>> on thursday, vice president joe biden question of the foreign policy experience of mitt romney. this is one of a series of campaign speeches by mr. darden at the new york university law school. this is a little less than one hour. >> good morning. it is a privilege to be here with you this morning. i am the campus coordinator of the new york university students for barack obama. [applause] i am also a senior fellow with a campaign in new york. i began volunteering with

organizing for america last summer as part of the organizer program in new hampshire. i thought it would be another internship but i was totally wrong. at the fallen -- the opportunity to work with volunteers and began building the neighborhood teams that would be the true heart of the grass-roots campaign. i was so engaged by the work i did i really could not imagine having to stop when i returned to school. i connected with people here in new york and was tasked with organizing a team of students. i got together with my friends to reach that to their friends to continue to reject your others and glasses and other clubs on campus and we all work together to create a team of motivated students. this year we have made thousands of all calls, registered hundreds of new voters and its several trips to the important battleground state of pennsylvania.

we know how important this is not only for our generation but for the entire country. when president obama and vice- president joe biden took office in 2009 the united states was tangled and two boards in the middle east and the animes saw our nation as week after eight years of bad decisions overseas. 142,000 troops were stationed and iraq. the president and vice president fulfilled their present -- their promise to bring all of the troops home. [applause] osama bin laden was brought to justice almost one year ago. both the president and the vice president have worked tirelessly over the last three and a half years to strengthen our alliances abroad. national-security and foreign- policy are near and dear to vice president's heart. as a senator from delaware he

served as the chairman of the foreign relations committee and has continued to display his commitment to the success of our foreign relations as vice- president. i hope you are excited as i get to hear from the vice president himself today. it is without further ado i am honored to say to you the president of the united states, mr. joe biden. [applause] -- the vice president joe biden. >> you did a great job. >> thank you. >> hello, how are you? great to be with you. [applause] what a great introduction. i hope to she remembers me when she is president. it is great to be before such a distinguished audience at a great university. i were to start off by doing what they say you should never do, apologizing. now, it is not something you peak -- you students know that

the chief of staff was a president here at nyu. that is the only reason he got the job as chief of staff. he figured he can deal with this great university he can deal with the country. it is great to see one of the great, great patriots, one of the finest general said had ever in my 39 years of working in foreign policy ever met, general clark. [applause] i want to stay parenthetically, i ran for the united states senate when i was 28 years old. nobody in my family or my dad had never been involved in public life. as one of my colleagues said, i am the first united states senator i ever knew. i ran at the time because i

thought the policy that we had in vietnam, i thought it did doubt makes sense, the notion of dominoes and so forth. i came to washington as a 29- year-old kid. i was elected before i was eligible to serve. i had to wait until i was sworn in because i was not eligible under the constitution. my image of the military commanders at the time was, if you ever saw the old movie -- if you ever rented it, slim pickens is on the back of an atom bomb dropping out of a airplane yelling yippie kai yea. dr. strangelove was the movie. if you ask me to is the most impressive man and woman i have met in government, six of them would be men, women wearing the uniform.

it is a different military. this guy was not only a great warrior, this guy is a diplomat discuss -- described as an incredibly bright man. he understands the role of the military within our system. he understands the constitution. thank god there are other block -- thank god there are others liken that are still a round today. thank you for being one of the folks who changed my impression from my younger years. it is a pleasure being here. [applause] over the past months i have given a series of pieces -- speeches on issues sliding down the marker is from our perspective, the president and mind. the differences between the president and us on a series of issues. issues that we believe affect

the middle class and our country's feature. i have spoken about the rescue of the automobile industry. i have spoken about retirement security in florida and leading the world again in manufacturing and about the tax system and the unfairness of it and how to make a pair up in new hampshire today, this is the fifth in a series of those speeches and i want to talk about an american president was the single most import responsibility. that is keeping our fellow citizens safe in our nation secure. in a time of such extraordinary challenge and change. he said all is changed. changed utterly. the terrible beauty has been born. the world has utterly changed during your young life and your early adulthood.

