and others who have made it here today and look forward to seeing you on the trail. i need you to vote tomorrow. i would appreciate your support. [applause] it is an exciting time for the country. this is a choice. freedom is on the ballot this year as to whether we will continue to have a government encroaching further and further into freedoms or whether we will restore the principles that made the nation what it is.

i represent a restoration and a reclaiming of america's founding principles. the declaration of independence is my inspiration and the constitution is my blueprint for this path forward. i would appreciate your help, your votes, and let's get the job done and take back america. thank you so much, thank you. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] ♪

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♪ >> republican presidential candidate rick santorum held a .ally in illinois the state awards 69 delegates. mr. romney leaves santorum in total delegates. [applause] >> thank you, a good afternoon, and thank you for coming today. senator santorum, i want to my home town.

the last time we hunt of presidential candidates come to dixon, he won. >> this was his hometown, too. he was the 40th president of the united states. his path to the presidency started the year. the statue was not here then, of course. this was where his character was formed. two blocks from here, the church that helped form his faith and further down the street, the school he attended to help form his mind. it was that path and those attributes that led him to the white house. attributes like sincerity, humility, and a deep faith. there will never be another ronald reagan, we still look for those attributes in our candidates. that is why i have chosen to endorse senator rick santorum

because i see those qualities in him. [applause] back in december, i was talking to a store owner and she happened to be a democrat. she said, who do you like on your side for president? i said, i really like rick santorum. i just hope he can get some momentum. [applause] when you capture the party's nomination, and you are looking around for a vice president, dixon, ill., is not a bad place to look.

i am just saying. seriously, ladies and gentlemen, it is my great honor to introduce to you the man i believe will be the next president of the united states, center rick santorum. >> thank you. [applause] what an honor it is to be here. to stand in front of this statute in this town that did so much for this country. this town helped shape and mold ronald wilson reagan. and he changed the world. i always say that the great thing about america is that we just go on every day and we live our lives. we try our best to provide for

ourselves and our family. ordinary people doing ordinary things. those ordinary things end up contributing to an extraordinary things. that is the greatness of our country. the idea that people do come from small town america, in many cases, first generation of american, to have the opportunity because your top the principles of hard work and honesty and integrity and doing what is right. all of those things you're taught across america, those are the things that make our country what it is. that is what makes america unique in the world.

we are a country that from the very inception, believed in the very basic principles that the government should be limited and that we should have unlimited potential of the american people. that is a great combination. [applause] i have been told by at the local meteorologist that our time is short. the weather has passed, but it is coming back. i will not give a long speech. i know you'll be excited to hear that. i do want to talk about what ronald reagan stands for, stood for. why it is sold important that we have a candidate that does that in this election, that stands on the pillars of what ronald

reagan built as the modern republican party. when he took the helm back in 1980, he fought some battles. he had been fighting some battles for a couple of days to revive conservatism. he fought an insurgent campaign against a sitting incumbent republican. we do not have a sitting republican. running for office this time, but we have someone who is the choice of the establishment republican. we see that so often in republican politics. it is almost inevitable whoever is the next in line. that is to the republican tends to put forward. ronald reagan said, we do not need the next to mine. we need something very different. what is going on in 1976 and even worse in 1980 was something that was corrosive of the american spirit. in the '60s and '70s, we stopped believing in what made

america great. we started believing that the government controlled aspects of our lives. back in the late 1970's, the word liberal was not a dirty word. now even liberals do not like being called a liberal america. there is one man who changed that. he changed it not by going out and tearing down his opponents, he went out and painted a vision of who we are. where we came from. and what we can be in the future. that was the greatness of reagan. it was not his rhetoric. he was someone who could coined

a phrase. he would tell you it was not his rhetoric. it was his policy. his policies were rooted in the greatness of our country. of course, what that means is that it was the american people. not a big and powerful government. [applause] he ran that insurgent campaign in 1976. people were saying, why don't you get out of the race? he fought, he won 11 states in 1976. i might add, if we happen to win illinois, that would be the 11th state i have one in this election. [applause] he fought the battle. he fought the battle in 1976. after four our years of misery because the republicans did not

accept his message. he was considered too conservative. someone who was unelectable because we needed to appeal to moderates. needed to appeal to democrats. conservatives and republicans did not have confidence in our vision for america. they thought we had to compromise that vision. we had to be something not true to ourselves. being true to ourselves as reagan was.

