a sister of charity who taught me at my high school sent me a letter recently telling me she remembered me and my high school graduation speech. she described my speech as incessantly optimistic. i was not sure if she were complimenting me or the speech, but i plead guilty. i am incessantly optimistic. that continuous excitement in new learning can give you hope and help you meet every challenge you encounter. upon reflection, i experience gratitude. no one succeeds a lawn. your families and friends have supported you through your schooling. your parents to sit here and your friends have done nothing but root for you, like my mother

who was sitting up there. [applause] your professor shaved your education, -- shaped your education, your mentors will teach you further. remember to be grateful. recognize their contribution and spend time cultivating relationships with family and friends. that is critical to finding happiness in life. i have often spoken about one of the most meaningful moments of my last confirmation process. it was the day i saw my younger brother, and the little kid who i did everything to get rid of,

on television crying while he talked about me. i knew how deeply he loved me. that moment sustained me through the most arduous parts of my confirmation process and has comfortably in the transition of becoming a justice. never walk alone in your future path. take time to build your relationships as carefully as you draft your careers. the last emotion have been the joy of engagement. it is a happy statement but not as high fees spectator sport. to squeeze from life its fullness, to be happy in this world, to find meaning in life, you have to be active in giving

members of your communities. neither your life or the world you live and just happens. you control the quality of your life tenure community. it is only giving to others that you confine meaning and satisfaction in what you do. some of us given the type of work we undertake. others do so through church, neighborhood, or school opportunities. you do not need to do a particular job but you do need an incessant optimism to compel you to give to others. under this cloudy sky that has held off from raining, stands a kid who grew up in public housing in this today's supreme court justice. i am here because of the help of many, and because curiosity,

gratitude, engagement let me dream big. under this same sky, asked to daises thousands of view, kids whose families have dreams of a lifetime of success for their graduating children. you have taken a critical for step to achieving your family's dream. and now, it is within you and the attitude, the tune you create to define your own dreams and your own futures. keep dreaming and keep enjoying the process of the new discoveries. congratulations class of 2012. dream big achieve much. -- and achieve much. thank you. [applause]

>> donald verrilli gave the commencement address to the university of iowa law school in may. he argued both the health care and immigration cases before the supreme court. he talks about his career in this speech, which is about 15 minutes. i was going to have to follow such an extraordinary address as the one you just heard, i might have politely declined.

you are very fortunate to have someone like saddam on view and that speaks so much -- someone like that and this speaks so much to this law school. faculty, alumni, parents and family members, and most importantly, members of the graduating class of 2012, and thank you for inviting me to join in this celebration of all the achievements that have brought you to this day, and all the to accomplish in the years ahead. today you graduate from one of the finest law schools in the country under the stewardship of a great deed and an outstanding faculty. if you are brilliant and motivated. you have matured and your time here and you are well trained in the law. after you leave here, you will spread throughout the state, the

country, and you will take your place at the tradition of successful leaders of the profession of business and government. that is fortunate home because we need you. you do not need me to tell you you are entering a world of great challenges and more than a little uncertainty. we have fought our way back from the devastation of the 2008 financial crisis but the economy still has a ways to go. in the legal profession, and there are shares of economic stress. especially for many of you who will begin your careers with the heavy burden of student loan debt, wrestling with the personal financial challenges you face in these uncertain times. it may seem like more than enough and that is a perfectly reasonable position.

i am here today to say to you that you can do more and to ask you to do more. the most important challenge you will face is not what during the current economic climate. the nation has summoned to the will to overcome economic challenges before and is doing so again now. the legal profession will weather the storm and so will you. there is a greater challenge before u.s. you enter the profession. when that has been increasingly evident over my deck is a practice, but was exposed during the 2008 financial crisis. the run-up to that crisis was not the finest hour for our society's leaders in financing government. it was not the finest hour for the legal profession. to many in our profession have

drifted away from the values that defined what that means to be a lawyer. loyalty to the client, to be sure, but also prudence, judging, stewardship, candor, a sense of public responsibility and everything you do. the point of your degree is not to give you an economic and vantage over your fellow citizens. he will do fine economically. in fact, you will probably do quite well. being a lawyer is not a job, it is a profession or if you are lucky it is a calling. this is nobility in our work. taking on in solving other people's problems, being the voice for the voiceless. standing up for the rule of law in everything you do.

we need to reclaim these volumes and restore them to the central place they deserve. that is only going to happen, renewal is only going to happen if you make it happen. it starts with a recognition that law is a public profession and that begin lawyer means assuming public responsibilities. those responsibilities include devoting time to community service, starting this year, and this sounds like you are off to an astounding start, given the numbers identified. but your sense of public responsibility should ship everything you do and it means having the integrity to tell your client no when the law does not permit it. even as you try to help your client find a way to achieve the objectives lawfully. it means being candid with the

court's even as you advocate for your client's interests. it requires a constant appreciation of the consequences of your actions and those of the clients you represent. i hope that for many of you this sense of public responsibility will lead you into public service at some point in your life. i hope sooner rather than later. it took me more than 20 years to take that step. i can attest it is the most rewarding thing you can do. weathered is putting the people in jail and need to be there, or defending liberty with everything you have. being a watchdog for consumers, protecting our environment, policing financial shenanigans, or holding elected office.

your community, your state, your country needs your service and your leadership at this time of his court challenges. -- historic challenges. we really need you. that is a lot to ask. i guess it is fair to say i am urging you to aim high. i should also note that in doing so i am cutting against the grain of the trendy contrarian it advice for main author who just has a book of 10 and have things you're commencement speaker will not tell you. that it takes aim to take the air out some of the cliches we here at this time. i looked at his list and i will say there was much wisdom in it. but i do not agree with one of the items of advice on his list, don't make the world

worse. of course i agree they should not actually start to make the world worse. but i do not ignore the core of the advice. he says "i know i am supposed to tell you to aspire to great things but i'm going to lower the bar. do not use your talents to mess things up. to many smart people are doing that already. of course the smart people he's talking about include the wizard to jump up the financial products that brought our economy to the brink of collapse. then the lawyers who enabled all that wizardry. he reminds us that talent and expertise can be easily misused as you for good. if you live out your professional lives without misusing your talents to mess things up, society might be better off. but that is not enough. if you set the bar at not messing up, you are not going to

do what our profession really need to to do. to make a difference. just as importantly, there is a likelihood you will not be satisfied. having implored you to aim high, i am going to offer a piece of career advice in this address. it may seem to contradict what i have said but it does not. the advice is this -- do not think of your professional life as a ladder to the client. whatever you aspire to, do not try to plot out a straight line from here to that goal. it is almost certain not to get you there. if you are always asking yourself what is the next rung on the ladder and how do i take that step, you are going to miss out on the experiences that could make the biggest difference in helping you reach your goals. you will miss out on the

experiences that shape or revolutionize your thinking about what you really want and what really matters. commit yourself to what you believe to be important. take risks to do so. success will follow from your commitments in ways you likely could never have predicted norplant. success may look different than what you have imagined that it will be success on your terms. as i look back on my own career, the single thing i can identify having had to do more than any other with me being a lawyer and begin the position i am in today, is something that a person plotting a course would not have considered a savvy or wise move. that is taking on pro bono work on behalf of death row inmates.

in 1984, when i was clerking on the supreme court, the pace of scheduled executions have started to pick up. a part of our job back then was reviewing the applications that came in seeking to halt executions. i was struck by the uneven quality of the representation defendants received at their trials. and how the difference between being on death row or not seem to come down to the competence of the council. our resolve to do something about the problem and so are started taking on cases for inmates almost as soon as i began practicing. i was fortunate that the law for my work out for more than 20 years supported those efforts. i had a quite a few of those cases over the years, most of

them involve claims. on five occasions, my representation brought to me before the supreme court. a good deal of the experience that ended up qualifying before being considered for the position i have not been directly out of my commitment to represent death row inmates. more to the point, i learned the central lessons about what it means to be a voyeur. for these clients, i stood between them and execution. it was my responsibility. even as a young lawyer, after graduating from moscow, to make the judgment calls about what arguments to make, it was my responsibility to do the work needed to make sure those judges were based on the best information. it was my responsibility to stand up in court to the supreme court of the ad states and give the best argument i could on their behalf.

the sense of commitment and responsibility became the norm for all my work and i came to understand what it means for a lawyer to be an advocate for a client. i came to understand the centrality of the principle that every person deserves advocacy on his or her behalf. in working on these cases, disabuse me of the notion that everyone on edge? roh was a gentle soul displaced inside of a gel. -- jail. some were more difficult. but the legitimacy of our adversarial system of justice depends on advocacy on behalf of defendants. that legitimacy is the most at stake when a defendant faces the most serious consequences. it was imperative that i give my best for all of these clans no matter what i thought of them or their actions during -- all of

these clients no matter what i thought of them or their actions. i became better at everything i did as a lawyer because the lessons i learned during those cases. even though that is not the path that i would have taken had i been thinking about the next rung on the ladder. one more thing. while it is right to focus on the promise the future holds for you, an important milestone like today should not pass without a reminder that life is not know is going to be smooth sailing. adversity will come your way. the more you put yourself on the line for something you believing, the more adversity you may face. there will be things when things break for you. you will not always live up to the expectations you have for yourself or that others have for you. it happens to all of us.

nobody drives through life hitting all the green lights. when it happens, it can be tough. what matters in life is how you respond when diversity hits you. that is what you -- when you show what you are made of. and what you are made of is going to be the product of the choices you make along the way. if you have acted with integrity throughout your life, you will respond with integrity when times are tough. if you have shown courage, you will respond with courage. if you have shown decency and respect, and to your adversaries, you will know that you should continue to do so and you may find this surprising sources of support when you do. if you have committed yourself to your client's cause, you will know you have done what you could then you will know what to do what your next case.

if you have put yourself on the line publicly for something you believe in, you will know that a little adversity is no reason to stop doing the work that makes a difference. as you leave here, remember that what you do every day as a lawyer matters. each day's choices shape what you will become. those choices does -- determine the reserve you will have to draw on when you need them. one of the most important lessons, this is something i hope you already know, in your most difficult moments, you will be sustained by the people who love you, your family and friends. that will include the friends you have made at this law school. take a moment to look around and reflect on how fortunate you are to have the friends you have made here. odds are they will be there for

you 10, 20, 30 years from now. get back tow, let's why we are here, to celebrate and to send you one-year wait. thank you -- send you on your way. thank you for the things i know you are going to do for our profession and our world. good luck to you. it has been a privilege to be here. >> senator jon kyl deliver the address to arizona christian university. he spoke about his faith and advised arduous that " preparation is indispensable to success." this to place at the scottsdale bible church in scottsdale, arizona. it is about 15 minutes.

>> thank you. thank you very much. thankfully so for this institution. good morning, graduates and proud families of graduates, members of the faculty of this fine biblically integrated education. confession is good for the soul and all the time 100 list, i will bring to just below lady gaga -- i ranked just below landy gaga. [laughter] i had to ask who lady gaga was. today you celebrate. it is justified. you have completed a crucial phase in the beginning of life

learning. i am sure that you join me in thanking all of the people who put their faith in you. your family, your professors, your mentors. booker t. washington observed, "few things can help an individual than to place responsibility on him and to let him know that you trusting." -- trust him." this university has done that for you. you entered the school to advance your christian education and learn how to engage the world as servants of jesus christ. you have learned to think critically and communicate effectively. you have matt wise teachers advisers. -- had wise teachers and advisors.

you have and the old truths about life, once self, and about god and his will. this has helped prepare you for different career paths and that is what i want to talk to about today. after all, no father or grandfather can resist sharing lessons of life when given the opportunity. governing at the philosophy of your school. it is to teach you how to become productive adults to serve the lord, in days the world in the example of jesus christ, and contribute to the world in various in meaningful ways. now you have to begin making career choices to provide for your families and yourself in the years ahead. this leads me to the first of the two thoughts i would like to leave with you today. goals are great but preparation

is key. almost all of you are anxious about what you are going to be doing after graduation. some of you do not have jobs. others are not sure about long- range plans. my advice is, think less about long-term goals than performing well at what you're doing now. work hard to repair -- prepare for whatever may come. if you possess a high-quality education, which you do, if you are willing to work and if you are receptive to opportunity, you need not chart right now every turn that your professional career ought to take. becoming fixed on one specific path can sometimes lead to

disappointment. goals are important, and the but i have found that preparation for whatever life brings is indispensable to success. as americans, we can have many jobs. we can have several careers over a lifetime. as an undergraduate, i was not sure what i wanted to do. later i practiced law for tubing decades and i know when i started i had little understanding of what life in the law would really be like. my career took twists and turns i could not have predicted. i certainly had no grand plan for a political career. i did, however, i try to lead my life so why would be in a position to take advantage of opportunities. this starts, of course, by

living the faith we profess. it is hard to imagine how much better i could be a far worry more perfect servant of the lord. but this i can say, i would be nothing without my faith to sustain me. life can take us in many places. it often winds up surprising us and presenting opportunities we could not have conceived of. my advice is to focus on excellence in the task at hand and do not worry if everything does not turn out exactly as you planned. there is an old yiddish saying that serves as a reminder of this importance of flexibility and humility. man makes plans, god laughs. obviously planning is useful but god they have other ideas.

our ability to deal with his plans means we need to be well grounded and prepared for every eventuality. it is a matter of putting yourself in a position to take advantage of opportunity when the time comes. your education here is just the start of this corporation. a degree, whether it is and bible studies, education, business administration, christian ministries, helps put you in a position to seize the opportunities that present themselves and to pretend to good use. -- to put to them to good use. success appears when opportunity meets preparation. the essential ingredient in this ingredient, i have found, is old-fashioned hard work. as the drivers on nascar -- i happen to be a nascar fans.

the drivers on the nascar circuit say you make your own luck. in other words, or cards to bridge yourself in a position to win. -- work hard to put yourself in a position to win. do-it-yourself position. thomas jefferson said it this way, he said i am a great believer luck and i find that te harder i work, the more of it i have. i have won my share of legal and political arguments because i was better prepared than my opponent. and you can, too. this leads to my second point. most of you have a minor in vital studies because you know the important principle is that humility comes before honor. our religious and moral sense make us aware that as human

beings, we have limitations. flesh and blood can never attain perfection. whoever exults himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. thus, humility is in order. and it helps us learn important lessons in life. in build on my first point about preparation. hubris causes carelessness. but humility create caution. caution breeds thoughtfulness and thoughtfulness stimulates preparation. humility reinforces the need for and the success of preparation. to be clear, humility should never be confused with

quiescence. it would be wrong to shy away from a challenge using humility as an excuse. you each have talents that you have an obligation to maximize. moses led the heber's out of egypt to the promised land, painfully aware of his limitations. god instructed him to have faith in what god would provide. god told jeremiah, call on me and i will show you a great and mighty things you do not know. as children of god, we appreciate our limitations and we shouldn't have any difficulty being humble. we know that when we try to do god's will, there is no limit to the empowerment he can provide. this verse from jeremiad answered very hard questions for me after 9/11 and it has been an

inspiration for me ever since. each of you will be called in different ways. you leave with a base of knowledge but also with your own unique interests and capacities as individuals. you can make a unique contribution to the years ahead. because you are one-of-a-kind and individual, you can and do things on like anyone else. -- unlike anyone else. in doing, you are more likely to be successful by practicing the kind of humility that jesus taught. preparation. humility. and the courage to respond to whatever you're called to do. add these to your foundation of faith to beat the challenges you

will face. final thought. what ever wrote you take, your career will likely be filled with highs and lows, the days and bad days. there will be times when you feel self doubt in the trials of life, and they will, you know. that does not mean that god has lost sight of you or that you should despair. be prepared to work through the bad days. humbly seek god's guidance. recall these words. i do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet, but reaching forward to what lies ahead, a press on to the goal for the prize of the upward call of god and jesus christ. congratulations to each of you in this class of 2012.