it is not the world was. the question is, how are we going to deal with this beautiful -- this beautiful. this change that also has with it some of the potential difficulties. i miss fundaments -- on this fundamental issue, the contrast between president obama, his record and gov. romney and his rhetoric cannot be greater. 3.5 years ago when president obama and i took office, our nation had been engaged in two boards for the better part of a decade al qaeda was resurgent. osama bin laden was at large. the our alliances were dangerously frayed in our economy, the foundation of our national security was in the press a piece of a new depression. president obama began to act

immediately. he set in motion a policy to end the war in iraq responsibly. he said a clear strategy and an end date for the war in afghanistan has been going on for less than a decade. he cut in half the number of americans who are serving in harm's way. he decimated al qaeda's senior leadership. he repaired our alliances and restored our standing in the world. he saved our economy. he saved our economy from collapse with some unpopular but bold decisions that have turned out to be right including the rescue of the automobile industry. all of which has made us much stronger not only at home but abroad. if you are looking for a bumper sticker to sum up how president obama has handled what we have inherited, it is pretty simple. osama bin laden is dead and

general motors is alive. [applause] governor mitt romney's national security policy in our view would return us to a past we have worked so hard to move beyond. in this regard there is no difference between what gov. mitt romney says and what he has proposed for our economy than he has done in foreign policy. and every instance of our view he texas back to the failed policies that got us into the miss that president obama has dug us out of and the mass that we have got ourselves into in the first place. gov. romney is counting on collective amnesia of the american people. americans know -- americans know we cannot go back to the future. back to a foreign policy that would have america go it alone. shout to the world are either a

-- you are either with us or against us. lash out first and answer the hard questions later. waste hundreds of billions of dollars and risk thousands of lives on a war that is unnecessary. see the world in a cold war prism as out of touch in the 21st century. on this and everything else president obama has demonstrated he is in touch with our times. he has acted boldly strengthening the ability to contend with new forces facing this century and to attend the challenges around the world have been neglected over the past or previous eight years. under president obama's leadership our alliances have never been stronger. he returned to europe to its natural place as a partner of

first resort in dealing with global threats while reclining america's place in asia as an asian pacific power. a region where exports are producing new jobs and driving our economic recovery. we forge a new relationship based on emerging interests with china, russia, brazil, turkey, south africa, all of which are helping advance american security. we reduced our reliance on nuclear weapons, achieved agreements with russia and brought the world together to secure nuclear materials from getting in the hands of terrorists. we have isolated countries like iran and north korea. we have taken far more terrorists of the battlefield and the last three years than the previous eight, putting al qaeda on a path to defeat. at the same time the president

has said shut down secret prisons overseas, and torture, and in doing so demonstrated that we do not have to choose between protecting our country and living our values. as a consequence of those decisions, enhance the security of our own soldiers abroad and the power of our persuasion around the world. we plan for conflicts in the future with a new defense strategy, supported by the entire defense department senior leadership. our military will be more agile, flexible, better able to confront aggressors and have strong partnerships to share the burden in smart investments in cutting edge capabilities. we proposed a budget that will fund the strategy and keep faith with our wounded warriors. led the fight to free libya and

the libyan people from the -- from gaddafi using our military assets to clear the way for our allies to step up -- stepped up to meet their own responsibility. the result was something of a general and others before him saw time and time again but rarely achieved. general burden sharing and in and to the gaddafi regime. we are now ratcheting up the pressure on other brutalizes, people are brutalized like assad and syria. putting america firmly on this side of freedom around the world. we made the g-20 a new forum recognizing the realities of the 21st century. we refocused our development

policy on developing the capacity of our -- other nations and steadily combating climate change. that is the essence of our record. the question is, where does gov. romney stand? how would he keep our citizens safe in our nation secure? in the face of the challenges that we now understand are ahead of us, what with gov. mitt romney do? the truth is, we do not know for certain. we know where the governor starts. he starts with a profound -- a profound misunderstanding of the responsibilities of a president and the commander in chief. here is what he says. if we want somebody who has a lot of experience in foreign

policy, we can simply go to the state department. but, that is not how we choose a president. a president is not a foreign policy expert. in my view, the last thing we need is a president who believes he can subcontract our foreign policy to experts at the state department, or for that matter any other department or agency. here is how it works. i have been around for eight presidents of the united states. i hate to admit. i know i did not look that old. eight presidents. that is not how it works. president obama has built a great national security team from hillary clinton to leon panetta to dempsey. no matter how experienced the team.

