willing to do it. most did not even respond. >> and if they are going to demand a mitt romney and president obama to a, we have to keep asking the question, why don't you? he did it surprise you to say he did not want to see his colleagues do the same? >> know but i think it is worth asking a question in. this is something developing and we will keep asking. >> final thoughts? >> her no one has asked that question as consistently as david. >> thank you for being our guest. >> thank you. >> it was clear that when the eighth amendment was ratified, the death penalty was not considered to be prohibited him.

indeed, the death penalty was the only penalty for a felony. for somebody today to say that somehow the american people have prohibited the states by ratifying the constitution, they have prohibited the states for read it from ratifying the death penalty, i don't know where this comes from. the american people never voted for such a thing. >> had to instantly at reflects on 25 years on the bench interpreting that legal document is tonight at 8:00. >> in the u.s. should create more partnerships with latin america according to the cochairs of the latino leadership task force. their remarks came during a discussion on how to change for the domestic policy to address their report is expected this

fall. this is about the hour-and-a- half. yeah >> a good morning. welcome to the woodrow wilson center. it's a pleasure to be here. thank you for coming. we are pleased to be hosting his meeting today of a task force of latinos at least foreign-policy which was largely organized by the pacific council. how we're very pleased to be working together with the pacific council, a leading voice on foreign policy issues and on behalf of the woodrow wilson center, i'm happy to be working less these pacific council. towe're lucky to have

extraordinary leaders with us how you have their biographies for both of them but let me say briefly that he has been the head of a quest u.s. and west and the head of the telecom companies and leave to europe, a in the pacific and asia as well as better united states and has a distinguished career in business and as looking at bipartisan commissions across the aisle between republicans and democrats. the longtime leader of mel deaf, the former chemical to the judiciary committee has in served in all sorts of roles in politics on issues of immigration reform and issues of almost every major domestic and foreign policy issue that has faced the united states.

they will tell you about the latino leadership project but they are the two cochairs of this initiative which we think is a new and powerful addition to the discussion on relations with the western hemisphere and to have powerful discussions on how latinos and a variety of policy issues. let me go ahead -- in have a call coming in. someone to check on that. we would also like to welcome our audience from c-span >> thank you and for being here today in. we are here to share with you add new initiative sponsored r&d the pacific council on international policy out of los

angeles devoted to the study of foreign relations issues from i west coast perspective with an emphasis on in western hemisphere and the east. about one year ago, we started to discuss some of the creation of a task force that with luck specifically how hat for relations from the latino perspective. the question is what is the latino perspective and a liability in the perspective? the latino community in the united states has grown rapidly and because of affinity culture, language tsome degree, familial ties, there is a shared experience and understanding of the americas. this task force will look at

that relationship in an important point in time in america pause history. the evolution and growth of the latino community, the importance of what has been happening south of the border economically and politically in the last 15 years. gross income and latin america has outpaced the united states. the latino community is now a major demographic factor in the united states. we want to give a look at how latinos look at foreign affairs and what value add that we bring to the debate. >> to emphasize this initial mss the latino perspective is critical.

we think given the perspective of where there has been so much migration and transnational traffic of people that have come back and forth is critical. my experience has been a are running large companies around a world and as i think about the united states and what are the drivers of success and with the story here that is really important to every american, it's about our trade and economic flows between us and across the americas. just to give you a few quick data points -- i think let trade, i think about datapoint to my think but they apply, as to what jobs created in the u.s.. when the we think about an exciting story, most of us have

a picture -- you will see a story today about china. you will see a story about india. one of the data point all of us should keep in the front of our minds is the fact that today, if you look at trade, we export more to mexico than we do to china. we export three times the goods and services to let america as we do to china. my point is not that china is not important. my point is that mexico, latin america and the countries to the south have a dramatic and a substantial trade flows between countries. it means jobs in the u.s. and

we translate it into the fact as we think about our economy and stories to focus on, labour is critical of all sectors of our economy. we can talk about ph these, but we can talk about other skilled categories and unskilled workers because this economy requires all kinds of workers have all layers of our economy. when we think about flows of human capital in addition to financial capital, that is part of the story. when the pacific council decided to look at this and the committee started to look at this, we started to sink about how it benefits and strengthens at how important it is to our

country. as we think about in our borders in the united states, the latino economy, today it is worse 1.2 trillion dollars. a comparable might be when we talk about india and china and the result and russia. we have a country when we think about the hispanic sector of our economy here, we have many small, medium and larger size businesses that do business is here but also to a lot of

business across borders. what we think about this story at the politics, when we think about the economics, this is exciting and compelling and important. >> and you put together on a task force with people from business and politics, society and to religious backgrounds. our latinas interested in latin america? the two latinos have something unique to say about their relationship with the hemisphere? >> and believe latinos to have a specia relationship with the support of the border. many of us have familial relationships.