[applause] >> education secretary on a dunk and delivers the commencement address at howard university in washington, d.c.. he tells graduates to pursue their passion and give back to society with service. howard university as among the oldest historical black colleges chartered by congress in 1867. secretary donjon speaks for about 25 minutes. [applause] >> good morning, and thank you for that generous introduction. i feel fortunate to be here today to share something that i think we do too little of, that is to celebrate success.

to the graduates and families that supported them along this journey, congratulations. i am so pleased to be here today, this occasion is a humbling one as well. i know that there is history here, and we need all to thrive as we move forward. [applause] for the past 145 years, ever since howard university was created by act of congress and signed by president andrew jackson himself, howard and the graduates have been a barometer on the space of the american dream. in 1955, president johnson gave a commencement speech at howard where he said that the graduating class is witness to the indomitable the termination of black americans to win their way in american life. every american, he said, should

be able to become whatever their qualities of mind and spirit will commit to strive, s.c., and define happiness. this is american justice. the 15 years later, ronald reagan and george w. bush stood on this stage. jump forward 17 years to 1998, my colleague and friend hillary clinton was the commencement speaker and first lady at the time. she said it was impossible for anyone to come to this campus and not feel the richness of their tradition and the reverence for those that pave the way for tomorrow's leaders. i stand today in the shadows of giants and i am fully aware that howard has been the crucible for social actions and the proving ground for american justice. i am humbled to be sharing a stage with a distinguished group

of honor recipients. they are all groundbreakers in their professions. they are passionate believers and equal opportunity, the power of a great education. and howard alumnus that had a storied career with the new york times as the first black woman to win the pulitzer prize. [applause] the warmth of other sons, her epic history of the black migration is simply without parallel. that is my impressive company. i want to say, do not let it go to your heads. previous recipients include frederick douglass, mary ann anderson, eleanor roosevelt, james baldwin. in 1957, martin luther king jr.

and jack robinson were both on marie recipients. --- jackie robinson were both on marie recipients. 15 to 20 years from now, when i graduated, he did not occur to me that i would one day serve as the u.s. secretary of education. i have a much more sensible plan to play in the nba. clearly, that did not work out. if you look to the left and right today, in front of you and behind you, you will see america's future leaders. few universities can claim as many firsts. toni morrison, the former member of the faculty was the first black woman to receive the nobel prize and a pulitzer prize in literature. [applause] your extraordinary university provost is the first african-

american president of the american college of surgeons and the american cancer society. [applause] other howard graduates or the first african-americans to be elected to the u.s. senate, a u.s. governor, mayor of new york city, and u.n. ambassador. and last but not least, the mighty thurgood marshall. [applause] the first african-american hall on the supreme court justice was a howard university gradtuate. -- graduate. i have said that education is the civil rights issue of our generation and you can testify to that truth more powerfully than howard and the successors today. there is a reason president obama says the story of the civil rights movement was

written in our schools. that reason is known for everyone today. education must be the great equalizer in america. it doesn't matter your race, and come, as a coda. every child is -- income, zip code. every child is entitled to quality education. [applause] it is so much more than educational opportunity, it is a daily fight for social thus this. this is a fight for american justice. howard students have always understood this. no institution has done more to tear down the barriers of segregation. the faculty created a course to train law students and how to challenge jim crow laws in court. soon after leaving howard, thurgood marshall became the naacp's chief counsel. nine of the 10 lawyers at work

on the landmark brown vs. board of education case under marshall, nine of 10 were howard law graduates. [applause] marshall argue that case before the supreme court and changed the course of american history forever. when i was ceo of chicago public schools, i love sending students to howard. i knew they would get a great education and be cared for in a community that nurtured leadership and commitment and capacity. one of my students served on the revisory council. they told me the truth, not what i wanted to hear, what i needed be here. it may are public-school system better. in chicago, he held to be organized a rally and address a crowd of about this size, 25,000. in washington at howard, he

knows that protecting our democracy requires action, not just admiring. he is the first of his family to go to college. he came to howard and washington about the same time i did. president obama and i are weighty -- hoping to stay in d.c. for another four years. [applause] an echo that he is sticking around as well. [applause] i have confidence in every single one of you because you don't get through howard without hard work and without overcoming challenges. you had to overcome the override -- [applause] you survived the snow and blizzard of 2010. [applause] and after 14 years of waiting,

the football team beat hampton. [applause] and your lady bison went all the way to the finals. congratulations. afro blue made it all the way to the finals of "the sing-off." afro blue is so much more than a group of amazing voices, they combined excellence with commitment. they also sang vocal jazz to raise money to alleviate famine and malnutrition in somalia. socialue's commitment to justice is widely shared. nearly 400 students volunteered at the alternative spring break program in five cities this spring. you raised over $80,000 to support service in five communities. you slept on the floors of

churches and shelters to tackle tough issues like this devastating level of gun violence in my hometown of chicago. devastating illiteracy in detroit. students have a long history of doing what they think is right, not necessarily what they are told. from creating a viral video campaign to counteracting racial profiling with trayvon martin and his hoodie, to policies. i know i am speaking to two audiences. the graduates that want a short speech. and your parents, they are not in such a rush. they say, not so fast, mr. secretary. i have been waiting a long time for this day. we came out here, take your time. i will listen to the mothers,

the answer, the grandmothers, and take a few more minutes. earning a howard agree is about the best of mother's day gift that i can imagine. [applause] if i can leave you with two messages today, the first is to be to fulfill your passion. experience alive faltering opportunity to find what you love and stick with it even if you may have to go down some unexpected or unconventional paths. the second piece of the device would be to continue the powerful howard tradition of giving something back, paying it forward. they gave the howard commencement in 1990, she said that profoundly, service is a rent that each of us pays for living. your goal in life can just be to do well for yourself. i love howard's model, truth and

service. not truth or service. dr. king said anybody can be great because anybody can serve. it is easier to preach and practice. many have you have student loans to pay off. it is hard to take a more rewarding job that pays less, and think about the other challenges to face. life will ultimately be richer and more rewarding if you pursue a passion, believing your talent, and you can absolutely accomplished the unexpected. warren buffett said that if you take a job that you love, you will jump out of bed every morning. don't wait until you are old age to do what you love. don't look back to say that you wish you had done it differently or sooner. i have always had to love,

basketball and education. 25 years after graduating, those are the only jobs i have ever had. my career path followed an unconventional route. i ended up playing basketball and australia where i met my life -- wife. we are blessed to have two wonderful children. a 10-year-old daughter and an 8- year-old son. my friends make more money than me but i am lucky to wake up every day to do something i care passionately about. i would not change a thing. [applause] so when you leave here, run for office, a volunteer at local schools, coach a team. even if it seems a tougher tack to take. find what you love, find your own genius. do what you love every day even if you weren't getting a

paycheck. pursue it with all your heart. getting a job as a bigot necessary step, but it is every bit as in horne's to be an informed and engaged citizen to participate -- as important to be an informed and engaged citizen to participate in this democracy. everyone here knows that we still have a long way to go to fulfill dr. king's dream. we are not in a post-racial america. not yet. we will be closer to fulfilling that dream with more black and brown children entering kindergarten. we will have arrived when more fathers are actively engaged in their lives. when more black men have college degrees and not criminal records. we will have arrived when our schools are less segregated and

a less racially isolated and when dr. king was assassinated than today. and when an innocent black teenager in a hoodie is not a criminal suspect. there are so many battles that you must help fight and make sure that we win. poll tax, literacy tests used to bar blacks from voting might still be gone, but at the beginning of 2011, 17 states, 1/3 of our nation have passed laws that restrict the right to vote. most of these laws require citizens to show a government issued photo id before being allowed to cast a ballot. thes ponsors -- the sponsors know that black and

hispanic voters are over represented without a government issued id. our nation is similarly engaged in a great debate right now. it is not a theoretical or academic debate that will have a big impact on the future of pell grants scholarships and student loans. president obama and i believe that education is a public good. it should not be reserved for only those that can afford it. the best education is the best assessment america can make to bolster competitiveness. simply put, if we don't invest today, we as families, community, nation, we lost tomorrow. some see student aide as an expense that should be cut back in tough times. not an investment in the future.

getting an education isn't snobbery, it is the ultimate act of self empowerment. the pursuit of knowledge is a sacred journey that people have literally died for. there was a time when you can be whipped or beaten for teaching how to read.ea slave because knowledge is power. education can never be taken away from you. [applause] when i look out at this amazing scene today, i don't see snobs' out there. i see students and families that have worked hard and sacrificed to send their children to a university. i see mothers and fathers with sons and daughters that will be the first in their family to graduate from college.

i see hard-working and committed students that have earned their degree with the help of a cult grants and student loans. one of america's greatest writers and howard alumnus beautifully captured college education when she describes life ferv her at the alma mater. my soul stood on tiptoe to take in all it met. i wanted to be worthy of standing there under the shadow of the hovering spirit of howard. i felt the ladder beneath my feet. i felt the ladder beneath my feet. she felt of the starting rungs of that letter built by those that came before her. steps she could not have made without those that preceded her and the memory she honored. i hope you will always feel that latter beneath your own feet. there is more than one way to

thank those that came before you. don't take my word for it. your fellow students that are graduating here today -- after the earthquake, they organized a benefit concert to raise more than $17,000 for the relief effort and took a trip to haiti to help on the ground. april started a nonprofit for middle school and high-school students in foster care. more than 160 students are enrolled in her program. a chemical engineering major, the white house picked her as a champion of change for encouraging women and girls to go and a science and technology. -- into science and technology. the jobs that the future will entail.

i hope that many of you that leave here today will be thinking about how you can strengthen your education system, especially for children of color. there are so many ways to give back. the teacher, become a principal or superintendent, mentor children, become an advocate. michael powell got his master's degree at howard. he first became a d.c. firefighter. he came from a family where you were either a preacher or a teacher and before long, he felt the call of the classroom. he went on to win an outstanding young educators award in maryland. he won that national award because he worked tirelessly to help a small child. he created a program to excite in science.nterest

he did not stop there. he created a group of fathers that got together and shoveled a mile of sidewalk during the blizzard of 2010 so that their kids could walk to school. when his son attended the father's day gathering, his father came and started visiting with his child every week. if his son is now on a roll. -- on the honor roll. started as ar district sales manager. now he prepares african-american men to become teachers. with less than 2% of teachers being black males, we need to support and expand programs like this. in houston, andre didn't have a

library at school, so he went to the public library to get books for seventh graders. he knew that none of us can be free of we cannot read. since 2007, the ready to teach program has 180 applicants for 80 slots. it has produced for teachers of the year, and one of them is andre. i would like many of you to follow in their footsteps. [applause] four short years ago when you arrived at howard, barack obama was running for president. today, he knows the work was far from done. it will require difficult choices and real sacrifice. he also knows that our future is bright. the young people like all of you with the skills, creativity,

tenacity, work ethic, and passion to bring about real and enduring change. if i will never forget that night four years ago. i know none of you will either. students jumped for joy. they hugged one another and they left -- wept. few dreams would never be broken in our lifetime, but there is a a point where you will break down. as the president said, one man does not make a movement. if only all of you together can do that. as you leave today, savor the moment, chairs the celebration, cherished the family and friends. always remember that you will stand on the shoulders of giants. today you are graduates of howard and tomorrow you will face opportunities and

challenges. barriers will rise up to meet you, and you a question and doubt if you have what it takes to succeed, remember that your the printout -- remember that your the crowd at prepared graduates of our university. no matter how high you reach, you will always feel that latter beneath your feet. if i cannot be more proud for each and every one of you. congratulations. [applause] >> life is incredibly precious, and it passes by far too quickly. doing your time here, use all of your unique god-given talents to serve one another and that will be the true measure by which your life will be judged. while the golden rule. >> memorial day weekend, watch commencement speeches from white

house officials and business leaders. saturday through tuesday at noon and 10:00 p.m. eastern. >> heading into the memorial day weekend, eric cantor released a memo detailing the house summer agenda. what is the premise of laying out the schedule in detail so far in advance? >> if you look at what mr. cantor laid out, it dovetails nicely with the themes that they are trying to push right now, continuing taxes, easing regulations, opening up land for more oil and gas. they are trying to get out there what they will be wanting to do over the next, you know, few weeks into the election season. >> in terms of the timing, does

it have anything to do with the house being out for the next week or so? >> is sort of a curious choice to choose the friday of a holiday weekend. they are going on a little momentum for when they do come back next week when the senate will be out, but i don't know why they chose this day. dodge the coming week will see a significant amount of work, what will top the house agenda? >> they have a lot going on. they passed an fda bill and the house will move toward their own version of that, a defense bill. the bill will start appropriations bills and spending bills -- they will start appropriations bills and spending bills. tuesday night, i believe they come back. the >> of the majority leader's memo said that the timetable for voting on the bush era tax cuts is before the august recess. why? >> i think they wanted to do

something sooner rather than later, but everyone realizes the senate will not act quickly to extend all the rates. we saw the house speaker last week saying that this is a big deal for them. they want to make this a centerpiece of their election year pitch. we want to make sure that they do it quick and it will be part of their message the rest of the year. >> how do democrats want to deal with those tax cuts expiring? >> nancy pelosi says that she wants a quick vote on tax cuts under $1 million. it's the same talks all over agian. -- again. republicans want to extend tax cuts for everybody. democrats don't want to do it for the wealthy, they just don't know how they want to determine

wealthy yet. >> you can read online mr. speech.s we will have live coverage of the house next week on c-span. next, a discussion about republican presidential candidate mitt romney's work with bain capital. and president obama at a rally in iowa. that debate in the wisconsin gov. recall election. >> michael kranish is the deputy >> welcome to kowtow museum in wichita, kansas. >> we are here at the city of wichita, waking up the city for 22 years. we think we have a heck of a

start. the mayor will be talking about the problem in the city with taxicabs. >> in june 2 and 3, book tv and history tv explore the literary and cultural of wichita, kansas. >> what it contains is an alphabetical list of the members of the senate and the house of representatives. it is done in 1831. i believe this was issued only to members immediate use only. as you can see, you can find them if you did not like it. >> on june 2 and third on c-span 2 and 3.

mitt romney's work at bain capital has been discussed recently in this year's presidential campaign. and in his 1994 race for the u.s. senate. we spoke with the boston globe deputy chief and took a look at c-span archival video. >> michael kranish is the deputy bureau chief in washington, d.c., for the "boston globe." bain capital is the centerpiece of the obama campaign strategy. it has been front and center this week. take us back to 1994, the senate race in which it just surfaced. >> in 1994, mitt romney ran for the u.s. senate against ted kennedy. his main credential was that he worked at this company for several years, made a lot of money, people knew that his father had been the governor of michigan. when he ran, he was unprepared

for attacks on his record. the kennedy campaign ran some ads against mitt romney and romney thought people were not interested or would not believe it. what we see is that they have responded very quickly. >> we are going to look at some of those ads. what is bain capital today? what was it back in 1994? >> it was a business consultant company. it is the business that invests and advises companies. they take a big stake in companies and they give them venture capital. they run into existing companies, pay themselves a big management fees. and then try to build the company or spin things off. they were very successful for

the investors in a fund that invested in some of these companies. some of the companies did well, some not so well. they made astonishing returns. it was an average rebound of about 88% a year. that is different than looking at the companies themselves. he was successful as an investment manager. >> here are two of the ads from the kennedy committee in 1994. and the response from mitt romney. >> mitt romney says he saved bain and company, but he did not tell you that on the day he took over, he had his predecessor fire hundreds. it was rescued with a federal bailout of $10 million. his company failed to repay at least $10 million. the rest of us had to absorb the loss. it caused ordinary people $10 billion.

>> i would like for him to show me where these 10,000 jobs are. [inaudible] >> these negative attacks are wrong. more than anything else, the cynical, old-style politics has been in washington too long. the real people are more interested in getting serious about crime, reforming welfare, and creating real jobs. they want to hear our differences on issues that matter in our lives. you talk about your plans and i will talk about mine. >> the change we need, mitt romney.

>> as you worked on this book, this issues in this race. what comes to mind? >> the first ad is about his former company. there were problems in the company and he turned it around. what is interesting about the third ad is he does not respond specifically to the charges. what he is trying to do in this case is to respond directly and then talk about jobs. he has learned some lessons from the 1994 race. >> in one of the debates, this is from october of 1994. mitt romney going after senator ted kennedy on the bain capital issue. >> as someone with no business experience yourself, how would

you have handled that situation in indiana differently? >> first of all, mr. romney has characterized one of his qualifications for the united states senate is his business background. it is legitimate to look for what kind of jobs he has created. the kind of jobs he has created are part-time jobs and minimum- wage jobs that do not have any health insurance. that is not the kind of job i want to create. there are different ways for venture-capitalists to deal with the situation like indiana. either you close the plant down, throw the people out of work, only hire back the younger workers. or you can retrain the workers, further education and training, invest in those companies and create full-time jobs at good pay with good benefits. that is the kind of record that

would have impressed me in terms of creating jobs. what is wrong with mr. romney's companies providing the same thing? [applause] >> i have a lot of things to answer on that. in my view, the attack on part- time workers not having health insurance is the height of hypocrisy. senator kennedy and his family have a multiple real-estate empire across this country. that merchandise market has a free cash flow of $20 million a year. i am sure you know that your workers that are part-time to do not have health insurance, don't you? [applause] >> mr. romney, there is a major difference. you do not even afford access

to your part-time workers. we at least provide the access and many of those part-time workers take it and it is a shared responsibility. >> i do not know what you are talking about. you do not provide health insurance for your part-time people. >> gentlemen, gentlemen. you are going to have an opportunity to get back to this question. >> my impression is that you have followed a campaign as soon as the primary was over trying to divert the voters' attention is on issues at hand. instead, making personal attacks on me. you said that my firm has 40 people and only one is a woman. you are wrong, 12 are women. you said we give no benefits to americans.

we have 40,000 employees who give health-care benefits. only part-time do not have health care benefits. that happens to be the same as your firm. we are strikers in a company that was not even invested in. it happened six months after i left. you parade that around like it is my problem. i am in favor of the minimum wage. you have yet to produce any document that says i did not support the minimum wage. when will this end? [applause] >> let me stop this right now. i think it is fair to ask each one of you to take your first minutes for both a charge and a question. and then we will open it up. is that fair? i am going to have the timer count us down. that is your question.