no matter how wide the advice of counsel. the buck literally stops on the oval office. one of the toughest decisions land on the desk. as often as not, his of baez's are in disagreement. disagreement among themselves. they are all smart people but they disagree. the seldom are completely unified. as another general said -- i cannot think of any consequential decision where the president had more than 75% of the facts. it never works that way. almost every significant case it falls -- calls for a final judgment call to be made by the president.

a call of the vice president can make, the secretary of defense cannot make. only the president can make. i literally get to be the last guy in the room with the president. that is our arrangement. i can give him all the advice that i have and make my case, but when i walked out of the room, he sits there by himself. the president sits there by himself and has to make the decision. often reconciling conflicting judgments that are made by very smart, honorable, informed and experienced people. the president is all alone at that moment. it is his judgment that will determine the destiny of this country. he must make the hard calls. i suggest president obama has

made hard calls with strength and steadiness. he had clear goals and a clear strategy of how to achieve the goal. he has a clear vision for america's place in the world. ultimately he makes the decision. it seems to me governor mitt romney's fundamental thinking of the foreign-policy is fundamentally wrong. that may work -- that kind of thinking may work for a ceo. i assure you, it will not and cannot work for a president. it will not work for a commander-in-chief. thus far, gov. mitt romney has not made many foreign-policy focus decisions are pronouncements, foreign policy has not been a focus of his

campaign. now, if you are -- will excuse me a point of privilege, i can understand why the president -- what governor mitt romney does not want to make it a focus of his campaign. but it is. these are critical issues. how do we fairly assess the use of governor mitt romney on foreign policy? what are they? a think a fair way to this -- others may disagree on whether or not i am being objective as possible rejecting the fair way to do this is look at the few things we do know about governor mitt romney. we know governor mitt romney criticizes the president was the policy. he never offers and a specific alternative. we know when the governor goes and does venture a position, it is a safe bet that he previously to a core is about to take an exactly opposite

position. he will end up landing in the wrong place. we know that when he agrees with the president of the united states says he has done, he then goes on to miss characterize our record to create what is a nonexistent contrast. most importantly, we know that the extent that gov. mitt romney has shown any policy vision, it is through the loss of a rear view mirror. in my view, he would take us back to a dangerous and discredited policies that would make america less self -- less safe and less secure. to make the points i believe are honest to make is to illustrate propositions and compare president obama's record

and governor mitt romney's rhetoric. let's start with iraq. when president obama ran four years ago he promised to end the war responsibly. he kept his commitment. he brought home all 150,000 of our troops and developed a strong relationship with the sovereign iraq. last december governor mitt romney initially applauded to withdraw -- he went on to say that the credit should go to president bush. fremont later degree diverged and said it was an enormous error. -- three months later, he

reversed and said it was an enormous error. he would have led tens of thousands of u.s. troops behind. president obama develop a clear strategy to end the war in 2014. while building the capacity of the afghan security forces and its people. the withdrawal date was the best way to get the afghans to step up and take responsibility for their own country. we know that it does not happen. why step up? if we are doing it all? we know. unless you set a date,it is unlikely to recur. as i have said, we cannot want peace and security in afghanistan more than the afghans. our nato partners embrace the president's strategy.

so the governor romney. so did governor romney, at least at first. he endorsed the plan tothe transfer their with responsibility. he said this is the right time line. two months later, he was against the president's plan, calling one of the biggest mistakes. about this. he seems to want to keep american forces in afghanistan indefinitely. i want to quote him "it is my desire of my political parties a desire not to leave." i am not sure the exact context.

i am not sure exactly what he meant. he does have responsibility about what he meant. he may have a reasonable explanation. explanation. where he has expressed a clear point of view, he has been consistently second the past. -- it stuck in the past. in my view, it is wrong. we came to office with president obama. we set our relationship with russia. to state the obvious,we had important disagreements with moscow. we will continue to have disagreements with moscow. in the wake of the reset, we negotiated a major nuclear arms reduction treaty that has made this.