some recent and past culture, like english and i don't believe this country has ever been focused on these attributes that city of benefit to that united states. why today? i think the timing could not be better. it is the largest minority group of leigh the united states. its voting power has an increasing tremendously and looking sophomore the border, there are positive opportunities that benefit this country by a closer alliance and relationship. i don't think americans truly understand the significant changes that have occurred in domestically and internationally

south of the border that would benefit pay more attention. as an example, the evolution and strengthening of democracy and certain large countries in south and central america like mexico, colombia, brazil -- we have cemented the democratic ideas of a democratic form of government and coupled with that has been the growth of its economy. in mexico and brazil, their growth has been greater than a dead united states. latinos are beginning to take more of an interest in what happens and we believe this future of the latino community is tied to improving our

relationship with the south of the border. for us, this report will highlight the opportunities for a closer relationship that integrates the latino community and to foreign policy. >> how much does latin-american matter economically to the united states? >> it is substantial, significant, and in many ways, the examples i cited about trade and exports are critical. if you look at the growth of the economies, said gdp growth, this year, last year -- if you think about latin america in particular, you will see the

growth rates there are matching those we think about to that east. clearly higher than the u.s. and europe. in a relative sense, it is significant. as a business person, i think about how underdeveloped the relationships are. we can't talk about a good historical relationship but you always say is the more you can ask and more relationships that can be dealt and the answer is yes. by facilitating trade agreements and joint partnerships unless research institutions and many different forms filled, it could create a greater stimulus because we have a long standing

relationship of significant trade and it can be developed much further. >> migration has been an issue, particularly for the u.s., but when you look at the dominican republic and other places, what should be dialogue be and what do we need to do in the united states? >> we need a whole new perspective. you are looking in our country that an aging population and even now we are in the midst of high unemployment and people tend to think if you look 10 years from now, this country is going to have a deficit in workers at the low end and that the high-end. we need to look at migration

very differently. the more we work and collaborate with our partners to the south to develop economic opportunities at home, the last migration we're going to have in this country. to the degree we can reform our immigration laws and have an honest conversation -- there are two issues -- first is the contentious issues that we are dealing with -- the number of and regulated or emigrants and what we're going to do with those individuals. that is what gets the headlines. in the midst of this unemployment, most of these people are employed. from an economic perspective, there's a need it for these

workers whether we acknowledge it or not. the other issue we need to talk about is if and when we deal with unregulated immigrants in this country, what should our migration policy be? how do we improve our visa process? where should our emigrants come from? we are a country of immigrants and what makes us unique is the fact that we have a fluid society in which to a large degree we benefit from the best and brightest and throughout the world. that is changing. a lot of countries, what their people want to stay home but we have benefited from it to a large degree and we need to have had a rational discussion of migration without any emotional.

the 800 pound gorilla is where the people come from. the perception is a majority of emigrants are latino and the perception is this country is going to make cultural change. it is talked about more and more but hopefully to us, this is not a report on just migration. it's a holistic report that looks at the broad perspective of how latinos look at the issue of democratic forms of government, security, economics, has an how migration hits into all of this. you cannot separate one from the other. they are interwoven. >> i want to add a dimension about immigration and how to think about it in an economic context.

economists would say you create gdp growth in two ways -- one is population growth and the other is productivity. there was an economist from blackrock who wrote a piece about one year ago and he talked about what i would call global market share of goods and services produced and who is taking share and who is losing share? if you went back to the year 2000 and looked at the relative rankings, the united states according to his data had about 25% share of global gdp. the question was what happened

to the united states has global market share? there is the idea most of us have seen the emergence of china, india, russia, brazil and you say so what do you think happened to the u.s. share of the market? if we were at 25 in the year 2000, where were we in 2010? we don't have enough time so i will give thee the answers. the answer i thought of was if we were at 25 and 2010, i guess ast he's we are about 21% opposed to the year 2000 his thinking about china etc.. the answer was at the end of

