tissue in the military and still a servant of this country. it's good to call him friend. hopefully he calls me friend as well. these are troubling times. when the name justice department depicts something other than justice, it's a very troubling time. some of us are extremely familiar with the prosecution, what most would consider the most significant, largest prosecution of terrorism support and funding in the united states' history occurred in federal district court in dallas, texas. it was begun under the bush justice department. all part of the aftermath of

9/11 because as president bush indicated, we just can't go after the people that actually plotted and carried out the events of 9/11, who plotted out and carried out other terrorist attacks against the united states. it's not enough. we have to go after those who have supported those efforts of terrorism, have supported the killing of innocent people around the world, and particularly, we have to protect americans. and for those who have supported terrorism and continue to support terrorism, the united states must step forward in order to protect itself. the justice department, in 2008, november, 2008, got convictions of the individuals that they have prosecuted in the holyland

foundation trial. not only did they get convictions, they got over 100 different counts which they got convictions. and through that, there were names of co-conspirators who were named and set forward in the pleadings. and evidence was introduced, admitted into evidence at trial that showed there were groups and individuals in the united states that were supporting terrorism and there was significant evidence to support that. and, in fact, two of those groups, care and the islamic society of north america, had moved that their names be stricken from the pleadings as named co-conspirators in supporting terrorism.

and at that time, the acting u.s. attorney, a very good job, not only in the prosecution, but also in the pleading to the federal district court there before judge solise, and he established plenty of evidence and the judge found there was plenty of evidence to support the co-conspirators continuing to have their names in the pleading and they weren't satisfied with the ruling. they appealed to the fifth circuit court of appeals. the fifth circuit court of appeals ended up ruling that yes, there was substantial, there was plenty of evidence to support the fact that care and others were supporting terrorism and so their names would not be stricken from the pleadings and would be kept in the pleadings as named co-conspirators of terrorism. after that very successful

prosecution that was in conformity with president bush's promise that if you're not with us, you're with them, and those who support terrorism would be made to account, that began the first stage of the prosecution of supporters of terrorism. and those were people and individuals, cases -- those were organizations right here in america that were supporting terrorism. funding terrorism. and yes, they were supporting charities and giving money to good causes. and they acted as a cover for them also funding terrorism. funding, known terrorist organizations who had actually killed people and destroyed things, committing acts of war. then the attorney general became

eric holder, the president, the commander-in-chief became barack hussein obama. we know it's ok to use the president's full name because he uses it when he goes to muslim nations. and in fact the first nation the president went to and apologized for america's arrogance and divisiveness were muslim nations. in fact, going to cairo, he snubbed america's ally, israel's i'll, mubarak, a fine upstanding wonderful man, but a man who managed who -- to keep some peace along the israel border. a man who had agreements with this government, just as this

government had agreements with gaddafi. in fact, i have read of reports, people from our own senate who had been over there, one who had tweeted he had met with colonel gaddafi and met with him at his ranch and the senator now says that tweet didn't come from him. but there were americans negotiating with gaddafi, working out agreements and then they turned their backs on people with whom they had worked agreements, mubarak, gaddafi. i don't think we should have worked agreements with gaddafi because of the american blood on his hands, but it had been done. and yet this nation turned its back on allies.

there's no surprise for me to read that the king of jordan, another person with whom we have a relatively good relationship, had sought an appointment with ahmadinejad in iran once he saw the way this administration not only turned its back on allies, but also would contribute to bombing to get them out of office. amazing thing. then being part of the judiciary committee here in washington, some of us became very troubled that despite all of this substantive evidence, got a stack of it in my office, from that holyland trial, substantiating allegations at

least to the fifth circuit court of appeals that care and others should be named co-conspirators, this justice department chose not to prosecute anyone else. and once again, using the old tactic, well, the bush administration didn't prosecute them. they did stage one. they got the initial prosecutions and if those were successful, they intended to continue looking and pursuing all those who were implicated and could have cases proved, especially where there was substantial evidence, as there was with care and others. instead of prosecuting care and others, this administration -- and there's no question about this, despite the fussing and naysaying of once proud journalists of once proud

journalistic television networks , once proud newspapers, despite their failure to do their homework, despite their taking the easy road and simply asking opinions, well, what do you think about these terrible accusations and getting opinions, instead of digging and looking at the facts and presenting the facts, they sought opinions on things that people have not even read. they asked opinions about letters that people had not read. they asked opinions about general tenor, without actually showing the tenor of the letters. and unform some are always willing to respond without having read or reviewed the

matter before them being questioned about. but the facts are the facts. on the white house's own web site, last time i checked, there were references to the president ajid, who has written a letter, wanting condemnation of me and others who simply set out factual resuscitations to five different departments and asked the question, would you please investigate to see the extent of muslim brotherhood influence in this administration, in this department. we know there is muslim brotherhood influence, the question is how much. when the white house's own web

site were carrying compliments spoken by the number two person in our national security agency, complimenting ajid about the prayers he has given inside the white house in the celebration after ramadan. for the wonderful introduction he gave the number two person in the national security agency. and within the f.b.i. itself and took until 2009 for the f.b.i. to finally write a letter saying, gee, because of all this evidence that came out about care supporting terrorism in the holyland foundation trial in 2008, we have suspended our relationship with them.

at one place in the letter they referred to it as a partner, a partnership. so, there's no question this muslim brotherhood influence in this administration. anybody that says otherwise will likely find they will end up at the lowest level of neilson ratings in 20 years, because they aren't doing their homework. it's much easier to bash the messenger than it is to actually do homework. i know there are lots of budget cuts and tough for some entities and networks to do the research they once did when they were popular, but nptless, the truth is the truth, the facts are facts. the question is just how

extensive is the influence of the muslim brotherhood in this administration. we know the aclu and care have been demanding documentation of what traineys have been taught in our -- traineys have been taught. making freedom of information requests, trying to get information on what we are training our undercover agents, if any we have. but apparently this administration has no problem outing people we have undercover in the dangerous situations. at least with information inside the administration has leaked somebody who has information about tv inner workings of this

administration has leaked classified information. remains to be found out who it is. but somebody who has access, deserves the most important classified inner workings. and yet you have care and aclu demanding information about how the information was used to train these people. and if you ever disclose that. and i understand our justice department was trying to provide that information to care and aclu and if they provide all of the information on exactly how people have been undercover and radical islamic situations, it will be easy for those individuals to be outed and killed. because they'll know what their training is and they will -- and their approach to radical islam

and know methods and means of our undercover, our intelligence and yet this administration continues to cater to such requests, to accommodate complaints by care. care individuals can call the white house as apparently was written up in material in the media after last august. they were complaining about people who were going to give seminars to hundreds of law enforcement individuals. care makes one call, as was reported at least, makes a call to the white house. the seminar gets canceled. hundreds of law enforcement individuals do not end up being taught about the inner workings about those who want to kill and destroy our way of life and care is happy. just how far does the influence

of the muslim brotherhood go? we know from the evidence in the holyland foundation trial that isna is the largest muslim brotherhood front in america. and this president -- president obama has had president ajid in the state department to listen to a speech he gave trying upstage president neat netanyahu. the report was that ajid was giving him advice on what he was to say. israel has agreed to go to -- go back to the 1967 boundary lines so you can include that in your speech. who knows. we wanted an inspector general

to find out in the state department, intelligence department, in the departments, just how extensive is the muslim brotherhood influence. we know it's there. most americans know it's there. there are still that drink the kool-aid and refuse to acknowledge the facts that have been proven in court. . they're facts that andrew mccarthy has pointed out in the 1993 world trade center bombings, we proved to new york jurors, beyond a reasonable doubt, that there was a radical islamic presence in america and they did want to take over our country, that there is a civilization jihad. some want to do it radically with violence, some want to take over from inside our own

governmental and civic organizations and are working toward that goal. there's no question about so many of these things. the question is how far does the influence go? that's what we need to know. so, we ask the question and we have attorney general holder before our committee last year and he was asked the question, did you or did politics have any consideration in the refusal to prosecute any o'named co-conspirators about which the fifth circuit said there's plenty of evidence to support their involvement, was there political involvement in that decision? we didn't know it at the time but sense then, more recently in the last couple of months, we've got the attorney general

testifying before our committee that there are political aspects to justice from his standpoint which flies in the fiss of everything that any good law school, any legitimate law school, has ever taught its law students. justice is supposed to be blind. that's why the statue that depicts justice holding the scales of justice is blinded, is wearing a blindfold, because justice is blind if it's real justice and if justice is not blind, if we're looking to whom it is and politically what the consequences will be, it's not justice. there are no political aspects to justice or it's not true justice. and i'm afraid that's where we've gotten in this so-called -- that's what we've gotten in the so-called justice department. we had the attorney general say, no, no, no, there was no political involvement.

i said to my friend trent frank, gee, the u.s. attorney handling that, i believe it was quoted in the newspaper, i believe the dallas news, that he said there was no politics involved in those dismissals because there was just no case there. there was no evidence to support it. well i happen to have read that "dallas morning news" report an i happened to have read the quotes from that acting u.s. attorney. and yes he did say that, no, it was a local decision, politics weren't involved. but that is not what he said, and he noted the evidence wasn't there, which is entirely different, since he was not under penalty of potential jail when he spoke to a reporter, that he was under potential penalty of jail if you ever commit a fraud upon a court by not giving all the information or misrepresenting to a judge

or tricking a judge by not being truthful, you can be looking at jail time. lawyers before me knew that. they tnt care about politics, but i cared about truth. i cared about it in the bush administration, so when we found out that there were abuses of the national security letter, i was furious. i grilled the bush director of the f.b.i. at that time, i was surprised there weren't more democrats as outraged as i was. because that was so offensive. it was so improper. it was so unjust. i don't care who the president is. justice is justice. and for our attorney general to act like, oh, no, no, there wasn't anything. and then i know, i read the pleadings of that u.s. attorney where he said there's plenty of evidence to support the name of care and isna and others being here. he convinced the fifth circuit

of the same thing system of he was either lying to the courts or he was lying to the paper about the evidence. and now, after having had the head of the civil rights of this justice department, mr. perez, testify that, gee, there was no political aspect in the decision not to pursue the new black panther party for what they did at a polling place in pennsylvania, and now we have found out this week, human events has a great article, federal judge rules employees interfered with a voter intimidation case. that was august 2, posted at 2:12 p.m. there's one from the american spectator, about the fact that thomas perez, assistant attorney general, is one of the most destructive forces against the rule of law in this nation, including being the man

responsible for the deform o.j. dropping charges against the new black panthers for voter intimidation in philadelphia in the last presidential election. it goes on to talk about he appeared before the house of representatives subcommittee on the constitution, a subcommittee of the jew deshary committee. it gos on to say that he questioned attorney general perez over his commitment to first amendment rights. his comments from an article, perez was quoted as warmly embracing the proposal of islamist advocates in a meeting at george washington university, among them a request for a legal deck are la ration that u.s. citizens' criticism of islam constitutes racial discrimination, unquote. we know that one of the 10-year goal of -- goals of the muslim brotherhood is to subvert the u.s. constitution to sharia law and once they convince enough

people that it should be a crime to burn a koran or criticize islam, then they have -- they can check that box. i believe in the bible. my eternity is based on belief in the bible but i also know in the u.s. constitution you can burn a bible. i took a pledge and was willing to lay down my life, my four years in the army, for our flag. but i also understand it's constitutional to burn a flagment and yet we have people in this injustice department saying they want to make it a crime to criticize islam. no wonder they're purging their training materials, eliminating references to islam.

as one intelligence officer of this government told me, we are blinding our ability to see our enemy. and that can and will have dangerous consequences if we don't turn it around. mr. speaker, in wrapping up here before we take our -- take our august recess that isn't a recess because we'll be in pro form ma session, most republicans are willing to come back. all we have to know is that the senate is finally doing something to pass some of the jobs bills we have sent their way. and in fairness, what we need is republican leadership that will say, ok, senate, you want this bill, then you are going to have to pass some of the economic and jobs bills that will get this economy going but we haven't used the leverage republicans in the house have and unfortunately with all the talk about agreing to another

c.r., it just means we will have finished out two years without cutting anything significant as we promised two years ago after the biggest wave election in american history since the 1930's. it's time for americans to make clear, you want congress to do what was promised when the congressmen got elected. and if we do that, it doesn't matter how on instructive the senate is, it will make it even more clear if we use our leverage and say, hey, people, the government shut down on weekends, you seem to live ok. let's get become to just essential needs of the government, allow shutdown of other things, pass my bill that will make sure our mill tear gets paid in a shutdown, we know social security recipients will still get their payments in the event of a shutdown and keep the government shut down

until everybody understands we're going to start living within our means as a congress like all americans have to do or declare bankruptcy. they have to do that, we can't afford to declare bankruptcy. we must get this government under control and i hope that constituents across the country during this month will make that clear and will replace the senators who are standing in the way of getting this economy going, then we'll replace the administration who is creating injustice and allowing radical islamic jihaddists to have any influence at all. secretary of homeland security sat there and told me that it had absolutely not happened that a member of a terrorist organization had been allowed -- allowed in the white house, sec days later, she not only admits to the senate that it did happen after she told me absolutely not but she said,

oh, but it's ok, we vetted him three times. it's time for a government that's more considerate and concerned about providing for the common defense, of getting out of the way and letting the economy grow, than they are about playing favorites, playing to their cronies, and play against religious freedom. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas for a motion. mr. fwomeert: i move that we do now hereby adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is adopted. accordingly the house stands

>> this i20 minutes. ♪

♪ >> thank you. ♪ >> thank you. thank you. thank you. tell me if they make funny faces behind my back. thank you. thank you for having me. i am glad to be back here. i love coming here in the winter. i went to school here until fifth grade. the good news is the office is not open today so no one can check my grades. i won the marbles championship out there. rule number 12 was my fourth grade class. do not telling secrets. i was a champion. i was the champion of marbles.

outside was my fifth grade class. we did all of our assemblies. they still do that. i remember being in the room the day the hostages came home from iran. we had a really good president of the name of ronald reagan. that is what we are working on getting back, a good president in the white house. thank you for having me. i see members of my family here. i have more family and los vegas then i do in miami. they have more kids, too. we are doing our part. we have had four. where is my wife? she is here somewhere. there she is.

i told you are open to elementary school. she had doubts. i am on a to be here on behalf of mitt romney as well as the other wonderful candidates. one of the reasons we have this event is to encourage people to get involved and engaged. i do not want to take a lot of time. this election is important. i hope to encourage you to get involved. understand who we are and why we are different. for much of human history, and even longer, almost everyone on earth with pork. -- poor. every society was a handful of rich people and everyone at work for them. people suffered. it was the era of the haves and have-nots. that began to change about two

centuries ago. it is because of this place called america, founded on a powerful principle. every human being on the earth -- it did not matter what you did. every person had certain rights given to them by god. chief among those white was the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of that happiness. what is happiness? happiness is the ability to do what you want to do for a living, the opportunity to razor raise your children.