>> that is fine. >> mr. romney would have asked me what i was going to do for working families in massachusetts, how we're going to get our economy on the road, talking about the real measures that are going to affect children, working families, senior citizens. mr. romney, i will provide after this debate all the documentation that you asked for. i hope you'll tell me where you will provide health insurance for your companies overseas. he is a distinguished former member of the united states senate. when he made the characterization, and he called it reprehensible and challenged you to withdraw it, let's put the ads aside and talk about health care. let's talk about education.

let's talk about infrastructure. fors talk about our vision massachusetts. that is what the people of massachusetts want to talk about. >> i want to know where you spend millions of dollars talking about staples and not having health care benefits when your companies do not have health care benefits. when you spend millions of dollars, that if you are so innocent and talking about the issues because that is all i have talked about up until one week ago. >> senator kennedy? >> i will provide those in detail. i will provide them about the

minimum wage, giving the document where you said you were against the increase in the minimum wage, you had a different opinion when you were talking on national television. i do not know why you would meet with the strikers. i am bothered about the pain of the people in massachusetts. you may be frustrated about it, but your pain and my pain pales to what is happening in this city. people cannot get jobs. you take a great deal of satisfaction about exchanging papers about this. about your advertisements, about the kennedy interest in the washington investment, my nephew and i have a blind trust.

we have no control over those trusts. the kennedys are not in public service to make money. we have paid too high a price in our commitment to the public. >> from 1994, michael kranish, the parallels to what the argument was against mitt romney. >> it is fascinating to watch the tape from 1994. there are a lot of similarities in the way that he is being attacked. he said he had nothing to do with the company -- i am not sure what company he was talking about there. he was receiving financial benefits from the company. one of those things that will come up again. there is a question about jobs

that were created and jobs lost. when he ran in 1994, he said that he helped create 10,000 jobs. now he is saying that he helped create 100,000 jobs. we looked at about 100 deals that he did over a 15-year period, you cannot say how many jobs were created or lost. 100,000 jobs figure, the campaign has said 89,000 of those jobs came from staples. most of those were created after bain cashed out. it is one of the smallest deals that they did when romney led the company. the founder of staples -- other people would say, wait a second, they cashed out and most of those came later. he is taking credit for jobs that were created later.

in some cases, he has said that you should not blame me for jobs that were lost after i left. there is a balancing there. the obama campaign has tried to point out what they perceive to be contradictions. the basic issue is still the same. in 1994, mitt romney was not prepared to answer these questions. he did not answer a lot of them directly in a timely way. now he is trying to do that. the other thing i want to mention is that mitt romney was hit by kennedy a lot about health care. in 2002, he pushed through a health care plan and standing beside him was ted kennedy. it is really interesting to see kennedy attacking him over this. we know that years later what happened and how it turned out and kennedy was very supportive about what romney did. >> in the same venue where the debate took place. let me show you what governor romney said to "time" magazine.

he said the "understand how to read a balance sheet. i happen to believe that having been in the private sector for 25 years gives me a perspective on how jobs are created that someone who's never spent a day in the private sector, like president obama, does not understand. mitt romney in mid-october of 1994 had this to say about his experience in the private sector. >> one of the ads, it has been interesting to watch the ads my opponent has put out. i do not know how to respond to them all. it suggests that my firm discriminates against women in positions of management. nothing could be further from the truth. of the 40 people in our firm, about 10 or so are women. our chief financial officer is a

woman. we have women in key positions in the company. the company i ran before that, when i left, i was instrumental in having a woman appointed as the new chairman of the board. when i was chief executive, women were among the senior officers. in my venture capital business as well, you know what the venture capitalist do. they're not many who have backed a woman as a chief executive officer. judy george had never run a company before. she came to us with a new idea and we provided the capital for that. she is the chief executive of

the company and our relationship has been a terrific one. i had some people come to me for child care centers in the workplace. the idea was a terrific one. two young men had the idea, but i was not convinced they were the right people to be the chief executives. they agreed with me. i found a couple, a husband and wife, who had just come back from the sudan. they had come back to the united states and i ask them to become co-chief executive officers. i backed other women as chief executive officers. one of the concerns i have had is that there is a glass ceiling. we talk about that a lot. i believe is there. what of the challenges is knowing where it is in each company. you cannot really tell.

one proposal i made is that in all public companies, when they file their 10k, they include a breakdown of women and minorities by in come inside the company. you can look at a company and say, are there any women in this pay group? that would allow us to see where glass ceiling is. i donot want the government to regulate quotas or whatever. i find that in corporate america, when executives look at the information, they get the message all by themselves. you will see american change as people see where the glass ceiling exists. i would be happy to have my own companies conform to that same standard. >> from october 14, 1994. mitt romney losing the senate race to senator ted kennedy. was there a consistency or a

similarity to what he was saying back then about these issues to what he is saying today? are there lessons for the campaign that they take away from the 94 loss? >> people do not know what bain capital is. you can listen to ads on both sides today. romney says things are great. obama says things were not so great. he said, i did not actually run our investment. that was left to management. that was from mitt romney himself and that gives you a better idea. he had an umbrella investments and they took in money that had $1 million or more to invest. that fund invested in various companies -- sometimes, jobs were created.

sometimes, they were lost. he did not go in there in most of these cases and run a company. he had an investment fund and his colleagues and the board of directors, they would direct strategy. it was not like his father, who ran american motors and turned it around. it is a different type of business. it is a leveraged buyout business where they are using debt to make profits for their investors. that is the detail that tells you exactly what he did. it is hard to explain in the campaign. it has been the tricky pivot for the obama campaign. they do not want to attack private equity. did you want to attack some

specific deals that he did. it is complicated. it is not the typical thing of going in and starting a business and then leaving. think of it as a super mutual- fund. they took money from investors and their responsibility was to improve the return. some of his partners said they did not discuss, would this deal create jobs? they did not see it in a negative way. they did not see themselves in a job creation type of business. they were in a business that was intended to get as high of a return as possible for their investors. >> let me show our audience how this issue is playing out in the 2012 campaign. one of the most recent ads from the obama campaign and the response.

>> i was a steelworker for 30 years. we had a reputation for quality products. it was something that was american made. we were not rich, but i was able to put my daughter through college. >> it is important. oflet's start but the sale the plant. i know how business works. >> bain capital was the majority owner. they were responsible. the influence he exercised over these companies. >> they made as much money off of it as they could. they closed it down and filed for bankruptcy. >> they came in and sucked the lifeout of us. >> it breaks my heart. >> i was devastated. it makes me angry.

those guys were all rich. they all had more money than they will ever spend. they did not have money to take care of the people. >> bain capital walked away with a lot of money. >> he has destroyed thousands of people's careers. >> he is running for president and if he is going to run the country the way he ran our business, i do not want him there. he would be so out of touch with the average person in this country. how could he care for the average working person if he feels that way? >> i am barack obama, and i approve this message.

>> have you had enough with president obama's attacks of free enterprise? cory booker of new jersey. former congressman, democrat from tennessee. >> private equity is a good thing. >> i do not think that there is anything bain capital did that they should be embarrassed about. >> even obama's own supporters have had enough. >> enough is enough. >> michael kranish, as you look at these two spots, what is your reaction?

>> as i watched some of these spots, if you had taken away who sponsored them, you would not know when the ad ran. the last ad that we saw was an obama ad, but the basic message is still the same. there were cases where romney came in and factories closed. bain capital and mitt romney made money. it is a complex picture so we really try -- we try to look at the whole 15-year history and give a fair analysis of about 100 deals. it is a more complicated story and what both sides are saying. for the voters to really understand where mitt romney is coming from, it is an important story. >> more details in the book that

you wrote "the real romney." thank you for being here. you can get more information on c-span's video library. that is that c-span.org. >> life is incredibly precious. it passes by far too quickly. during your time here use all of your unique god-given talents to serve one another and that will be the true measure for which your life will be judged. follow the golden rule. >> watch commencement speeches on c-span. politicians, white house officials, and business leaders share their thoughts with the graduating class of 2012. >> president obama completed two days of campaigning in battleground states with a

rally and the morning, iowa. he criticized mitt romney for his proposal to reduce the national debt. this was the first campaign event in iowa since announcing his reelection earlier this month. this is about 50 minutes. [cheers and applause] >> hello, i know what.

[cheers and applause] -- hello, iowa. i am definitely ready to go. definitely ready to go. we just had a chance to talk to some people in the overflow. before that we were in the newton. i was telling my team, there is something about coming to iowa. [cheers and applause] it just gets me going. it is my home away from home. i just love this place. all of those long drives. seeing all of that corn makes me feel good.

listen. i want to thank a couple of iowa friends of mine. first of all, your outstanding former governor and now former -- and now outstanding secretary of agriculture. [cheers and applause] your may air-- mayor is here. your congressmen. [applause] your attorney general and one of my campaign coaches, tom miller. your state treasurer mike fitzgerald. [applause] i also want to think some people who have been keeping us fired up since the very beginning. [applause]

we're talking about when we had the dinner, we're all going into rigid we're all going in together. the shell and i were dancing. she was dancing. i was trying to dance. it is good to be back among the friends. it is good being here with all of you. [applause] for five years ago it was you who kept us going. a lot of pundits in washington had written us off. it was on your front porches, it was in your backyard. our movement for change began. i love you back. [cheers and applause]

you know, it was here where we came together to reclaim built the greatest and a class runner. and we believe in america that says success should not be determined by the circumstances of your birth. if you are willing to me your responsibilities, you should be able to own a home, start a business. you should be able to give your children a better chance than you had, no matter where you

came from or what you look like. no matter who you love, that is what we believe. [cheers and applause] we can together in 2008 because you could tell our country, or at least the leadership in washington had strayed away from the basic values. we had a record surplus that was squandered on tax cuts for people who did not need them and were not even asking for them. two wars were waged on a credit card. authoress speculators were reaching profits making bets with other people's money, but they were a destabilizing the financial system. manufacturing was moving offshore. a shrinking number of americans were doing fantastically well, but a whole lot of people were

struggling with falling income, rising costs, this mollet's job growth in half of a century. -- the smallest job growth than half of a century. right in the middle of the campaign we saw the biggest crisis since the great depression. in the last six months of 2008 while we were still campaigning nearly 3 million of our neighbors lost their jobs. 800,000 lost their jobs the month of was sworn in. i have not seen anything like that since the great depression. it was tough. it turned out americans were tough. folks in iowa were tougher. [applause] we do not quit. we keep going.

together we are fighting our way back. so when some say we should just let the troy go bankrupt, we put our money on american workers -- detroit go bankrupt, we put our money on american workers. [cheers and applause] today plants are adding new workers and new ships and the auto industry is firing on all cylinders. our manufacturers started investing in america again. the first that we consistently added manufacturing jobs since the 1990's. businesses started getting back to the basics creating over 4 million new jobs in the last 26 months. more than 1 million six months alone. here in iowa farmers, three

producers, manufacturers, they're all driving new job growth. showing the the resilience and strength of our lower economies. are we satisfied? of course not. -- rural economies. all across america their home still across -- under water. to many businesses are still struggling to get financing. states are still laying off teachers and first responders. this was a crisis that did not happen overnight. we never thought it would be solved overnight. we know we have more work to do. we also know that the last thing we can afford to do is to return to the very same policies that got us into the miss in the first place. [cheers and applause] not now. not with so much at stake.

we have come too far to abandon the change that we fought for over these past few years. we've got to move forward. we can't go backward. we've got to move forward. that's the choice in this election. and that's why i'm running for a second term as president of the united states -- to move this country forward. [applause] now, my opponent in this election, governor romney -- governor romney is a patriotic american. he's raised a wonderful family. he should be proud of the great personal success he's had as a ceo of a large financial firm. there are plenty of good and honest people in that industry,

and there's an important, creative role for it in the free market. [laughter] but governor romney has made his experience as a financial ceo the entire rationale of his candidacy for president. now, he doesn't really talk about what he did in massachusetts. but he does talk about being a business -- business guy. right? he says this gives him a special understanding of what it takes to create jobs and grow the economy -- even if he's unable to offer a single new idea about how to do that, no matter how many times he's asked about it, he says he knows how to do it. so i think it's a good idea to look at the way he sees the economy. now, the main goal of a financial firm like governor

romney's is not to create jobs. and by the way, the people who work at these firms will tell you that's not their goal. their main goal is to create wealth for themselves and their investors. that's part of the american way. that's fine. sometimes, jobs are created in that process. but when maximizing short-term gains for your investors rather than building companies that last is your goal, then sometimes it goes the other way. workers get laid off. benefits disappear. pensions are cut. factories go dark. in some cases, companies are loaded up with debt -- not to make the companies more productive, not to buy new equipment to keep them at the

cutting-edge, but just to pay investors. companies may go bankrupt as a result. taxpayers may be on the hook to help out on those pensions. investors walk off with big returns, and working folks get stuck holding the bag. now, that may be the job of somebody who's engaged in corporate buyouts. that's fine. but that's not the job of a president. that's not the president's job. [applause] there may be value for that kind of experience, but it's not in the white house. see, the job of a president is

to lay the foundation for strong and sustainable broad- based growth -- not one where a small group of speculators are cashing in on short-term gains. it's to make sure that everybody in this country gets a fair shake -- everybody gets a fair shot, everybody is playing by the same set of rules. when you're the president, your job is to look out for the investor and the worker, for the big companies and the small companies, for the health of farmers and small businesspeople and the nurse and the teacher. you're supposed to be thinking about everybody -- and the health of the middle class, and

what the future is going to hold for our kids. that's how i see the economy. of course, the worldview that governor romney gained from his experience as a financial ceo explains something. it explains why the last time he visited these very same fairgrounds, he famously declared that corporations are people. "human beings, my friends." that's what he said. that's what he called you. "human beings, my friends." it also explains why, when a woman right here in iowa shared the story of her financial struggles, he gave her an answer out of an economics textbook. he said, "our productivity equals our income." well, as if she'd have an easier time making it if she would just work harder.

now, let me tell you something. we believe in the profit motive. we believe that risk-takers and investors should be rewarded. that's what makes our economy so dynamic. but we also believe everybody should have opportunity. [applause] we believe -- we think everybody who makes the economy more productive or a company more productive should benefit. and the problem with our economy isn't that the american people aren't productive enough -- you're working harder than ever. productivity is through the roof. it's been going up consistently over the last decade. the challenge we face right now

-- the challenge we've faced for over a decade -- is that harder work hasn't led to higher incomes. bigger profits haven't led to better jobs. and you can't solve that problem if you can't even see that it's a problem. and he doesn't see it's a problem. and so this experience explains why he is proposing the exact same policies that we already tried in the last decade, the very policies that got us into this mess. he sincerely believes that if ceos and wealthy investors are getting rich, then the wealth is going to trickle down and the rest of us are going to do well, too. and he is wrong. you don't build a strong economy by proposing more tax cuts for corporations that ship jobs and

profits overseas. but that's his plan. you don't build a strong economy by repealing the rules that are designed to prevent another taxpayer bailout of wall street banks. but that's what he pledges to do, roll those things back. you don't build a strong economy by offering another budget-busting tax cut skewed to the wealthiest americans, while raising taxes on 18 million working families. but that's what he's proposing. [applause] and then, he and his folks, they've got the nerve to go around saying they're somehow going to bring down the deficit. economists who have looked at his plan say it would swell our deficits by trillions of dollars, even with the drastic cuts he's called for in things

like education and agriculture and medicare, even with the drastic cuts to the basic research and technology that have always been the strength of the american economy. he promises to do that on day one. [laughter] we don't need that. that's a vision that's going backwards. we're going forwards. we're going forward. [applause] we're not going to double down on the same bad ideas that we've tried over the last decade. it's not as if we haven't tried these things. we tried them. they didn't work. we're not going to listen to folks who argue that somehow this time it's going to be different. i'm here to tell you we were there when we tried them.

we remember. we're not going back. we're moving this country forward. [applause] and i want to make clear here, it's not like democrats don't have work to do. we've got work to do. government -- we have to acknowledge government can't solve all our problems and it shouldn't try. i learned from my mom no education policy can take the place of a parent's love and attention -- and sometimes a scolding when you didn't do your homework. as a young man, when i was working as a community organizer with catholic churches, they taught me no poverty program can make as much of a difference as neighbors coming together and working together with kindness and commitment. not every regulation is smart,

not every tax dollar is spent wisely, not every person can be helped who refuses to help themselves. but that's not an excuse to tell the vast majority of hardworking, responsible americans they're on their own, that unless you're lucky to have parents who can lend you the money, you may not be able to go to college, that even if you pay your premiums every month, you may be out of luck if an insurance company decides to drop your coverage just when you need it most. that's not who we are. that's not how we built america. we built this country together. the hoover dam, the golden gate bridge, gi bill, the moon

landing, the internet -- we did those things together. not to make some small group rich, not to help any single individual, but because we knew that if we made those investments it would provide a framework, a platform for everybody to do well, for everybody to succeed. that's the true lesson of our past. that's the right vision for our future. and that's why i'm running for president of the united states. [applause] i'm running to make sure that by the end of this decade, more of our citizens hold a college degree than any other nation on

earth. i want to help our schools hire and reward the best teachers, especially in math and science. i want to give 2 million more americans the chance to go to community colleges and learn skills that local businesses are looking for right now. higher education can't be a luxury -- it is a necessity, and i want everybody to be able to afford it. that's the choice in this election. that's why i'm running for president. i'm running to make sure the next generation of high-tech innovation and manufacturing takes root in places like des moines and newton and waterloo. i want to stop rewarding

businesses that ship jobs and profits overseas. i want to reward companies that are creating jobs and bringing jobs back here to the united states of america. that's the choice in this election. i'm running so we can keep moving forward to a future where we control our own energy. our dependence on foreign oil is at the lowest point it's been in 16 years. by the middle of the next decade, our cars will average nearly 55 miles per gallon. thousands of americans have jobs -- including here in iowa -- because the production of renewable energy has nearly doubled in just three years in this country.

now is not the time to cut these investments just to keep giving billions in tax giveaways to oil companies. they've never been more profitable. now is the time to double down on biofuels and solar and wind, clean energy that's never been more promising for our economy and our security and for the safety of the planet. that's the choice in this election, iowa. now, for the first time in nine years, there are no americans fighting in iraq. [applause] osama bin laden is no longer a threat to this country. [applause]

al qaeda is on the path to defeat, and by 2014, the war in afghanistan will be over. [applause] and all this was made possible because of the courage and selflessness of our men and women in uniform -- which is why, on memorial day, we're going to remember them. and i'm going to actually be talking especially about our vietnam vets. they weren't honored the way they were supposed to when they came home. and we're not going to make that mistake again. so as long as i'm commander-in-chief, this country will care for our veterans and serve them as well as they've served us.