the conservative principles that our country was founded upon. that was not a winning formula. we had to sell ourselves short in order to win the election. we found we did not win the election. jimmy carter went about the process of weakening america on every possible front. now we have a similar election coming up in 1980. we have barack obama, up four years of weakening america in an area that that would disturb president reagan as much as any. we have a president who has talked about leading from behind. talking about reducing our military and pulling back from america's influence in the world. we have a president who does not believe that america is a source for good. ronald reagan, shining city on a hill. to president obama, we are a

source of policy that required this president to go around the world and repeatedly apologized for america and what we have done in this world. ronald reagan would never apologize for the greatest country in history of the world. [applause] we have a very similar theme. we have a president who has made this week, cut our defense, we are approaching a $4 trillion budget. $1.20 trillion in deficit. expanding and exploding the deficit by $5 trillion. the only place the president can find to cut its defense spending. it is the only place he is willing to take a pound of flesh. it is the only thing the federal government has to do that individuals cannot do. when i was born, defense spending was 60% of the federal budget. it is now not 60% or 50 or 40 or 20. it is 17%. it is the one area that president obama says we have to cut some more. let me pledge to give just like ronald reagan pledged.

we will have a strong and powerful and forceful america. [applause] that was one of the legs of the three stools. strong national security, peace, and it worked. against those that no one thought could never be defeated, the red menace of the soviet union, the power that many on the left so we had to appease.

ronald reagan had the courage to go out and do what our founders were willing to do. speak truth. our founders were not afraid to speak the truth. when ronald reagan called evil evil and called the evil empire what it was, the press was in a tizzy. how could we be so inflammatory? the greatest of america, ronald reagan knew. we did see what was good and what was evil. reagan also knew that we would no longer be great if we could not tell the difference between

the two. [applause] there is an evil in this world. there reside in the hearts of radical islamists. they want to destroy freedom loving institutions, oppressing people within their own faith, subjected them to harsh laws, torture, and death. particularly in the nation of iran. we have a president who said recently that he has israel's back. we know he has turned his back on the nation of israel. [applause] we cannot allow iran to build a

nuclear weapon. i've been saying that for eight years. we passed bills that put sanctions on iran, under nuclear program. talked about in gauging the persian people. iran is a person country. a country that is not at war with the jews historically. a country that is a proud and noble civilization. it is being hijacked by a bunch of religious zealots. we have the opportunity to engage them in 2009. in gauge the freedom fighters, help them to overthrow their oppressors. this president sided with those who terrorize and kilt freedom loving people, particularly americans.

we need a president who will stand up for the very principles that made this country great. in gauge the freedom loving people of this world, not to start a war, but to prevent a war and prevent them from getting a nuclear weapon. [applause] one of the most vaunted legs of the stool the president reagan talked about, he talked about limited government and free people. [applause] how many jokes did ronald reagan tell about big government? he understood that the government was in the way of three people being able to live their dreams, to work and to

reap the fruit of their labor and to take care of themselves and their families. he saw a tear. he saw a community, he saw how we built the great society from the bottom up one neighborhood at a time. people taking care of each other. yes, if you were raised in a single home, you had dads down the street that helped out. you had the football coach, the baseball coach. you have the folks in the community organizations, the library. everybody looked out for each other. we brought a community. we did not have all these government programs to take care of people. it was our responsibility. as brothers and sisters and the community to look out for each other. in small-town america, it still is.