-- that has made us safer and sets an example for the rest of the world for the possibility we can continue to produce nuclear arms around the world. in addition, president obama convince russia to cancel the cell of russia's very sophisticated s300 radar system. to iran. russia joined the united states. it was the toughest ever sanctions against iran. it is the only other source. now the sole source that hopefully only temporarily. just a month ago he called. without question, our number

one geopolitical foe is russia. as my brother would say, "go figure." [laughter] sometimes, it even refers to russia as soviets which we view as a mindset. everybody sometimes slips, i never do, but everybody does sometimes. [laughter] [applause] i think it is fair to say when it comes to russia, based on only what we know, governor romney is in a cold war mindset. and similarly,the governor aggressively attacked a new starts. the treaty that president obama negotiate with moscow. he attacked it.

that treaty reduces a number of strategic weapons and russia's arsenal and allows inspection of arsenals to resume. without placingany constraints on this capability. seven of romney was part of a -- governor romney was part of a very small group of holdovers. that never let met an arms control treaty never liked. it is way out of the mainstream. let me tell you why. the entire republican foreign policy establishment disagreed with him starting creme -- starting with henry kissinger. secretary state jim baker. secretary of state george shultz, brent scowcroft andin president george h. w. bush.

all support it and strongly support and get passed to some recalcitrant republican senators. this critically important treaty. unfortunately,gov. romney's apparent determination to take u.s. relations back to the 50's also causes them optimistic the facts. -- causes him to miss state the facts. for example,he charges it to appease moscow. president obama has been complied a missile defense. -- pliant on missile defense and abandoned our missile defense sites in poland. here again,he's either willfully misinforms are totally and misunderstands. as it happens,president obama >> asked me to secure allied

support for a missile defense system. in europe, the phased adaptive approach. the first visit i made. was to polandwho do we asked to host these new component? poland. along with turkey, romania, germany, and spain. they all said yes. they approached our new one. -- they embraced our new approach becausethis is more effectively than the missile defense program. it also provides better protection for the united states of america. robert gates served in republican administrations said "we are strengthening, not

scrapping missile defense in europe." nothing speaks more powerfully to the differences between president obama and governor romney them one of the defining moments of the past four years. the hunt for osama bin laden. the governor romney was as what he would do about osama bin laden. -- was passed -- -- was asked tohe said "there would be very insignificant increase in safety" and then we went on to say if he was brought to justice. he then went on to say "it is not worth moving heaven and earth, spending billions of

dollars just to get one person." hear his how candid and obama answered. reject candidates obama after that question --he said "if i had osama bin laden in our side, i will take him out. i will kill him. we will crush al qaeda. this has to be our biggest national security priority." i was more direct,i said we followed the sob to the gates of. hell if we had to. i was a little more direct. here is the deal. president obama always means what he says. he said it as the candidates. he kept that commitment. just a few months into office, sitting in the oval office, i spent 46 hours a day with this president. that is why i've got to know him so well.

he turned to leon panetta who is headed the cia. he made it clear what his priority was. on june 2, 2009, he ordered leon panetta "in order to ensure that we have expended every effort, i direct you to provide to me within 30 days a detailed operational plan for locating in bringing to justice osama bin laden." it was the president's highest priority. then he made what it the most courageous decisions i have seen the president make in a long time. he authorized a very high-risk mission to capture and kill

osama bin laden. even though, and i was one of six people who for four months or so was the only one who knew about the possibility of this location, even though at the end of the day there was no better than a 50/50 chance that osama bin laden was present in the compound. despite the reservation, was the only full throated throw from moving when we did. was from leon panetta, the director of the cia. myself included. president obama said afterward when he made the decision that this is a very difficult decision. it included an enormous risk. add so much confidence of them to carry out the mission that