because no one who fights for this country should have to fight for a job, or a roof over their heads when they come home. that's why i'm running for president. [applause] my opponent has got a different view. he said it was "tragic" to end the war in iraq. he won't set a timeline to end the war in afghanistan. and i have, and i intend to keep it. because after a decade of war that's cost us thousands of lives and over a trillion dollars, the nation we need to build is our own. so i want to use -- so we're going to use half of what we're no longer spending on war to pay down our deficit, and the rest to invest in education and

research, to repair our roads and bridges, our runways, our wireless networks. that's the choice in this election, iowa. i'm running to pay down our debt in a way that's balanced and responsible. now, i know governor romney came to des moines last week, warned about a "prairie fire of debt." that's what he said. but he left out some facts. his speech was more like a cow pie of distortion. i don't know whose record he twisted the most -- mine or his. now, listen, the debt and the

deficit are serious problems and it is true that the depth of the recession added to the debt. a lot more folks were looking for unemployment insurance. a lot fewer folks were paying taxes because they weren't making money, so that added to the debt. our efforts to prevent it from becoming a depression -- helping the auto industry, making sure that not as many teachers were laid off -- all those things added to the debt. but what my opponent didn't tell you was that federal spending since i took office has risen at the slowest pace of any president in almost 60 years. by the way, what generally happens -- what happens is, the republicans run up the tab, and then we're sitting there and

they've left the restaurant, and then they point and -- "why did you order all those steaks and martinis?" what he did not also tell you was that after inheriting a $1 trillion deficit, i signed $2 trillion of spending cuts into law. so now i want to finish the job -- yes, by streamlining government -- we've got more work to do, yes, by cutting more waste, but also by reforming our tax code so that it is simpler and fairer, and so that it asks the wealthiest americans to pay a little bit more. [applause] oh, by the way, something else he didn't mention, something else he didn't tell you -- he hasn't told you how he'd paid for a new $5 trillion tax cut

which includes a 25 percent tax cut for nearly every millionaire in the country. five trillion dollars in new tax cuts -- that is like trying to put a fire out -- a prairie fire with some gasoline. so we're not going to do that. i refuse to let that happen to our country. we're not going to pay for another millionaire's tax cut by eliminating medical research that's helping people with cancer and alzheimer's disease. we're not going to pay for it by shortchanging farmers in rural america. we're not going to pay for it by kicking some kids out of head start, or asking students to pay more for college, or eliminating health insurance for

millions of poor and elderly, and americans on disabilities who are all on medicaid. and as long as i'm president, we're not going to allow medicare to be turned into a voucher that would end the program as we know it. we're going to reform medicare not by shifting the cost of care to seniors -- that's easy to do, but it's wrong. we're going to reform it by reducing the actual costs of health care, reducing the spending that doesn't make people healthier. that's the right thing to do. that's what at stake, iowa. that's why i'm running for reelection.

on issue after issue, we can't afford to spend the next four years just going backwards. we don't need to re-fight the battle we just had over wall street reform. that was the right thing to do. we've seen how important it is. we don't need to re-fight the battle we just had over health care reform -- having 2.5 million young people stay on their parent's health insurance -- that was the right thing to do. cutting prescription drug costs for seniors -- right thing to do. we're not going to go back to the days when insurance companies had unchecked power to cancel your policies, or deny you coverage, or charge women differently from men. we're not going back to that. we don't need another political fight about ending a woman's

right to choose, or getting rid of planned parenthood or taking away affordable birth control. we don't need that. i want women to control their own health choices, just like i want my daughters to have the same economic opportunities as my sons. we're not turning back the clock. we're not going back there. we're not going back to the days when you could be kicked out of the military just because of who you are and who you love. we're moving forward as a country, where everybody is treated with dignity and respect. moving forward. we're not going to just stand back while $10 million checks are speaking louder than the voices of ordinary citizens in

our elections. we recognize that's a problem. and it's time to stop denying citizenship to responsible young people just because they're the children of undocumented immigrants. look, you know what, this country is at its best when we harness the god-given talents of every individual, when we hear every voice, when we come together as one american family all striving for the same american dream. that's what we're fighting for. that's why i'm running for a second term. that's why i need your help.

you know, let me say this -- this election is going to be even closer than the last one. and by the way, the last one was close. people don't remember -- it was close. everybody remembers grant park -- it was close. we're going to have to contend with even more negative ads. we've got these super pacs and shadowy special interests, like the ones you've been bombarded with. you guys just got hit here in iowa. we'll have to overcome more cynicism and nastiness and just some plain foolishness even more than we did the last time. but the outcome of this election, it's entirely up to you. i'm going to be working hard. michelle is out there working hard. but there's one thing we learned -- there's nothing more

powerful than millions of voices calling for change. michelle and i, we were talking the other night over dinner, and i told her we were coming back to iowa, and she said something -- it's absolutely true -- she said, i remember back in the first campaign that we would be reading all these news reports and watching the news, and everything looked terrible and everybody was counting us out. and then i'd come to iowa, and i'd see what was going on, on the ground and i'd be meeting people and talking to people. it wasn't necessarily that it was a sure thing that we were going to win. but what was being reflected out there, that wasn't what was happening here. that wasn't what ordinary folks were thinking. so she just stopped watching tv -- or at least the news part of

it. she still watches hdtv and some other things -- "dancing with the stars." but this place taught us that not that we're always right, not that we don't make mistakes, but that there's just a core decency and strength and resilience to the american people, and that, ultimately, the conversations that are going on around kitchen tables and at the vfw hall and in churches, those conversations aren't what's reflected in the cable news. and so, when i look out at this crowd, all these different faces -- different ages, different races, different faiths -- i'm reminded of that. and when enough of you knock on enough doors and pick up enough

phones, and talk to your friends or your neighbors and your coworkers -- and you're doing it respectfully and you're talking to folks who don't agree with you, you're talking to people who are good people, but thee they don't have all information -- when you make that happen, when you decide it's time for change to happen, you know what, change happens. change comes to america. it's always easier to be cynical. it's always easier to say nothing can change, especially after we've gone through such a tough time. and despite all the changes we've made, despite all the good things we've done, things are still tough.

and so, the other side, they are going to try and play on that sense that, well, things aren't perfect, congress is still arguing, the politics is still polarized. but you're the antidote to that. and that's the spirit we need again. so if people ask you what this campaign is about, you tell them, yes, it's still about hope. it is still about change. it's still about ordinary folks who believe that in the face of great odds, we can make a difference in the life of this country. don't let them tell you different.

you proved it in 2008. without you -- i look around this place, i see folks who were out there knocking on doors and making things happen -- i would not have had the privilege of being your president. you were the first ones to make this country believe we could still come together around a common purpose. and i still believe that today. i still believe that we're not as divided as our politics suggest. i still believe we have more in common than the experts tell us. i still believe we're not democrats or republicans first, we are americans first. i still believe in you. and i want you to keep believing in me.

some of you remember -- because i've spent a lot of time here, i used to go around and i would tell you -- i warned you and if you weren't listening, michelle would tell you -- i warned you i'm not a perfect man and i wouldn't be a perfect president. but what i told you was i promised you i would always tell you what i thought and i'd always tell you where i stood, even when it politically wasn't convenient. and i would wake up every single day, fighting as hard as i know how for you and your families and your children's future. and, iowa, i have kept that promise. i have kept that promise. and i will keep it as long as i have the honor of being your president. so if you're willing to stick with me and fight with me and press on with me, and if you're willing to work even harder than you did the last time,

we'll move this country forward and we'll finish what we started. and we'll remind the world just why it is america is the greatest nation on earth. god bless you. god bless america. [applause]

>> next, a debate in the wisconsin governor recall election. then, charles bolden on the future of america's manned space flight program. after that, remarks by republican paul ryan, chairman of the house budget committee. tomorrow on "washington journal ," daniel meckstroth examines the return of some manufacturing jobs that have been overseas. david kramer, precedent of freedom house, discusses the state department of the release of the 2011 human-rights report. columnist -- a column about.

obama's education policy and other issues. washington journal live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> a lot of people get a better as understanding of who she was. there have been a lot of books written. most of them have been written by people who talk to friends of friends who do not have the information themselves. i was there. i knew her. >> former secret service agent. hill served on protective detail for first lady jacqueline kennedy. >> there is no salacious information. it is just what happened. how humorous she was at times. how intelligent she was. how kind of rambunctious she was many times. i did my best. >> more sunday night at 8:00 on

c-span's "q&a". >> now, the candidates running in the june fit wisconsin governor's recall elections were often in their first debate. republican governor scott walker debates democratic candidate and milwaukee mayor tom barrett in milwaukee. the debate is hosted by the wisconsin broadcaster's association foundation. the candidates are questioned by a local television anchor, john ladd. the election is a rematch of the 2010 governor's race were scott walker beat tom that 52%-46%. this is just under one hour. >> live from the campus of the milwaukee area technical college, the wisconsin broadcasters association foundation presents a statewide broadcast debate between the

leading candidates in an historic governor's recall election. now, the president of the wisconsin -- wisconsin broadcasters association, john ladd. >> good evening. wisconsin radio and television broadcasters are pleased to continue our broadcast tradition sponsoring widespread debate in major wisconsin political campaigns. this evening's debate will engage the two leading candidates in the first recall election in the 164 history of wisconsin. this evening's debate is made possible in part through generous grants from the wisconsin association of and dependent colleges and universities and wph health insurance.

>> good evening. this is my friend ralph from the association of independent colleges and universities. along with wph, the 25 nonprofit colleges and the more than 60,000 students are pleased to sponsor this gubernatorial debate. to be competitive in the global economy wisconsin needs to expand educational opportunity. wisconsin's colleges have been committed to excellence in education since before wisconsin became a state. we believe an educated and civil debate focused on the issues is the essential for moving the state forward. >> we have been insuring wisconsin's house since 1946. in that time we have seen our society growing challenges, especially in health care and health insurance. we hope our sponsorship will help you gain a better understanding of how each of

these candidates represent us in govern our state. >> please join us in watching this debate and in thinking about the future. then make your voice heard by avoiding on tuesday june 5. >> the format will allow for each candidate to make an opening statement, to respond to questions from a panel of reporters, and to have one opportunity to ask a direct question from his opponent. the order of responses has been decided by a coin flip. our panelists this evening include bob dohr, erin davisson, and paul piaskoski from wdjttv milwaukee. we will begin with a statement first from gov. walker. >> thank you to all of the for tuning in from all across the state of wisconsin. he said years ago i ran for governor because wisconsin's

faced an economic and fiscal crisis. we have lost more the 100,000 jobs. we knew we had to take action. we balance the budget without raising taxes, without massive lay off said without cuts to programs like medicare. we actually added money to medicaid. we put more money into medicaid than any governor in wisconsin history. we chose to balance our budget for structural reforms to help balance not just the state budget but our local budgets as well. we were thinking more about the next generation that the next election. is that not what you i liked us to do? the good news is our reforms

are working. we have documented more than $1 billion worth of savings that has led to property taxes going down for the first time in 12 years. that is why the state of wisconsin has a budget surplus and is why best of all jobs were created in 2011. since i was for sworn in as your governor, more than 40,000 people have gone back to work. we are turning things around and heading back in the right direction. >> thank you for hosting us tonight. thank you to all the listeners watching tonight. this is not a rematch for a do over. we cannot do over the decision of scott walker. to start a political civil war that resulted in this state losing more jobs than any other state then the entire country in 2011. a decision that tore apart the state and made it impossible in some instances for neighbors to

talk to neighbors, for relatives to talk to relatives because it was too bitter a fight. we cannot do over his decision to put his national ambitions ahead of the state of wisconsin. as he traveled around the country and became a rock star, tea party activists and billionaires who have funded his campaign with millions of dollars of contributions, money he has used to distort my record. we cannot do over the fact scott walker's administration has been investigated, a criminal investigation that looked at the activities of some of his key aides. his refusal to release secret e-mails that were on a system that was in his county executive office and his failure to tell us who was raising his funds. this is about the future. i will put wisconsin first. >> thank you.

our first question will be from bob dohr. >> good evening gentlemen. the first question is why are we here? 20 months ago the two would you debated to see who would be elected to a four year term. what is your view on why we are back here less than half way through that first term? >> i think i answered that in my opening statement. we are here because gov. walker made a decision. he made a decision he would try to divide the state. he made phrases like he was going to drop the bomb. he was going to divide and conquer the state. and he has. he has divided the state unlike anything we have ever seen. what we have seen in this state is we saw hundreds of thousands

of people reject hundreds of thousands of people in this democracy who decided they wanted a change. they wanted an opportunity to get a governor who would put this state first. a governor who would focus on creating jobs and to enter the state and not traveling around trying to enhance his national image. a governor who would restore trust to the governor's office. a governor who would and divisions where neighbors cannot talk to neighbors. they want a governor who will and the civil war. scott walker started the political civil war. i will and the civil war. that is something citizens of this they want. they understand the real issue we face is jobs. we have to have a governor that will focus on creating jobs in this day. again, that is the governor i will be. >> in answering your question, i think it is our reforms. that is the way it started out.

we do not hear a lot about it, largely because our reforms are working. we documented $1 billion worth of savings because of our reforms. it is great news not only for homeowners, small business owners, and for people on fixed incomes. we see our state has $154 million surplus. for the first time we put two consecutive years with money in the rainy day fund. we saw wisconsin actually gain jobs. they talk about the jobs number that was based on a sample 3.5% of employers in the state. they showed last year wisconsin gained jobs. since i have taken office we have had more than 30,000 new jobs in the state. if you looked at my record and compare that with my opponent, the mayor of milwaukee, taxes have gone up 46%.

the unemployment rate has gone up 28% in the city of milwaukee. i think in contrast people want to go forward. they do not want to rehash the same debate that we have had which is what the mayor is talking about. they want to move on and go forward and i indicated it for that. >> should the recall election laws be changed? >> i think scott walker is the best expert of that. he has signed recall petitions against senator fine gold, against senator kohl not for criminal misbehavior but because he disagreed with the political decisions that would make. the were the decisions that led to this recall. >> absolutely the loss should be changed.

i think republicans and democrats alike realize spending $60 million or $70 million on another election is a waste of money. after this is said and done we will move on as a state. you will see democrats and republicans not only in the legislature but all across the state who want to see a change. today we have a chance to debate the future. i will spend tonight talking about the future. >> our second question is from erin davisson. >> if you had to do it all over again, which to seek the same changes in the semi? would you seek to undo changes and if so how would you go about it? the >> that is a great question. i get asked that a lot. looking back without a doubt i would change things. they like the results.

they just wish we had done a different. if i had a chance to do it again, if i had went out into the worry in february and a made the case across wisconsin and explain what was happening, remember before school districts across the state were literally spending tens of millions of dollars more than they needed to because they were forced to buy their health insurance from a centrally one company. i spoke with the small-business owner today who talked about working with school districts all across southwestern wisconsin. the money they have saved has gone right back into the classroom. if i told people that is what is at stake back then, most taxpayers would have said, you need to fix that. i think most taxpayers would have said, you need to fix that.

my problem is i fixed it and then i talked about it. most politicians spend all their time talking about it but they do not fix it. we understand the product is the most important thing. the process itself is important. that is why i spent the last year on educational reform. we will continue to bring stakeholders in and create a good product and process. >> you started this by saying you are going to drop the bomb. you were going to go first after the public employees. you would use to divide and conquer as your strategy. you would use a budget bill to tear this state apart. i think of great leaders like franklin roosevelt, guiliani, what do they do in a time of crisis? they tried to bring people

together. you decided to use a budget crisis to try to divide and conquer the state. that is what happened. that is what happened to all of this. he succeeded. he succeeded in dividing the state. you said it was the first step. this is really about worker's writes. it is not just about republican -- is about the middle-class and whether people who work in the middle class have rights. i have spoken with people working in our prisons right now and they say they have never been more afraid because their rights were taken away. i am concerned about those rights. i am concern those rights have been taken away. i think it is an attack on the middle class. >> our next question is directed at mayor barrett.