[applause] that is the vision that reagan tried to remind us all. remind us how important it was to allow the businessmen, to make a profit and not condemn them. as being the 1%. 1% does a lot of hiring of the other 99%, and that is a good thing. [applause]

.

the difficulty is with those kinds of principles. we have issues that are not easily satisfied by science. i think of the fukushima

disaster and the impact it had not only in japan, but on trade throughout asia. many citizens in korea, taiwan and china were concerned about products that came from japan and the raw materials that would go into products made in their country but coming from japan. it did not make fifth that there was scientific justification suggesting these materials were safe. citizens did not want to see them in the marketplace. even in an area in europe where you think there is an easy obligation of good science, a genetically modified organisms have created a lot of barrier within the european marketplace. in the united states, not so much? where's the science? there is a necessity for governments i'm afraid to create these technical barriers to trade even without a science- driven decision. so what is the solution? we suggest education a good

start and unfortunately, the wto or the free trade agreements don't solve that problem. we have participated with a lot of education in china on the issue of vitamins and food supplements. we encourage educational aspects, presentations by the international association of dietary supplement association, a group that represents across the board all kinds of companies in many different sectors and an opportunity to look at regulatory practice and the safe use of dietary supplements and even look at abuses and how

those abuses are contained. we have been able to see an opening of that marketplace to dietary supplements. it is important to recognize that be on the social concerns, there are business concerns. the need to have a fair playing field. there are many countries concerned they missed the train, missed the opportunity to be effective competitors and if they open their market to free trade, the more advanced companies will enter the marketplace and swamp out the competition. that creates an effort to freeze the marketplace to create non-tariff barriers to trade at

stop new technology. by bringing in technologies from other marketplaces to build a quick, makeshift regulatory environment. all of the concerns the chinese government had with the contamination of milk -- they will save our industry is not quite ready and we to have more restriction not just for imports but also our own industry. that convenient barrier is an opportunity to advantage their industry within china. one of the things we look at is

how do we answer those questions? how do we give a reduction in this year for competition? one of the things we do is to try to encourage regulatory agencies to see that global competition is inevitable, that freezing the marketplace will only delay the competitive opportunity for industries within their own country. they need to dive in with a little more abandon and we need to diminish some of the concerns they have by allowing industries in more developed countries to enter into those marketplaces and create industry associations and provide training and exercise common cause in areas where it is possible.

in areas where the environment is concerned. in areas where we are talking about fairness of competition, advertising planes and how they are substantiated. we feel is important to provide that kind of outrage on a business to business basis as well as a business to government basis. but of course, the real problem with technical barriers to trade are the political problems where governments are trying to enter in and influence marketplaces. one of the things we see is there is a speed to market with new regulations at as regulations are developed slowly in europe and the united states, take up speed as they enter markets like china or smaller markets in southeast asia because they can borrow the regulations and adjustment to their needs.

is like mobile phones. you do not see a lot of land lines in developing countries and you do not see a problem with the development of regulations in those countries. you need to have the concern of overcoming suspicion. really emphasizing the principal of the scientist or you would say the simple regulation regulates best so that if you accomplish the goal without unnecessarily affecting the marketplace, you have the best possible regulation. we look at the need for

emphasizing simple and straightforward regulatory policy. in terms of the gettysburg address -- 266 words given by abraham lincoln over a century and a half ago and lincoln is still remembered and many people in the united states and perhaps the world can recite the gettysburg address. there was a cabbage regulation in georgia that had 10 times that number of words i doubt anyone knows the words of that regulation. simple and straightforward as what we're looking for. but to accomplish that, we need trust. companies need to develop a reputation outside the united states. our reputation has grown in china and we feel like we have

almost a 100% recognition of our name and that's impressive but it is a new record for us. it is not characteristic of other markets where we have been. so i think a new perspective on how we approach markets has helped us a great deal. all of us need to find ways to cooperate at support the wto and work for free trade. i think we also need to look for ways of lowering suspicion, increasing understanding, and appreciate not only the needs are companies, but would need our governments, but the need to the citizens who are going to be using our products.