of the risks were outweighed by the us by our man. -- of finally getting our man. does anybody doubts had the mission failed it would have written the beginning of the end of the president's term in office? this guy has a backbone like a ramrod. for real. on this debt issue, we know what president obama did. we cannot say for certain what governor romney would have done. we can say that unlike governor romney comment they felt like it earth to get been lavin. -- osama bin laden. i said before osama bin laden is dead. thanks to president obama and general motors is alive. you have to ask yourself why

governor romney them present, could he have used the same slogan? -- in reverse? people of going to make that judgment. it is a legitimate thing. look. on a few core issues, there's no real difference between governor romney in president obama. in my view, governor romney misrepresents the president's approach. let me give you some examples. iran pose a nuclear program is the clearest example. president obama is determined to protect it. he has been clear and concise promising that containment is not our policy. when he took office, the effort to pressure iran was second

nature. -- it stuck in neutral. the region. the iranian influence was spreading in the region andamerican leadership was in doubt. we were not much respected by our friendsi would argue we are not much respected by our friends and not really feared by enemies. president obama understood that by seeking to engage them, by going the extra diplomatic mile, we would demonstrate that iran was the problem. the president smart diplomacy turn the tables on pteron and -- on tape ran and -- on teheran secured the strong is unilateral and international sanctions and history. all the major powers, including russia and china, participated. now iran is more isolated. international community is more

united in their effort to prevent iran from acquiring nuclear weapons than ever before. they have deep difficulties acquiring equipment for the nuclear missile program. it is increasingly cut off. there and able to do the most basic business transactions. -- unable --the economy has been grievously wounded. of the worst is still to come. in june, a european embargo on imports of oil kicks in. as a result of this unprecedented pressure, iran is back to the negotiating table. you cannot protect what the end result will be. -- predict what the end result will be butthey're back to the table. the governor romney has called for a "very different policy" on iran. for the life of me, it is hard to understand what the governor means by a very different policy.

here is what he says. he says we need "crippling sanctions." apparently unaware that through president obama's leadership we achieved just that. he emphasizes his need for a credible military option. apparently, ignorant of the fact that is exactly what our policy is. the only step we could take that we are not already taking is to launch a war against iran. that is what governor romney means by a very different policy. he should tell the american people. he should say so. otherwise, the governor's tough talk about military action is just that, talk. it is counterproductive talk.

folks, talk about a war has consequences. let me tell you why. it unsettles world market. it drives up oil prices. when oil prices go up, the coffers filled up. it undermines the impact of the sanctions as are in existence. this kind of romney talk is just not smart. president obama has said "now is the time to let our increase pressure sink in and to sustain the international coalition we have built. now is the time to keep the timeless advice from teddy roosevelt, speaks softly and carry a big stick." i promise you the president has that big stick.

i promise you. [laughter] president obama understands what governor romney apparently does not. it is necessary for america to be strong and smart at the same time. no country is more concerned about a nuclear iran than israel. rightfully so. no president since harry truman has done more for israel's security than barack obama. our administration provided a record level of security assistance. it recently intercepted the rockets coming out of gaza. they saved homes, schools, hospitals, and the men, women and children who inhabit them. we're collaborating right now on

longer-range missile defense systems like heroes. -- like aero and david s. leong -- and david slang - slingin time israel into our radar system. the u.s. is engaged in the most consisting comprehensive consultations ever. you know this better than anybody. we're conducting the largest joint military operation in the history of their relationship. president obama said that to the gravest threat. -- has stood up to the greatest threat to israel,the effort of the rest of the world to delegitimize it as a state. often stood up alone. israel leaders have called

president obama's supports and cooperation unprecedented. governor romney said relations in 29 states and israel but "hit below." -- between the united states and israel had hit a new low. he went on to accuse president obama of "rolling israel under the bus." -- throwing israel under the bus. that is just one list of untruths. it is repeatedly debunked by reporters. it is most of bunt by israeli leaders.