>> i think it is clear you both recognize job creation is one of the biggest issues in this race. lately how we count jobs lost has become equally as important or controversial. you are working with different sets of numbers. voters are being asked to place bets. with so many livelihoods at stake across wisconsin, why should voters bet on you? >> let me explain the numbers i am using. i am using the numbers that scott walker embrace last year. i am using the numbers by every state. the bureau of labor of statistics numbers. those are the numbers that showed under scott walker the

state lost more jobs than any other state in the country in 2011. scott realized he had a problem. he could not run for this election knowing that the people of this they would know we have lost the most jobs of any state in the country. he brought his key political appointees together and said we need to have a different measurement. they brought a measurement out 20 days before this election. they had tv commercials running four hours later saying let's use this set of numbers instead. these numbers have never been verified. he knows the cannot be verified. if we were to believe his numbers, the bureau of labor statistics would of had the largest discrepancy they have ever had. he cannot defend his record on jobs so they trot out these numbers that are not used in this fashion ordinarily. they put tens of millions of dollars behind them in

commercials trying to convince the people of the state we have created jobs when the state has lost jobs. >> the facts are the facts. our reforms are putting more people to work. the numbers we originally looked at the mayor is hanging his hat on our number is said by a sample of 3.5% of employers in the state. that is why you would talk to nearly every employer in wisconsin, almost 160,000 employers responded. those numbers show that wisconsin gained 23,321. those numbers come directly by law. those were required to be submitted on may 16, 2012. that is what the law requires. the reason there is a much tension about the process is that the disconnect from the attacks have been under for month after month by our opponent. if you look at the contrast we see our unemployment rate down, the lowest it has been since 2008.

we see 30,000 jobs created since i took office. in the city of milwaukee, unemployment has gone up 26%. it is one of the poorest cities in the entire country. i have said time and time again we do not want wisconsin become milwaukee. we want to help other cities become like what we have done for the state of wisconsin. >> no, you have already -- >> i thought there was time for a rebuttal. >> no, our next question is from bob dohr. >> most of the last budget debate was spent on the spending side of the debate. we would like to talk about the other side right now, the revenue side. tax cuts and specifically how you define a tax increase if a deduction gets removed, is that a tax increase? what about previous spending

cuts, if they get restored is that it increase? paperwork filing fees. if those get increased is that a tax increase? i would like to know your definition of a tax increase. looking ahead to the next budget if you plan any of those. >> we have lowered the tax burden on this budget. most important thing we did was put caps on property taxes. it is a difference i had betrayed myself and the mayor and other democrats running. i want to keep property taxes down. for the first time in 12 years because of our budget the taxes went down. it's bad for working families and others out there. that probably more than any attacks out there is the biggest issue.

we put in place incentives for job creation. i was informed earlier today, they benefit from our taxes. they are putting more people back to work driven by the change of attitude because they have shown putting more money back into their hands so they can invest in capital and innovation. that is not just the definition of a tax increase, that is the definition of what it takes to get these to working again. that is a fundamental difference. i do not believe more government is the answer. getting government out of the way is the answer. that is not the way to go. i want to move this date forward. >> i want to respond to a statement scott said earlier and is continuing to tax and dividing conquer strategy trying to pit people against the city of milwaukee.

during the. he was county executive, unemployment went up 34%. debt went up 85% during the time he was county executive. he introduced a budget in his last year the had a $40 million increase over his first budget. he does not even when the people of this day to remember he was ever the county executive of this county. i agree with the revenues are in issue here. scott has not called the increase that seniors pay because of the steps he took to increase the homestead tax credit. i would call that a tax increase. it is a tax increase that hits seniors and the state. seniors who are on fixed incomes. it all comes to trust, how you define things and measure them. he also said we are running a budget surplus right now. you know how the budget surplus

canned about if it is in fact there? he used a credit card. he used a credit card and pushed over $500 million of debt onto our children and grandchildren. they are going to have to pay more than $150 million in interest so he can look good politically. that is not a trust for the action. >> our next question is from erin davidson. >> have money in the campaign will compromise of the state of wisconsin. previous averages were between seven and 10%. what is the rationale for that and how does this impact wisconsin voters? >> that is a question you asked scott. if you look at our most recent report, 99% of my contributions came from individuals. 91% came from people who contributed less than $100. 85% of them came from people who live in the state of wisconsin.

this is something the people in the state get. there is something wrong when a sitting governor raises 60% to 70% of his most recent campaign contributions from people who do not live in the state. from a billionaire in texas, to developers in missouri, do you think as people care for one second what happens to people here? he once in this state to be the prototype for the tea party nationally. that is why he is such a rock star. they'll love him. the right wing loves him because he is doing exactly what they want him to do. he is not doing what the people and wisconsin what him to do. he is pleasing the billionaires'.

there is something wrong with you have a sitting governor has raised 70% of his money from other states. >> you look at where it all started, we saw millions of dollars poured in from special interest try to attack us. that continued in the supreme court race. spending tens of billion dollars trying to take out six republican state senators. we have seen that throughout the recall process itself. we would not have to raise your spend a penny a denture this election if not for the out-of- state special interests. what you have seen as people from across the state and money from across the country saying, this is a governor willing to stand up and take on the powerful special interests.

instead is something that is unique. but the power back into the hands of the hard-working taxpayers. that is why there is some much interest from people in washington trying to defeat us. there are a lot of discerning democrats are governors and mayors across the country looking closely saying, maybe it is time we took on special interest as well. that is the difference in the selection. that is why others who have helped us out, more than 76% of donations come from people giving us $50 or less. they understand finally somebody will stand up and take on the special interests. >> our next question is from paul, directed first at governor scott walker. >> 3 of your aides have been under investigation. one of them have pleaded guilty.

he said repeatedly you are not a target in this investigation. what if any responsibility do you bear for activities that took place on your watch as county executive? on the same topic you said the governor is to come clean about what he knows implying he is either withholding information or he has actually done something wrong. do you have any information to support that implication? is it responsible to say as much? the cracks first off, let me be -- >> first off, let me be clear and set the stage here. i have had a high level of -- on the way back to the days of my kids, i have shown that during my time of state assembly. i will continue to have high integrity long after i am in this position and long after this process is completed. the facts clearly show any time it was brought to our attention

somebody violated our strict policy against using taxpayer resources for political purposes we took action. i would like to think for a lot of people tuning into that is to know this investigation started because my office ask for it two years ago. we have concerns about somebody involved in a veterans related program. we ask the attorney to look into it. that is why we continued to cooperate. there is nothing new here. the reason i think the mayor and my opponents wanted to spend some much time on this is the wanted to distract attention because they are desperate. things the selection of bach -- things this election is about, reforms, are not talk about because they are working. they do not want to talk about them or the mayor's record in milwaukee where unemployment has gone up 28%.

we learned violent crime that we thought was down has sadly gone up. that is what they're focusing on this. >> scott walker is the only governor who has a criminal defense fund. he is paid over $100,000 in criminal defense fees to lawyers who specialize in federal prosecutions and ones who specialize in state prosecutions. your key aides have been charged. in his executive office, 25 feet from the distance we are from each other where there was a secret computer system that did fund-raising, campaigning. when he found out about it, did he order an investigation? no. he sent an e-mail and said we cannot afford to have many more stories. his concerns for about public relations, not about criminals investigations.

i am asking for two things. clear the record and show us the e-mails he sent it to that enterprise. that would clear the entire thing up. i did that make any allegations he did anything wrong. i want to clear the air. i also ask he tells us who is paying his criminal defense fees. the people in the state have a right to know who is paying his criminal defense fees. that does not raise any charges against him. that is what we have a right to know and that is what i have asked. >> our next question is from bob dohr. >> a large contingent of some democrats left the state to prevent the body from growing -- voting. now that that precedent has been set it could happen from lawmakers from either party. what is your view of the practice? secondly, if elected governor,

how would you deal with it if it happens and how prevented if you do not wanted to happen? >> this oba's to leadership and how you deal with people. i think scott acknowledged he did not deal with the introduction of the bill that is the best. i think that is the understatement of the year. in my view has always been that you seek to work with people. ec to explain to them what is going on since you do not face the civil wars. he said that was his plan. his plan was to divide and conquer. that is not how you get things done. i balanced eight budgets as a mayor of the city. i have done so by working with people. that does not mean you will always agree or have pleasant conversations. i think the job of an executive is to set a tone for the organization, whether it is how people act in an office in terms of criminal activity or in terms of how you act with a legislature.

what his decision was was to drop the bomb. that is his phrase. that is not my phrase. that is his phrase. he was upset people acted in a negative way. i think that is something we want to see repeated? of course i do not. even people who left to not want to see that repeated. one of the things we have learned -- we have learned the hard way. you have to have an executive willing to work with people, not try to paint people into a corner where make them look big making somebody else looks small. >> i recently met a woman who introduced herself and said "i am a democrat, but i support you. i said, you have not heard me talk yet. she said, it is not what you say it is what you do. i do not agree with everything you had better every step you have taken, but i appreciate the fact that somebody ultimately has been willing to take on the tough issues and to take on our fiscal and economic crisis in the state.

we have taken on the first battle. it is time to move forward. we talk about our job session in the past legislative session. nearly everyone in the adams' past with a bipartisan support. we did it again in the fall. -- nearly 96% of them were bills that democrats and republicans voted for. we can build on that. the mayor talked about this threat the primary that he wants to go back and restore collective bargaining. that means we will have the battle all over a again. he said he would fight and fight and if somebody did not go his way he would target them and take them out. members of the legislature that would knock on his side, he would target and take them out. that does not sound like

somebody who wants to move on and move forward. we think it is time to get the stay working and move forward again. >> our next question is from erin davisson. >> earlier this year they canceled plans for an iron ma'am -- iron mine when they cannot pass the bill. it will continue to be a topic of concern. what can we learn from minnesota about workable mining legislation? how can wisconsin balance the need to protect our environmental resources with demand for job opportunities available for the mining industry? >> will work with private sector unions -- we work with private- sector unions, a number of them who were passionate not only about mining but on restoring the raids on the transportation system and putting more energy into power in wisconsin.

there were working to streamline the process. i crisscrossed the state advert -- advocating for that. because that mine would have generated 2300 jobs, i spent time in places all across the state where you see jobs that would have been created. will advocate for that. this is an example of what happens with recall politics. overwhelming support from washington said to those senate democrats, you cannot pass this legislation. you cannot give the governor a victory. i think we can put together a process that a number of democrats can support in moving the state forward. our private sector unions will be a key part of that. >> this piece of legislation is an example of what happens when you have a governor more interested in traveling around the country giving fund-raiser speeches than working on legislation.

it is much as this piece of legislation, it is a venture capital bill. he says key economic development initiatives are passed in january. other were not. these were his two key economic initiatives and neither one of them passed. why did not pass? they did not pass because you had a governor who was not interested in taking off his jacket and rolling up his sleeves and working with people. i would tell you what a good executive would have done. a good executive would have brought in the environmentalists, the native americans, local government, and the company. the when the sec, is there a need for the mine? -- they would have said, is there a need for the mine? he never did that, not once. the venture capital is a better example. that what he cannot blame the democrats on. it was the republicans who disagreed.

you cannot blame the democrats for that. he never brought them in. he never rolled up his sleeves and did the hard work the executive has to do. he was having too much fun traveling around the country. we have to have a governor who will be here and focused on creating jobs in the state rather than advancing their careers nationally. >> our next question is from paul piaskoski to mayor barrett. >> this seems to be one of those issues on which public and political opinions are shifting rapidly. as we know the president kim recently in support of gay marriage. the ncaa reject the naacp declared it a civil right. a poll showed 53% of americans favor the legalization of gay marriage compared to 36% back in 2006 when wisconsin voted.

i am curious as to whether your opinions have also evolved or change that all on that issue. for instance, if a measure legalizing civil unions were to emerge how you might respond to that? cox i would support that. i believe in marriage equality. it is an issue where opinions have mattered. for younger people in particular, they understand the need to respect relationships. i do respect them. the issue here goes beyond that. there are other issues that are important to the state where there is a disagreement between scott walker and me. one of them has to do with equal pay for equal rights. that is an issue where we have a sharp disagreement. there is a federal law that ensures women will not be paid less than men for the same work. i support the legislation. similar legislation passed at the state level so that somebody

who was an iowa county or somebody in florence county does not have to take their case to a federal court. they can take it to a state court. scott walker and his allies repealed the law. they repealed a law that gave a state court revenue so that women and veterans and others who have been paid less than they're worth said they could be addressed in state courts. those are it -- those are issues that are important to me. >> i took an oath and office to uphold the constitution. the constitution defines marriage as between one man and one woman. i continue to support that. the issue he just talked about, his only disagreement with the facts. the fact is it is against a lot today. it will be every day i am in office.

it is against the law to discriminate against a woman for employment against the woman or discriminate based on gender. that is the law today. media outlet after media outlet has pointed out that the mayor's attacks are false. that is the law. that was the glove before 2009. that is the law today. every day i of an office and will continue to enforce the law to ensure not just women in general, but i think about my own kids and particularly my nieces. one day when they enter the work for someone to make sure the law is intact so somebody is standing up and defending their right to get equal pay as well. >> our next question is from bob dohr. >> what is the state of the state's educational system? technical colleges, k through 12, are we in better shape than two years ago?

as a well-positioned to to help with things like job creation and economic development? >> think it is. i have a vested interest throughout the whole process. i have two kids to go to public high school done away from where we're standing today. i want to make sure that every kid a matter what district they live in or where they come from across the state has access to a great education. one of the most positive things about reform is the benefits provided to our traditional public schools throughout the state. for years, schools all across wisconsin essentially had to buy their health insurance from one company. that meant tens of millions of dollars they had to spend on health insurance plan instead of putting the money directly into a classroom. on top of that, we had an example years ago where a young woman in the public school system was named one of the most devastating new teachers of the year.

a couple of weeks after that she found out she was being laid off, long before was governor because of cuts made in the past. the reality is under the old system, the last one hired was the first one fired. deferred -- the last one in is the first one out. they want to restore the system. i want to say, merit should drive hiring. that means we can put the best and brightest in the classroom. a survey has said this is why they wanted to hide at intermission from the public. the responses for more positive this year than anytime over the past 10 years. >> i cannot think of an organization with the tip of. $6 billion out of the budget that is going to be better off. that is exactly what scott walker did. he took $1.6 billion out of k- 12.

it did not end there. technical schools to a 30% cut. we have to invest in our kids. i have four kids as well. i want our kids to get an education in this state and not come out of college in buckets of debt. that is what i want. but to not invest in education is penny wise and pound foolish. all you have to do is look at minnesota. a much higher per-capita income in the state. one of the main reasons is more of their residents have graduated from college or technical school. what did scott walker tried to do? the divide and conquer strategy where he tried to pit the university of wisconsin against oshkosh. what would have been the result of that? it would have given up tuition costs for students at the wisconsin madison. more would have come from out- of-state. i want our flagship university to be a place where our students can attend a not to be a place where dollars are going to be the main goal so we can get students from out of state.

>> our next question is from erin davisson for mayor barrett. >> 15 residents rely on medical assistance paid for by the state. -- one in five residents rely on medical assistance paid for by the state. there are costly. how can the state ran in expenses while still providing for people who would not have access to health care? >> one of the beginning tenantry have to use is that of people have jobs we want to make sure they have health care. we do not want people to quit their job because they do not have health care. we do not want situations where mothers who do have health insurance are forced to go to emergency rooms. if you are a mother with a sick eight-month old and you do not have a primary care physician, i wanted to go to the emergency room if you love your baby. that is the most expensive and

inefficient way to deliver health care. it almost seems like an ironic tradition. i worked on a bipartisan basis to get that jury care approved. that was approved on a bipartisan basis. that way people can work to get health care. i think we need to continue to invest. there were people who lost it under scott walker's budget. he attempted to make severe cuts to senior care. that is a program that allowed seniors to get per -- prescription drugs. that was put back into the budget on a bipartisan basis of that seniors would not lose their coverage. it was only when the federal government threatened action that he decided to take action on family care. to me that went to trust. to have the governor said he wants to restore family care, but then we find out he said because the federal government had threatened the state. that is a problem. >> first off, you make an

investment. we put $1.2 billion more into medicaid that will was there in the past. i invested more money into medicaid than any governor in wisconsin history. in paris around the country. -- you compare us around the country. illinois fell to make the tough decisions and they are cutting $2.7 billion from medicaid. we added more money than just about any governor in the country. we put in place reforms to make sure it was sustainable. that we can continue to add people who have had physical and developmental disabilities as part of family care. we provide a basic safety net for families and children under badgercare. you cannot do that without putting in reforms. if your employer has health insurance, we will ask you to take it from your employer instead of relying on the taxpayers. if you are somebody in your early 20s will ask you to get it from your parents as of the tax payers.

that is what insures medicaid is there for generations to come. we really do not know other than what we have just heard from the mayor what he will do because it has been 44 days since she was first asked if this is about and doing the past year-and-a-half, what would you do? he has not told the voters. he does not have a plan. we have invested money into medicaid and we will in the future. >> we have time for one last question and that will come from paul piakoski. >> there has been ideological warfare to say the least going on in the state capital. have hard democrats and the like -- are democrats and the left and republicans on the right. what would you do to bring unity back to wisconsin? what can you do?

>> one of the biggest things is moving on past the june 5 elections. we have a real choice here. voters need to understand if we get past june 5 rigging get back to focusing on jobs and education reform. we can move the state forward. going back and rehashing the same debate we had last year is not the way to move forward. what i want to do is build off of the foundation of a process -- i talked about it earlier -- improving the process as well as getting a product. we started out last march, we have a shared interest because of my two kids in public school, the superintendent because of his interest and public education. we worked on improving reading scores and involvement for elementary school kids. we worked on agitator effectiveness. our staff to gather one of the most comprehensive groupon stake holders when it came to accountability.

there is more work to be done on that. whether it is education or its assortment of other issues where we can build on that bring the state to gather in the future. the reason most people do not work -- the reason most people do not know about it is because it is working. we brought together a good number of people who can do that again when it comes to jobs, budgets, and other things in the future. >> the first thing you have to do is establish trust. he did not establish trust when 20 days before an election you trot out a whole new set of employment numbers so people can see right through. he did establish trust when you said you have a deficit -- you do not establish trust when you have a deficit and you deal with it dishonestly. you take out a credit card and say i will deal with this our kids will pay 100 for the $6 million more in interest. that is not how to establish

trust. i was elected in a deeply divided election. i reached out to people who did not support me. i did not try to punish by political enemies. if you are mayor or governor, you have to be the executive for the entire jurisdiction. scott won with 52% last time in the would have thought he would have won with 96%. the first that he took was to punish his enemies. that is easy to do. it does not bring people together. the job of an executive is to try to work to get things done it cannot be "is my way or the highway." it cannot be an ideological litmus test that we do not care what the practical results are. my style has never been that i make myself look big by making somebody else looks small. i tried to push people into a corner politically. that is the kind of executive that we need.