i believe there is a great opportunity for business to be more involved as the wto moves forward. >> thank you very much. but i would encourage you to give your speech to the environmental european group because they're a very responsive bunch of there. let me take the opportunity to open up the discussion to the distinguished guests we have who might have some questions. some of the remarks were a little provocative although you had them in your speeches. you touched upon issues like the european union now respecting its obligation and some areas. let's open the floor and get some controversial questions to some of the hidden controversies you had in your speeches. would anyone like to kick us off?

i have one for the audience. for those interested in industrial sectors, who could except to go with the question related to the msn principle. if you were to open all of your markets to the chinese, the brazilians, the indians, and they would not necessarily reciprocate, would your industries go for that or would you try to look at ways to not apply the principle which could be very challenging in the wto?

maybe you could clarify this point which is central to want to move forward. >> i would like to come back to where robert has said on tariffs. tariffs will only serve the government. if that is so, let's abolish them. they are supposed to protect the industry, but if the industry considers it does not need protection any longer, i would go for the argument. the traditional view of poor

lateral is this part of the room goes to zero and gives a gift to the other part of the room. it could be conceived that you go on a conditional msn and give too want heart of the room and don't give to the other part of the room, it is difficult. a suggestion had been made to go with a waiver. i think this is a rather intriguing proposal, but the other issue if we are stacked with our principal is either we get the countries on board or we have to do something on a bilateral basis and this is europe delegation in town today is trying to launch a bilateral agreement whereby you would fully eliminate industrial tariffs and that would also be a possibility.

>> any questions? i see you over there. how do you see relation with poor lateral negotiation of goods? >> it is very difficult as a practical matter and legal matter. the choices that you have are up front at the outset of the negotiation to obtain the membership of the entire wto that something would be applied on a non- msn basis. or you negotiate with the

understanding that it will be applied which represents the huge free rider problem which has been discussed. on the good side, there is a fundamental difficulty and we will hear more later. it's a critical reason we need to be thinking critically and strategically about ways to motivate big players to change their calculation about participating in trade liberalization. -- tradelevelization.

>> there was a discussion about non-tariff barriers in this sector as well. has the industry at a global level made any progress on that because that has always been a difficult issue for the industry? >> i think the industry has made progress on non-tariff barriers and measures. in terms of elimination, the industry is united in wanting to see quick action for tariff elimination through the expansion of product coverage while non-tariff barriers are important and a challenge for the industry, i don't think we would like to see non-tariff barriers included in a negotiation that just involves tariff elimination. that would take a long time to negotiate and we are interested

in quick action and would like to see something negotiated very quickly. we are hopeful negotiations can be launched very soon. >> i would agree with jennifer that mixing non-tariff barriers to trade with the tariff reductions is an unnecessarily confusing step. however, i see an explosion of the number of cases which is an indication of the tip of the iceberg.

those are difficult cases and i would suggest there are many more instances of barriers than there are cases. this is a real problem and it is a problem that does not address one half of the room verses the other half of the room. it addresses all of the room verses all of the rest of the room. i was unable to because of the complexity, talk about reached. my concern debt european reach regulation which is creating a barrier to less. we manufacture finished goods in that united states and would like to import them into europe. now they are being regarded as chemical mixtures and we need to become suddenly an expert in the chemical raw materials to be able to register those materials that are qualified for registration. we are competing against companies and downstream users and have no such requirement. that regulation is creating a problem in that it is proliferating around the world where i believe countries are saying we're getting a raw deal and we will create our own tbt

that reflects breach in korea, china and who knows where else. this is an issue that, though separate, still needs to be addressed more strongly. >> since you gave your philosophical discussion, one of the practical point his technical barriers to trade need to be proportional to their aim and that should balance out in principle this altruistic motivations. would it be possible to negotiate a clarification of what this means because it in fact never really applied in practice.

what do you think about that? >> i look it my reach example and i look by comparison at what canada has done with care revisions and the chemical regulation in canada did not require individual company registrations. canada was able to gather the info -- gather the information and do a quick review and prioritize all of the data requirements and demanded there is going to be regulations apply for data gaps and they have actually begun to regulate some materials on a risk basis while europe is still gathering and immense amount of data.