it is more unlikely that the governor is falling back on one of the favorite tricks. distort them as characterize your opponents mission. keep repeating the distortions over and over again. even when every objective observer says you are wrong. keep repeating in the hope that it will eventually stick. president obama has reshaped american foreign policy. to contend with the challenges of the president and also to face the threats of the future. i believe he has done a with strength and wisdom. the governor romney was to take us back to a world that no longer exists with policies that are dangerously divorced from reality. it is more misguided because of all the peril of our time, america's promise and has never been greater.

in the 20th century, the wealth of a nation was judged by the size of the population. to the strength of its army. the abundance of the raw materials in the land-. these measures still matter. america still prevails. more than ever before, you know better than any of us the true wealth of a nation is to be found at human-resources. and there ability to build and compete. by that measure, america is also uniquely blessed. we believe our job is to help provide our people and environment in which they can cisco the incredible potential. if we do our job, i believe our nation will be more secure. america's strength depends ultimately on the strength of the american dream here at home. it means that advanced research and development will catch up to the rest of the world. all of these help increase the ability of american businesses to invest in energy and cutting edge manufacturing. no one is better positioned. no nation is better positioned

than the united states. it also means welcoming people from around the world which is always been a source of new blood. it means hard work. it treats of urgency for all the citizens. these are the investments that will grow our economy. to keep america strong at home. it is needed for america's future. like many of you who have traveled, students and incidents, we all have the same kind of feeling when you get home. the same intuitive feeling. there's no country like america. there is no potential like america. i was asked earlier how i would testify in america with a group of high school students. i said one word "possibilities." i am absolutely convinced i am more certain after serving 40 years in government and i was when i was the idealistic young senator. i am more confident that there is no country better position then to leave the country in the united states of america. only a free state in the course of iran. looking forward and not in the rearview mirror. thank you ladies and gentlemen. they got protect our children. -- may god protect our children.

i have travelled well over half a million miles and many of them to foreign countries all around

the world. like many of you who have traveled, students and non- students here, we have the same kind of feeling when you get home -- the same sort of intuitive feeling -- there is no country like america. there is no potential like america. i was asked earlier how would i best defined america to a group of high-school students? i said one word -- possibilities. possibilities -- i am absolutely convinced, i am more certain after having served 40 years in government that i was when i was an idealistic young center at the age of 29. i'm more confident and convinced that there is no country and we want all countries to do this, there is no country better positioned to lead the world in the 21st century than the united states of america but only if we

stay on the course we are on with a strong, smart leadership of president obama looking forward and not in the rearview mirror. thank you, ladies and gentlemen. may god bless you all and may god protect our troops, thank you. [applause] thank you, folks. hey, wes. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] [applause] [applause]

>> this year's studentcam competition asked students what part of the constitution was important to them and why. here is this year's grand prize winning a video on the fifth amendment. ♪ >> needed the army or the war relocation authority relishes the idea of taking men and women from their homes and shops and farms of the military and civilian agencies determined to do this job as a democracy should -- with real consideration for the people involved. >> i knew that if i did not tell my story than my four nieces and my three children would really not care what actually happened to us. we were shocked to see covered

army trucks and soldiers with bayonets on their rifles. i could not get over the notion that we were going to be taken away and shot. when i got off, i could not believe what i saw. soldiers with machine guns stood in 20-foot high guard towers situated at strategic points along the perimeter of a huge camp. area was encased in steel wire fencing topped by three rows of barbed wire. black tarpaper barracks were laid out in regimented form along the flat terrain. they did not call us citizens because it is illegal to imprison citizens without due process. >> they imprisoned u.s. citizens without due process, over 110,000 of them who happened to

be of japanese ancestry. these american citizens were uprooted from their home, taken away from their businesses, and sent to places like this. one of these citizens was my great uncle, john shimokawa. he was a student in california at the beginning of world war two. he was rounded up along with all other japanese americans on the west coast and sent to an internment camp far away from his home in california. i traveled to the relocation camp to learn more about my uncle's experience. this camp is over 200 miles away from los angeles. there were tent camps like this in remote locations where japanese and americans like my uncle john were confined. two months after the attack on pearl harbor, president roosevelt issued executive order