our political rights get all of the press. the right to go to a church you want to go to. our economic liberties are just as important they are real. you should have the freedom to pursue happiness. economic happiness is the ability to earn your accomplishment. earn them by opening of a business so you can fill the accomplishment of building something. if you build a business, you build a business. keep clapping while i drank some water. that is enough. if you are here to heckle me, please wait another five minutes. that gives me a chance to drink my water. the opportunity to work

somewhere and get paid to do something you love for a living. that is economic happiness. that was the story of many of my family members. you could provide a living for your family in a better future for your children. why is that possible? what kind of system makes that possible? it is possible where the economy is not run by government. this idea has worked so well for 200 years. the result is the most perverse -- a prosperous nation ever. despite its success, there have been voices in america that do not believe in it. usually it is an economist, professor, or someone with too much time on the hands. for the first time in my

lifetime, it happens to be the president of the united states. he does not believe in the free enterprise system and does not understand it. he thinks the free enterprise system means the only way to get rich is by making someone else for. the only way to succeed is by making other people less successful. if you are successful at building a business, it is because you got lucky and you owe it to the government and others to share your success. he does not believe in the free enterprise system. he does not understand it. that is why this election is more than just a campaign between two men. it is two different visions of the world. mitt romney believes in the free

enterprise system because he had seen it. it is all of our candidates. dean believes that. his opponents do not. the colonel believes that. his opponents do not. in local office he will find people that believe in the free enterprise system. they know how it works. they understand how prosperity is created. it is straightforward. someone make some money. they use it to start a new business or to grow that new business. they make more money for themselves, or they hire people to work for them, who make money. these people spend the money, helping others provide for their

families. the cycle continues. that is how prosperity works. what is the role of government? the government has a role to play. its role is to write rules of the conduct, what is legal and what is not. so everyone understands the rules of the game. its job is to provide for infrastructure, the roads, the national security. you cannot grow economically if we are being debated -- invaded. that is the role of government. that is its proper role. also, provide for as a safety net. not as a way of life, but as a

way for helping those who cannot help themselves or for those who are trying. this allows them to get back on their feet and try again. what happened? what happens when people decide they want government to do more than not? the rules become unpredictable. they get crazy. the government changes rules depending on what they think is right. it becomes a role of men people are afraid to invest in countries like that. they have no idea what the rules will be tomorrow. no one asked them what the rule should be. those types of government are expensive. taxes have to go up. we have to have taxes. you have to be able to pay for the things the government does. when taxes get too high, people think they cannot keep that much

money. we will not open that business. we will not grow that business. the government gets its money from somewhere. usually, it is from the private sector. every dollar that goes to the government is a dollar that is unavailable to start or grow a business. it also means less money people have in their pockets to spend. i do not know and you country that should understand that better than this one. this community depends heavily on tourism. tourism does not happen unless people have money. every dollar you take out of their pocket in a tax is a dollar they can not been here. there is certain things the government has to do. if you go too far to fund the big government experiment, that is money they cannot spend here.

that hurts everyone. that is hurting you right now. that is what mitt romney understands. that is what this election is about. there is a choice between two different views of the role of government in america. it matters. that is what you are working for. you are working to replace somebody with someone, like mitt romney, who understands what has made a sparse -- prospers in the past as well as in the future. do you know who else police and in the free enterprise system? i do. coming in today, i remember why i believe in it so much.

in 1956, my parents came to this country where they could perceive their happiness. 25 years later, in search of that, they came here out west, where my dad was a bartender in my mom was a maid. my parents did not make enough money to save for their retirements for our college fund. they made enough to buy as a secure home. we were encouraged to drain. -- to dream. we knew if we worked hard, the dreams that were impossible for them would be possible for us. those dreams bring me here today. i come back to the place where those dreams took flight. i am reminded of the special obligations those like us have to those who have those dreams. now is not the time to abandon the american dream. now is not the time to go back

to the ways of the old world were become like those countries that people come here to get away from. now is not the time to embrace the policies that trapped people in poverty. now is the time to remember why the american medical works and why we are different, and why we are better than the rest of the world. do not ever be a free to say that. the reason we are better than the rest of the world is because we are the rest of the world. america is not a race. america is not a religion. america is people from all over the world to came here to build in this new land a light that was impossible on their own.

that is why here in this country, the poor, the tired, cain. they could not succeed in their own country. they came here to build america, the greatest nation in the history of all mankind. that is our common heritage. those of us to have lived it one generation ago had a special obligation to defend it. there are people that have the job my parents once had. there are people who lived the life i once loveed. they deserve the same america my

parents and our grandparents came to us. that is the chance we have in this election. i do a lot of speeches. very few of them have made me as nervous as this one. that was not the kind of heckler i was expecting, but thank you for the water. i love you. thank you for having me. run for the supreme court?

what elementary did you go to , sir? so much of what i learned to be true, and i understand how truly special this country is. it is something we should never apologize for. it did not become that way by accident, by luck, or by chance. it became that way because people chose that route. they believe in the power of the individual. they believe what a free people in pursuit of happiness can do together. they believe in a country where it was not your government that get your rights. it is the job to protect the

rights that god has given you. those ideas made this country. they also changed the world. no matter where you live on this planet, there is someone like you that was able to accomplish here but they never would have in the nation other on birth. but remind you of how important the american miracle is for all the world. two decades ago, the american medical lived in my house. they made if the mission of their lives to give us a chance to do everything they could not. that miracle is in other houses. in this community, a bartender can open doors for

the children is an issue of this election. we need to embrace the things that made us great, or become like everyone else. no matter how fearful we are, because times are tough. when times are tough, and your house is worth less than they once were, those are the times that those who ask us to abandon the principles of te eir head.ear th that has never worked anywhere. everywhere we have tried it, it has not made us more prosperous. every country that has tried it has become more pork. now is not the times to go

backwards. beat what you're going to was decided by who your parents were. embrace the things that make us different. that is what november is giving us a chance to do. that is what you are working for. up and down the ballot, across the country, and race after race. those that ask you to apply the policies that will make us like everyone else. you will decide those elections in your willingness to work and make a difference. i promise to do my part if you will do yours. thank you. thank you. >> friday, a conversation with republican governors that have been mentioned as possible running mates from mitt romney. they discuss a variety of issues facing the country. the aspen institute hosted a

forum with the governors of south carolina, louisiana, new jersey, virginia, and wisconsin. friday, at 8:00 p.m. eastern. ohio republican senator robb portman has been mentioned as a possible running mate for mitt romney. he campaigned for romney on monday, telling supporters that pennsylvania would be in the red cone for mitt romney. obama won the state in 2008. this portion of the event is 10 minutes, due to technical difficulties. >> when the president pushed his health care bill through, he said a few passes, it will be great. i will keep their current health care. he says it will be cheaper.

he said the average cost for an american family will be $2,500 less for health care premiums if you push this through. we learned last week from a non- partisan group in congress that 500 more. probably fill that in your family budget. i talk to small business owners that say one reason they cannot create jobs is because health care cost keep going up. it is difficult for them to provide health care for their employees. they are looking for ways to bring people on, but they cannot because of health care. this law has not made it easier. it has made it harder for our families, small businesses, and for our budget deficit.

it is $1 trillion. and the president says, look at my economic record, i hope people will look at it. they will find out they did not work. it is no wonder. the president is out of touch. he said the private sector is doing fine. i asked small-business owners if they are happy that the government built their business. i almost felt run out of the room when i said that. it is a joke. i am kidding. the presence of the private sector is fine. he also said, all we need to do is take your tax dollars, send them to washington d.c., have washington d.c. take a cut, borrow more from places like china, and send it back to the states so that the commonwealth can create more public sector

jobs in pennsylvania. that is the solution to our economic problems. does that make sense to you? it does not make sense to any americans. the private sector creates jobs. if the government would have created jobs, we would have been doing fine under the stimulus. it did not work. we have created the greatest economy on earth. we have created a beacon of hope for the rest of the world. we did it with hard work. we did it with small business owners. one woman i met said my husband and i started a music business. it had two employees. we are struggling. my husband says, is keeping a small-business owner because you can choose which 16 hours to work per day. the president says, if you have

a business, -- someone else did. the speech was about the government building it. those small businesses should be paying more taxes. the government really built it. that did not make a whole lot of sense to the people i spoke with. it doesn't make sense to me. when the president said that, he did not build the business. someone else did. i thought about all of the small business owners i know in cincinnati. i thought about my father. my father took a risk. he was a salesman for a big company. he gave it up to start his own business. he borrowed money from my mother's on to. that is risky. he could not get it from the bank. he had no record of starting a business, but he believed in himself.

he believed in america. he believed his dream could be accomplished. he hired five people. my mother was a bookkeeper. they lost money for several years. my uncle began to wonder. they persevered. he created a nice business. he did it through hard work and sweat. he worked seven days per week. this is what is happening across america. the president is telling those people, you did not do it. we should be holding those people up. we should tell them we are -- they are the backbone of our economy. we respect them. we love what they do for our country. if you look at every recession we have had in this country, there is always a recovery. we are living through the

weakest recovery since the great depression. think about that. if you look at it closely, it was not the big businesses that lead us out of recessions. it tends to be the small businesses. the people willing to take a risk. this administration is going the opposite direction. they are telling the people if they work hard, you'll get the reward you deserve. we will raise your taxes, increased health care costs, increase the regulatory burden you face. i got stories about the regulatory burden from small businesses. the government is making it harder to create jobs. we need to turn that around. we need to give small businesses a break. we talked about the epa, we talked about osha, and

regulations that make it difficult for farmers to make ends meet. it is harder across our country to create opportunity. the jobs we need to lift people up and give them the dignity because of the government. not that the garment is helping, but the regulations make it harder. the unpredictability, the regulations, the higher taxes. this is not how we turn things around. let me tell you why i am optimistic. we have been here before. america did go through a great depression. we went through a couple great world wars. we always come out on top. because of the hard work of the american people. we trust the people, not the government to get us out of this. that is the difference in this

election. we can do it again. we have a candidate on the republican side who gets it. he is from the private sector. he took a risk, started a business, created a lot of jobs. not just a couple dozen jobs, but over 100,000 jobs in his businesses. he knows what the role of the government is. he knows what it takes. we need people like that in government. do you agree? the people say, can he lead in washington? absolutely, he can because he is a business person. that is what you do in business.

and in the executive branch with no leadership, things do not get done. we need to reform our tax code. we need the regulatory relief. we need to build our own natural resources in this country to create jobs. [applause] we need to get away from our dangerous dependency on foreign oil. we can do that with leadership. we need somebody willing to step up and say we have to take on this debt and deficit because it is immoral for future generations. it is impacting our opportunity to create opportunities today. mitt romney is that man. he is that leader. he will do that. [applause] he had the experience, he has the background, and he has the

policy plans to actually change america in a positive way by showing the leadership we so desperately need. during the election in 2008, barack obama went around pennsylvania and ohio, both states he won, and he had an interesting message. he would put his hands together and say we need to put america together. to solve the problems. i would ask you if you would talk to the folks who voted for president, -- president obama, the fact the economic record has been a failure, and say to them -- do you think he is brought the country together? or you think he has divided our country using class warfare and the notion -- notion that it would divide the country between democrats, liberals, republicans, conservatives. we need a president who understands not is how to create

private sector jobs and how to get the regulatory burden off business, who is committed to tax reform and understands the need for us to create our own resources right here but it president who really have the record in the experience and the public policy plans to bring people together and solve problems. you look at mitt romney's background. he goes to the olympics, it is mired in scandal and debt. what does he do? turns it around. it is about working together, bringing people together to solve the problems. the private sector we talked about his successes. the governor of massachusetts. they do not call it massachusetts for nothing. it has a 85% democrat legislator let heat -- yet he cut taxes 19 times, working with them. he starts out with a budget deficit at $3 billion, turned a round into a surplus in the rainy day fund of $2 billion. that is the kind of leadership we want. someone who can bring people together and solve problems. [applause]

so again, i got a feeling pennsylvania is going to be in the red this year. you will see the whole commonwealth red starting here in lancaster county. and it will be because in 2008, we made a mistake. america gave the ball to barack obama because he promised he was going to turn things around. he promised to bring people together to solve the problems. we gave him the ball and he fumbled the ball. it is now time to give the ball to mitt romney. to take this country forward to meet the promise of america. he can do it. our destiny can still be great. this country -- this century can be the american century but we need leadership, new policies. ladies and gentlemen, to keep helping me to insure mitt romney is in a position to lead our great country. thank you. god bless you. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national

cable satellite corp. 2012] >> friday, a conversation with republican governors that are possible running mates for mitt romney. they discussed a variety of issues facing their states in their country. the aspen institute posted a former -- a forum with bobby jindal of louisiana, bob mcdonnell of virginia, and scott walker, wisconsin. he conceded friday starting at 8:00 eastern here on c-span-- friday startingit at 8:00 eastern europe c-span. mr. pawlenty was on the campaign trail in north carolina last saturday. he spoke with parents at the polar ice house. this is 40 minutes. >> how you doing? thank you for taking the time to be here. appreciate it. good to see you. thank you for coming.

[laughter] how are you? thank you for being part of this. good to se you. got some kids here? right over there? hockey players? good to see you. good to meet you. it is an honor to be here. thank you for taking time out of your busy weekend. i know it is a beautiful summer day and you can be lots of different places with your time with civic and other commitments that you have to be preachy being a part of the round table here today. the point of this is i am here on behalf of the romney for president campaign, to make sure we travel the country and meet

firsthand the people will have concerns and ideas about how we can get america on better track and on a better path forward. these are valuable discussions for us. it is less of an opportunity for me to talk and more of an opportunity for you to talk and share with your concerns or ideas are or observations about the economy or other issues. the beginning gauger in informal dialogue. -- then we can engage in informal dialogue. i would ask each of you to go round the table and introduce yourself. if you are comfortable sharing a little bit about your background and any ideas or concerns that you have for the country, for north carolina, that i can take a report back to governor romney and his team as he tries to a dance his message and win this election. -- tries to advance his message and win this election. one of the main issues we have to address is getting this economy moving again. governor romney has a tremendous background in the private sector.

he spent most of his life not in washington, d.c, but the private sector, trying to grow businesses, get investment, get jobs moving at the companies he was involved with. but also somebody i think who has a strong commit to getting the private sector moving. not just the government sector moving. we have seen under president obama a big commitment to government centered approaches. we need to get the private economy moving. we need to respect and appreciate in encourage private enterprise. governor romney has cited and i could not agree more -- president obama had his chance and it is not really working. not as political rhetoric but based on the numbers. 40 consecutive months of over 8% unemployment in the country. one of the long as streaks of the level of delegate unemployment in the nation's modern history. i know it is even harder here in north carolina so it makes it more challenging for people here. we have the lowest rate of business formations in nearly 30

years in the country which obviously contributed to the fact that the economy is not growing. the gdp numbers came out yesterday. and another anemic set of numbers, showing almost no growth. we have people who are 23 million of our fellow citizens, who are either out of work, looking for work or have given up looking for work. 23 million adult americans. so it is really challenging. it is not just about statistics and numbers. you i am sure have seen people are no people or are in this position yourself of having lost a job or being underemployed or have a loved one are somebody who cannot find a job or is in a difficult economic circumstances. for me, my background is i grew up in a meat packing town. my father was a truck driver for a large portion of his life. my mother for much of her life was a homemaker. when those big plants shut down in my home town, a massive job

last and economic dislocation, i saw as a young boy with this means to a neighborhood, families. my mom died when i was in 10th grade. my father left it up for a while not long after that. in early chapter of my life, i experienced some of this firsthand. those of the kind of worries that the people have. be here -- we hear what people's hopes and dreams are. people are focused on belie have a job? will i be able to take care of my family? belie take my kids to college and pay for it? will i be able to pay my mortgage? we need actual results of policies that work. that is not what is happening under president obama. he gives great teleprompter speeches but those words did not put gas in sarcastic. they do not pay the mortgage. his speeches do not pay college tuition bills. they do not pay the health insurance premium.

americans who are hurting need more the speeches, they need results. that is what we are tying -- trying to articulate. governor romney has a better way. president obama has had his chance. it did not work. now we need somebody in there who is committed and knows how to get this country moving again. but and with that and go around the table and maybe he would be so bold as to start. i know it is a little intimidating with the cameras here. but if he could speak little loudly. maybe if somebody would turn the microphone your way. if you're not comfortable sharing, you can take a pass but if you are, go ahead. >> my name is michael and i am a native of north carolina." appeared theory went to unc chapel hill. -- grew up here. went to unc chapel hill. i have three children. one of my biggest concerns is this area of the country has had a lot of job creation in the past 15 years due to the housing market.