i feel like the benefit to the citizens of canada was strong in there is more proportionality. >> i think you touched on a very interesting point because that is called regulatory autonomy. when we speak about non-tariff barriers, i found the arguments quite interesting insofar as traditionally we have thought if the tariffs are not so important and it seems they are not so important any longer, though we would still like to see them eliminated altogether, we should deal with non-tariff barriers and the actual working group deals with non-tariff barriers. i cannot define what a non- tariff barrier is.

we made that proposal and you could say it violates the wto and i would say be my guest. get a law firm and attack it in the patio. i might even help you. but i have looked at that and i don't think it is as easy as you said. you could argue that it is a proportionate. it is a different approach and i am actually looking for because we have at the moment several cases in front of the appellate body which will hopefully bring some results on what and obstacle to international trade means and the clove cigarette case, the united states is more known than europe because you have

prohibited clove cigarettes and that could be an interesting case where we can all see what it means. what we have suggested to the wto as a mechanism which you deal with these non-tariff barriers in a kind of mediation form and you go as you are allowed the companies to complain about non-tariff issues to go and take a kind of mediation case, not binding on the parties but helping to understand what is the problem.

we can go to settlement and it takes two or three years which i think is a relatively short time. very often, my company says this is too much. we have a small problem in a pacific co. -- a pacific country and that mediation mechanism through the technical barriers to trade committee in the wto so we can address these kinds of mushrooming non-tariff barriers without going to [unintelligible] >> my question is why can't you do the mediation you propose right now? why can you go under the deputy and either raise this in the committee or raise it bilaterally? you can tell people in the good counsel what it means -- i think one of the concerns was that a lot of these issues were basically bilateral issues that did not lend themselves to a big multilateral undertaking. >> i think as an industry, we can do anything and you know

that. we can't go to the of bdo as an industry do we can go to the wto as an industry. we have to go to the government and of the government doesn't want to handle these issues, we're stuck. you could say bilateral issue and we have market access team dealing with these issues and bilateral discussions, but it would be much more useful to have an independent third person looking at the issue and that's why we have decided for this mechanism of mediation. >> somebody independent says, i have a feeling that this goes to the boulevard. or, i do not see a problem. in both situations, you are still free.

i think reach maybe too big a question. you have issues were you could, at least, argue that the importer has a more difficult job to do than the domestic producer. if that is the case, then you can go to a fully fledged settlement or you solve the problems through a mediation process and hopefully the government would react. >> i will have to bring our discussion to a close which i hope will continue over the lunch. i understand that lunch is at the back of the room. i encourage everybody to go and serve your cells. we will resume here at 1215 --

12:15. with the president of the polish association. thank you. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> republican primary voters go to the polls in illinois today. we will have live coverage as a result, including canned it speeches from mitt romney and rick santorum. code to c-span.org/campaign2012. >> in march 1979, c-span began televising the house of representatives. today, are content of public affairs, nonfiction books, and

public tv is available on radio and online. >> we had advice that we did not do as i did today and come in in a plain white shirt and a summertime. heaven forbid. i do not know whether my colleagues fill this would be a better decorum for the senate. i see the senate staffer nodding, no. perhaps the people of ohio will make a judgment on what they want to see me attired in the united states senate. mr. president, these are just a few of our concerns here in the senate, that i'm sure none of us will do a thing differently in the seven of the united states now we turn television. thank you. >> c-span. created by america's cable companies as a public service. >> republicans -- republican

candidate rick santorum held a rally. the state will award 69 delegates. mr. romney won pr on sunday and leads mr. santorum in total delegates. >> [applause] >> thank you. good afternoon and thank you all for coming here today. mayor, you're very gracious. senator santorum, i want to welcome you to my home town. [applause] you know, the last time we had a presidential candidate come to dixon, he won. [laughter] [applause] this was his hometown, too. nixon knew him as dutch. the rest of the world knew him as ronald reagan, the 40th