2010, we're still at 25%. cities why? the answer is there are two parts of the world that lost a significant share. one was western europe and, where they were down 8%. the other was japan, which most of us remember in the prior 20 years was the economic powerhouse and they lost about 17% share of global gdp. again, the question is why? the answer one of the economists gave and the thing most economists would give is immigration. we have a policy and we have

flows of people coming into the u.s., bringing skills at various levels and filling key categories of capability to help us drive productivity. because they are creating productivity and are personally creating in comes and their ability to pay taxes to buy goods and services, that creates economic growth. to support the point that says we need to fix the immigration system and the broken process but deluge emigrants and bring in some ways what rupert murdoch and a khmer bloomberg testified before congress to say there is about eight trillion dollar boom of sitting there if we can resolve our lot

of these issues and deal with some >> let me ask you one final question -- hits an interesting this task force was convened by that the civic council and done by the west coast -- does that tell us anything? >> yes, it does. unfortunately, our foreign- policy as well as our domestic policy is a very east coast- centric. particularly when it comes to policy. how it is the boston-new york- d.c. corridor. the fact of the matter is life is happening and a lot of the creativity is happening on the west coast. look at silicon valley and where

most of the technology is. it looked at the impact of the population and diversity of the population. seldom does this country really look here hat in the changes of evolution and its population and where things are happening. that one of the focuses of the pacific council. latinos are no longer a west coast cannot. that spread throughout the country and the most profound that growth has been in the southeast. georgia, florida, the carolinas, ark. -- all of those areas have seemed her phenomenal growth. but as far as the anchor, it texas and california. what we want to do is enhanced

the perspective of this country and for me, it is an opportunity. the americas received a very little attention to. nobody really understands the growth and evolution of our neighbors to the south. our future is in clusters. wheat just happened to take for granted our largest economic partners, canada and mexico. we take for granted and not very much cover the stories of the solicitation of democratic forms of government. we worry about all these unstable governments but we don't invest south of the border, so it is a way for giving a different in perspective of the

opportunities. the opportunities going forward, hopefully getting our candidate and the public to engage in a discussion and better understand up opportunities and possibilities with our neighbors to the south. >> is there a different sensibility toward asians and latin america's and you might find on the west coast customer >> absolutely. there is the atlantic seaboard mindset which is historically, as a nation, we've been very focused to europe and rightfully ofbecause that's the genesis howrah our economy and primary trade relationships load. but as we find it markets and we find in life, life evolves, markets evolve and growth has

evolved differently. if you are out west, pacifically -- specifically on the pacific corridor, you notice the data at transition happening to that east. the whole asia-pac corridor. thursday continued in knowledge about and that in america, but there has been an interesting dynamic beyond asia, this dynamic about the robust economies and an evolving and democracies founded and is supported by robust economies isn't really a dynamic change happening over the past decade or so. if you are from the west or the southwest, you appreciate it. you see it in real time that you can relate to it. you have business or personal

relationships living in those economies and that's really important for us to understand as a nation. to be real time, to be able to evolve and build and leverage those relationships much more rapidly than if you are not appreciating them. if that is the strength of what the -- what the pacific council and this task force is trying to deal with. >> the economic ties are not solely limited to the west. one of the deepest here -- some of the deepest economic ties are in michigan, new hampshire -- all of the united states -- we have -- if you get central america and south america, you find the same pattern. it is not only the west linked

to latin america and depends on trade to the country's south of the hemisphere, but there is a different sensibility and different ability to take relationship because latin america is fed much present in the west. it is easier to take it off the vintage of the relationship. up to aen it discussion. we have knowledgeable people if you would like to join the discussion, raise your hand. wait for a microphone. because we are filming this for c-span, please wait for a microphone. who wants to jump start the conversation? over here? we have two gentlemen over here.

>> i am working at the foreign service institute. i would like to pursue the question a little further. i think when he asked, what is different on the west coast, i got the impression your answer was the west coast opinion focuses on america. it appreciates the ties with latin america. every administration has been elected over the last 20 years. they say, we must focus on latin america. as soon as they get into office, something happens and distracts them. how would you express your recommendation to the letter takes office in january o next year, whether it is mr. obama,

to keep the focus on latin america? >> right now, as a nation, we are struggling with a weak economy. unemployment is relatively high. some of the highest levels we have had for a long time. when we think about, how do we strengthen our economy and hatteras supported, -- and how do we support it? one of the bgest arguments for solving some of the issues is to make it part of the economic story. to have a very specific tangible action plans around ow you continue to increase

trade. i did not want to bore anybody with the details. i talked to businesses in arizona and california. the amount of business they are doing, just sending trucks into mexico with goods and services from companies in the u.s. is huge. finding the symmetrical relationship that we can facilitate companies from mexico and other places coming in and our companies going into those countries is important. when we think about the amount of export facilitating the, thinking like we do in the u.s. about reducing regulations, so that companies can do business more cost-effective lee. increasing the volumes.