that employed a lot of people. it created a ripple effect. a lot of people needed to do the loan documentation, praised the house. it really ribble about it created a lot of jobs and commerce. -- it really rippled out and it created a lot of jobs and commerce. i feel like we need a plan for the next 10 years on energy, infrastructure, exploration and all the things that can spawn off of that to get a lot of people back to work. dam it and start -- then we can start to work on some of hte harder issues. but i think we really need to have a good catalyst for the next 10, 15 years in a job -- in job creation during >> that is a great point. the difference between president obama thank governor romney on energy is striking. president obama has put more on drilling.

he shut down the expansion of the keystone pipeline. his epa and other regulatory arms have been a fairly hostile to certain forms of american energy. governor romney is saying let's do all of the above. but every piece of american energy we can to bring to the market. we have exciting opportunities if we are willing to go after it. one of those is we have tremendous amounts of shale oil and gas that three or five years ago, did not -- people did not understand how much we had. now there is enough natural gas within the territorial region of the united states to power the entire base load energy needs of the country by many experts estimates for 100 years or more. not to mention what we could do with natural gas on the vehicles and the like. so that is one example of many and yet you have the obama administration in many wage --

ways to try to slow down our stifle that process -- that process. we can get america to be one of the world's leading producers of energy again. have to be a low-cost provider of energy. we will get new investments, new jobs and more people working. it will stimulate the economy like you suggested. i thank you. that is a really good point. >> my name is tiffany. i also have three boys. 15, 12, and 9. >> say you are busy. [laughter] >>es i am very concerned because i have always loved america. and teaching myids abt that and everything. i find it very shat we have for the first time ever a president who i did not believe want america to stay the sovereign country in the world. i really feel like actions speak

louder than words and i think his actions, moving us to the socialist direction, i do not see that socialism has worked in other countries. so i am not sure. i'm frustrated watching blowhole process because -- watching the whole process because mitt romney obviously knows how to do it. he knows how to be successful and create jobs. i do not think taking away democracy and moving towards socialism is the answer. there are so many ridiculous a tax on money every day on the knees. i will love to see him buy back a little bit. -- i woudl love to see him fight back a little bit. >> herently who said if you hava business, you did not build that. then he said something else that was equally troubling --

somebody else did i had an acquaintance who runs a little small business where i that now and he said if i put -- i put a second mortgage on my house to start my business. i work 80 hours a week. obviously there are other factors but i am the main one who built this business. he was really not only just offended but troubled and really insulted by the president's comments. i think you got small business owners all over the country saying you have the president of the united states saying i did not built my business if i took out a loan, a second mortgage on my house -- hse. had a big dream. now he is a somebody else did that? it is out of sync with how most entrepreneurs and small business leaders think about it in. >> i think the unemployment being so high in staying so i under him is an indication that his approach does not work and his philosophy behind the

approach. thank you. >> hi, i'm nancy meyer. i was born and raised in ohio. we move down here 15 years ago. we both graduated from ohio state. >> did you come for a job? family? >> a job. now i am a stay at home mom but have a part-time job. we have two kids. 15 and 13. i think my biggest concern about things right now is just the -- getting government out of our allies. it is like every aspect of our lives has government control in some manner -- education. i think we need to shrink it. which hopefully the budget will shrink. have less.

>> there are about 6 million businesses in the country. most of the backbone of the economy is small and medium- sized businesses. if you talk to the people who start and on those businesses, they all say it a little different but they basically say the same thing if you listen carefully. the taxes are too high and it is too expensive, some say the regulations are too difficult, burdensome. others say health care costs are too high. others say the economy is too slow. what they all say basically the same thing, that the burdens of government on their business is discouraging them, starting to price them out of the market where they do not feel like they can take a more -- take more risk or deploy more capital or invest in their businesses more. that is what is happening in the economy. some of our democrat friends, including president obama, say

we are for jobs to. you cannot be protons and anti does this. -- you cannot be pro jobs and anit -- >> his comment about the government being responsible for the business, almost bragging about what i do not like government. >> thank you for sharing that. >> she is my wife, by the way. we are on the same pace. i'm bob meyer. i am in the commercial construction industry. we have been fighting the last three years just to stay where we are. we have to let some folks go. it is because of this overregulation. and big government. does not work. drives me nuts. my brother in law says the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results. government does not learn that

if you give them more money -- they did not spend anything wisely. getting them out of our lives and giving us more of our freedoms back is one of my biggest concerns. >> hi. my name is julie. i and the mom of 19-year old out there skating in addition to being a mom, i am an instructor at a local university. my professional field as special -- is special education. i am an advocate for people with disabilities. as i look at the future for my son and the people for which i advocate, i am so concerned about the affordable care act. i know we need to repeal it. that would be very good start. but i would like to see us replace it with a good plan. it president lonnie is creating

-- if president romney is creating this plan, what would it look like? >> i can give you some of the elements of what he is thinking about and if you have some ideas or observations that would be helpful, time in. everybody knows governor romney as opposed to the affordable care act. otherwise known as obamacare in some circles. obviously it takes government in our view and get it into health care in a level that is interested. it begins to represent a more inefficient government centric model instead of a individual or market oriented model. some of the things governor romney like to do in terms of appealing obamacare is have a real medical malpractice reform so that we do not have doctors -- they do a lot of things because they are afraid of getting sued. although it may not be as necessary medically as it could

be. number two, let's try to save our entitlement programs by reforming them. he has a proposal on how you reform and protect medicare and medicaid and get them on the pathway to financial solvency rather than in solvency. part of that includes pushing the medicare program with reasonable increases for inflation, back to the states. he also talked quietly about frank to get consumers in power in the marketplace. -- he also talked quit frane fry about getting consumers in power in the marketplace. trying to get good information in consumers' hands about price and quality and effectiveness. think it financial incentives to use this system wisely in the hands of the consumer. right now, i go to the doctor.

i get this thing in the mail called this is not a bill. then it says would buy at the bottom. i got -- my eyes go to what i know. i do not get anything that explains it beyond that. he talked about, it's fine -- if people need financial help, provided to the best of our ability. but let's put the hospital in the good -- the driving seat, rather than having the government dictate the scope of the services they need. do you have some suggestions? >> i was thinking that in turn will address the issue of the value of life. no one is going to evaluate child life more than their parents. the parent should be making the decision about care and treatment and ultimately what we are going to do for this precious individual. the thought of the government

making us -- making that decision is a concern. but the parents [inaudible] what's the government has programs with special needs children. i used to hear a lot of input from parents who used to say i appreciate the help but instead of saying you could use the number -- the money for this or that, whatever assistance you will give me, give it to me and let me decide how i can best use it to take care of my child as a parent. i think you would spend it pretty well or use it pretty well. >> -christine. i have three children. -- my name is christine. i have three children. i guess the thing that is

striking me in the last few months is that democratic party seems to be really quite opposite. it has gotten to the point where in a short amount of time, i cannot remember when the pivot was, but when it comes to our first amendment, freedom of speech, i have actually fell to -- felt intimidated to say yes, i am christian. and i believe that the traditional marriage. even just recently with the whole chick-fil-a bruh ha ha. >> i just had once down the street there. -- i just had lunch there down the street. >> i was disappointed we did not have any leadership on the republican side that step

forward. we had to wait days for bloomberg of all people to step forward and say time out. we do not give business based on someone's political religious views. i thought we had to wait three days? then i am saying think he may go michaelg -- than yok you bloomberg? i was really wishing that somebody in the republican party would have stepped forward. there seems to be a real lack of leadership. i'm hopeful. i am praying that if governor romney does win the election, that this -- we will be allowed to have civil debate in disagree with each other without feeling threatened or penalized. >> a profound observation.

you probably all know what she is referring to but as one example of this intimidation, you have the person who is principal at chick-fil-a who has a traditional view on his marriage and then you have government officials around the country including in chicago and boston saying explicitly we are going to deny you a land use permit based on your political views. now you have the police power of government intimidating and threatening people based on their free speech rights and their religious views. it is chilling. it is john dropping. -- it is draw dropping. i think people need to say no, we do not do that in the united states. we can have several disagreements but we do not use

the power of government to try to intimidate and retaliate against people for exercising their free-speech rights. that is outrageous. thank you for bringing it up. good news is that the chick-fil- a down the street did not look like their business was being impacted by this. a really important point. thank you. >> my name is jay. i am from clayton, north carolina. for the past two years, my family has been on the movement the government needs to be on and that is getting our household out of debt. we have embraced an incredible system and gotten to where the things that we wanted need -- the things that we need are what we pay for. the things we want, they have to wait. it is just ridiculous that the

government is, what is it, $4 billion a day that we go in more debt? it is insane that the government has to spend some much money. i am thinking not about myself of my children. my grandchildren and where they will be. what this country will be like in 20, 30 years. if we continue to spend at the rate we're going now and expect 10% of the people to pay for it. it is insane. there really has to be something put in place, be it a balanced budget amendment are something, has got to go into place where we can get back to being financially and fiscally responsible. but the good news is governor romney has a good track record on getting budgets and businesses in shape. the federal government needs it badly. the governor of massachusetts balanced every budget when he was there. inherited a deficit and left the

state in a positive financial position. to give you a quick math, for every dollar the federal government spends, they do not have 40 cents of it. so there are different numbers to throw a around but think about that. what if for every dollar he spend in your house, you did not have 40 cents of it. it is irresponsible, it is unsustainable. we need to stop it. president obama has made it worse. when he came to office, he made a bunch of promises and broke almost all of them. he said he was going to cut the deficit in half in his first term. he did not cut it in half. he tripled it, or nearly so. you can set aside the rhetoric of one side or the other and look at it -- look at it from the perspective of eighth grade math. the math does not work anymore. this may be the last election where we have a chance to get this thing turned around, short of an implosion of a dramatic

nature. we have to get governor romney in there. the current president cannot, will not do it. >> we have lived here about seven years. we came from new jersey. we can now for a better life. one of the concerns i am faced with is, i will go back to small-business. i am looking to open a small business. i have put it on hold because i am concerned about how obama's tax plan will interfere with my business and how the health care plan will interfere. he says he is for helping small business. as somebody out there looking and trying to get things done, it is not what they tell you it is. it is difficult to try to do

this. i do not think he is pro- business. we need somebody who will be focused on a pro-business. >> are you waiting were still working on it? >> it is all in place. it is a matter of pulling the trigger. i am very concerned. the regulatory issues are a major factor for me. i will be bogged down so much with that i will not be able to grow the business. >> do you have something you want to add? >> we have twins, 14-year-old boys. they will go to high school next year. you worry about what will happen to them. are there going to be jobs? how much taxes will they have to pay? what will they have to handle?

it worries me with things like that. >> i have two children, one in high school. you tell them things we learned and things we believe in like if you work hard and study hard and do your best and play by the rules, there will be opportunities for you. sometimes i worry about if president obama gets elected if that will ring true. we have almost half of the high school and college graduates that cannot find work or are dramatically under employed. we make promises to our children about the american dream. we want to make sure it remains open. we have graduates that cannot find work or are under employed, as a parent it makes you feel like we have to find a way to keep that promise to our kids.

>> when i worked for 30 years. you make money. you want to move forward and get promoted. it makes you feel like you are evil because you make money. i am proud of what i have accomplished. according to obama we are evil. because we give our kids a good life. >> you explain it well. there is a limit to how much people can be kicked in the shins before they say i am discouraged and maybe it is now worth it. we want people to enjoy their retirement but we do not want entrepreneurs to say it is too hard. it is not worth the risk. >> we have been here for about 15 years. we came down from a virginia looking for a lower cost of living.

ims software engineer. -- a ibm a software engineer. -- i am a software engineer. i am concerned about jobs and the debt. there is something more fundamental that concerns me, and that is the expansive powers of the executive branch that seems to be growing. i teach my doctors about checks and balances. they are in place so that one branch of government does not have too much power. i see an executive branch picking and choosing what laws to enforce be it any of the area's -- how does that sustained over time? i cannot imagine a system where the next president says there will enforce a different set of laws. what is the sustainability with powers going into the executive branch?

look at the budget. we pass a huge budget and say dole them out as you see fit. the executive branch is not representative, congress is. how do we pull back in the powers of the executive branch? >> you may have heard the president repealed some welfare reform. we did welfare reform in the 1990's. really good success and the progress of emphasizing work and getting people to train for work. he has relaxed standards, not by going to the congress but by issuing a direct. i think the answer is a couple of things. when congress passes laws we need members of congress who do not outsourced details to the bureaucracy. tell your members of congress to expect a loss that mean what they say and do not leave latitude for the bureaucracy to fill in. we should have a president that

respects checks and balances and if there is an overstepping in that regard, there is the court system, which is the third check and balance. i share your concern. if you have too much done, it starts to erode the checks and balances of the three institutional -- >> good point. it would help if they wrote them in more detail. members of congress do not go into the details so they say department of xyz, go to abc and we will check back and later. they have a lot of hands on their -- they have a lot of time on their hands. >> my name is debbie. i have been a home school mom for 10 years and i work for a start up that is bringing a free market solution to health care.

i am excited to be a part of that. my concern is similar. the economy and jobs running on a limited government. the government reaching into areas it does not have the constitutional authority to do so and to get involved in. in the name of solving problems are making things better, the mortgage industry or college education. so i guess as i look down the road again looking at the future and my kids and their kids, what does that mean for their freedoms and opportunities? what cost is it laying at their feet? >> history is often a good guide of how things might work out. when ec countries that have taken their government on spending or overreach on other ways, history shows what happens. parts of europe and you see governments that overspent,

spent in manners that were not sustainable. have government involvements to such a degree that it becomes stifling and discouraging to private enterprise and all the things you need. if you can see where they are heading if we do not get this back on track. the good news is the american people are pretty wise. if you ask them if the country is in the right direction, the majority say no. the wisdom shines through if we make sure we can do our work and how gov. romney get his message out and presented to the people. i think it is their conclusion governor mitt romney will have a better vision. the president does not have the country on the right direction. >> how are we doing on time? where is the time keeper? they are out skating. i want to go skating in a few minutes. did anybody bring their skates?

will you go in your shorts? >> absolutely. >> i checked my luggage for the sole purpose of bringing a pair of skates with me. how did the canes to this year? not so good. it is up and down. the wild had a tough year, too, but we grabbed a couple of free agents. are the panthers looking all right? who will stand out as an up and comers? >> cam newton. >> we had adrian petersen but he blew out his knee. everybody is keeping an eye out on how he is looking. jumping back to the economy, you have a high unemployment rate, over 9%. it is hard. i am sure you have felt the effects of that.

if we can get the country moving, that will help north carolina as well. >> one of the things that was encouraging -- 1 romney came out and said on day one, i will do this and i will do that. i think people want to hear more of that. it is enough for me that he is not obama. for some people who are afraid of any change want to know specifically what his plan is. will he repeal executive orders that obama sits down and -- obama has all but admitted he cannot work with anybody from a different party. that would be great if he is a king. and our country where we have a two party system. for he to be able to sit down

and write a few executive orders and not be challenged, what would president romney do on the one? >> that is a great question. i will give you some details. i know it is not just about words but specific action items. on the tax reform -- scott is giving me the -- >> i am sorry. [laughter] >> on tax reform, cut the corporate tax rate down to 25%. it detects a consistent with taxes for businesses with the rest of the businesses -- countries and the world. 20% across the board. most small businesses pay their taxes on the proceeds from small business on their individual

returns. their partnerships or there are limited liability corporations or the like. we have ansure american energy policy aggressive vector's after the huge opportunity we have an american energy including shell oil and shell gas. north dakota, ohio and lots of other places. go after it aggressively and have a regulatory framework that protects consumers safety and picks up the tempo and ability to get the reserve. repeal obamacare bar replace the one of the lines we talked about earlier. replace the executive orders on other topics, as many as appropriate. then we have to do a number of other things. we have a situation involving the current president that is unfair with respect to the relationship between unions and

businesses. he stacked it with people who are political operatives are politically biased. you saw when boeing wanted to build a new facility in south carolina, he had the government tried to interfere and tell a private business they could not expand their business within the united states had a different location. another example of government over reach. that we have regulatory things we need to do. they are slow and expensive and heavy and confusing and contradictory. the whole system -- the tempo needs to be modernized. it needs to be something that encourages investment and job growth and business start-ups and makes it more difficult. i know that is a quick spin through but that is some of the checklist items we have to get down. we are getting the puck here. if you want to go skating, i would love to see you up there.

thank you for taking the time out of your weekend. thank you for the hospitality in your lovely state. i appreciate it. [applause] >> coming up, more from potential vice president and its. next we hear from paul ryan. he speaks to a crowd in the wisconsin. after that, senator john thune from virginia. a letter mitt romney speaks in in golden, colorado. friday on c-span, a conversation with republican governors that have been mentioned as possible running mates. they sit down to discuss a variety of issues. the aspen institute posted a forum with chris christie of new jersey, niki haley of south carolina,bobby jindal and scott

walker. you can see it friday starting at 8:00 eastern on c-span. >> paul ryan, chairman of the budget committee has been mentioned as a potential vice president running mate. he campaign for gov. romney at a campaign rally outside of the romney for president campaign bus in wisconsin. his remarks are 20 minutes. >> >> thank you. i want to read a quote to you. let me read a " if i could. tell me if you know who this came from. if you have a business and you did not bill that, somebody else made it happen. is anybody know where that came from? that is july 13. people like to cling to their

guns and religion. every now and then, president drops his veil. he is not so coy about his ideology and he lets us know what he thinks. it is that kind of thinking that leads to the kind of government we are getting. it is that kind of thinking that is behind the idea -- idea of a government driven economy striving for a government centered society. it is no wonder we have the worst economic recovery since world war ii. it is no wonder we have the biggest deficits since world war two. it is no wonder we have the worst jobs quarter in two years. it is no wonder one out of six people are in poverty today. the highest rates in a generation. do you know what? it does not have to be this way. help is on its way.