president of united states. [applause] his path to the presidency started here. the statue was not here then, of course. this tree was not called reagan way. this is where his character was formed. two blocks from here is the church that formed his deep faith. three more blocks is the home that he lived in with a strong mother who helped build his character. it was that pat and those that to be selected to the white house. attributes like sincerity, humility, and a deep faith. there will never be another ronald reagan, we still look for those attributes in our candidates. that is why i have chosen to endorse senator rick santorum because i see those qualities in him. [applause] back in december, i was talking

to a store owner and she happened to be a democrat. she said, who do you like on your side for president? i said, i really like rick santorum. i just hope he can get some momentum. [applause] when you capture the party's nomination, and you are looking around for a vice president, dixon, ill., is not a bad place to look. i am just saying. seriously, ladies and gentlemen, it is my great honor to introduce to you the man i believe will be the next president of the united states,

center rick santorum. [applause] >> thank you. [applause] what an honor it is to be here. to stand in front of this statute in this town that did so much for this country. this town helped shape and mold ronald wilson reagan. and he changed the world. [applause] i always say that the great thing about america is that we

just go on every day and we live our lives. we try our best to provide for ourselves and our family. ordinary people doing ordinary things. those ordinary things end up contributing to an extraordinary things. that is the greatness of our country. the idea that people do come from small town america, in many cases, first generation of american, to have the opportunity because your top the principles of hard work and honesty and integrity and doing what is right. all of those things you're taught across america, those are the things that make our country what it is. that is what makes america unique in the world. we are a country that from the very inception, believed in the very basic principles that the government should be limited and that we should have unlimited potential of the american people.

that is a great combination. [applause] i have been told by at the local meteorologist that our time is short. the weather has passed, but it is coming back. i will not give a long speech. i know you'll be excited to hear that. i do want to talk about what ronald reagan stands for, stood for. why it is sold important that we have a candidate that does that in this election, that stands on the pillars of what ronald reagan built as the modern republican party. when he took the helm back in 1980, he fought some battles. he had been fighting some battles for a couple of days to revive conservatism. he fought an insurgent campaign

against a sitting incumbent republican. we do not have a sitting republican. running for office this time, but we have someone who is the choice of the establishment republican. we see that so often in republican politics. it is almost inevitable whoever is the next in line. that is to the republican tends to put forward. ronald reagan said, we do not need the next to mine. we need something very different. what is going on in 1976 and even worse in 1980 was something that was corrosive of the american spirit. in the '60s and '70s, we stopped believing in what made america great. we started believing that the government controlled aspects of our lives. back in the late 1970's, the

word liberal was not a dirty word. now even liberals do not like being called a liberal america. there is one man who changed that. he changed it not by going out and tearing down his opponents, he went out and painted a vision of who we are. where we came from. and what we can be in the future. that was the greatness of reagan. it was not his rhetoric. he was someone who could coined a phrase.

he would tell you it was not his rhetoric. it was his policy. his policies were rooted in the greatness of our country. of course, what that means is that it was the american people. not a big and powerful government. [applause] he ran that insurgent campaign in 1976. people were saying, why don't you get out of the race? he fought, he won 11 states in 1976. i might add, if we happen to win illinois, that would be the 11th state i have one in this election. [applause] he fought the battle. he fought the battle in 1976. after four our years of misery because the republicans did not accept his message. he was considered too conservative. someone who was unelectable because we needed to appeal to moderates.

needed to appeal to democrats. conservatives and republicans did not have confidence in our vision for america. they thought we had to compromise that vision. we had to be something not true to ourselves. being true to ourselves as reagan was. the conservative principles that our country was founded upon. that was not a winning formula. we had to sell ourselves short in order to win the election. we found we did not win the election. jimmy carter went about the process of weakening america on every possible front. now we have a similar election coming up in 1980. we have barack obama, up four years of weakening america in an area that that would disturb president reagan as much as any.