>> each canada will have the -- candidate will have the opportunity to ask one question of the other. -- each candidate will have the opportunity to ask a question to the other. governor walker, you may question tom barrett first. >> i will skip the just like i did two years ago. i do not think it will hear us bickering i just think it was to see as answering questions. >> you probably think i will ask a question about the criminal and investigation and what you will not tell people who is paying your legal defense fees are why you refuse to turn over the mails. that is a question that has been asked. i am concerned, there was recently an investigative report that talk about your travel. it talked about your schedule. it has days that were filled with personal time. this investigative analysis went

on to find many of those times you were caught out of state giving political speeches or fund-raising events. you have refused to tell the public what your schedule has been as it pertains to fund- raising and political events outside of the state. prior to this election, will you disclose to the people of this state your out of state travel for fund-raising and political purposes? >> i think it is real simple. for the people in green bay who six times in the last 11 days have seen me in their community, to the people in southwestern wisconsin, iowa, richland county and lafayette county and others. to the people i saw an oshkosh, i think they know where i am at. i am focused on the people of wisconsin. i have stand -- i have stood up and taken on the special interests. that is what they brought money and bodies into the state of wisconsin because i did something that has not been done before.

i took on the powerful special interests. i put the power back into the hands of the taxpayers so that every day i will be fighting for you out here the state of wisconsin. >> he did not answer the question. it is imperative the people of the state know why the governor was not here and what he was doing outside of the state raising money. >> i think actions speak louder than words. people have seen me fighting to help the people not the government create jobs. they have seen me take on the special interests. that is why today i spoke with one of the local officials who said, thankfully somebody has given us the power to act at the local level on behalf of the local taxpayers. >> that concludes the question

and answer portion of the debate. each will now have an opportunity to make it one-and- a-half minutes closing statement. >> thank you for watching tonight. i want to make something clear. i have no desire to be the rock star for the far right and center of this nation. i have no desire to be the rock star of the far left. i do have a desire to be rock solid and do everything i can to create jobs in the state of wisconsin. that is what we need right now. we need a governor who will stand up to the special interests. i will do that. scott walker gave billions of dollars in tax cuts to corporations and the wealthiest people in this day. -- in this state. he asked seniors to sacrifice. i said no to my friends. scott talked a lot about unions tonight. i was not their first choice.

i am certainly not the first choice of the people on the far right. why is that? because i have said no to my friends and to people who oppose me politically. that is the test of leadership. it is easy to say yes to people who give the millions of dollars. it is easy to say no to your political opponents. the real test of leadership is whether you can say no to people who are your friends. scott walker has never asked for shared sacrifice. he has asked for others to make sacrifice. as governor i will focus on jobs, healing this state, ending his civil war, and doing everything we can to move the state forward. that is why i ask you for your vote on june 5. thank you very much. >> i want to thank you and the broadcast association. to the panel and the mayor for joining me tonight. earlier this week to stop that a manufacturer in oshkosh.

after talking to people working there i met somebody interesting. a guy named chris came up to me and tell me about how he of voted for my opponent two years ago. he and his parents were voting for me in this election. the reason was simple. he was impressed that somebody finally had the courage to take on the tough issues facing our state to move forward. i always tell when i hear courage. it is amazing that politics is the only profession were your called courageous by keeping your word. what we are doing is moving the state forward. the career jacket does not get from those in politics, it comes from those i meet every day. -- the word encouragement does not come from those in politics but doesn't mean every day. people i have the honor of meeting every day. people who have the courage to go and work hard, not just earning a paycheck, not just put food on the table or clothes on the back of our kids, they work hard every day just like we do for the same reason.

we want our kids to have a better life than we do. we want to grow up in a better home, in a better community, and a better state than the one we inherited. that is why i ask for your vote to move wisconsin forward. >> that concludes this evening's debate. we think the candidates and our panelists. on behalf of wisconsin's television and radio broadcasters, we urge you to vote on june 5. thank you for listening and watching. good night. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> next, nasa administrator charles bolden on a feature of america's manned space flight program. after that, remarks by paul ryan, chairman of the house budget committee.

then 2012 commencement speeches by allen west. supreme court justice sonia sotomayor, solicitor general donald braley, arizona senator jon kyl and education secretary arne duncan. there is an extra day of "boo tv" this holiday weekend on c- span2. a different side of the new york politician and vice president, saturday night at 8:30 eastern. afterwards, the former director for asian affairs at the national security council on the impossible state, north korea. >> it is a ridiculous dialogue. you can tell them you need to improve your human rights situation and their response to you will be, well you, the united states, have human rights

problems too. that is not a compared will discussion. >> also this weekend, the tale of operation red wing, from service, and navy seal at war. sunday night at 10:00 eastern. three days of "book tv this week anend. >> commercial space capsule docked at the space station for the first time. charles bolden delivered remarks at the space development conference in washington. nasa has set a goal of having private companies transport astronauts to and from the station by 2017. it is part of the plan for replacing the space shuttle program which ended in 2011. this is about 45 minutes. >> it is my distinct honor to

introduce our opening keynote speaker, the 12th nasa administrator, charles bolden. he lead nasa's team and manages its resources to advance the agency's missions and goals. his 34 year career with the u.s. marine corps included 14 years as a member of nasa's after not office. he traveled to or four times aboard the space shuttle between 1986 and 1994. commanding -- manning two of those missions. i personally have had the pleasure of knowing general charles bolden not only in this capacity but also during the time of both wore a uniform in the u.s. marine corps. so our paths have crossed the number of times over the years but the one that stands out in my mind was when i was assigned

aboard the uss -- charles bolden came aboard to fly with our squadron. we had a very candid conversation. he had a candid conversation with the junior officers on leadership, service and believing in something larger than yourself. i was one of the junior officers that night. i came away with an even stronger degree of respect for general bolden as a leader and as a man of principle. i consider myself very fortunate and honored to introduce him today. please try me in welcoming nasa administrator general charles bolden. [applause] >> kernel, thank you for that kind introduction. for those of you who are officially attached, you cannot

be in better hands than having a marine aviator leading the charge. i feel really good about where you are. it is great to be here at another international space development conference. as has already been mentioned, your theme for this year could not be more appropriate. before i get into formal comments, i would like to acknowledge the presence of buzz aldrin sitting here with his lanyard, try to figure out how to get it undone. [laughter] [applause] >> when you talk about some of us standing on the shoulders of giants, i do not need to tell any of you about the giant steps he has in the space program. as we gather here this morning, you have been watching a little bit -- as we gather to talk

about the future of exploration, hopefully you understand that feature is being defined as the speak. history is being made. right now, the space x capsule is joining itself to the international space station. for those of you he might have come in late, i will tell you story. so that you understand what we are doing here. the process is still under way in the last note i got from mission control in houston, the grapple should a court -- occur no earlier than 10:40. it is the second and third demonstration flight for space x. their first flight was in december 2010 when they became the first private company to launch a vehicle into space orbit safely and return and land

in tax. now every milestone they achieve is a first. i described to people what we were down in florida for the launch earlier this week that this is an incredibly exciting and historic time for all of us. every evolution they get behind them is history having been made. they are now about 30 meters away from station and holding and getting ready to let the crew bring them on into the gravel point. don will use the stations arm to reach out, grab dragon and pull it in a andbirth it to the international space station. it is a major milestone in president obama's rick -- ambitious plan. nasa can focus on the hard stuff like sending humans to an

asteroid and eventually to mars. someone will find something to be critical about sometimes. i guarantee it. as incredible as this feat is, guarantee it -- we will see some negative report this afternoon about it was supposed to have happened at 8:10 and it did not happen until10:40. i will tell you a story about my second flight. i was a pilot for the commander of what was then called sts 31. it was the hubble space telescope deploy mission. it was fraught with adventure. we were scheduled to unbirth hubble. steve was the primary operator. i was back up. a very simple process.

we trained for this for more than a year. we had a backup ready in case we needed it but of course they would not need it because everything was going to be straightforward. steve and i got there and he checked out the armed and we put the vehicle in the proper position for deployed. steve reached in and grabbed it and everything looked great and then all of a sudden, the things that they planned to have happened started coming unraveled. because hubble was huge. it weighed about 25,000 pounds. if you stuck your head, you could give your fist into the payload bay between the sides of kabul. that is all the room it had. with the first movement of the telescope, steve and i noticed the data fed was starting to swivel. it was not coming straight out.

so steve had to meticulously continually adjust the arm as he brought hubble out of the payload bass so we would not bring it or do anything bad. what was to have taken maybe 10 minutes and it of taking us almost an hour, just to get it out of the payload bays. we put it into the deployed position with the ground team in houston was going to deploy the solar rays. so we began appendages -- appendages began to come out. solar ray on one side. solar ray on the other side. not great. it got about 16 inches out and stopped. everybody's heart kinda went boom, boom. because that was not supposed to happen. for the next almost 10 hours, this evolution was supposed to take less than an hour.

a number of critical thing that now you have to change your plan. this is where the plan is developed and protected and then life happens. really important things i do not order whileon the hubble is on the end of the arm. now we are out there -- the orbiter is shifting for an hour, two hours. we are starting to worry about temperatures on the telescope because everything was planned such that it would have the right amount of sunlight on it and everything. after several hours, the team said we have to maneuver because he cannot just let the telescope sit out there and freeze. so they went through a lot of analysis and the side of the to do some minor repair -- maneuvering to get the vehicle back into position. we did that. another part of the ground team particularly got it, try to figure out what is wrong. this should not have happened.

the crew had been to bristol, england. the makers of the solar rays. we had used their water table to do a manual deployment of the solar rays. so we could manually get them out. you literally crank them out. so we knew how to do that. we were hoping we would not have to because if you went to manuel the ploy, than it really messed up the attempt -- the telescope and would limit its life. we knew that is what it might come down to it. the flight control team said okay, get things ready. my job was toand we floated dowd deck, went into the airlock, brought out the emu, and started to address them. we closed the airlock and started to depressurized. we were about five minutes away. the airlock was depressurized.

we were probably five minutes away from having bruce and kathy open the hatch and manually deploy the photo race. a young engineer at the goddard space flight -- space flight center said i do not think we have a mechanical problem. there is a model in the telescope that is put in there for the specific purpose to keep the photo arrays to keep from ripping themselves apart. the module has gotten a bad one or a bad zero or something. for those of us in the vehicle, it sounded somewhat familiar. first thing in the morning when the photo array stop, bruce new photo better than any human being. he had been in on the design and development.

bruce said one of the tension monitoring models was bad. we thought he was just bragging. they said we think we may have a problem with the tension monitoring module. we are going to do one thing. sure enough, they changed the 1280. -- the one to a zero and the photo array deployed. we did not have time to get bruce and cap the out of the airlock. they were trained for two years for this event at to see their baby, the hubble space telescope, deployed. they could not do anything because there is a little bitty old looking out into the payload bay and there was nothing there because hubble was gone. we deployed hubble. we were jumping up and down.

bruce and kathy are going what is happening? we were describing it to them. they were not happy. [laughter] but i tell you that story because that is sort of like what happened this morning. there is an incredibly elaborate plan that was put together by the spacex national team. i will let the experts explain it later, but there are a lot of sensors on dragon. all kinds of stuff. the two sensors, laser range finders, every once in a while started locking on to the module. we had not figured that out. we had to understand it. space-x made some changes and we are ready to go. you may be getting more

information than i am. but i just wanted to tell you that story so that when those start to write stories tonight, or show. one nasa mission that went flawlessly. the the final hubble servicing mission -- back to back to back to back. five on consecutive days. none of us thought we could do that. yet we pulled it off, but it was not flawless. we had little things that happened all through that, but the key is the teamwork between the team on the ground and the team in the vehicle that solve problems as they arose and made things happen. that is exactly what you are seeing happen today. there is no space-x team. there is no nasa team. it is people getting dragon

together so an international crew could go to the international space station and further make history. that is a big deal. you can jump up and down here. opened view it will jump up and down and scream when it occurs in a few hours. we just set discovery to the smithsonian. we sent the enterprise to new york. it is awaiting its move from a tanker -- you must be from new york. are you really? hey. we are criticized for sending enterprise to your, by the way. people want to know what the new york have to do with space? i have to remind them periodically that we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the return to earth from space during his mission. guess where he was picked up and brought back home? when people say what the new york have to do -- bethpage,

l.i., new york. the uss intrepid pick up the american astronauts. maybe not, but i believe it was said to the state appropriately. private industry's control two or orbit is rapidly becoming a reality. we continue to make progress on the heavy lift rocket to take our astronauts to the space. our effort to developing the many associated technologies you have seen, nasa is also making progress in our earth and space science missions. our space technology and innovation and aeronautics research. while our flagship program of 30 years now indicates a new mission in museum to inspire the next generation of explores, the space program -- and remains a living history we are creating every day. today is a day that will go down

in history. after vigorous discussions, the debate about our direction is over and we are moving strongly into implementing some very exciting plans. plans developed with bipartisan agreement between president obama and the bipartisan leadership in the congress. if you are wondering if this new era is real, i think the space- x success this week should dispel those notions. our plan is to policy later this year with their next model. behind that? the dream chaser -- liberty, and other private industry candidates to carry out projects carry our u.s. astronauts to other destinations in the year to come. i will not talk about it, but i hope you played -- pay attention to the other destinations. there is a session -- i think it is later on today, maybe tomorrow -- that talks about the space industry and what makes

that. while you all are here, some of you need to focus on destination because we have a lot of launch vehicles, but they do not make an industry. what is core to make this industry viable is destinations -- places where people and scientists and experiments and other planes can go and spend long periods of time in space aboard an international space station or a vehicle that has a crew on it. everytime i get on a treadmill and exercise, i jiggle the vehicle. if i have a material science experiment, i have agreed to that disturbance, but i am not happy with that because i know i have to be in that environment. some of you -- and there are some -- but some of you have to push for other destinations, places that have a quiescent state where you could do

materials processing or anything like that, can put an experiment for six months, one year, or more and not have to worry about and after not on a treadmill, rowing machine, or bicycle disturbing the environment. i say that with all sincerity, so pay attention. nasa plans for at least three flights, delivering research and logistics' hardware to the international space station. as you have heard me say before, i am committed to launching after not from american soil on spacecraft built by american countries. i used the term "i," and i should not say that, but nasa is committed to launching american astronauts from american soil on spacecraft built by american companies because we are family. i do not even consider as a team -- we are family, and that is really big to us.

nasa provide the funding needed to bring our human back to the u.s. and get american companies transporting our astronauts once again. right now, we are looking at proposals for our commercial crew integrated capability. we are asking industry to complete the design of a fully integrated commercial transportation system that consists of eight spacecraft, launched vehicle, ground operations, and mission control. these proposals will meet our initial development and advance our efforts to help nasa and the u.s. achieve safe, reliable, cost-effective human access to space. all of our partners continue to work diligently towards their milestones. the boeing co. is being supported during the development of their spacecraft.

blue origin has successfully tested the air and i met design of its next generation space vehicle in development and the vehicle has completed a series of test. i have seen tangible examples like these. another very important indicator of the future is that people still want to be astronauts. we had a near-record number of 6300 applicants for the class of 2013. the 2009 classic is training for the missions of the future. there per stop will be the international space station, now coming into its own as a technology test feel like no other. nasa's robotic refueling mission recently demonstrated remote-controlled robots and specialized tools camper for precise satellite servicing tasks in space. we do great things on the international space station. more than 400 scientific

studies were conducted last year in an array of disciplines, not just those related to human health. there are probably 5-10 investigations going on any given day. these studies are proving helpful with everyday problems right here on earth and they are also applicable to astronauts on long space voyages. we are learning a lot about the human immune systems, inner ear response and balance, and bone density. some of this, particular -- some of this research is particularly relevant to our senior population here on earth. j2x power-packed tests slated through the summer. they will help us learn more about the upper stage. the space shuttle main engine amatory has been relocated to mississippi for use in the sls

core . i hope we learn a lot from that panel. orion has been undergoing parachute dropping attempts. work on the model continues in mountain view, california. the exploration flight of orion will take place in 2014. it will be the first integrated capsule and rocket scheduled for 2017. the to the the 14th flight will simulate about 80% of the speed of eight more reentry and tell us about the thermal protection system and provide more data about a riot. our commitment to science remains strong, although there has never been a time when there were not more things on our wish list than we were able to pursue given our resources. we will see jupiter with juneau

and pluto with a new horizon. i hope you have seen the amazing results from the step itself. much of this is unexpected data that will help and for our future mission to asteroids. information is still flowing in by the terror by. someone told me the other day -- are you sure they are terabytes and not terror bits. i do not know. i will ask somebody here -- do i mean terabytes? probably. i like that answer. i am sticking with it. that is what is in the script. information is still flowing in by the terabytes from hubble, south dakota 0, cassini, swift, and many others. kepler as documenting an ever

increasing number of planets, showing our solar system is just one of countless others. the space telescope is being developed are launched in 2017. webb will allow us to continue to revolutionized our understanding of the universe by peering across space and back in time to the formation of the first stars and galaxies. it recently reached a hardware milestone. the mars rover, known as a curiosity, will land on mars in august. it will demonstrate precision landing technology, enabling us to probe the mysteries of the red planet in unprecedented new ways. this mission is an excellent example of the synergy we are trying to nurture between exploration and science. as the rover performs amazing research using the most sophisticated tools we have ever

been able to send to mars. at the same time, we are developing an integrated strategy to ensure the next steps for mars exploration will reach our human exploration goals. in space technology, there are about 1000 projects developing the technology and need for tomorrow's missions. in the nation's laboratories and test chambers, nasa is using a high payoff technology and broadly applicable technologies in areas such as propulsion, robotics, power systems, the medication, cryogenics hanley, and precision landing, all of which are in essential to exploration. the space technology program has given us the sudden round of space technology fellowships to help us develop tomorrow's

leaders and benefit from their work now. you should also know we have not forgotten about the first a in nasa. in aeronautics, our investments are driving technology breakthroughs for cleaner, safer, more efficient aircraft. for millions of air crafters -- millions of air travelers are of the world will benefit. we are accelerating the nation's transition to the next- generation air transportation system and making commercial aviation safer, fuel efficient, quieter, more informally freely through investments in revolutionary concepts for your vehicles and air traffic management. with the retirement of the shuttle, nasa is not only still in business, we are pushing the envelope. you can do a lot with 8 $17.70 billion budget request we had. we will and we are.

our budget is stable. while some tough decisions have to be made, that is true for everyone these days from government agencies to help care. i believe we have the right balance to accomplish great things now and into the future. i believe the best is yet to come. our dreams are distorting to come to fruition. at its core, nasa is more than ever about american innovation and ingenuity. i want to stop for a minute. stand-up. please. look around, those of you who are older than students. [applause] look around at this group. here is our future and they are from all over the world. they believe that we are going to do the things we have been talking about for decades. thank you very much. that is the future. [applause]

this is all about keeping the u.s. the world leader in space exploration, not for bragging rights, that -- but because our international partners expect us to be the leaders and maintain our leadership. they look to us to be the leaders. if you have an effort and there is no leader, you are going nowhere. the international partners really depend on us to get this done. we cannot disappoint. i really believe that this is one to be an amazing ride. the future is literally happening right now. nasa intends to lead the march to it. i hope most of you share my enthusiasm and are willing to join us on this great adventure. i thank you very much again for allowing me to be with you this morning. i have enjoyed it. i think i have a time -- i think

i have time to take a few questions. thank you all very much. [applause] >> i believe we have several microphones of around the auditorium if you want to queue up for questions. i will take the first one. process for your leadership as we look forward to the future. at a recent senate hearing, it really struck me, something you said about the dragon vehicle. can we pull that image back up democrat that is the perfect setting -- a chemical that image back up? that is the perfect setting for questions. the gravitas of what is about to happen when dragon is locked in place and the hatch is opened, you said the two spacecraft become one and a start sharing moments of inertia. i wonder if you could expand on that a little bit more.