[applause] we have in the man we have nominated to be our standard bearer and mitt romney, a man who understands the idea of america. our rights to not come from government, they come from nature and god. look at the declaration of independence. we are built on investment, taking risk, caring for each other and our communities, the american idea of an opportune society. that is what the american system of limited government, risk- taking, community solving, free enterprise, the british system ever designed in the world. [applause] our country is so special it is done so many things for so many

people. it is under arrest. if we stay on the path we are on, a nation in debt, in doubt, and a decline, we see a future where our children have a lower standard of living than the one we got, severing the legacy of leaving the next generation better off. it does not have to be that way. all we have to do is take the great principles that built this country and made a great, apply it to the problems today and save america. that is what mitt romney is about. he knows what it takes to get the economy growing. the man in the white house -- i rest my case. here is the deal. we have had a lot in wisconsin thrown at us. we have lots of wisconsin -- elections in wisconsin. we are winning these elections

in wisconsin. come on. we are winning these. last summer they tried to take back our state legislature they failed. they tried to take the supreme court, they failed. they tried to recall our governor and they failed. [applause] on an june 5, we saved wisconsin. on november 6 wisconsin saves america. [applause] they have already conceded the state is up for grabs. we know what to do. we have just done it and we have to do it again. the reason we are doing this is because we have men and women of convictions going and doing what they said. we elected legislators to fix these problems once and for all. there is no person that better embodies the idea then the guy

standing behind me. [applause] the three of us are three does from oshkosh. we have seen what our state is capable of. we know we can turn it around. if we turn it around we can give this man a majority. we can have a president that can work and get it back on track. and we can have more people with courage and conviction like the man behind me. i am so proud to be working with this man. [cheers and applause] please join me in welcoming this man that -- our man from oshkosh, center ron johnson. [cheers and applause]

>> thank you. thank you. what paul said it is important. i am just a guy from oshkosh. that is what we need in this country. we need individuals who love america and who understand that america is in peril. its future hangs in the balance. you are the future. your kids of the future. it is utterly immoral and has to stop. you are the people that will stop -- what is right about coming out here, people we have seen time and time again.

i am seeing a lot more new faces. that is what is crucial. [applause] we need that. think about what you need to do. you need to talk to your friends, your family, your neighbors. every vote counts. you have more power than you can possibly a mansion. now it is time to put that into place. now it is time to exercise the power. we do have a phenomenal candid it. somebody who understands what made america great unlike the current occupant in the white house. paul had a couple of quotes. i have a couple of more. remember, the president said the

economy was doing fine. his policies are working. i do not think so. here is the most telling ". he said in five days we will fundamentally change the united states of america. we do not need to fundamentally change the nation. we have the greatest nation in the history of mankind that. we need to make sure president obama is a one-term president. [cheers and applause] i know that you will go out there and you will work hard to make sure mitt romney is the next president of the united states. [applause] get out there. god bless america. [cheers and applause]

♪

>> come on, let's go.

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>> believed in america. it believed in america. -- believe in america.

>> i do not know about you. are you ready to hire mitt romney, fire barack obama, and save america? we have an opportunity to do that. we have paved the way in wisconsin. paved the way for america. pave the way for liberty and freedom.

the constitution and what this country is all about. we will not let barack obama replace the philosophy of the founding fathers with the dreams of obama. we will not let him do that. we will not let barack obama import europe and then the white house. here is a news flash. europe does not work in that europe. europe will not work here. we are in a battle for freedom in this country. it is the same battle that founded this country. is the same battle that james madison reaffirmed in the bill of rights. it is the same battle that founded this party. here we are today in an america led by a president who unfortunately is an love with

the sound of his own voice. he is in love with the reflection in the mirror. what he is not in love we appreciate people of their word to run for office, governor like a campaign -- government like a campaign. this president promised to turn the economy around. he promised employment -- unemployment below 8%. he promised to cut the deficit in half. he has not done any of that. ladies and gentleman, a country that surrenders its sovereignty to its bondholders cannot guarantee prosperity or freedom to anybody. barack obama's priorities are not america prosperity's. -- party -- priorities.

when you compare a person like mitt romney, who has made a light of making promises and keeping them, to the king of promises -- there is no question which direction we need to take this country. i promise you this -- as chairman of this party, i know one thing we all have in common. we are not standing here because we're worried about the future of the republican party. we are here together because we are worried about the future of america. [applause] what we have here, myself excluded -- what we have here behind me is the future of america. we have people in wisconsin -- when you think about the wisconsin way, the wisconsin way is making promises, keeping

promises, and doing simple things like being a man of your word who runs for office, governs like he campaigned, our hero in southeastern wisconsin, ladies and gentlemen, paul ryan. [applause] >> thank you. i want to read a quote to you. a quote, if i could. tell me if you know who this came from. if you have got a business you did not build, somebody else made it happen. do you know where that came from? that is july 13. remember spread the wealth around, people like to cling to their guns and religion? every now and again, the president dropped his veil and lets us know what he thinks.

it is that kind of thinking that leads to the kind of government we are getting. it is that kind of thinking that is behind the idea of a government-driven economy striving for a government- centered society. it is no wonder that we have the worst economic recovery since world war ii. it is no wonder we have the biggest deficit since world war ii. it is no wonder we have the worst jobs in two years. it is no wonder one out of six people are in poverty today, the highest rate in a generation. do you know what? it does not have to be this way. help is on its way. [applause] we have, in the man we have

nominated to be our standard- bearer -- mitt romney is a man who understands the idea of america. our rights do not come from government. they come from nature and got -- look at the declaration of independence. we are still working hard, taking risks, taking care of our families, caring for each other in our communities -- the american idea of an opportunity society. that is what made the american system of limited government, risk-taking, community sullivan, free enterprise -- the greatest system in the world. [applause] our country is so special. it has done so many things for so many people. it is under arrest. we see that if we stay on the path we are on, a nation under

doubt, despair, and declined. a future where our children have a lower living standard than ours, severing the great legacy of leaving the next generation better off. this does not have to be that way. all we have to do is take the great principles that built this country and apply them to the problems of today to save america. that is what romney is about. he understands what for takes to create jobs, youtuber businesses, to get the economy going. the man in the white house -- i rest my case. here's the deal. we have had a lot in wisconsin. we have lots of elections here in wisconsin. but do you know what? we are winning the elections in wisconsin. [applause] we're winning them. last summer they then tried to take back our state legislature -- a bank failed.

they tried to take the supreme court -- they failed. they tried to recall a courageous governor -- they failed. [applause] on june 5, we save wisconsin. on november 6, wisconsin saves america. [applause] they have already conceded that the state is up for grabs. we know what to do. we know how to do it. we have got to do it again. the reason we are doing this in wisconsin is because we have men and women of conviction going to office and doing what they said. we elected citizens to go -- there is no person who better embodies that idea than the man from oshkosh, the man standing behind me. [applause] the three of us are just three-

this -- guys -- and we have seen with our state is capable of. we know we can turn around. we can give this man a majority. we can have a president of the united states so we can work together and have more people of courage and conviction like the man behind me. i am so proud to be working with this man. i am so proud that he is in the united states senate. [applause] we have one more ahead of us. do not forget that. join me in welcoming this man, center ron johnson. >> friday, on c-span -- a conversation with republican governors mentioned as possible running mates for medtronic. they sat down to discuss a variety of issues facing the states and the countries.

the aspen institute hosted a forum with chris christie of new jersey, nikki staley -- nikki haley of south carolina, bobby jindal of louisiana, and scott walker of wisconsin. friday, on c-span. >> senator john thune of south dakota has been mentioned as a potential running mate of mitt romney. he spoke at the mitt romney office in springfield, virginia. his remarks are under 10 minutes. [applause] >> thank you. thanks for running. you will win. you will win because of the work of a lot of these folks here. thank you for the chance to be with you. it has been pointed out already, but the reason i'm here today is because virginia is ground zero in this presidential campaign and all these other campaigns up

and down the ballot this year. it will be critical that we get the vote out. everything you do here -- every phone call you make, which i know is tedious and monotonous work sometimes -- it will get us one step closer to making sure mitt romney is the next president of the united states. [applause] and it cannot happen soon enough. you have all heard it discussed, but peak was talking about this. when you have got 1.5% economic growth, which is what they told us this morning was the last quarter of growth -- a very sluggish growth -- over 40 months of unemployment over 8%. since this president took office, fuel prices have nearly doubled, health care costs have gone up 23%, college tuition costs of gone up 25%, the number of people on food stamps has gone up 44% and the federal debt has gone up 49% in the three and

a half years this president has been in office. we cannot change the direction of this country soon enough. unfortunately, what this president is doing, as was mentioned by pete -- he has not met with his jobs council in 191 days. you would think that with the state of the economy and unemployment in this country, the president would be focused like a laser on getting the economy growing and putting the country back to work. in the 190 days he has not met with the jobs council, he has held 119 fund-raisers and has played 10 rounds of golf. he has his priorities straight, but his priorities are a lot more about the election than the economy and the jobs of hard working americans. we need to change direction for this country. the only way we will do that is to elect somebody at the presidential level who knows how to lead this country, knows how

to fix the economy, knows how to put americans back to work. i endorse mitt romney last fall before the iowa caucuses. i campaigned with him across iowa because i believe profoundly that he has the skill set, the experience, and the know-how to turn this country around, get the economy growing, putting americans back to work. the reason i know that is that he has a record of doing it. he took distressed companies when he was a private businessman, turned them around, create jobs. he took the state of massachusetts that was swimming in red ink and turned it around and left it with a surplus and reduce taxes and cut the unemployment down and more people back to work. he took the olympics and turned that around. he has a record of taking tough situations and turning them around. we're a tough situation. it will take presidential leadership. you cannot do big things in washington d.c. unless you have presidential leadership.

i am one of 535 members of congress. even though there are people in congress to have good ideas about how to fix things, you have to have a leader in the white house who is willing to go to work and lead the american people, lead the united states congress on a pathway to get this country back on the right track. i am very excited about this election. it is a critical election year. the consequences could not be greater. the stakes could not be higher. that is why we need every single person doing everything they possibly can between now and november to make sure we turnout dollar votes on election day. as peak mentioned, -- turn out all our votes on election day. i lost my first election by 524 votes. i lost my senate race by a narrow margin. i cannot tell you how many people came to me afterwards and said, if i known -- if i had known it was going to be that close, i would have voted. i am not sure what it wanted to

admit that, but the point is that every single vote counts. there is no substitute for getting people out on election day, getting their orders out. that is what you are about, identifying those voters, figuring out who they are, hopefully persuading those undecided voters, people who have not made up their minds yet to get them to vote the right way in november. these types of activities, the blocking and tackling and executing of small things in campaigns that makes a difference. everybody can do their part. not everybody's name is on the ballot, but everybody can do their part to set a different course for the future of this country built around the fundamental concept and principle of freedom instead of the fundamental principle and concept of this administration, which is government. this is a choice in this election between whether we believe in the power of freedom or the power of government. this president and his

administration and his allies in congress have doubled down on growing government at the expense of the private economy. every single day the government gets bigger and we have more bureaucrats and more regulations and more taxes in washington, the american people have fewer and fewer freedoms. it is about freedom. that is what is at stake. it hangs in the balance. we can do our part to tip that balance in favor of freedom. whether it is pending in the yard signs or making phone calls or walking neighborhoods or contributing to the campaign, whatever you can do, i want to ask you to work as hard as you can between now and november. this is about the future of this country. there has never been a time in our nation's history -- pete is exactly right. every politician says in each election year that this is the most important election ever. we think is because we might be running for something. but if you look across this country, this is the most important election in a very long time.

i honestly believe that if we do not get it right this time, we are heading in a direction that will make us more like a western european social democracy and less like the exceptional, distinctive nation that our founders and the people in virginia had in mind when they created this great republic so many years ago. i am thankful to be here. i am thankful for what you are doing. i cannot thank you for your service to this great country -- all the veterans here today. we are very blessed because of the service and sacrifice of some americans who, every single day, put on their uniform and defend our interest here at home and around the world. that is also a stake. we have a president who i do not think understands really how to lead this country, not only when it comes to fixing the economy, but maintaining america's place in the world. we will change that in november when we elect mitt romney as the next president of the united states and when we elect george allen to the united states

senate and patrick murphy to the house of representatives. if we will give mitt romney an opportunity to the president, we have to make sure he has a teeny to work with in congress. that is wagging george -- 18 he can work within congress. giving us a majority in the senate and electing a quality candidate who shares your values like patrick murray will give us a team that can turn this country around, get people back to work, and make america great again. thank you bram much. god bless you. [applause] -- thank you very much. god bless you. [applause] >> when it comes to mitt romney 's choice for number two, we have a favorite son in virginia who is a really solid conservative with a proven track record and a great head of hair. if for some reason mitt romney does not select our favorite son, there might be somebody

else who fits that bill. thanks for all of your work. let's get back at it. thank you. [applause] >> friday, on c-span, a conversation with republican governors mentioned as possible running mates for medtronic. they sat down to discuss a variety of issues -- a format romney. they sat down to discuss a variety of issues. chris christie, nikki haley, bobby jindal, bob mcdonnell, and scott walker sat down. you can watch it on friday on c- span. >> the political parties are holding their platform hearings in advance of the summer conventions, with democrats voting next weekend on their final recommendations in detroit. in mid-august, republicans start their platform progress at tampa. coverage of the party conventions begins august 10 with the reform party in

philadelphia, followed by live coverage of the republican national convention, beginning monday august 27 from tampa, then at the democratic national convention from charlotte, n.c., starting some time to 3. >> tomorrow on "washington journal," bobby scott on virginia's importance in campaign 20 trough. both in the presidential race and the contentious senate race. a guest in the national association of manufacturers discusses the unemployment figures. and alternative ways economies are looking at growth to illustrate the economic state of the union. "washington journal," live at 7:00 a.m. on c-span. >> republican presidential candidate mitt romney held a rally about how to help the

middle-class and reduce the federal debt. he gave the president low marks for his first term. this was at the jefferson county fairgrounds in golden, colorado, the state where barack obama accepted nomination for president four years ago. this 30 minutes. -- is 30 minutes. >> thank you. what a colorado welcome. thank you so much. congressman, thank you for this generous words. it is great to have the -- attorney general here. we have a person running for congress right here. [applause] how about missy franklin?