we have a president who has talked about leading from behind. talking about reducing our military and pulling back from america's influence in the world. we have a president who does not believe that america is a source for good. ronald reagan, shining city on a hill. to president obama, we are a source of policy that required this president to go around the world and repeatedly apologized for america and what we have done in this world. ronald reagan would never apologize for the greatest country in history of the world. [applause] we have a very similar theme. we have a president who has made this week, cut our defense, we are approaching a $4 trillion

budget. $1.20 trillion in deficit. expanding and exploding the deficit by $5 trillion. the only place the president can find to cut its defense spending. it is the only place he is willing to take a pound of flesh. it is the only thing the federal government has to do that individuals cannot do. when i was born, defense spending was 60% of the federal budget. it is now not 60% or 50 or 40 or 20. it is 17%. it is the one area that president obama says we have to cut some more. let me pledge to give just like

ronald reagan pledged. we will have a strong and powerful and forceful america. [applause] that was one of the legs of the three stools. strong national security, peace, and it worked. against those that no one thought could never be defeated, the red menace of the soviet union, the power that many on the left so we had to appease. ronald reagan had the courage to go out and do what our founders were willing to do. speak truth.

our founders were not afraid to speak the truth. when ronald reagan called evil evil and called the evil empire what it was, the press was in a tizzy. how could we be so inflammatory? the greatest of america, ronald reagan knew. we did see what was good and what was evil. reagan also knew that we would no longer be great if we could not tell the difference between the two. [applause]

there is an evil in this world. there reside in the hearts of radical islamists. they want to destroy freedom loving institutions, oppressing people within their own faith, subjected them to harsh laws, torture, and death. particularly in the nation of iran. we have a president who said recently that he has israel's back. we know he has turned his back on the nation of israel. [applause] we cannot allow iran to build a nuclear weapon. i've been saying that for eight years. we passed bills that put sanctions on iran, under nuclear program.

talked about in gauging the persian people. iran is a person country. a country that is not at war with the jews historically. a country that is a proud and noble civilization. it is being hijacked by a bunch of religious zealots. we have the opportunity to engage them in 2009. in gauge the freedom fighters, help them to overthrow their oppressors. this president sided with those who terrorize and kilt freedom loving people, particularly americans.

we need a president who will stand up for the very principles that made this country great. in gauge the freedom loving people of this world, not to start a war, but to prevent a war and prevent them from getting a nuclear weapon. [applause] one of the most vaunted legs of the stool the president reagan talked about, he talked about limited government and free people. [applause] how many jokes did ronald reagan tell about big government? he understood that the government was in the way of three people being able to live their dreams, to work and to reap the fruit of their labor and to take care of themselves and their families. he saw a tear. he saw a community, he saw how we built the great society from the bottom up one neighborhood at a time.

people taking care of each other. yes, if you were raised in a single home, you had dads down the street that helped out. you had the football coach, the baseball coach. you have the folks in the community organizations, the library. everybody looked out for each other. we brought a community. we did not have all these government programs to take care of people. it was our responsibility. as brothers and sisters and the community to look out for each other. in small-town america, it still is. [applause] that is the vision that reagan tried to remind us all. remind us how important it was to allow the businessmen, to make a profit and not condemn them. as being the 1%.

1% does a lot of hiring of the other 99%, and that is a good thing. [applause] ronald reagan stood for free markets, a free economy, he would be appalled at looking at what is happening today with the government takeover of health care. margaret thatcher, after she left the prime minister ship of england, looked at what she had accomplished and. she said she was never able to accomplish what reagan accomplished in america. the reason the british national health care system. she said once government has their hooks into you, once government makes you dependent upon it for your very health and your lives and that of your children and loved ones, they got you.

they got you. [applause] there is no amount of tribute you will not pay to get what you think you need to preserve your health and health of those that you love. that is why obamacare is the number-one issue in this race. it is an issue about fundamental freedom. it is about whether you will be the generation the reagan talked about. he said freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. we did not pass it to our children in the bloodstream. it must be fought for, protected, and handed on to them to do the same. or one day, we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children would was liked and the united states when men were

free. do not be that generation that reagan warned about. there is only one way to stop it. to make sure we nominate someone who can take on barack obama on the issue of health care, freedom, liberty. someone who has not been for government mandated health care. someone who is not been done for top-down government control of the health care sector.

someone who understands how critical government controlled health care is in our society. and is able to go after barack obama, and make this the central issue. two-thirds of americans opposed obamacare. two-thirds of americans. [applause] why would the republican party puts up a nominee that takes that issue off the table? why would the republican party nominate someone on the most important issue of the day, freedom, why would we take that off the table? that is why you have to help me here in illinois.