9066 that authorize the removal of over 110,000 japanese americans from their homes on the west coast. more than 2/3 were american born u.s. citizens. over 10,000 men, women, and children spent several years of their lives here at this camp. they brought with them only what they could carry from their homes. i wanted to understand how this happened to orgel john and i wanted to learn what protect us from this happening again. experts have tried to explain why this took place. >> after the attack on pearl harbor which was a sneak attack, there was a lot of fear on the west coast. they had bras balloons up in san francisco and a japanese submarine was cited of santa barbara said there was real fear that the japanese would

also attack the west coast. the detention of the japanese came from the civilians saying we don't have time to find out whether any of these people individually are disloyal. we have to internal of them. >> by 1944, one of the most interesting parts is that it was also apparent there had never been a basis for holding these people, never. at the time, the man in charge, general dewitt, knew there was no basis. he had been told that by j. edgar hoover. he told him the fbi does not want these people move. we know where the spies are and they are not spies. ♪ >> the due process clause of the fifth amendment is supposed to balance the power of the government against the rights of its citizens. due process did not protect the japanese americans during the internment. substantive due process requires that government live up

to high standards to try to take away fundamental rights like life, liberty, or property. procedural due process means that the government cannot take away your rights without a quid notice or a hearing before a neutral judge. the government took people to court who resisted the internment. those trials did not provide procedural due process because the government did not present its case fairly. one example is a citizen who was about my uncle's age when he was arrested for refusing interment orders. he argued it was illegal to imprison him in the camps. >> in 1942,fred koramatzu oppose the forced interment of japanese-americans during world war two. after being convicted for

failing to report for relocation, he took his case all the way to the supreme court. the high court ruled against him. but 39 years later, he had his conviction overturned in federal court empowered and tens of thousands of japanese-americans and giving him what he said he wanted most of all -- the chance to feel like an american once again. >> fred koramatsu fought back and stood up for his constitutional rights. his daughter has educated -- has dedicated her life to educate people and she spoke with me. >> the japanese americans had to be put into the internment camps without any due process. there was no hearings.

there were no trials. my father wants you to know it was a horrible experience. he felt it was an unjust act by the government and the question in his mind was am i an american? >> i finished my trip to the internment camp i've visited the memorial site which commemorated the lives of liberties that were lost there. the japanese characters on this 0 burlesque say it is a monumental to consult -- of bandas obelisks say is a monument to console the souls of the dead. we all need to be protective of our civil liberties in times when government decides to set them aside. ♪ after two years in the camp, my uncle served in the army and became a successful dentist. fred koramatsu received the

presidential medal of freedom in 1998. these stories from the internment camps remind us how vital due process is for protecting our freedom. >> go to studentcam.org to watch all the winning videos and continue the conversation on our facebook and twitter pages. >> several live events today on our companion network -- the house ways and means subcommittee will look into medicare premium support proposals and the long-term solvency of the program. that is in a couple of hours at 9:00 a.m. eastern and then after 12:30 p.m. eastern, president obama speech to the troops at fort stewart, ga., home of the third infantry division. in a few moments, a look at this morning's headlines and your calls live on "washington journal." the house of representatives is

in session at 9:00 eastern and the agenda includes a bill to extend the current interest rate on student loans for one year. we will air the supreme court oral argument on the constitution known what -- on the constitutionality of the arizona immigration law. you concede that at 8:00 p.m. eastern. in about 40 minutes, we will discuss the law that prohibits american companies from bribing officials overseas. our guest is a reporter for dow jones newswires and will focus on allegations of wrongdoing by wal-mart officials in mexico. we will also focus on our studentcam wenner documentary on the due process clause of the constitution. internmentpanese camps of world war two and we will be joined by a doctoral