is that something? [applause] that is really exciting. a colorado girl with a big part. i have met another colorado girl with a big part -- you do not know her, but she was involved in that terrible shooting in aru. she was hit by a bullet. -- in aurora. she was hit by bullets. the bullet went into her mouth and took out part of her jaw, but she is doing well. perhaps we can show how united we are with the tragedy of those people -- how much we care for them. [applause]

i am sure that you know this. this tragedy has impacted the community of aurora. i'm sure it has impacted the entire state. across the country, people are thinking about aurora and the lives that have been lost. we love you and pray for you in our hearts and prayers. i come today to talk about making things better. [applause] i'm going to start off with a bit of a report card. some of you have been handed a piece of paper here. if you have not gotten that, you will. i see people opening this up. you do not need to open it up yet. we will talk about that. ever since i was in elementary school, we had report cards. you saw on the report card how you were doing. when i was younger, it would

give you a, b, c, d, e, f. then they would say well or not so well. we got soft and the grating. i will be more straightforward. when the president was here is a candidate, accepting the nomination four years ago in colorado, he laid out the report card on which he hoped to be judged. in his speech he said look, i can tell you how we measure success and progress. he went through, one by one, the things he would use to about do it whether he was making progress. he said, number one, i can judge progress by how many people find a job. on that basis, we have not seen what we would have hoped to see. in fact, we have fewer jobs created. we have 23 million americans today that are out of work or underemployed. people who have pulled out of the workforce. 23 million.

of those technically employed -- unemployed by the bureau of labor statistics numbers, that is above 8%. he said he would hold unemployment below 8%. it has not been below 8% for 41 straight months. that is the longest period in american history. the president has been unsuccessful in his number one objective as laid out by his own measures. next, he said he will see how much it will take for a good mortgage. we see record numbers of foreclosures and home prices down. he said he will discuss -- judge success by average family income. that has gone down. the average family's income has gone down $4,000. you know the measure -- he said he will measure success by whether somebody who has a good idea will go out and started business. [laughter] i hope he understands that the

people that have a good idea and start a business are the ones that build the businesses. [applause] we are at a 30-year low in the number of business start-ups that have occurred. a 30-year low. perhaps because he thinks government is what helps build businesses as opposed to people. a little later, he said he would cut the deficit in half. [laughter] you know, it is sad and extraordinary to have somebody go out and make those promises and not be able to deliver. i have a report card here -- if you look where the errors are, it says jobs on the far left. it has a downward air, a red

arrow. fewer jobs under president obama. then there is unemployment -- that has gone up. that is a bad direction. then we have the unemployment rate -- that is in red. home prices have gone down. that is also in red. the budget deficit has gone up. that is in red. family income has gone down. all the measures he laid out have gone in the wrong direction. when i was elected governor to my state, i had the people i was traveling with i said, i want to to write down all the things i promised in my campaign. all the things i would like to try and do. i had a legislature that was 87% democrat. i knew that not all the things i wanted to do with it passed, but i got as many as i could pass. -- passed. i said to the people traveling with me, could you please write down all the promises i made on the campaign.

i added a few more in my inaugural speech. we ended up with 100 promises. halfway to my term as governor, i published all the promises and checked for the work -- which ones i had succeeded on, which once i had tried and could not get done, which ones i was working on. only two were once i had not been able to take far enough to put them down as a success. i have my own record -- you can see it here. [applause] got tolook at theon their, i do the great and today, which is very good. [laughter] i add jobs. we have added more jobs and the president has in the entire country. i added jobs. unemployment rate -- i brought down from 5.6 percent sign -- to

4.7%. budget deficit -- when i came in, there was a budget deficit. i closed it without raising taxes. [applause] finally, family income -- that also got better. in all those measures, he has a red arrow, i have a green arrow. on the right-hand side, if i am elected president, promises that i will get all those errors green again. -- my promise to you is that i will get all those arrows green again. [applause] the reason i took you through all that is that i know that in campaigns talk can be cheap. you can say anything. but results can be real expensive. look at this president -- he talked about a number of things he would do. i remember him speaking in front of the greek columns. you would not want to remind us of greece these days.

[applause] [laughter] it got a lot of people excited. a lot of people said, if he can do those things, that will be terrific. those people are disappointed. i know he will be able to speak eloquently and describe all the great things he is doing and what he will do, but look at the results. it has been a disappointment. his policies have not worked. they have not gotten america back to work. my policies will work, and i know that because they have worked in the past. i spent 25 years in the private sector. i understand how businesses decide to grow, where they shrink, why they go overseas, how they decide to go back here. i understand that small businesses create jobs in america. people create jobs, not government. i will get america working again. [applause]

thank you. i want to lay out for you specifically what i am going to do. five things. i want you to remember five things. we are up to five things, we can remember five things. we will get more jobs and more take-home pay. number one, we will have energy independence in this country. [applause] in eight years, in eight years, if i am president of the united states, my commitment is to get america and north america energy

independent. we will not have to buy any energy from anywhere else in the world. not from venezuela, not from the middle east. i will make a clear -- we will be energy independent. i know how to go about doing that. one thing we will do is really open up federal and private plans for drilling, oil, gas. [applause] we are also going to make sure we continue to use coal. we have a 250-year supply of coal. [applause] i like renewable. we will continue to see wind and solar as important parts of our energy resources. we will build that pipeline to bring oil in from canada. [applause] this is not just hope. [laughter]

we have looked place by place, area by area, to see how much growth we could see. what are we going to see? how could we get america and north america to a point where we are energy sufficient and do not need to buy oil from the middle east and venezuela and other places where we do not always have the world's best friends. you will see exactly how we get there. this is not just an idea. this is energy independence for north america. what it will do is not only put a lot of people to work in the energy sector, and that is terrific, but additionally, because we will have low-cost energy by taking advantage of resources by coal, natural gas, renewables -- we will see manufacturing come back. low-cost energy brings back manufacturing. [applause] that is number 1. when president obama was running for office, he said that if his

policies were put in place, energy prices would naturally skyrocket. you are already seeing that. for the average family, energy prices, your utility bill, has gone up $300. that is real money. for middle-class american families, $300 is a lot of money. this president has seen that go up. i do not want to see that happen. i want to make sure we keep energy costs down for families and manufacturers to bring jobs back. that is number 1, get us energy independence. number to, i want us to have the skills to succeed. i will no longer sit by and watch our schools be compared in the bottom quartile, the bottom third. we have the best schools in the world. [applause] for that to happen, one thing i

have laid out is that every child ought to have the chance to go to the school with a banking get the best education. every parent ought to have -- where they can get the best indication. every parent ought to have the choice. the federal powers to provide for education for the disadvantaged, those who are poor, those who are disabled -- all of those dollars will be tied to the student. the student can taken to the school of their choice. we will have more choice for america. [applause] getting our schools to be the top performers instead of in the bottom quartile, getting our schools to be better is not a mystery. i happen to be in a state where, before i can governor, republicans and democrats came together to fashion education reform proposals. i continued to push them further. we now have massachusetts ranked

number one of all 50 states in education. i understand what it takes because our schools can be better. number one is energy, number two is the schools -- we need. number 3 is trade that works for america. it is good for a nation like ours to trade with other nations, but if nations like china cheat, we have to stop that. [applause] i was with an attorney who represents a company that makes various industrial products like of valves and switches. he said that they have problems because people were calling them up with warranty problems. they went out to find the defective product -- sure enough, it had their brand name and serial number. pretend that they had not sold them to that company. -- it turned out that they had

not sold them. these were counterfeit goods coming in from china, where people were taking their brand name and putting their packaging around, selling them as if this is that company. this costs american jobs. this costs jobs here. people are packing into our computers and treating -- stealing trade secrets and technology. there are reports about this apple store they found in china , seven apple products, except it was not a real apple store and they were not real apple products. these practices kill american jobs. i will finally sit down with china and make sure that they understand that if they bank sheikh there will be consequences. we will not let them walk all over us -- if they cheat and there will be consequences. we will not let them walk over us and steal our jobs. [applause] by the way, when i citrate it works for america, it is not

just that. it is also opening up new places to sell products. we have next door to us an area with a mass of the fast-grown a class -- latin america. -- massively growing middle- class -- latin america. we have natural advantages. we will be able to be very effective in treating with latin america. we will create american jobs by opening up trade with latin america. i will create a zone called the reagan trade zone where nations have free trade and agree not to manipulate their currency and live by the loss of intellectual property. if we do that, you will see a third big step that will get this economy going. anergy, skills, trade -- number for, we have -- four, we have got to cut the deficit and get a balanced budget. [applause]

let me tell you, this is something -- mathematically, if he put the formula on the board, to cut the deficit you have three things you could do. you could have a faster-growing economy, because if the economy is growing faster and wages go up, people pay more taxes, that cuts the deficit. two, you could pay -- raise taxes. you could cut the deficit that way. three, you could cut back on spending. those are the ways to do it. b.c., the way i would do it is by -- the way i would do it is by raising spending and getting more growth.

-- cutting spending and getting more growth. that is the best way to cut our deficit. [applause] our friends across the aisle and the president have a different view. they think we should just raise taxes. that is the primary way we should cut the deficit. the problem is this -- taxes are connected to growth. when you raise taxes, you lower growth. the reason we are so opposed to raising taxes and that -- is not just because taxes for people and kill jobs. when you raise taxes, you slow down growth. your businesses start to grow. the market and raise taxes, the more they lower growth and they are unable to arrive at their budget o. it is like a dog chasing its tail. the right answer is to reduce government spending and create incentives to put people back to work to grow this economy.

[applause] number one, energy, number 2, skills, number 3, getting trade right for america, number for, balancing our budget, and number 5 -- we will champion small business. [applause] we want to help small businesses build themselves. we want the people who work in business to be successful and grow their enterprises. how will we do that? lowering taxes on small business so they can keep more of their money to grow. [applause] i am also going to make sure that the regulators and regulations on small businesses do not drown them in red tape

and keep them from growing. i will do something that is scaring a lot to small businesses -- we have to get rid of obamacare. [applause] in my view, there are a lot of things we have to do to make health care work better for americans. number one, it is very expensive. we have to get the cost of health care down. the president's plan does not bring down the cost of health care. actually, in his campaign he said he would reduce health insurance premiums for the average family by $2,500 by the

end of his first term. instead, they have gone up by $2,500 for the average family. he has not been able to do that job. i would focus on getting the health care costs down. we also need to make sure people with pre-existing conditions cannot be denied care. we want to make sure they can get the insurance the bennie. -- they need. [applause] we want people to be willing to become doctors and nurses. but we simply cannot afford trillions of dollars of more federal spending. it its more expensive as time goes on. we cannot afford to have bureaucrats tell us what kind of health care we can have. we cannot have it cut medicare by $500 billion. [applause] if we do those five things, if we get ourselves in a position

where we are able to do those five things. take it vantage of our energy, get our skills right -- i am talking about our kids and adults, programs to get people back to work. number 3, opening of trading keeping the cheaters from stealing american jobs. no. four, getting to a balanced budget by lowering our deficits. number 5, championing our businesses to make businesses grow and thrive. if we do those things, you will see this economy come roaring back. manufacturing, jobs of all kinds will come back. [applause] we get our economists. how many jobs will be created just by doing those things? i have more coming down the road, but just those things alone create 12 million new american jobs. [applause]

12 million jobs. this is the path of more jobs -- to more jobs and more take-home pay and a brighter future for you and your kids. i know that because i have seen it. i spent my life in the private sector. i know how jobs come and go. i worked in a state. i found a way to work across the aisle. we have got to have somebody who goes to washington, bury the hatchet, and says that they are good democrats and republicans who care about america. some work together to get growth again. [applause] this is important. getting america working -- this is not this is a stick. 23 million a map -- a statistic. 22 million americans are out of work or underemployed. this is a tragedy.

it is a moral failing for a country as successful and wealthy as ours to have policies that have kept people from going to work. i want to get people back at work, put them in good jobs with more take-home page. i care about this. i have met with people who are struggling as a result of the policies that have not worked to get america working again. i met with a young woman who had been out of work for two years. she was a marketing executive who had been out of work for two years. i met a woman in florida who had said, in order to pay for a second child, they took a second mortgage on their home. then homebodies collapsed. they i wonder if they can keep their -- home of values collapsed. they wonder if they can keep their home. i met a couple the plan on retiring and has a few duplexes they would use rental income from. now that will not happen because of what has happened in the housing market.

people are hurting and suffering. single moms in particular, raising kids, going to work -- it is harder to pay for gas and energy bills. having to get your kids to piled care -- kids to child care and work at the same time. people need help. people need an american presence will help people to get good jobs and better take-home page. i will get it done. [applause] you guys, you are each going to get that report card and told you about. you will see the details behind those five steps.

it will keep you up all night, reading those things. i want you to know this -- it 1 not look strange to you. as you read to the things i have just described and some of the points we will put in place to make those expected, you'll not think, this is a foreign concept, i have never heard of that. energy independence, skills to succeed, a trade that works for america, cutting the deficit, championing small business. that is as american as america can be. what we are talking about is letting americans build a better future for themselves, not expecting government to give them everything they want. [applause] government is always going to be there to make sure that those who cannot care for themselves can be cared for, and that we have a safety net for people who get in trouble. government is a keeper is spent in this, but if you want to get this economy going, -- a key

participant in this, but it went to get this economy going, after it will take the private sector. this is america. this is as american as the very first days when the founders of this country wrote the declaration of independence and said that our rights came from the creator, not government. [applause] among those rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. in this country, we are free to pursue happiness as the cheers. when we do pursue happiness as the jews, and if we are lucky enough to get that promotion --s we choose, lucky enough to get , we are we knowion that we built that and the

government did not. [applause] i cannot wait to get to washington. i cannot wait to get there. i am so excited about getting america working again. i am so excited about restoring the principles that made this nation the strongest in the world. i do not want to transform america into something it is not. i want to restore the principles that made us the hope of the world. we will do it together. we will bring back america. thank you so much. >> friday on c-span, a conversation with republican governors mentioned as possible running mate for medtronic. they sat down to discuss a variety of issues facing states and the country.