[applause] the third leg of the reagan stool was talking about -- our country was founded on basic principle, the foundation of american society. it is not the individual, you build a society on individuals and it is like building a house on grains of sand. you have to build on something that is strong, that has cement. you can put heavy structures on top. that is not the individual. none of us are out here and

society living radically individual lives, not linked together in a way that is important for us to prosper and survive. reagan understood that foundation was the family. marriage and family are at the core and foundation of our society. [applause] in order to have limited government, you have to have people living good and decent lives. somebody says, i will be my on government. i live my life under my rules. after we leave your and drive down the left side of the highway, see how long that works out. you cannot live according to your own rules. we have to live according to rules that are good and decent and moral and fair, that allow

us all to pursue our dreams. when people break those moral bounds, and society becomes a very dangerous place. government gets bigger. we have to hire more people in uniforms. we are less free. these are the basic things we all understand. we will be constrained from the chains to put on ourselves. or will we be constrained by the chains that men put upon us? [applause] ronald reagan understood that faith plus family equals freedom in america. i know we are concerned about

the economy in this country. we have talked about economic liberty and limited government and balanced budgets and less spending, strong families. all those things work together. to make america work. you cannot have limited government unless you have free people living good and decent and moral lives. you cannot have a strong national defense unless you have a strong economy and people going out and prospering and living lives that allow us to grow and create the dynamism.

all of these things work together. reagan understood that these things wove together in a great mosaic that was the united states of america. he understood it and he brought people together. all based upon the founding principles of our country. reagan opted quoted and relied heavily on our founders. people we charted the course for america. in the last few years, we have had a blueprint in this country that i thank god for because they have resurrected one of those founding document that was put in the dustbin of history. something called the united states constitution. [applause]

i carry with me, it is an important document in this country, the document that is the operator's manual. how the american government is to function. if you read it, a very limited powers are given to the government. very extensive powers are given to the states and to the people. [applause] reagan and revered this document. he understood its importance, but he also understood the importance of another document. another man from illinois would " beautifully and frequently. abraham lincoln. that was the declaration of independence. these two men of illinois knew that the constitution without the declaration could be a very dangerous document.

it was the declaration that anchored the constitution. the constitution is tethered to it. why? because the declaration tells us who we are. there are many on the left would like to dismiss the declaration as a document that existed before the american government was established. it has no legal binding in america. it has a moral binding america. that is binding comes from one phrase that we all know. we hold these truths to be self- evident. apparent to all people of faith, people of no faith, that all men are created equal. [applause]

is that true in other civilizations around the world? is it true in the muslim world? of course not. for those who clamor for equality, understand where that concept comes from. it comes from western civilization. it comes from the roots of our country. they are endowed by their creator. the concept of equality does not come from the government. the concept of truth does not come from the government. it comes from our creator. [applause]

this is what made us different from any country in history of the world. no other country had said that people are equal. we came from societies and thousands of years of being ruled by kings. they distributed to those who they felt were worthy of their rights. our founders said, we believe in the dignity of every human life. all life is sacred. [applause] we changed the world. we had a constitution whose job it was to simply recognize the right that are already written in the heart of every person.

they're there to protect those rights and allow you, the american people, to go to great and just society, to change the world by listing the human spirit. the limited potential that reagan used to talk about all the time. the infectious optimism. he saw it in the eyes of the people out here in dixon and across this country. he saw the potential, the human spark that lincoln talked about. he understood the greatness of our country. in each and every one of in each and every one of you, not someone who believes that smart people in washington to make decisions for people because you are incapable of governing yourself. what a pathetic view. [applause] we did change the world. we did change the world.