much punch line is, make it part of the economic story. make that part of transition plans and implementation. there are many things that can be done that we can explore to increase the volume and stimulate more job creation in the west. >> i would like to add that it is different, looking at foreign policy from a different perspective, in foreign policy, it is based on crises. for a whole variety of reasons, the americans have been taken for granted if you look at terrorism, a crisis issue. it is cementing democratic forms of government. it is critical in minimizing the impact. if you look at the issues that

separate us, in foreign policy, you can apply those issues to self of the border. the crisis issues. it is an opportunity. one of the problems the american faces is lack of attention. just taken for granted. nothing is happening in the americas. the effect of the matter is, from a crisis perspective, there are three basic crises. the issue of terrorism, that is what working with countries south of the border is really important. from an economic perspective, the world is forming into economic clusters. our cluster is south of the border. those are our trade partners. if we want to continue to be an

economic force in the world, that is where our future lies. that is an important issue. trying to expand our the definition of foreign relations as being reactive to certain crises in parts of the world that are important but not critical to our future. >> i am from the inter-american development bank. thank you for being here. one of the thoughts i have is that antonio just mentioned there is not much attention given to the americas. the attention given in the u.s. negative.is always-

it is zero is about drugs, illegal immigrants, stealing our jobs. we need to start to turn around the media. the problematic things are true. how many people know that mexico is the fifth largest exporter of automobiles in the world? the progress that some of these countries have made and the fact that in some way, they are becoming more like us. mexico and brazil are beginning to develop they have an angel investors. there are a lot of things happening. this coverage never takes place. even if you look at the spanish media, you only hear sensationalistic things. even the u.s. hispanics do not get to know the very progressive things that are happening.

my question is, i am from india. off the press we get is we are so wonderful india has a thousand horrible problems all the media attention is almost all positive. the media attention on mexico is-. -- negative. >> he raised a critical concern, how the american public gets its news. of peoples ands countries. one of the things we hope to do in disseminating this report is to focus on the media. you cannot have an american public that feels and understand the issues differently than it is portrayed. the media is going to be an

important component. in many ways the politicians follow the views of the american public. our goal, even though the short- term goal -- the long-term goal is to turn around the discussion withdebate and deal with it wa facts, actual facts. reality is so different from the way it is viewed. like other reports, and we hope this will be a little different in the sense that it will incite conversation. and i agree with you. cohen to the editorial boards of newspapers and television, that is where the conversation should again. >>-- begin. >> we need to strike a conversation about something

that is common to of the body. everybody cares about the economy. they care about jobs. they care about things that are important. when we talked about india and china, we talked about the opportunity for u.s. companies to go there and sell goods and services. take the cover of every magazine. this morning, i was listening to cnbc was talking about china. it did not talk about india. they did talk about china. we have to bring the facts and the data, talking the language that most people can relate to. that is one side. the other side is, within the latino community. we have to start talking about the glass as half full. it means one of the most frequent conversations you'll

have is about a drop of rick. it is high. you go to those issues to solve the. how many people know that 50% of high-school graduates are going to be latino? ok? when you start thinking that way about who is graduating and who is going into a work force, it starts changing your perception. when you start adding to that that 30% of people entering into the college and university system, about 30% of the people going into that system are latinos. it gives you a much different perspective than saying that everybody is a drop of. -- dropout. it is focusing on the issues that are important, workforce, economy, of the things, as we

talk about themselves -- other things, as we talk about ourselves. >> right here and then right there. then we will go to the back. i am sure there is a body attached to that hand. my apologies. >> good morning. i was wondering if you could discuss the impact of the 2012 of a coral cycle and lead to america in u.s. foreign policy. if he could -- 2012 electoral cycle in latin america in u.s. foreign policy. >> every 12 years, there is the potential new president in .exico recorde mexico has selected a new president. we are in the midst of an