a forum with governor chris christie of new jersey, nikki haley of south carolina, bobby jindal of louisiana, bob mcdonnell of virginia, and scott walker of wisconsin. he conceded friday at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. -- you can see it friday at 8:00 p.m., on c-span. >> coming up, house members reprimanding bore richardson of california for misuse of her congressional office. then, house speaker john boehner and minority leader pelosi talk before the house recess. later, speeches by potential republican vice-presidential candidates. >> tomorrow, a virginia congressman bobby scott of virginia's importance in campaign 2012. , both in the presidential race and the contentious senate race. then, a guest from the national

association of manufacturers on the latest unemployment figures. then, director of the bureau of economic analysis talks about national economic growth is measured and alternative ways economists look at it to illustrate the economic state of the union. "washington journal," live at 7:00 a.m. on c-span. >> thursday, the house voted to reprimand laura richardson of california for violating federal law and house rules. members approved by a voice vote the bipartisan ethics committee report outlining seven violations against richardson, including the use of house resources for her own personal purposes and pressuring her capitol hill staff to work on her 2010 campaign. this debate from the house floor is 40 minutes. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognize >> as chairman of the committee on ethics, i rise in support of a resolution before us today which calls for a reprimand for

representative laura richardson of california. article 1 of the institution gives congress the responsibility for punishing members of our body for disorderly behavior. and in t house it is the committee on ethics, the only evenly divided committee made up of five democrats and five republicans and served by a completely nonpartisan professional staff that has been entrusted with the responsibility to enforce the rules of the housend recommend actions such as that before us today when a member or staff acts in a manner that violates the spirit of public trust. the obligation, therefore, falls to this committee to review those allegations that are a member has violated the ethical standards that the american people expect and deserve from those of us who are privileged enough to work

for them. men and women who wear the title of representative of this great nation. . this unfortunate story begins in october of 2010 when the committee during the 111th congress first began to receive complaints from several members of representative richardson's staff, both from the washington, d.c., and long beach, california, offices. that representative richardson required her staff to perform campaign work. the committee began an initial i choirry based on these complaints, as well as from media reports consistent with those complaints. on november 3, 2011, the committee, now in the 112th congress, empaneled an investigative subcommittee, appointed representative charles dent, of pennsylvania, and representative john yarmuth of kentucky to lead this bipartisan subcommittee in

reviewing the allegations against representative richardson. mr. bonner: joining mr. dent and mr. yarmuth were two members pulled from a pool of members who assist the committee when needed. in this case, they are representative rob bishop of utah and representative ben ray lujan of new mexico. these four members, two democrats, two republicans, served on the investigative subcommittee and over the past nine months led an extensive investigation, supported by the committee's dedicated, nonpartisan, professional staff deviling deep into this matter. -- deaf ving deep into this matter. -- deviling - delving deep into this matter. ultimately t subcommittee unanimously agreed to a stement of alleged violation against representative

richardson. mr. speaker, while the full committee report, the investigative subcommittee report, representative richardson's responsive vie, and all gibts were -- compibblets were filed by the ranking member -- exhibits re filed yesterday by the rank and me yesterday morning and have been available since that time here now in summary are the sen counts of violation. first, representative richardson violated the purpose law, title 31, section 1301 united states code by ing official resources of the house for campaign, political, personal, and other nonofficial purposes. second, representative richardson violated house rule 23 by retaining a full-time employee in her district office who did not perform duties economies rat with their compensation. third, representative richardson violatedouse rule 23 by behaving in a manner that

did not reflect credibly upon this house when she unlawfully used house resources for nonofficial purposes. fourth, representative richardson violed house rule 23 by behaving in a manner that did not reflect credibly upon the house when she improperly compelled members of her official staff to do campaign work. by threatening,ttempting to intimidate, directing, or otherwise pressuring them to do such work. fifth, representative richardson violated house rule 23 by behaving in a manner that cannot reflect credibly upon the house when she obstructed and attempted to obstruct the investigation of this committee into these allegations. sixth, representative richardson violated clause 2, the code of ethics for government service, by failing to uphold the laws and legal regulations discussed above and

being a party to them. seven, representative richardson violated house rule 23 by failing to abide by the letter and spirit of house and committee rules. mr. speaker, the record should note that any time a member is confronted with a statement of alleged violation, he or she has the option of challenging those allegations with a public hearing, of an add jude cantory subcommittee, or in the case of representative richardson, negotiating a resolution with the investigative subcommittee. in this instance representate richardson negotiated a resolution in which she admitted to all seven counts in a statement of alleged violation and has waived her rights to any additional process in this matter, including waiving her right to a hearing. representative richardson has

also agreed to accept a reprimand by the house as well as a $10,000 fine. to be paid out of personal funds to the u.s. treasury no later than december 1, 2012. in the history of our country, five members have been expelled from congress, 23 members have been censured, and eight members have been rrimanded. representative richardson negotiated and we recommend the sanction of reprimand. the investigative subcommittee unanimously adopted the report recommending a resolution including these terms to the full committee. and on july 31, 2012, the full committee adopted the resolution, the recommendations of the subcommittee. mr. speaker, at this time i'm pleased to yield to the distinguished ranking member of the ethics committee, ms. sanchez, f any comments she

may have. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california is recognized. ms. sanchez: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. sanchez: i want to tha the chairman for his work in this matter an he has addressed in his opening comments some important aspects of this particular matter. representative charles dent andon yarmuth, who led the investigative subcommittee, will speak in greater detail about the facts of this matter and how and why the committee reached the recommendation of sanctions that comes before the house today. i would like to briefly remind our colleagues why we are discussing this matter on the floor today and the importance of the ethics process to the integrity of the house. as noted before, the ethics committee is unique in that its membership is evenly divided between democrats and republicans. in that bipartisan spirit, i would like to cite the observations of two former chairmen of this committee abt the role the ethics committee and role it has in overseeing the house. a former republican chairman of

the committee once said that the ethics process is not a trial. instead it is a peer review process. in that same vain a former democratic chair of the committee said, the purpose of the ethics process is not punishment but accountability and vedibility. accountability for the respondent and credibility for the house itself. the committee followed these important principles in assessing the conduct of our colleague, representative laura richards. the recommendation for sanction we present to you today will ensure that representative richardson is held accountable for her conduct. it will also reaffirm the credibility of the house by demonstrating our commitment to upholding and enforcing the ethics standards that apply to all of us equally. how the committee conducted the investigation in this matter reinforces the goals of accountability and credibility. this matter was gun by the committee on its own initiative in the last congress. the members of the subcommittee did not prejudge the outcome of

this matter, nor did the members of the full committee. out of fairness to all house members and staff, it is important to point out that the mere fact that an individual is the subject of an investigation doesn't mean that a violation has actually occurred. the existence of an investigation doesn't reflect a judgment by the committee on the allegation. this is true whether the investigation has been publicly acknowledged by the committee or whether it remains confidential. the committee conducted a thorough and fair investigation. representative ricrdson was represented by counsel throughout the committee's investigation. she was provid with copies of materials gathered by the subcommittee. representative richardson also chose to waive certain procedural rights and steps in the investigative process that were available to her. the subcommittee listened to her views and interpretations of the facts of the investigation as well as appropriate sanctions. the full committee also took into account her views.

ultimately members of the house of both parties waived the allegations regarding representative richardson and based on the facts concluded that her convuct did not meet the ethical standards that apply to all of us in a number of respects. the cop clution was bipartisan and it was -- conclusion was bipartisan and it was unanimous. the misconduct in this matter was serious and in accordan with the house press departnt it merits a serious sanction of reprimand. representive richardson has agreed to accept the sanction of reprimand for her conduct. usually it is the committee's work in investigative matters like this one that receive public attention. but the committee's nonpartisan staff provides advice and education to members and staff every day. the report issued by the committee in this matter serves both purposes. if you have not already taken the opportunity to do so, i urge my colleagues and house staff to carefully read the committee's report. as the report says, the boundaries between our

official, political, and personal roles are sometimes clear and sometimes they are complicated. this matter illustrates the consequences of failing to heed those boundaries. finally, i wish to acknowledge and thank my colleagues, representative charlie dent and john yarmuth, rob bishop and ben ray lujan for their hard work on the investigative subcommittee. in addition, i want to thank all of our committee staff, although we are a bipartisan committee, we have a professional nonpartisan staff. all of the members of the committee appreciate their continuing hard work and service to the house. and with that, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves her time. the gentleman from alabama. mr. bonner: mr. speaker, i am now pleased to recognize the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. dent, who ably served as chairman of the investigative subcommittee for any comments he may have. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recoized. mr. dent: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank the gentleman

from alabama and the gentlelady from california for the leadership of the committee. as a member of the committee on ethics and as chairman of the investigative subcommittee or i.s.c.n. this matter, i do rise in support of the resolution which calls for the adoption of this committee's report and will serve as a reprimand of reprentative laura richardson for her conduct and will impose upon her a $10,000 fine. i do not relish sneaking -- speaking under these circumstances. this is indeed a solemn moment when the house must consider punishing one of its own members. as the chairman stated, over the last nine months as members of the investigative subcommittee, my colleagues, mr. yarmuth from kentucky, mr. bishop of utah, and mr. lujan of new mexico and i conducted an extensive investigation into the allegations regarding representative laura richardson. the subcommittee met on 20 occasions. in total the i.s.c. and aff

conducted 12 interviews during this phase of the inquiry. and reviewed the transcripts of 17 interviews conducted. during the committee's earlier phase of its inquiry. the subcommittee also reviewed thousands of pages of documents. i appreciate the hard work of each of the subcommittee members, especiay the ranking member, mr. yarmuth of kentucky, a pleasure to work with. i'd also like to thank the nonpartisan professional staff of the ethics committee who conducted the investigation with dignity and professionalism at all times. deborah, cliff, sharia, and brittany. at the conclusion of a thorough investigation, the subcommittee unanimously concluded that there was substantial reason to believe that representative richardson had violated the code of conduct and other laws, rules, and standards of conduct. the chairman outlined the seven counts in the statement of alleged violations which was unanimously adopted by the

investigative subcommittee. here's the summary of the findings of the report and why the committee recommends that representative richardson be reprimanded by the house for her conduct. as discussed fully in the investigative subcommittee report, fundamentally representative richardson failed to acknowledge the boundaries between the official and political realms. on page 59 of the i.s.c. report, it reads in part, quote, this case is aut boundaries. the house entrusses members with a -- entrusts members with a great deal of discretion over a large amount of taxpayer resources. this constructive trust requires members to delineate between the official, political, and the personal in ways that are times quite tidy and at others,angled. representative richardson did not acknowledge these boundaries. she acted to csume the resources endowed to her as a member for whatever purpose suited her whims at the moment, be they official acts, her

re-election, or personal needs. the i.s.c. discovered significant evidence suggesting that her wrongdoing continued even after learning of the committee was investigating her. if the committee fails to exact a steep price for such conduct, the message is one of a set of rules with a toothless enforcement mechanism, i close quote. representative richardson's misconduct included, first, she improperly compelled or coerced members of her staff to do campaign work. representative richardson required the staff of her district office in long beach, california, to perform campaign work, each week night from approximately 6:30 p.m. through 9:00 p.m., during at least the two months prior to the 2010 primary and general elections. this practice alone accounted for hundreds of house of conscripted campaign work by public servants who did not wish to perform it and may not be forced to do so.

she also required the district staff to perform addition at campaign work on the weekends. . she applied the same thing to our washington aff. second, representative richardson used official resources of the house for campaign and nonofficial purposes. while the report has a detailed eposition of many of the resources used by representative richardson, some of the iroper resources includes the use of staff time during the day to conduct campaign activities, repeated use of the house email system to conduct campaign system, use of the m.r.a. to lease a car which she parked at her house and used as her only mode of transportation in the district, regardless as to whether her destination waofficial, campaign or personal in nature.

third, representative richardson paid her deputy district director as a full-time house employee but for months before the 2010 elections she directed this employee to conduct campaign work for significant portion of each day. additionally, in 2011, nearly a year after representative richardson received notice of the coittee's investigation into misuse of house resources, representative richardson hired a new district director who, with representative richardson's knowledge and approval, spent much of his time performing campaign work. taken together, a theme emerges. representative richardson used her staff as she saw fit. the evidence does not demonstrate isolated incidences of compelled campaign work. if that were in fact the case we would not likely be here today. it demonstrates a constant effort by representative richardson to direct and

pressure her official employees to perform as much campaign work as possible, regardless of whether or not they wanted to volunteer. the environment representative richardson cultivated in her office was so poor that one of her employees, a detailee from the wounded warriors program, wrote in heretter of resignation, quote, as a service-connected disabled veteran, it is said to say i would rather be at war in afghanistan than work under people that are morally corrupt, closed quote. just as concerning as the substantive violations, if not more so was the significant evidence that representative richardson obstructed and attempted to obstruct the investigation. to fulfill our constitutional duties, the house must take action against any member who improperly attempts to frustrate a committee investigation. the investigative subcommiee concluded that representative richardson obstructed and attempted to obstruct the

investigation into these algations. specifically, representative richardson directed her staff to testify that fair campaign work had been voluntary, even in cases where staff had not volunteered. she also attempted to obstruct the committee's investigation by altering or destroying evidence. and finally, representative richardson obstructed the investigation by failing to provide materials responsive to a subpoena issued by the investigative subcommittee. the investigative subcommittee served representative richardson with that subpoena only after months had passed with representative richardson noring numerous requests from the i.s.e. that she provide responsive documents. even they the investigative subcommittee discovered documents that representative richardson had in her position, custody or control and nevertheless failed to produce. based on these conclusions, the investigative subcommittee found in a representative richardson committed seven different violations of the

code of official conduct or other laws, rules or standards ofonduct. throughout this process, representative richardson has been afforded every opportunity to defend herself. ultimately she initiated a negotiated resolution and admitted to the seven counts in the statement of alleged violation. she received a copy of the investigative subcommittee report five days prior to its adoption and was given an opportunity to provide her views to be considered by the committee. through her misconduct, representative laura richardson has violated the public trust. while no member wants to sit in judgment of a colleague, it is our duty to protect the integrity of the house. accordingly, on behalf of the committee, mr. speaker, i recommend that the house adopt the committee's unanimous report and that the report serve as a reprimand of representative laura richardson for her misconduct. i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california. ms. sanchez: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield to the gentleman from kentucky, a member of the ethics committee, for such time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. yarmuth: i thank the gentlewoman from california for yielding. as a member of the committee on ethics and as the ranking member of the investigative subcommittee in this matter, i rise in support of the resolution that calls for the adoption of this committee's report and will serve as a reprimand of representative richardson for her cduct and will impose upon her a $10,000 fine. after the investigative subcommittee unanimously concluded that there was substantial reason to believe that representative richardson had committed these violations, representative richardson initiated formal discussions regarding a negotiated resolution of her matter which would avoid a hearing. they engaged representative

richardson delaying hearings for more than a week to continue to negotiate. on july 18, 2012, representative richardson agreed to the terms of a negotiated resolution with the investigative subcommittee. as a part of that resolution, representative richardson has admitted to the seven counts in a statement of alleged violation. there is no longer a factual dispute regarding whether these violations have been proven. on july 16 -- july 26, 2012, the investigative subcommittee unanimously adopted its report and transmitted it to the full committee. representative richardson was provided a copy of the report and pursuant to the terms of the negotiated resolution she was given five days to submit her views. on july 25, 2012, representative richardson submitted her vws on the report in writing. those views were transmitted, along with the investigative subcommittee report, and considered by the full committee. as noted in the committee's report, the members were not

persuaded by representative richardson's submission. some of the terms in the negotiated resolution require action only by the ethics committee or representative richardson, but there are terms th have been brought before the house today, mr. speaker, and that is the need for the house to impose the punishment that all parties agree is an acceptable sanction for representative richardson's misconduct, a reprimand by the house of representatives and the imposition of the $10,000 fine. it is important for all members to understand that it is our responsibility to ensure that if our staffs wish to work on our campaigns, they must do it on their own time outside of their office and without the use of any official resources. a staffer is free to volunteer but a member cannot compel them to do so. mr. speaker, it became clear during the investigation that representative richardson did not believe that she was compelling her officiastaff to work on her campaign. it was equally clear after

hearing from members of her staff that they believe they were being compelled to do so. there are examples of representative richardson providing explicit directions for her staff to work on her campaign. there are more numerous examples when representative richardson's actions would lead any reonable staffer to believe they were required to do campaign work or face retribution. the way members treat and manage their staffs is often as important and significant an influence on employee understanding and actions as any words a member may use. ultimately, it is also the member's responsibility to know and manage what is being asked of their staff and what isn't. as this case shows, when these rules are broken members are not only responsible, they will be held accountable. mr. speaker, i once again support the approval of the ethic's committee report and the sanctions imposed on ms.

richardson and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california. ms. sanchez: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time i'd like to yield to the gentleman from coloro, the chairman of the congressional black caucus, for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from missouri is cognized for two minutes. mr. cleaver: thank you, mr. speaker. the committee has examined the case and reached the conclusion of the subject of the investigation as agreed to accept responsibility and in fact has affixed her name to the findings as a confirmation of such. and as a supporter and colleague of the subject of the investigation, i know that she regrets the violations and hopes the reprimand by the house will allow both her and the house to move on to address the great issues facing the nation.

mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentlelady from california. ms. sanchez: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves her time. the gentleman from alabama. mr. bonner: mr. speaker, i am prepared to close unless there are any other speakers that seek recognition. ms. sanchez: yes. mr. bonner: mr. speaker, i'm happy on the part of the committee to yield five minutes to representative richardson. the spear pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for five minutes. ms. richardson: thank you, mr. speaker. and i thank the ranking member for yielding time and it's my understanding that i would be provided additional time if needed. i had no desire or intent to prolong the debate on this report, but giv what has now been stated during this debate, which is contrary to what i understood to be agreed to, i want to make sure that my colleagues are are of several

issues critical to understanding the full ntext of this resolution. first, i want to assure my colleagues that contrary to the flammatory suggestions in the full committee report, i do take these findings very seriously and do accept the responsibility for the specific conduct set out in the statement of alleged violations. second, i set forth in my statement of views, including in the committee report, several significant concerns about the manner in which the committee conducted this investigation. i find it was interesting that the ranking member stated in the initial discussion that the subject of an investigation does not mean that an individual or a violation has occurred. well, in fact, in this investigation there is seven areas where i feel there has been a violation. prejudgment and improper influence of witnesses by the ethics committee, the very matter that the ranking member just mentioned. and i'll state for the record

what specifically was stated in those statement of views. during the rule 18-a inquiry at the outset of the committee's process, the committee counsel improperly influenced witness by telli them a year before any such decision had been made by the ethics committee. that the ethics committee was likely to impanel an investigative subcommittee. thereby clearly signaling that the ethics committee staff, at least already believed that i, representative richardson, was guilty of misconduct and influencedsequent staff testimony. for example, during the interview of angel, a key staff witness, ethics counsel told her it's completely up to the full committee on what they want to do. they make the final decision, which could be anything from dismiss the matter entirely to investigative by impaneling an investigative subcommittee. the counsel continued, if that happens, you will be called, you will be placed under oath, so that is the process.

chances are, this is important, chances are they are going to want to impanel. this is according to her transcript on number 34. committee counsel told former district director during his first interview that the chances are very likely that you are going to be interviewed again. if you are going to be interviewed again it will be under oath and it will be in front of members of the committee. my recommendations could be anywhere from dismiss the matter as being, you know, not a violation or impanel an investigative subcommittee or, i thk, you probably know which way at this pnt we're looking. eric's transcript page 83 and 84. committee counsel told the staffer the committee's choices in this matter are to dismiss the matter because the information received lacks merit or lacks sufficient information to believe a violation occurred. or we recommend that an investigative subcommittee be impaneled. you actually won't hear back from us until such time we

decide to interview you again. and the reason is that as i said, everything is done confidentialally. i pect we would not be panel and investigate a subcommittee until the beginning of the 112th congress because there is insufficient time left in this congress to do so. so more than likely it will be january before we impanel before doing -- by doing any additional work. and then finally, the committee counsel told kenneth miller during his first 18-a interview on november, 2010, that when i present the findings to the member, i will be giving them a full briefing on what i believe was violated, be it house rules, campaign law or federal criminal statutes. miller's testimony, page 47. . during these interviews with my staff, the committee attorneys made clear to staff witnesses that the ethics committee staff had already determined that i had cmitted violations at the

very first stages of the preliminary inquiry. committee staff explicitly requested that my staff not speak with my own counsel, a recognized form of prosecutorial misconduct, which effectively deprived me of opportunity to actually learn of the specific allegations against me until the final stages of this investigation. anoupsing the resolution had been negotiated, new and additional allegations appeared in the investigative subcommittee report, supported by attorney proofers that i still to this day haven'seen. the full committee report takes issues with my raising these concerns stating the resolution is a matter that i waived all my procedural rights and that the time rising for these objections has passed. these concerns should be taken seriously by the committee as i brought them forward. third but most importantly -- i request additional time. mr. bonner: mr. speaker, i would inquire of the gentlelady

from california how much additional time does she intend to seek? because as i have heard her comments, respectfully, it sounds like those were all contained in her response which was included in the report submitted to the house. how much additional time would she be seeking to conclude her comments? ms. richardson: is was told i would be allowed to continue to request additional time to complete my presentation. i would say approximately less than five minute mr. bonner: mr. speaker, i will grant the gentlelady five additional minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for an additional five minutes. ms. richardson: thank you, mr. chairman. the purpose of me standing today, i had no intentionsf speaking because i believe we had agreed to a certain format of what would have occurred, but the most important issue that i bring forward is the comments of mr. dent.

third, with respect to the account of charging obstruction of the committee investigation, i want to make clear that the statement of alleged violations does not assert anywhere that i deliberately failed to produce documents in response to requests for information and a subpoena as referenced in yesterday's public statement by the chair and ranking member. i did not admit to this conduct and i certainly do deny it and it's my understanding that the committee is aware that in fact it was not included. with respect to the conduct to which i did admit, my statement of views explains that my office calendars were adjusted retroactively but only to accurately reflect the history of the time worked by my deputy district director. discussion abouts that adjustment in fact took place before the committee commenced its inquiry. i did at the very beginning of the committee's preliminary inquiry suggest, and, mr.

chairman, i think this is very important, i acknowledge the statent of alleged violations . in fact much of which has been said today has been in fact true. but what i want to make emphatically clear and what i want to emphasize that i have never taken or threatened any action against any staffer who did not volunteer to work on my campaign. there is no doubt that a number of staff felt compelled or coerced to do so. that was not my intent and i deeply regret that this occurred. so i want to make sure, very clear to the committee, i'll repeat that statement. the is no doubt that a number of staff felt compelled or coced to do so, a that was not my intent, and i deeply do regret that this occurred. i never told any staff member that they would be out of a job if they did not work on the campaign and it is undisputed that i was not present at the staff meeting at which the time this statement was made.

with that context and these clarifications,r. speaker, i respectfully ask that my colleagues would refer as was stated by the committee that they would refer to my public reference to this matter, my statement of views which are included in the report. as i conclude, mr. chairman, and the ranking member, i look forward to the resolution of this matter. in fact, i sought the resolution of this matter for well over a year and i have agreed to the items that were set forwar however, some of the details that were set in the language that was said today was not what had been discussed. so for the record i wanted clarify that. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady may not reserve her time. the time is controlled by the gentleman from alabama. the gentlelady from california. ms. sanchez: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman is recognized. ms. sanchez: thank you, mr. speaker. i just feel it's important to point out several important issues that were raised by ms. richardson in her comments on the floor today. much of what she has stated on the floor today were included in the views that she filed after reviewing the report that was issued. she raised these points in her views of the report and i feel compelled to add that the committee took those views very seriously. and they responded and refuted those points in its response to her views, which is all included in the report which has been made publicly available. nothing that has been stated on the floor today by any member, but most especially mr. dent, is not -- are statements that are already includ in the report to which representative richardson has responded. again many of the points she raised we investigated, took very seriously, and included in

our response to those views. i don't think that there's anything further to add other than she has been given an opportunity to voice her concerns at every step of the process, and we have scrupulously adhered to a process to try to take her views and her suggestions into account. and we have arrived at the report which is unanimously agreed on by all of the committee members w that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time is reserved. gentleman from alabama. mr. bonner: mr. speaker, i'm prepared to close if the gentlelady, ranking member, has no further speakers. ms. sanchez: i have no further speakers. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentlelady yield back? ms. sanchez: i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back her time. the gentleman from alabama. mr. bonner: mr. speaker, in closing i want to once again thank members of the committee as well as members of the poo for their tremendous service that they render to this

institution. and on behalf of the entire house i want to again thank the nonpartisan professional committee staff for their extraordinary hard work and commitment to the house of representatives and to the american people that we all serve. as is often noted on the floor, especially during somber moments like this, public office is a public trust. and for the vast majority of members who have been honored with the opportunity, the privilege to serve in this the deem's house, there is an unspoken duty to hold ourself up to a higher standard. unfortunately, as representative richardson has admitted, she did not live up to that higher standard and as such she did a disservice to her staff, to her colagues, and while it is ultimately up to her constituents in california to be the final judge of her actions, i think it's safe to say she did a

disservice to the hardworking taxpayers from all corners of this country who expect and deserve more from their elected leaders. throughout the course of this matter, the investigative subcommittee heard desperate, sometimes emotional pleas for help from members of representative richardson's staff. representative dent has shared at least one of the stories with the body today. and even since word first broke yesterday of this resolion this morning, the committee has received calls from other staffers thanking us for bringing this matter tomorrow a public rureb. -- resolution. as a former hill staffer myself, i have great respect for those staffers who are willing to come to the ethics committee with their stories and heartfelt concerns. that is not an easy thing to do against a member of congress, particularly when that person claims to be your boss and you are made to feel that your job

is in jeopardy. at the end of the day, however, we must remember and never forget that the real people involved are the american people. i s particularly moved by one of ms. richardson's former staffers who testified this certainly should not be an example as to the way an elected official of this country should conduct themselves under a circumstance. mr. speaker, i am simply haunted by the statement of another staffer that mr. dent referenced, a lady who is part of the wounded warrior program, someone whwas willing to risk her life in service to her country, and ended up coming home a disabled veteran. she told the committee and it bears repeating, it is sad to say that i would rather be at war in afghanistan than work under people who are morally corrupt. mr. speaker, while some might prefer a harsher sentence,

perhaps even a few might think a reprimand is too severe, i urge my colleagues to support the unanimous recommendation of the only evenly divided committee in this house of representatives. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the previous question is ordered. the question is on adoption of the resolution. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the aye vs. it the resolution is adopte without ob >> tomorrow bobby scott on va's importance in the 2012 presidential race and a contingent senate race. and we talk about the latest unemployment numbers. the director of the bureau of

es theic analysis discuss thos economic state of the union. back of the foot of the bridge, i thought i was going to die. i thought i saw death. >> john lewis took part in a voting rights march on the route that would take him across abridged year ago -- a bridge. >> a man said this was an unlawful march and would not be allowed to continue. one of the young people walking beside me, and give me a moment to pray.

like john lewis, sunday at 8:00. >> john boehner said action on buckner disaster -- on the disaster assistance wilbill. the house passed the bill on the last day before its august recess. senate democrats did not act on this legislation. this is about 7 minutes. >> this is a weekly feeding of the alligators, and the goal is to feed the alligators without bit.ng i there is a bipartisan opposition reflected by the house vote

yesterday. experts agree, and today i am releasing a list of 88 economists who agree that the tax hikes are rowrong prescription. president obama said stopping a tax hike is the right thing to do for our economies. on december 9, up president obama urged congress to stop tax hikes, because they will have the effect of fewer jobs. on december 15, 2010, president obama said preventing the tax hikes is necessary to help our economy.

economic growth is even worse. he insists our struggling economy needs a tax increase on small businesses. i think this is nuts. as president obama pointed out just two years ago. his sequestered threatens our national security. last year the president insisted on these irresponsible cuts, promising to work on a bipartisan way so they would never threaten our national security. instead, he did a campaign trail, and he has been able in dealing with us on deficits and debt. now with his sequester about to hit the military, he is able on

national security. yesterday he sent a letter saying if the democrats want to send a bill, they will bring the house and back, and if they were to pass a set of reforms and cuts to replace the sequester, we would be happy to bring it back. only house republicans passed a plan to address those threats. the question now is wilson and democrats follow -- will senate democrats followed? i want to say how proud i am of our members and the work they have accomplished. this is still a democrat-run town, and there is a lot of progress that needs to be made, but our members made a real difference in changing the direction of the country. they have been relentlessly

focused on fixing our economy. washington democrats are hiding, desperately hoping to get through the fall electio without anyone noticing that when it comes to american's future they have no plan. republicans have been advancing real solutions on behalf of the american people, and we are the only ones that have addressed the tax hikes. i think the american people are paying attention, and i think they will remember. i have to other issues. earlier this year i made clear of effective oversight of the obama administration and its policies was critically important. today the energy and commerce committee released a court -- a report showing the red flags the white house ignored and the

intricate involvement of one of obama's donors. good night report also exposes the white house chief of -- the report also exposes him. the white house ignored this and failed to shut down, which cost the taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. i think they owe the taxpayers an explanation as to why they squandered hundreds of millions of dollars. let me say congratulations to a native of ohio who just one a gold medal in the female judo competition. she is the first american woman to ever win for judo, and she made her country proud today. congratulations. >> on the same day you are going

to have a vote in support of cleaning the tax code and lowering the rates, they are engaged in the ritual of annual tax expenditures, including a s?x credit for windmill' can you comment on that? >> one of the subcommittee chairman from my home state of ohio has been doing a series of hearings, looking at the so- called extenders. there are some 150 of these items, some with more merit than others, so i am anxiously awaiting a report about their findings in the hearings they have conducted.

>> don't you think it is a little ironic? >> we have heard there is the one in three chance the republicans are going into the august recess? >> i am feeling better. >> what you think the chances are now? >> our team is in good shape. our members have worked hard to regard we have candidates and challengers who have been through tough primaries -- our members have worked hard. we have candidates and challengers who have been through tough primaries. we have a lot of work, but our team is doing well. man compared thess polarization in politics to alcohol is them. sometimes you have to hit rock bottom. do you share that view, and did you try to talk him out of

living? >> stephen i have had several conversations. he is one of my dear friends. i did not want him to leave. members tend to reflect their constituents. the american people are probably more polarized right now than any time since i have been here, and we see that polarization reflected in the halls of congress, and even though both sides have sharply differing , our job iseologies commo to find a common ground, and there is common ground. the president and i got close to that last year, and i have made it clear my biggest disappointment is the president and i could not come to an agreement on a debt deal, but i think the members need to look to find common ground. a common ground that will help america moves in the right direction on behalf of the

people we represent. >> we are experiencing a drought conditions. you have not got them to pass a farm bill. when you say you are going to reform these programs, what to say to people who expect congress to get something done? 5 i have made it clear that the house is pretty divided. you have got the left concerned about reductions in the food stamp program. you have got the right to do not think the cuts go far enough on the food stamp programs to bring it into compliance with what the nothas been comm, and i have seen 218 votes in the middle to pass a farm bill. i do believe the action we take today will be responsible, and is one flaw in the bill from

five years ago that desperately needs to be addressed. >> can you talk about september on the calendar? do you think you will be able to get service reform? >> that will be a lot of conversations over the next five or six weeks in terms of what we will deal with than the limited time we have available in september. the postal legislation, there is a lot of conversation about it, but these missed payments are not going to affect the ability of the post office to do its job. >> you called the health and

human services mandates and unambiguous attack on religious freedom. now the republican house can prevent or not prevent funding for this. are you going to give the administration the money? >> i and other members of the house continue to work with the number of organizations concerned about this attack on religious liberty, and i think we need to disclose at this point -- i do not think we need to disclose at this point what our tactics will be, but this is a very serious issue in our society, and there are millions of americans who are unhappy, and we will continue to work with them. >> as you are going into recess, what is the message you want a caucus members to take as they go to the town hall, etc.?