>> when we connect, just as we always do no matter the vehicle -- we connect dragon to the international space station and the crew opens the hatch, the breathing air is the same. it is one support system. that is really, really, really important. in a week or so, our crew members will be going in and out just as though it was another model on the station. it stops being space-x's dragon model for one week and becomes part of the international space station. you have to grasp that. it is really important. we have a lot of it -- i will not call it -- i would not say that -- we have a lot of factors who really will not let go and

the fact that history is being made today. while not the same as man of the first steps on the moon, this is a -- is an incredible milestone and set the tone for a new path on which the u.s. and our international partners where nasa does not have to spend its time and valuable upper to provide access. that is what american industry is going to do. as you will see over time, not only american industry, but industry combinations, and that is what we are looking for. thank you very much. [applause] >> with the possibility of

sequestration later in the year, how will that effect nasa's programs? will there be across-the-board cuts or would you have to cut specific programs? >> we do not spend a lot of time analyzing what the results of sequestration would be. that is what we have been told -- move along with the plans we have embarked on what we hope to do with the 2012 budget when it is finally settled. if this sequestration comes, which we are hoping reasonable people can agree that we do not have to do that. sequestration is supposed to be across the board cuts across the federal government. i do not mean to tell you -- need to tell you what that would mean. but we are not planning for sequestration. we are not developing alternative plans for the budget or any of that kind of stuff. we are being eternal optimist.

>> question about the industrial plant fiber. i have been out of the loop. what is the status? is it operational? and a little bit about the astro biology program. >> for some reason i was looking at my topic up and mr. barry first statement. >> the terrestrial planet finder. it was quick to look at solar atmosphere. is that still on line? and a little bit about astro biology. >> i can talk a little bit to after biology, but i will have to -- let me find out about the terrestrial planet guide. because i do not know, but we will find out real quick. astro-biology -- i was premature in my assessment. the feed is delayed? ok.

[laughter] that is what happens when you look at pictures. you have to listen to what people are telling you. our center for after-biology -- the real focus is that the ames research center. there at are some -- there is some incredible work going on. when you talk about sending humans to mars, for example -- food, construction materials, all those kinds of things -- if you are talking about weight, you are trying to get it down. some of the more elaborate theories of after-biology research are producing food from microbes. producing building material prom microbes. they showed me some microbes they use to make concrete. when they test it against portland cement -- i guess that is the gold standard -- as strong as the cement samples we have gotten from the major

cigarette makers in the united states. the future of -- major cement makers in the united states. >> i noticed that. obama has set a goal of sending a man-mission to an asteroid in 200035, which obviously is about 23 years from now. is that a little bit underwhelming? i have the impression it will probably be cancelled. then there will be no goal after that. instead, should we not go to mars or something more ambitious? >> 2025 -- we do not have an after what identified yet. you cannot go to one until you identify it. it sounds like a piece of cake. but we have to do several things. we have to identify and characterize as an asteroid bigger than a rocket ship.

right now there is a very small number of candidates that will be available in 2025. the other thing about an asteroid mission of like going to a planet, if you pick an asteroid that is going to be in your window for a short time and you miss it, you have missed it. there is no, okay, will hold and wait until it comes around on its next orbit. you cannot do that. i do not think it is underwhelming to say 2025 are and afterward. going to mars would be nice. we do not have the capabilities to do it yet. there are other nations that they we should go somewhere other than march. our ultimate goal is mars by the 20 '30's. -- 2030's. >> also, if we go to and afterward, what are we going to

do there? we are not going to exploit it. >> i would ask you to talk to the guys who were talking about mining asteroids. i do not second-guess anybody. i try to precipitate the success of entrepreneurs and people who dream big dreams. people who talk about mining afterwards, i think they would probably want to discuss it with you. i am not the one to do that. >> we have a question back there. >> what can a grass-roots volunteer like the national space society due to best help nasa achieve our mutual goals? >> i think one of your basic goals and objectives is the faltering but of education and the like. -- fostering of education and the like. we have technical challenges

with going to space. we have a major societal challenge in solving the puzzle of how to get our kids interested in science, math, and engineering and maintain that interest and be able to track them so we know which persons are successful and which we should shed. we do not have a very good metric right now. i can tell you which of our programs are successful in reaching kids and bring them to stem related jobs, if you will. the work you are doing is empty. collaboration with other nonprofit organizations that are doing the same kind of thing, plus american industry. we talked to industry quite a bit about our initiatives, tried to collaborate whenever possible. there are limited funds for everything. you frequently find the first thing that gets cut is education. wrong. i do not think that is the right tactic.

it is very easy for people to target funding for education and say we would get around to it when we can. we need to get around to it right now. i would say the work you are doing is t.. >> good morning, chairman bolden. you mentioned earlier about being an optimist or being optimistic. i have an optimistic question to ask, especially in light of the birthing going on here with the dragon castle. -- dragon capsule. are there any plans for an acceleration of commercial space flight activity based on the success we are all looking at now and based on the plants with the competitors -- plans with the competitors? are there any plans to have approved capsules going to iss sooner than 2017 if the successes continue?

>> that depends on the ability of the private companies to get through the development process for their vehicles. we have taken a guest. we set 2017 at the operational- ready date our commercial crews because nasa says if we do the support we think we can do, this is technically where we think companies will be when they are able to provide support for crew. some companies are saying they will be ready two years earlier. if that happens, that is great, but right now, based on nasa's funding alone as an investor, if you will, we see 2017 as a date. that is much too long, in that, but that is where we are based on the congressional level of funding. you have to remember -- we continue to work with congress. i would say the bipartisan support we have gotten in

continue to get in this day and age is incredible. everybody wants nasa to be successful. everybody wants the private industry to be successful. in spite of what you may hear what you make think, everybody is not a believer at the same level just yet. after today, i think you are going to find there are many more believers then there were at one hour ago. think about it. at nasa, i tell our families -- look, let's plan well and then let's execute. if we deliver things on time and on cost, people will believe what we say. the reason we are struggling right now is because prior to this administration we were not getting the funding requested and we were not able to deliver on time and on cost. every time you get less money for something you forecast

meeting, a couple of things happen. either at its more expensive -- it never gets cheaper. it never gets cheaper by taking off the funding, contrary to what some people might think. i think we are on the right path. 2017 is a conservative estimate, depending on how industry performs. >> i keep my fingers crossed. >> could we get one more round of applause for this successful gathering? [applause] that is what i am talking about. my question for you, ross is --y much -- you're talking has nasa selected someone that could possibly be doing liquid rocket boosters instead of solid, or is that something you

looked at in the future? >> i did not intend to say contracts were closed. i said work continues. we have a plant contractor far are ryan. as lockheed martin. that has been settled. we still have a number of things open. advanced boosters that are going to take us to 130 metric ton vehicles. when we launch, then it is going to be with the existing five- segment solid rocket motor originally intended for shuttle. it will have shuttle main engines that have been modified to be the core for a liquid- hydrogen, liquid-oxygen main propulsion system. the structure itself will be what we have today. you will have a stainless steel tankage and the like. when we go to mars or when we go to places beyond earth's orbit

in the future with humans, i believe we are going to have composite tanks. we will have a lot of the components that are much lighter and resilience than what we have today. that is the purpose of our technology development program. when i tell people that the space launch system is an evolving system, what you saw in the past with nasa is we would decide on the design and go with it. 10 years later, you end up with a vehicle that is 10 years old and it is not even flown. the shuttle was that way, to be quite honest. we made an upgrade to shuttle when i was still an after not. we took some from the b-1 bomber. "we used general-purpose computers and found out the architecture and was so rigid that you would have to decide the software package on shuttle completely to accommodate the

additional measurement units. we could not do what we wanted to do. what we said with sls as we wanted open architecture wherever possible it will be like space-x. some of you know that space-x slid because it made modifications to software. nasa is not quite ready to do that yet. -- do that yet as flexibly as industry is. people need to understand this is a team. named was in the spotlight, but sometimes we had to cut back. it is an incredible thing when you watch it. just listening to the decisions being made in real time, how do

we deal with the things we are seeing? how do we deal with life when it occurs? we had a great plan, but things happened that were not anticipated. but if going through one of the failure modes that can occur, the team said ok, here is what we need to do. the first reversal came from space-x. they informed mission control board to stop and backed out because they saw something they did not like. that is what you want the team to do and that is what they did. i want to thank you all are allowing the to spend time with you. hopefully you are as excited as i am. the future is incredibly bright for us. we just have to stick to it and be resilience and do not give up because we are doing ok. thank you very much. [applause]

>> we would like to present to you this small token of our appreciation. if you look at it very closely, you can see the earth, the moon, mars, and the international space station. please accept that on behalf of the conference. >> thank you. >> next, remarks by wisconsin representative paul ryan, chairman of the house budget committee. then, 2012 commencement speeches by florida congressman alan west, sonya sotomayor, arizona

senator john kyl, and education secretary are daunting. after that, nasa administrator charles bolden on the future of manned space flight. >> welcome to old cowtown museum, wichita, kansas. >> we are out here in the city of wichita. waking up the city for 22 years. today we will talk a little bit about the problem with -- we are having a in the city with taxicabs. hang on for that if you will. >> june 2 and third, explore the heritage and literary culture of wichita, kansas. >> modest looking people. what continues as an alphabetical list of the senate and house of representatives done in 1831. i believe this was issued only

for immediate use only. they were not supposed to loan this out because, as you can see, they would tell you exactly where anybody lives and you could go and buttonhole them and punched them if you did not like them. >> june 2 and third on c-span2 and c-span3. >> house budget committee chairman paul ryan talks about the 2012 election. he spoke tuesday at the ronald reagan presidential library in simi valley, california. congressman ryan has been mentioned as a possible running mate with republican provincial candidate mitt romney. this event was organized by the ronald reagan provincial foundation and was part of their prospectus in leadership broke -- forum. this is just under one hour.

[applause] >> thank you, fred, for your very kind introduction. please thank mrs. reagan for inviting me to speak. there is a spirit that pervades the reagan library. you can't help but feel uplifted being here. it's a spirit of optimism, a sense that things will turn out right, if only we make the

effort. in good times and bad, ronald reagan embodied optimism. this is so true that i don't even have to tell his favorite joke. i only need to repeat the punchline, "there must be a pony in here somewhere!" his optimism, together with his brilliant mind, determined will, and nancy's love and support, were the keys to ronald reagan's greatness as an american leader. his temperament was sunny by nature, but i believe his optimism for the future just kept growing the more he talked with people from all walks of life. president reagan liked to talk about his experiences touring ge plants around the country.

he addressed maybe a quarter of a million people over those years, and he would stay after to talk with the workers. as he listened to their concerns, he came to realize how worried they were by the bureaucrats, not only within their own company, but also by bureaucratic interventions from washington, which were making their jobs more difficult. in my own travels across this country, and especially at my town halls in southern wisconsin, i've heard a lot of the same concerns. butamericans today are uncertain and worried about their future. many are suffering from lost jobs and shrinking incomes in ways they never suffered before. we look around us and see problems -- rising health care costs, rising energy and food prices, rising college tuition, rising debt, and stagnant wages. and government just doesn't seem to have any answers.

and we start to understand that ronald reagan's famous diagnosis applies again today. in this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem. government is the problem. look, americans don't want to get rid of government. we like limited, effective government just fine. but that's not what we're getting. we're getting big, dysfunctional government. in the face of enormous challenges, the president and his party leaders have steadily increased government's power, promised wonderful things, and consistently delivered awful results. and they show no signs of changing course. it's up to us to get america back on track.

america is the only country in history founded on an idea -- the idea that all of us are endowed by our creator with the freedom to pursue our happiness, not someone else's vision of what's best for us. we want government to create the conditions in which we can flourish -- pursue a dream, provide for our families, earn our own success, and live the american vision of the good life. instead, we have a government in place that is determined to redefine that vision, so that less of our success is earned, and more of it owed, to the wise providence of a handful of special assistants to the deputy undersecretary of some federal department that thinks they know better than us.

too many in washington think that you and i and our families and friends can't succeed on our own anymore. sure, we face barriers to success in america, but government isn't removing those barriers from our lives. instead, those in power are taking the view that we're all just stuck in our current stations in life, and government's job is to help us cope with it. whatever you call that, that's not the american idea. that's how a problem like the high cost of health care gets a response like the new health care law. this $1.6 trillion monstrosity is already creating big problems for american businesses and families, without addressing the problems it was intended to solve. the good news is this -- americans are rejecting this approach.

we know there's a better way forward. and more important, we know we can choose this better way. why? because we've done it before. that's why the parallels between 1980 and today are so striking. now, as then, we face not just a failed president, but a failed ideology. we face a pessimistic mood in the nation's capital -- a belief that our best days are over and the only thing left to do is manage the nation's decline. but we have the same opportunity today, to reject this defeatist attitude and embrace a positive reform agenda capable of kick-starting a new era of prosperity. we know this story has a happy ending. we know our country will not choose a path to decline.

but we still have a lot of work to do if we want to get there. let me explain why i'm so confident that america will choose the right path. americans have always rejected those with nothing to offer but cynicism and the politics of division. and right now, that's all they're getting from the president. during his last campaign, he promised to help us, quote, "rediscover our bonds to each other and get out of this constant, petty bickering that's come to characterize our politics." sadly, he has broken this promise, and become just another washington politician. he does not seem to understand that he can't promote the common good by setting class against class, or group against group. the divisive politics of the last three years have not only undermined social solidarity, they have brought progress and

reform to a standstill at the very time when america was desperate for solutions to a devastating financial crisis. to be clear, president obama did not cause this crisis. years of empty promises from both political parties brought us to this moment. but regrettably, this president was unwilling to advance credible solutions to the problem. in response to the financial crisis, we needed policies to strengthen the foundations of our free market economy. what we got was the opposite. we needed a single-minded focus on restoring economic growth. after the immediate panic in late 2008 subsided, we needed to restore real accountability in the financial sector and just clean up the mess. we needed to restore the principle that those who seek to reap the gains in our economy also bear the full risk of the losses.

we needed policies to control our debt trajectory so that families and businesses could confidently invest in our future. instead, the white house and the last congress enacted an agenda that made matters worse. they misspent hundreds of billions of dollars on politically connected boondoggles. then, when the country's number one priority remained getting the economy back on track, the white house and the last congress made their number one priority a massive, unwanted expansion of the government's role in health care. they even tried to impose a costly increase in energy prices in the middle of a recession. and their idea of wall street reform? a blank check for fannie mae and freddie mac, plus a new law giving more protection and preferential treatment to the big banks, and more power to

the same regulators who failed to see the last crisis coming. the administration and the last congress tried to exploit a financial crisis to transform a free-enterprise society into a government-centered society -- a massively expanded role for the federal government, higher spending to support this expanded role, and higher taxes to support the higher spending. higher borrowing, too. in three and a half years, debt held by the public grew by roughly $4.5 trillion. that's a 70 percent increase. our debt is projected to get much worse, spiraling out of control in the years ahead. this bleak outlook is paralyzing economic growth today. investors, businesses and families look at the size of the debt and they hold back, for fear that america is headed for a diminished future. today, we face a fundamental

challenge to the american way of life -- a gathering storm, whose primary manifestation is the shadow of our ever-growing national debt, and whose most troubling consequence is ever- shrinking opportunity for americans young and old. this shadow hangs over young people, who face a struggling economy and the likelihood of greater turmoil ahead. more than half of recent college graduates are unemployed or underemployed in this economy. half! the shadow hangs over senior citizens, who have been lied to about their retirement security. and it hangs over parents. we wonder if we will be the first generation in american history to leave our children with fewer opportunities and a less prosperous nation than the one we inherited. this storm has already hit europe -- where millions are enduring the painful

consequences of empty promises turning into broken promises. we must avoid european-style austerity - harsh benefit cuts for current retirees and tax increases that slow the economy to a crawl. but too many in washington are repeating europe's mistakes instead of learning from them. if we stay on this path, then bond markets in a state of panic will turn on us, threatening to end the american idea. forced austerity would put an end to that most fundamental of american aspirations, that in this land we are responsible for our own destiny, that on this continent we might forever be free from foreign powers who would impose their limits on our dreams for ourselves and our children. if our generation fails to meet its defining challenge, we

would see america surrender her independence, not to a foreign army, but to the army of foreign creditors who already own roughly half of our public debt. the policies in place today would guarantee that outcome, unless we turn this around -- soon. there must be a pony in here somewhere, right? and the good news is, there is. if you hear me say one thing today, hear this -- this will not be our destiny. americans will never accept this shrunken vision of our future. that's not who we are. in 1980, ronald reagan explained perfectly why americans would never accept this mindset, quote: "they expect you to tell your children that the american people no longer have the will to cope with their problems. that the future will be one of sacrifice and few

opportunities." what ronald reagan understood is that the case for free enterprise is not just a material argument, but a moral truth. and next january, our government will renew its dedication to this moral truth: the american idea of an opportunity society. government's role is not to rig the rules and aim for equal outcomes, but in the words of our first republican president, abraham lincoln, "to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all," so that all may have an equal opportunity to rise and freely pursue their happiness. the budget passed by the house of representatives this year drew the pattern for government under new management in 2013. it is a plan to lift the debt and free the nation from the constraints of ever-expanding

government. this budget will promote economic growth and opportunity on the first day it is enacted, with bold reforms to the tax code and a credible, principled plan to stop the debt crisis from ever happening. president obama's government- centered policies take from hard-working americans and give to politically connected companies and privileged special interests. our budget calls this what it is -- it's corporate welfare. and we propose to end it. as we end welfare for those who don't need it, we will strengthen welfare programs for those who do. government safety-net programs have been stretched to the breaking point in recent years, failing the very citizens who need help the most. look, we pride ourselves on looking out for one another -- and government has an important role to play in that. but relying on distant government bureaucracies to lead this

effort just hasn't worked. concentrating power in a distant central government consistently leads to worse outcomes for the poor, because it displaces those core institutions through which we really do look out for one another -- community, faith and family. it stifles their vitality and substitutes federal power in their place. too many in washington spend too much time trying to measure compassion for those in need by measuring inputs. how much are we spending? how much are we increasing spending? how many new programs are webut we're not measuring outcomes. are these programs working? are people getting out of poverty? shouldn't that be our goal? look at the results of the government-centered approach to the war on poverty. one in six americans are in poverty today