election. the relationship that the united states has with mexico, it is complex and nuanced. it is mostly positive. neglectful, but positive. once again, the media is always highlighting the bad. i think there is great opportunity for the united states to evolve its relationship with mexico focusing on, not just drug interdiction, migration, but improving the rule of law. strengthening democratic institutions. building upon the phenomenal trade relationships. those are the things that i think will define the future of

the united states and the future of mexico. whether it is mexico, the united states, and canada, our futures are interwoven. economically, politically. as far as venezuela, in many ways, in my view, the way to strengthen our relationship with venezuela is to strengthen our relationship with other countries that have more similar forms of government. ombia.r it be columbi the degree we continue to neglect the americas, the more opportunity we give to other ways of thinking of how government should be formed. when this happens, it is due to our neglect. i also think and believe that

our foreign policy should not look at warrlatin america. not one of domination. it has to be a partner. these are maturing, powerful, growing democracies and countries. we should partner. the partnership is a two way thing. it is a challenge. we have not looked at foreign relations and relationships that way with the americas. it calls for total realignment on how we look at it and deal with our neighbors to the south. >> i think she a tequila did it very well. the only thing that i would ed -- articulated it very well. the only thing i would add, i am

a business person. i know is think about benchmarking. i always think about what is best in class. how do you optimize? how do you maximize? when i think about foreign relations and countries like venezuela, and the turn that it took, i think about, how sustainable is that? if i were a leader there and i were part of the populace. we start thinking about, if oil becomes less important, pricing goes them, what happens to an economy like that over time? what happens to the relationships? what happens to a diversified economy? it is what other countries have started dealing with as opposed to being dependent on certain sectors. we have ways to help stimulate

that. we have ways to help create excitement within economies. give some -- given some of the relationships and technologies we can bring. how are we always thinking about making things better? going in with different argument. like a business that get stale. you run of of growth. you cannot keep on the same business model. you have to keep of all income of changing. i do not think politics are any different -- you have to keep evolving, changing. i do n think politics are any different. >> the gentleman right there. >> limits of how important i think it is that your views are heard.

i would like to focus on one particular and because that is taking place, which is -- a particular enterprise that is taking place, the trend pacific partnership. the ttp is precisely taking care of what you say we need to look to the selouth. i think this is not very well known. it is not the republic. -- not the very public palikir -- not very public. but studded with such ease and -- it started with south asian nation. we have the possibility of

having an application in north america and south america and asia. from my point of view, it is a global, political, and diplomatic the. we also have a dilemma. i think the key point here is the emphasis too much that the united states is putting in this negotiation. what the u.s. wants is the best intellectual property rules. i see a possibility. there are negotiations. in a few years, they could establish a more common relationship meleke.

how does your group view the possibility for a new u.s. foreign policy? >> the first manifestation we have seen of the u.s. richen of to the western hemisphere and the pacific. >> it shows the future direction. the united states was not the original one. they realized something was happening. the alliances in the americas. brazil was looking to china. the realization that we need to be part of those discussions and critical to those discussions. the challenge that i see is, novo one, those discussions are happening. it is wonderful. little attention is being given to it.

i did not know how significant the amount of resources they of giving. those economic alliances, whether it is trade, and intellectual property. it will determine our ability to enhance calibrating and economic ties with these countries. i must emphasize the issue of the partnership. the united states is not accustomed to going in, taking their marbles and go in home. listening to the needs of the other countries in coming to a ing that understand i embodies the interest of all the countries to the benefit of all the countries. >> i will comment on the i.t. issue. i.t. isbeliever that

critical. it is what the french it countries, companies, -- it is what differentiates companies, countries. if someone says i investment capital to develop something and everyone can take advantage of that, pretty soon you can have a generic everything. the only thing that is sustaining our economy is the innovative portion of our economy. whether it is creating content, whether it is in terms of creating products and services. the ip element is core the and dna for the unted states.

that is the only thing that is keeping us moving. if you look at other countries that have emerged, they have emerged because of natural resources. they have a marriage because of they have emerged because they are structuring their government in a certain way. there are different ways for countries to compete. as a principal for the united states, ip is going to be our value add. it is going to be important to western and the kids from bell in terms of sustaining growth, adding value. we are not going to be the low- cost provider. we are not about taking our

labor rates them to $1 a day. i would say that this is important for trade. i think it is important for other countries. as they evolved and developed their own forms of ip. >> a lot stake two questions together. there is a hand -- let's take two questions together. there is a hand in the back. >> you spoke about free trade agreement. my question is, who benefits from these free trade agreements? i know that when you do a trade agreement between the united states and colombia, it

benefits the company is there, the companies here, the farmworkers are subsidized here. what about the farm workers who are not subsidized in countries like colombia? in latin america the poverty level is very high. .t is 49% paliki that is my concern. >> over here. i am glad dakota of both visiting public policies dollars. >> from this center of research and teaching economics at mexico city. i would like to ask you about the civil society organizations.

a leg this idea about democracy and the strength of the rule of law. the rule of law and democracy is going to lead the strength of the civil society organizations. i think new foreign policy is needed. how do restrengthen -- do we strengthen the is, not by the governments, and of people organized, around democracy? >> united states is so unique in many ways. we keep talking about economics.

the united states is the foundation of a lot of wonderful actor of its worldwide. philanthropy is uniquely american. the creation of a third sector is very much american. one of the things i have been involved with in the issue of migration for quite some time is the evolution of civil society. particulate, in mexico. for me, the growth of civil society, the checks and balances happen when you have a strong democratic form of government. when the people actually get to choose their elected officials. the elected officials are responsive to their people.

particularly in mexico, there is a lot of room for growth. to the degree that the united states assist in strengthening the judiciary. strengthening the judicial process. strengthening local police enforcement with checks and balances. that will improve and enhance economic growth. they go hand in hand. there is a lot of interaction between philanthropy and civil society and the support. with the growth of the economics, economic growth in countries south of the border, the whole philosophy we have in this country, which we are losing, to be a true economic leader, it is to be a philanthropic and engaged leader. there is a certain

responsibility of the business sector to engage and fund the formation of civil society in all countries. civil society plays an extraordinarily important role in the checks and balances. i am proud to say that those two attributes of a uniquely american. . i come from follette the. that is why i speak of philanthropy. the growth of philanthropy, the third sector. when you see the growth and the strength of the third sector, you will see five bands. in russia, president newton signed into law the not per for- profit groups -- not-for-profit

groups will have the signup. for latin america and some of america, strengthening of the third sector is critical to a vibrant, democratic, civil government. >>the only of the thing i would ed is the notion of a nation of .aw, the rule of law include part of our constitution, as well as the bill of rights, the rights of individuals and the rights of companies. my personal belief is it is very hard to develop a robust economies that are sustainable

unless there is clarity in a civil society about the rights of individuals and companies. then you can have ownership, whether it be of things like intellectual property, or actual physical property that you own that cannot be taken by fiat or some the man. -- some demand. the incentive, the innovation, everything comes with it because i do have rights. >> let's take a round here. there are some hands of here. we will move over to the stroke. we will do a full round. -- moved over to this road. we will do a full run. ound.

there was a lot of talk about migration, jobs, the economies. >> what i got is a need a cheap source of labor. what the thing will happen if we start to define our relationships solely on their ability to provide us with cheap labor? the sea problems with that four people and policymakers? >> -- do you see problems with that four people and policymakers. >> we have not advocated that. what we have advocated is the fact that we do need sources of labor. labor that comes in many flavors and forms. highly skilled, different skill sets, and in some cases, unskilled but trainable workers.

as we think about labor and human capital movement, as it relates to our relationships, the point of emphasis has been, we have significant relationships on trade with there is financial benefit in terms of job creation in the united states. in terms of wealth creation in the united states, based upon the trade relationships that have existed and are growing and given the gdp growth in the various economies, there is more opportunity. if we can focus better. if we can enhance some of the relationships. either in certain places or that did not exist.

>> the hand back there. the gentleman in the back behind the camera. >> hello. my question is also in the direction of civil society. i was thinking more in the lobbies, pressure groups. immigration reform, everybody knows this country needs immigration reform tick. is there not some group that is able to push and say, we need to get this done? is there no group of people that can organize and act?