-- the highest rate in a generation. in this war on poverty, poverty is winning. the intentions may have been good, but the outcomes were anything but fair. it is anything but fair to keep people trapped in programs that hinder their upward mobility. it is anything but fair to allow the debt to weigh on job creation today, closing off the most promising avenues for the poor to rise. and it is anything but fair to close off even more opportunities by further weakening the economy with permanently higher taxes. fairness means empowering citizens with policies that promote growth and opportunity. fairness means maintaining strong, but not limitless, safety-net programs for society's most vulnerable. and fairness means fiercely protecting the god-given right

of every human being to flourish by his or her own efforts. our budget builds on the historic welfare reforms of the 1990s -- reforms proven to work. we aim to empower state and local governments, communities, and individuals, those closest to the problem. and we aim to promote opportunity and upward mobility by strengthening job training programs, to help those who have fallen on hard times. our budget lifts the debt, fosters economic growth, and ensures that government keeps the promises it is making to americans. instead of letting our critical health and retirement programs go bankrupt, our first budget next year will save and strengthen them so they can fulfill their missions in the 21st century. the president likes to talk

about medicare. we welcome the debate. we need this debate. what the president won't tell you is that he's already changed medicare forever. his health care law puts a board of 15 unelected bureaucrats in charge of cutting medicare. we should never agree to turn the fate of our parents and grandparents over to an unaccountable board and let it make decisions that could deny them access to their care. the new president and congress will reverse this change immediately.

simply put, if we don't invest today, we as families, community, nation, we lost tomorrow. some see student aide as an expense that should be cut back in tough times. not an investment in the future. getting an education isn't snobbery, it is the ultimate act of self empowerment.

the pursuit of knowledge is a sacred journey that people have literally died for. there was a time when you can be whipped or beaten for teaching a slave how to read. because knowledge is power. education can never be taken away from you. [applause] when i look out at this amazing scene today, i don't see snobs' out there. i see students and families that have worked hard and sacrificed to send their children to a university. i see mothers and fathers with sons and daughters that will be the first in their family to graduate from college. i see hard-working and committed students that have earned their degree with the help of a cult grants and student loans. one of america's greatest writers and howard alumnus

beautifully captured college education when she describes life fer her at the alma mater. my soul stood on tiptoe to take in all it met. i wanted to be worthy of standing there under the shadow of the hovering spirit of howard. i felt the ladder beneath my feet. i felt the ladder beneath my feet. she felt of the starting rungs of that letter built by those that came before her. steps she could not have made without those that preceded her and the memory she honored. i hope you will always feel that latter beneath your own feet. there is more than one way to thank those that came before you. don't take my word for it. your fellow students that are graduating here today -- after the earthquake, they organized

a benefit concert to raise more than $17,000 for the relief effort and took a trip to haiti to help on the ground. april started a nonprofit for middle school and high-school students in foster care. more than 160 students are enrolled in her program. a chemical engineering major, the white house picked her as a champion of change for encouraging women and girls to go and a science and technology. -- into science and technology. the jobs that the future will entail. i hope that many of you that leave here today will be thinking about how you can strengthen your education system, especially for children of color. there are so many ways to give

back. the teacher, become a principal or superintendent, mentor children, become an advocate. michael powell got his master's degree at howard. he first became a d.c. firefighter. he came from a family where you were either a preacher or a teacher and before long, he felt the call of the classroom. he went on to win an outstanding young educators award in maryland. he won that national award because he worked tirelessly to help a small child. he created a program to excite children's interest in science. he did not stop there. he created a group of fathers that got together and shoveled a mile of sidewalk during the blizzard of 2010 so that their

kids could walk to school. when his son attended the father's day gathering, his father came and started visiting with his child every week. if his son is now on a roll. -- on the honor roll. and another started as a district sales manager. now he prepares african- american men to become teachers. with less than 2% of teachers being black males, we need to support and expand programs like this. in houston, andre didn't have a library at school, so he went to the public library to get books for seventh graders. he knew that none of us can be free of we cannot read.

since 2007, the ready to teach program has 180 applicants for 80 slots. it has produced for teachers of the year, and one of them is andre. i would like many of you to follow in their footsteps. [applause] four short years ago when you arrived at howard, barack obama was running for president. today, he knows the work was far from done. it will require difficult choices and real sacrifice. he also knows that our future is bright. the young people like all of you with the skills, creativity, tenacity, work ethic, and passion to bring about real and enduring change. if i will never forget that night four years ago. i know none of you will either. students jumped for joy.

they hugged one another and they left -- wept. few dreams would never be broken in our lifetime, but there is a a point where you will break down. as the president said, one man does not make a movement. if only all of you together can do that. as you leave today, savor the moment, chairs the celebration, cherished the family and friends. always remember that you will stand on the shoulders of giants. today you are graduates of howard and tomorrow you will face opportunities and challenges. barriers will rise up to meet you, and you a question and doubt if you have what it takes to succeed, remember that your the printout -- remember that your the crowd at prepared graduates of our university. no matter how high you reach,

you will always feel that latter beneath your feet. if i cannot be more proud for each and every one of you. congratulations. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> life is incredibly precious and it passes by far too quickly. during this time, use all of your unique talent to serve one another as that will be the true measure by which your life will be judged. follow the golden rule. >> memorial day weekend, commencement speeches on c-span. politicians, white house officials, and politicians share

their thoughts with the graduating class of 2012. >> heading into the memorial day weekend, eric cantor released a memo to republican members detailing the summer agenda. what is the purpose of laying out this detail so far in advance? >> if you look at what he laid out, it fits very nicely with the things they are trying to push -- continuing tax is the way they are now, easing registrations -- they are trying to get out there what they are wanting to do over the next few weeks and into the election season. >> in terms of the timing of this release, does this have anything to do with the house been out for the next week or

so? >> i do not know if that is true. it is a curious choice. it is friday of a holiday weekend. >>i think they are trying to sea little momentum for when these -- with a comeback. >> the coming week will see a significant amount of work. what will top the agenda? >> in the senate this week, they passed an fda bill. the house is going to move toward their own version of that next week. they are also going to start a spending bill for the upcoming year. they have got -- to tonight, i believe, they come back. >> the majority leader's memo said the timetable for voting on the bush-era tax cut is before the august recess. why then? >> they want to do it sooner rather than later and up the pressure on the senate.

the senate is not going to act quickly to extend for all the rates. you saw the house speaker last week saying it was a big deal for them and they were going to make this a centerpiece of their election-year pitch. they want to make sure they do it quickly. it is going to be part of their message throughout the year. >> how do tax democrats want to deal with those expiring tax cuts? >> nancy pelosi said this week she wants a quick vote on the tax cuts under $1 million. it is almost the same talk all over again. republicans want to extend the tax cuts for everybody, democrats want them not for the wealthy, they just do not know how they'd want to define the wealthy just to get. >> you can read his reporting at

thehill.com. the house is returning wednesday at 2:00 p.m. eastern and a full slate of legislative agenda and the quake, including the veteran affairs spending bill, intelligence authorization, and more. that is next week on c-span. >> neck, nasa administrator charles bolden on the future of the manned space flight program. then, the wisconsin governor's recall election. live at 7:00 a.m., your calls and comments on "washington journal." >> bit -- a commercial space capsule -- the allied >> commercial space capsule docked at the space station for the first time. charles bolden delivered remarks at the space development conference in washington. nasa has set a goal of having private companies transport

astronauts to and from the station by 2017. it is part of the plan for replacing the space shuttle program which ended in 2011. >> it is my distinct honor to introduce our opening keynote speaker, the 12th nasa administrator, charles bolden. he lead nasa's team and manages its resources to advance the agency's missions and goals. his 34 year career with the u.s. marine corps included 14 years as a member of nasa's after not office. he traveled to or four times aboard the space shuttle between 1986 and 1994 commanding two of those missions. i personally have had the pleasure of knowing general charles bolden not only in this

capacity but also during the time of both wore a uniform in the u.s. marine corps. so our paths have crossed the number of times over the years but the one that stands out in my mind was when i was assigned aboard the uss -- charles bolden came aboard to fly with our squadron. we had a very candid conversation. he had a candid conversation with the junior officers on leadership, service and believing in something larger than yourself. i was one of the junior officers that night. i came away with an even stronger degree of respect for general bolden as a leader and as a man of principle. i consider myself very fortunate and honored to introduce him today. please try me in welcoming nasa administrator general charles bolden. [applause]

>> kernel, thank you for that kind introduction. for those of you who are officially attached, you cannot be in better hands than having a marine aviator leading the charge. i feel really good about where you are. it is great to be here at another international space development conference. as has already been mentioned, your theme for this year could not be more appropriate. before i get into formal comments, i would like to acknowledge the presence of buzz aldrin sitting here with his lanyard, try to figure out how to get it undone. [laughter] [applause] >> when you talk about some of us standing on the shoulders of

giants, i do not need to tell any of you about the giant steps he has in the space program. as we gather here this morning, you have been watching a little bit -- as we gather to talk about the future of exploration, hopefully you understand that feature is being defined as the speak. history is being made. right now, the space x capsule is joining itself to the international space station. for those of you he might have come in late, i will tell you story. so that you understand what we are doing here. the process is still under way in the last note i got from mission control in houston, the grapple should occur no earlier than 10:40. it is the second and third demonstration flight for space x.

their first flight was in december 2010 when they became the first private company to launch a vehicle into space orbit safely and return and land in tax. -- intact. now every milestone they achieve is a first. i described to people what we were down in florida for the launch earlier this week that this is an incredibly exciting and historic time for all of us. every evolution they get behind them is history having been made. they are now about 30 meters away from station and holding and getting ready to let the crew bring them on into the gravel point. don will use the stations arm to reach out, grab dragon and pull it in a andbirth it to the international space station. it is a major milestone in president obama's ambitious

plan. nasa can focus on the hard stuff like sending humans to an asteroid and eventually to mars. someone will find something to be critical about sometimes. i guarantee it. as incredible as this feat is, guarantee we will see some negative report this afternoon about it was supposed to have happened at 8:10 and it did not happen until10:40. i will tell you a story about my second flight. i was a pilot for the commander of what was then called sts 31. it was the hubble space telescope deploy mission. it was fraught with adventure.

we were scheduled to unbirth hubble. steve was the primary operator. i was back up. a very simple process. we trained for this for more than a year. we had a backup ready in case we needed it but of course they would not need it because everything was going to be straightforward. steve and i got there and he checked out the armed and we put the vehicle in the proper position for deployed. steve reached in and grabbed it and everything looked great and then all of a sudden, the things that they planned to have happened started coming unraveled. because hubble was huge. it weighed about 25,000 pounds. if you stuck your head, you could give your fist into the payload bay between the sides of kabul. that is all the room it had.

with the first movement of the telescope, steve and i noticed the data fed was starting to swivel. it was not coming straight out. so steve had to meticulously continually adjust the arm as he brought hubble out of the payload bass so we would not bring it or do anything bad. what was to have taken maybe 10 minutes and it of taking us almost an hour, just to get it out of the payload bays. we put it into the deployed position with the ground team in houston was going to deploy the solar rays. appendages began to come out. solar ray on one side. solar ray on the other side. not great. it got about 16 inches out and stopped. everybody's heart kinda went boom, boom.

because that was not supposed to happen. for the next almost 10 hours, this evolution was supposed to take less than an hour. a number of critical thing that now you have to change your plan. this is where the plan is developed and protected and then life happens. really important things i do not fire jets on the order while hubble is on the end of the arm. now we are out there -- the orbiter is shifting for an hour, two hours. we are starting to worry about temperatures on the telescope because everything was planned such that it would have the right amount of sunlight on it and everything. after several hours, the team said we have to maneuver because he cannot just let the telescope sit out there and freeze. so they went through a lot of

analysis and the side of the to do some minor repair -- maneuvering to get the vehicle back into position. we did that. another part of the ground team particularly got it, try to figure out what is wrong. this should not have happened. the crew had been to bristol, england. the makers of the solar rays. we had used their water table to do a manual deployment of the solar rays. so we could manually get them out. you literally crank them out. so we knew how to do that. we were hoping we would not have to because if you went to manual deploy, than it really messed up the attempt -- the telescope and would limit its life. we knew that is what it might come down to it. the flight control team said okay, get things ready. my job was to get them in their suits. we floated down and to the mid deck. we went into the air locks,

broken up the space suits, and started the job. we got them into the airlock, closed the airlock, and started to depressurized. we were about five minutes away, the airlock was completely depressurized -- we were five minutes away from having bruce and kathy deployed the hatch. this story sounds good. a young engineer at the goddard space flight center said, you know, i do not think we have a mechanical problem. there is a model in the telescope called the pension monitoring module. its purpose is to keep the solar rays from ripping themselves apart if they meet resistance. i think the tension monitoring model -- if we can override it, everything will be ok. it sounded familiar, but savage

serious because bruce had said first thing in the morning -- bruised new hubble better than any human being because he had been in on the design, develop it, and everything. he said the pension monitoring module is bad. we did not take the time to ask bruce. we did not pay any attention to it. they said we are going to do one thing and we will let you know what to do. sure enough, they changed 81280. -- a one to a zero and the solar array deployed. they said get the telescope released and we will go on. we did that. we did not have time to get bruce and cap the out of the airlock. they had trained for two years to see their baby deployed, and

they were in the airlock. they cannot see anything because there is a little bitty all looking out into the payload bay and there is nothing in the payload bay because hubbell was gone. we deployed hubble, we are jumping up and down -- we are not jumping bruce and kathy are going what's happening? we were describing it to them. they were not happy. to put it mildly. but i tell you that story because that is sort of like what happened this morning. there is an incredibly elaborate plan that was put together by the space-exit at nasa team and then life happens. very simply, there are a lot of centers on dragon. -- centaurs on dragon. the laser range finders, every once in a while, started locking onto the module.

we had to figure that out. we had to understand it. space-x has made some changes and we think we are ready to go. right now, if i do not talk too long, you get to see the grapple. i just wanted to tell you that story so that when those who are skeptics write their stories tonight, did tell them show me one nasa mission that went flawlessly. the final hubble servicing mission, we had back to back to back to bat dva's. none of us thought we could do that, yet we pulled it off, but it was not flawless. we had little things happen all through that. but the key was the teamwork between the team on the ground and the team in the vehicle that solve problems as they arose and

made things happened. there is no space-x team. there is no massive pain. it is an american team getting a dragon where it can be grapple by an international crew, not an american crew, an international crew and bring it to the international space station and further make history. that is a big deal. you can jump up and down here. hopefully you jump up and down and scream when it occurs in a few hours. we have now transferred discovery to the smithsonian and we sat at a price to new york and is awaiting its move from a hangar at jfk -- you must be from new york. are you really? hey. we are criticized for standing enterprise to new york, by the way. people want to know what is your have to do with space. i have to remind them periodically, tonight we will celebrate the 50th anniversary

of carpenter's returned to earth from space after his mission. guess where he was picked up and brought back home? the uss intrepid. when people say what is new york have to do -- bethpage, l.i., a new yorker -- the uss intrepid picked up an american after not. maybe not, but i think that connects them to the space program appropriately. private industry's control of access to private or it is becoming a reality. we continue to make progress of the heavy lift rocket to take part after not too deep space. why our efforts for developing many associated technologies for the scheme. nasa is making exciting progress in our space science mission. our efforts in aeronautics research. while our flagship program of 30

years now takes on a new mission in museums to inspire the next generation of in school -- exporters, the space program is a living history we are creating every day. today is a day that will go down in history. after a vigorous public discussion, the debate about our direction is over and we are moving strongly into implementing some very exciting plans. plans developed between president obama and a bipartisan leadership in the congress. if you are still wondering if this new era is real, i think the space-x success this week should dispel those notions. we will follow suit later this year with the cygnus module. behind them are during chasers, the liberty, and other candidates to carry out u.s. -- carry our u.s. astronauts to other destinations in the years