>> i will say that unfortunately in this country there are very few groups that can give our country to come to terms on any issue. we are in a phase of polar a ization. we need to get beyond that. they're a different perspectives on the growth of the latino community. the expectations of what the latino community can do. what we are trying to do is to present facts about of a community, this population, and our of the committee and the ability to assist -- our opportunity and ability to assist and add value. we are trying to get the public and our elected officials to look at this from a different

perspective. immigration reform is central, not just for the latino communities. not all latinos -- not all immigrants are latinos. not all immigrants that come to this country but cheap labor. look at silicon valley. a majority of the population are immigrants who started silicon valley. if you talk to the business community, whether it is high skilled jobs for low-skilled jobs, there is a mismatch between the working population and the need of the business community. we have a lot of things we need to do. from our perspective, it is more investment in educating the latino community.

those communities that have not gotten into education. as we know, education is the key to afford mobility. we know that we need to push of education to move forward. it is not just the latino issues. it is an american issue. the latino population is such a large percentage. that is what we are trying to do. tooele with the conversation and ty willly, rationaliz prevail. >> we are trying to bring data to various organizations. in this case, we are leveraging one called the pacific council. it has a broad perspective. it has a multi discipline perspective. it has a multi geographical perspective.

there are many organizations. we aren't going to eliminate myths in some cases. a myth that says all of these immigrants, they a takers not givers. meaning, they are and negative affect on the economy. that is not correct. i can say that unequivocably. the second thing is the of taking our jobs. it is a myth, not reality. there are many jobs that go unfilled. no but one of those jobs. there is plenty of data that helps people start crystallizing

the fact that, maybe this is critical for our economy. for the construction sector of our economy. for the ip sector. all of this is data that needs to be brought to the table and a logical fashion. it helps you understand that human capital -- the human capital flows that of going to be critical. it is taking the position to another level. greeting a dialogue that is not a motion based. it is always based on what is best for our country and for every individual in the u.s. .> let's take a final round there were several people here.

the gentleman over there. >> i am from the department of state. thank you for grind attention to the unique role of the latino community. one question is about measurement and how you measure the level of government engagement. what tools are using? -- you using? every region i have worked with, i hear the region is neglected. it would be helpful to have measurement tillics. in terms of a contribution to foreign policy, the diaspora element is very important. looking at what it can contribute in terms of foreign policy.

there is also the idea that the latino competition to foreign policy. i am thinking of one of our highest ranking officers in the department of state. she deals with global issues. , would iton would become only be looking at the region or the world? >> there is interest from all sectors. the mistake is that we only have a myopic interest. we focus on the americas for the simple reason that there are certain attributes that we have. language, culture, to some degree, religion, familiar

piol ties. it is a much more nuanced relationship. i understand the question as to metrics. you talk to anybody involved in foreign affairs, i did not think he made metrics to come to the conclusion that the americans seldom get the type of understanding as relates to latin america. yet, we have a few latinos in the state department. i would say it is a matter of fact, the number of latinos at the state department is very low. that is in all of the federal government. the failure to include of latinos in our government, whether it be the department of vacation, the state department.

it is ironic to say the highest concentration of latinas is in homeland security. that tells you a lot. >> i think it is a great question. i think it should require some introspection as we think about the government and we look at individuals who are engaged with the department. as we think about the amount of time spent, resources allocated. it is like in a company. you have products. of the resources based on the size of the product. our trade in the americas is dramatically important. it is growing. the question is, do we allocate resources thinking about all of the layers of policy?

or, do we spend most of our resources on less important in terms of national security parts of the world. i am not trying to be simplistic about economics. i think the other thing that this leads to is, what of the criteria upon which we spend our time? if we looked at the president's speeches so far this year, and you said, show me the number of words associated with latin america, my bet is it is under- thought about and talked about. that is a bet and would be

willing to make. when we look at congress and the end of the of time spent on various issues, -- and the amount of time we have spent on various issues, getting trade agreement. i think there is some anecdotal data which would give us leading indicators. some of these questions, how would we allocate resources? it is a good question. two questions together. >> thank you. i am with the idb.

a lot to make some observations -- i want to make some observations. i want to commend the work that the pacific council is doing. latin america is critical for the future of our country for the reasons that were said earlier. it is the reason why i have been involved with latin america for many years. why i chose to join the administration. i want to do something about it. i commend the work. i came to california with pam start. i am very excited. i am looking forward to seeing the report. whenever it comes up, i am looking forward to that. on the issue of the number of latinos, i agree that we can do

a better job of reflecting the diversity in our country. i do want to point out that the primary individuals involved at the white house, at the state department. at the defense department and at treasury are all latinos. this is part of the administration, the administration does believe that latinas can be very effective ambassadors. since they won, i have been tried to connect latinos with latin america. it is challenging. some communities have had a strong link. it has been a challenge. i would encourage you to look at

a strategy on convincing folks. it isn't a think you should focus on. -- it is something i think you should focus on. i disagree that we have not been engaged with the region. perhaps we have not done a good job. very few people know we took the lead in dublin and london -- doubling lending. we know that as the region grows, the man will also girl. -- demand will also grow. the president went to many countries. here we have three very different kinds of government.

the message was, as long as they follow the rule of law and respect democracy, we are willing to work with lots of different kinds of governments. we are not going to decide to favor only one type. it is a subtle message. it does not take a long time to sink in. in terms of of the right way or the highway approach, it is a subtle message. i do believe we have been working behind the scenes, tried to give government support, working with them to empower them. the g-20, meeting closely with brazil and mexico to give them a bigger voice. we want them to feel they are partners.

i have no question. >> thank you. >> thank you. i have a question and a comment. my question is, have you found allies or partners when trying to have an impact on foreign policy? if you do to leverage with actors from latin america -- collaborate with actors from latin america. not only governments. actors from the two sectors you have mentioned. i would be interested in business people from mexico,

brazil, chile, do they have an agenda? do they try to have an agenda here? or are they completely absent? there are big corporations in latin america. i would suppose that would have an interest. that was my question. my comment is, i have been here three weeks. the most current concern is that policymakers and the public in the u.s. did not see how important mexico and latin america is. it has been an issue in the four or five events i have been attending. what is going on? why did they not see the elephant in the room? was it different before?

is this something new? was it more important before 2001, before 9-11? i can tell from your nod it was not. if it has never been important, i did not know. it has just struck me. this is the message. they did not see how important mexico and latin america is. >> i want to go back to gustavo and address the business part of this. our intent is not to be critical of the current government. it is not to be critical of anybody. it is to be constructive. it is very non-partisan.

in a partisan context, the sides have been very lacking and not strong enough. we have had multiple a ministrations on both side to s. we are very equal opportunity. in the case of mexico, there has been a lot of work over the years where there is the u.s.- mexico chamber of commerce. it has high-profile people involved. a leased from mexico. people you may have heard of. others from the mexican side of the private enterprise. on the u.s. side, there have

been some latino, hispanic business people, and some non- hispanic. it has never received high level visibility. it gets to the rest of the question. if you look at the still, other countries, i am not sure there has been a great initiative on their part to connect with communities here. it is more, i am a big country, i can lobby directly. build a relationship in a different way. the bigger issue that has been crosscutting for decades is the fact that, even though it is significant, even though there is a dramatic growth, it does not hit the radar screen and

looking for metrics about the amount of speeches, visits, a time. even in the media, you will on thenally see baserazil cover of a magazine. 7%, 80% of the time, you are talking about india and china people did not even notice the fact that mexico's -- china. people do not even notice the fact that mexico's gdp growth has been large. what has happened in colombia and chile, they have developed strong economies that have solidified the government's and their democracy. we are going to try to work with the media in the sense of

bringing forth the data, correlating it with other stories that they have told. so that this is really a true democracy and economic miracle that has been happening to the south. it correlates with everything that is important to less than the u.s. and perhaps there should be more knowledgeable and more recognition, finding ways to catalyze what is happening more so than what we are doing today. >> hour and a game in this task force is to inform the public about the importance of the relationship of latinos, the united states, and our neighbors to the south. hopefully engage in a conversation that is more

rational. it is sort of like a familial neglect. you focus on where the trouble is. you take for granted the closest people to you. i think that is what has happened. the point i am trying to make is that it is no longer acceptable. the future of this country is tied to the future of the americas. economically, politically, and otherwise. with in that future, the role of the latino community is just as important. we should be saying, not just a community of issues as problems recorded the press cannot just record the-nicosia.

that is what we are trying to do. it is the beginning of a conversation. we are going to issue the report within the next month and a half. we wanted to take advantage of the political climate to find avenues for engaging in this conversation. we hope that you will be a partners in trying to get a different conversation when it comes to the latino community in the united states. >> i want to thank everyone who has taken part in this. when the man who organized this on, thank and antonia for bringing these interesting findings from the task force. the report will be of in the

fall. we look forward to sharing that with the. we think there are some very important elements. hopefully this will be one more element. >> thank you. thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> of the internet brings radical transparency to almost everything it touches. privacy becomes a construct. it is an artificial construct created by laws and institutions and in force the -- enforcement. >> until a few weeks ago, a broad spectrum oversaw the process of internet names worldwide. monday night, an inside look at the and and that and said the