>> henhouses the only one in town -- this is the only one in town. we are the ones who have taken action. where is the senate? we cannot have these tax hikes go in effect in january. when it comes to protecting our national security, the house has acted to make sure the defense set with -- defense sequestered now that goes into effect on january 2, we have made sure that has not happened. there will be hundreds of thousands of pink slips floating around in america because of these threatened offense cut -- defense cuts, yet where is the president on this? nowhere to be found. thanks. >> tomorrow on " the washington

journal -- tomorrow on "washington journal" bobby's scott. then the latest unemployment numbers. then a discussion on how our economic growth is measured and how the economists are looking at it to measure the state of the union. >> we have to be really clear about the many ways that we own ourselves and that we own our history and that we make decisions, that our history is vital and special. >> julianne malveaux writes

about politics and african- american history. agin depth, live at noon eastern on booktv. >> the house minority leader nancy pelosi said the legislation on agricultural disaster assistance is indicative of failure by house republicans to pass the farm bill. the house passed are relieved bellhop -- a relief bill. >> good morning. here we are this today before we leave for the august district work period. i think i see a sign of enthusiasm for the departure in this room.

no, you want to stay. we want to stay, too, because there is so much unfinished business. half of those focused on what is before us on the floor. during the bush years, we saw tax policy that allowed the greatest extraction of wealth from the middle class of to the highend -- up to the end, sucking on monday, the greatest policy in that regard .ntil now r yesterday we saw a tax cut that would give no $160,000 to people making over $1 million a year. that was on average, and at the same time, that same bill would on average increase taxes on the

middle class by around $1,000. a tax cut for the high end, $1,000 tax increase for the middle class. today we are doubling down by putting up the principles for tax policy. they are now doubling godown. in their proposal, millionaires will pay less, $331,000 for people making over $1 million. at the cost to the middle class. how many people in our country do you think are aware of this blueprint for extracting money

from the middle class and giving it to the wealthy in our country? you have to give the republicans credit. they are very clear. when they talk about tax cuts for the rich, they talk about rewarding success. what they do not talk about is the tax increase for the middle class, which is devastating for our country. the middle class is the backbone of our democracy. tax cuts for the middle class are spent. they inject demand into the economy. they create jobs. assuming the expiration of the bush tax cut reduces the deficit, index more uncertainty into the economy and certainly into the -- in jakks and more uncertainty into the economy and

certainly into the lives of the middle class -- injects more uncertainty into the economy and certainly into the lives of the middle east. in washington, d.c., the subject of tax policy is the end of the all of special interests. they see their fulfillment in tax breaks. it is really quite sad when you see they would rather get $38 billion in tax breaks to big oil and cut that much money from a telegram sent -- from pell grants. they are very open about that policy, but this focus is on that principle of how you go forward. $330,000 for people making over $1 million, and that happens every year. every year.

the romney tax plan is not that much different. they all reflect on the right and budget, which says tax breaks for the wealthiest, -- they all reflect on the button which says tax breaks for the wealthiest, seniors pay more for medicare, students pay more, and we give tax breaks to the high end, so if you ever want to know what is the central focus of the special interests in washington, d.c., you need to only look of the proposals of the republican party for the high end and special interests. ?ny questions amon you have one last night. >> you mentioned republicans have been very clear about what

the one with tax policy. isn't a converse the democrats have not laid down any specifics about where they would go to flatten the code? >> i completely disagree. the fact is we have been very clear. president obama has said it in his campaign. the democrats want to have fairness in our tax code that we want to go forward in having the tax cuts for those making over $250,000, to have those tax codes expire. gwhat that is is a tax cut for 100% of the american people. with that, to say when we go down that path and inject more

certainty into our economy, we go to the table, put everything on the table, and talk about tax fairness, tax simplification. you have to do it comprehensively. good >> what do we want to look at as part of that? >> i think it has been clear. i mentioned a tax break for big oil for example, but the fact is it is not just a question of asking about one or the other. it is working in a bipartisan way to have fairness in our code that meets the needs of fiscal soundness, of promoting growth, and strengthening the middle class in our country. that is a debate we have all been pleading for for a long time, and it is not with the set of principles that says this is how we are going to do it.

we are going to give a tax break to the wealthy. now let's talk fairness. i think if you are talking about being open to the proposals, within our own caucus, we have many suggestions, but this has to be bipartisan. it has to be nine partisan -- to be non-partisan, and it has to be fair and simplified. we have to do it, but we do not start with the basis of this kind of fun fairness. -- of on fairness -- unfairness. >> are you open to a one-you're sequestered, or does that have to be solved in of a broader context -- are you open to a one-year sequester, or do you have to be solved in a broader context? >> i am not aware of what they are doing. i am not aware of what the

senators are doing, and i do not know what a one-year fix is. they are talking about avoiding the cliffs. we do not even have to go that close to the end of the cliff. we can pass a tax cut today, send it to the president's desk. that says there is an assumption that high end to tax cuts will expire. that gives us almost a trillion dollars, and a trillion dollars is what the cost is of a sequester, so i would hope the ,andidates for the president' mitt romney, leadership in congress would weigh in and say you have to have growth to bring in revenue, and you have to make some tough decisions about

spending. we already have. we have already cut over one trillion dollars. we have already gone down that path, so we cannot go down that path again without having some revenue to come in. >> senator gramm is one republican saying we should have revenue, not in the form of any higher taxes, but tax expenditures he mentioned like a corporate jet. >> i am not going to respond to a smidgen of what one senator is saying. the fact is the republicans in the house of representatives have stood in the way of a middle income tax cut which frees one trillion dollars to avoid the sequester. i appreciate the intentions of anybody in paying attention to this, but the fact is it is not

just about closing loopholes so you have to do it in a comprehensive way. we have to make sure we have the revenues so we can fulfill our role on the public-private partnership that is job- creating, the education of our people, the safety of our community, the transportation system to get products and people to and from home and to market and the rest of that, so we have to look at -- i wrote on this, having nothing to do with politics, and that is why most people come to congress to say, how can we work together to find solutions? we all agree it is important to the success of our country, our competitiveness, and the fulfillment of our people that we educate the american people,

that we educate our children, that we have a moral obligation to create jobs, to have a policy to enable the private sector and sometimes public-private partnership to create jobs, that we want retirement security for our seniors, that we want to defend our country and to all if you don't believe there is a government role in any of the above, then you will not see any reason to pay for it. again, it is a budget issue, not just to revenue issue. but without the revenue, the starvation of our responsibilities to the american people will make us less competitive. we don accept that verdict. we intend to stay number one.

that is what we want tax policy that does not reward companies that send jobs overseas but tax policies that support the striking of the industrial, technological, and manufacturing base of our own company. we want a tax policy that has spareness and puts money in the pockets of the middle class so they can inject money into the economy so that when it is spent, it is job-creating. this is a bigger issue than one proposal or another here or there. it is something that should be done in a non-partisan way, and in a way that creates jobs and growth, reduces the deficit, and has fairness in our tax code >> are you supposing the one-year

extension of the livestock disaster? >> this legislation that will be on the floor today is indicative of the failure of this do nothing republican congress. we should have a farm bill. there is no secret that we are on the path to get a farm bill. it is not like it comes as a surprise to someone that did not know we need that. our economy needs us to have a farm bill. we would like to see a farm bill come to the floor that then can go to conference and they can resolve this. this is the responsibility we know we have. this is an indication reject the senate has gotten the job done in a bipartisan way. we should be able to pass the bill and how that goes to conference to do that. again, i see this as indicative of failure.

some of what is in it in terms of conservation issues that relate to california, for example, specialty crops are ignored in all of this. so i have doubts about this legislation. members will do what is in the interest of their community do, but make no mistake, we should be voting on a farm bill, not a drought bill. i have great sympathy for the needs of the cattlemen and those who are suffering from the drought. many of those people are in california as well, from my own golden state of california. but i think this bill is just another indication of we are doing something that does not meet the needs of the issue that our economy requires and we should be passing the farm bill.

>> local politicians in san francisco have remarked that the food chain chick-fil-a is not welcome in their cities because they came out in support of traditional marriage. mayor ed lee of san francisco said the closest chick-fil-a is 40 miles away and i strongly recommend they not try to come and closer. >> what i said was i am a kentucky fried chicken fan. that is where my loyalty lies. i am here to talk about tax policies of the united states of america, avoiding a budget cliff and the rest of that. i will leave those local matters to my locality. >> i believe in freedom of

expression. i believe that the mayor of san francisco has freedom of expression as well. who has not had one in a while? >> when republicans have talked about extending the top bracket and talk about job creation, yesterday chairman camp had his own graph on the floor and he said that if you don't extend it, you would lose 700,000 jobs and if you do it would create a million jobs in just the first year. i was wondering what you think the impact would be on job creation. >> let me just say that the evidence over on experience in the bush years indicates what the tax cut that the high in do. they increase the deficit. they do not create jobs. they do not create jobs. so for them to put forth the formula, a recipe for failure that we have already done -- we

did this in the bush years. it did not work. it produced record unemployment. record unemployment. so now they are saying perhaps we should all engaged in the luxury of amnesia. let's forget all of that and do it again, because our friends need these tax cuts. that is just not right. i think others have discredited that study that they put forth. the fact this, it is self evident. did not work before. president bush has one of the worst record of job creation of any president, and again, with such an addiction that he took us then that it would continue later because it was exacerbated by the financial crisis, the lack of supervision

in his administration as well. took us to a near depression. we don't want to go there again. again, and note that the headman's of the millionaires think that is the only way -- the handmaidens of the millionaires. trickling down as not a pleasant experience for the middle class. instead, money is extracted up to them. maybe one more question. >> all this should be non- partisan and bipartisan. but both sides really have a position where they think the other side it viewpoint is entirely wrong. the trickle down on the republican side, any sort of tax increase being an acceptable. how did take the politics out of that? >> it has been done.

again, experience shows that it has been done. president bush, president of lord herbert walker books that read my lips, no new taxes. that was his view of the economic situation of the time, that it would be ok. when he became president and saw how things had changed, let's say it that way, and you can read his own book and see what he said about agreeing to a compromise. i don't believe in trickle-down. they don't believe in percolate up. so now let's sit down at the table and figure this out. it does not mean we extend our philosophy. it means we recognize that we have to compromise. and recognizing the legitimate role of the public sector in job

creation and recognizing the very important role of the private sector and job creation, we have to promote growth, addressed the deficit, and we can do so in a bipartisan way, as was done at andrews air force base when president bush was president, as was done before, addressing some issues related to social security with president reagan and speaker o'neill. so we have experiences that show this. we also have an experience in the clinton administration in 1993 when the pastor economic package which requires an increase in taxes at the higher end. it was very unpopular, because nobody wants tax increases, but it was very necessary to address

the budget. what resulted was working with the private sector, over 20 million jobs were created. what also happened there was that in the last four clinton budgets, there was no deficit. there was either a surplus or just even. they took us on a trajectory of $5.6 billion on the way to surplus. president bush came in, tax cuts on the high-end, prescription drugs given away to the pharmaceutical industry, two unpaid for wars, and almost immediately with the tax cuts and the prescription drug bill -- don't take it from me, that is what the congressional budget office told us during the bush years, that took us on a trajectory of $5.6 billion the other way. a swing of $11 trillion. unheard of in our country's history. and now they want us to go down

that path again. it did not work then. there is so much more that is wrong with what is on the floor right now, but the clearest picture of what's it does to the middle class and to millionaires is stunning. it certainly is the reflection of who sent them to congress. thank you all very much. have a good spot august work. . we will see you again before this is over. thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> coming up, a look at

potential republican vice- presidential nominees. first, we hear from florida senator or go rubio speaking in las vegas. after that, remarks by senator rob portman. he is followed by former presidential candidate kem pawlenty speaking to a crowd in north carolina. >> tomorrow on "washington journal," virginia congressman bobby scott of virginia is important in campaign 2012. talking about the latest unemployment numbers, and the director of the bureau of economic analysis discusses how national economic growth is measured, and alternative ways economists looking at to illustrate the economic data the union. "washington journal," live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span.

>> this weekend on american history tv, was the turning point of the civil war gettysburg or the seven days' battles for richmond? >> in the broad sweep of the conflict, robert t. leith emergence as a successful field commander marked a decisive moment in the eastern theater and that in turn profoundly shaped the larger direction of the conflict. >> university of virginia professor gary gallagher on the battle that drove the union army away from the confederate capital. saturday night at 10 eastern. sunday, more from the contenders, looking at key political figures who ran for president and lost, but changed political history. >> i would remind you that extremism in advance of liberty is no vice. >> this week, arizona senator barry goldwater who lost to lbj.

at 730 eastern and pacific. this weekend on c-span3. >> at the foot of that bridge, i thought i was going to die. i thought i saw death. >> in 1965, a 25-year-old john lewis took part in the voting rights march from selma to montgomery alabama on a route that would take them across the bridge. the man identified himself and said i am major john cloud of the alabama state troopers. this is an unlawful march and it will not be allowed to continue. one of the young people walking beside me said major, give us a moment to kneel and pray. and the major said troopers advance. >> author and congressman john lewis, sunday at 8:00 on "q&a".

>> florida senator marco rubio has been mentioned as a possible vice-presidential mike -- running mate for mitt romney. he held a campaign rally at an elementary school in las vegas, nevada. he talked about the differences in the economic policies between mr. romney and president obama and highlighted his own family story in coming to america. >> this is 20 minutes. ♪

>> thank you. ♪ >> thank you. thank you. thank you. tell me if they make funny faces behind my back. thank you. thank you for having me. i am glad to be back here. i love coming here in the winter. i went to school here until fifth grade. the good news is the office is not open today so no one can check my grades. i won the marbles championship out there. rule number 12 was my fourth grade class. do not telling secrets. i was a champion.

i was the champion of marbles. outside was my fifth grade class. we did all of our assemblies. they still do that. i remember being in the room the day the hostages came home from iran. we had a really good president of the name of ronald reagan. that is what we are working on getting back, a good president in the white house. thank you for having me. i see members of my family here. i have more family and las vegas then i do in miami. they have more kids, too. we are doing our part. we have had four. where is my wife? she is here somewhere. there she is. i told you are open to

elementary school. she had doubts. i am honored to be here on behalf of mitt romney as well as the other wonderful candidates. one of the reasons we have this event is to encourage people to get involved and engaged. i do not want to take a lot of time. this election is important. i hope to encourage you to get involved. understand who we are and why we are different. for much of human history, and even longer, almost everyone on earth was poor. every society was a handful of rich people and everyone at work for them. people suffered. it was the era of the haves and have-nots. that began to change about two

centuries ago. it is because of this place called america, founded on a powerful principle. every human being on the earth -- it did not matter what you did. every person had certain rights given to them by god. chief among those white was the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of that happiness. what is happiness? happiness is the ability to do what you want to do for a living, the opportunity to raise your children. our political rights get all of

the press. the right to go to the church you want to go to. our economic liberties are just as important they are real. you should have the freedom to pursue happiness. economic happiness is the ability to earn your accomplishment. earn them by opening of a business so you can fill the accomplishment of building something. if you build a business, you build a business. keep clapping while i drank some water. that is enough. if you are here to heckle me, please wait another five minutes. that gives me a chance to drink

my water. the opportunity to work somewhere and get paid to do something you love for a living. that is economic happiness. that was the story of many of my family members. you could provide a living for your family in a better future for your children. why is that possible? what kind of system makes that possible? it is possible where the economy is not run by government. this idea has worked so well for 200 years. the result is a most prosperous nation ever. despite its success, there have been voices in america that do not believe in it. usually it is an economist, professor, or someone with too much time on the hands. for the first time in my lifetime, it happens to be the

president of the united states. he does not believe in the free enterprise system and does not understand it. he thinks the free enterprise system means the only way to get rich is by making someone else for. the only way to succeed is by making other people less successful. if you are successful at building a business, it is because you got lucky and you owe it to the government and others to share your success. he does not believe in the free enterprise system. he does not understand it. that is why this election is more than just a campaign between two men. it is two different visions of the world. mitt romney believes in the free enterprise system because

he had seen it. it is all of our candidates. dean believes that. his opponents do not. the colonel believes that. his opponents do not. in local office he will find people that believe in the free enterprise system. they know how it works. they understand how prosperity is created. it is straightforward. someone make some money. they use it to start a new business or to grow that new business. they make more money for themselves, or they hire people to work for them, who make money. these people spend the money, helping others provide for their families. the cycle continues.

that is how prosperity works. what is the role of government? the government has a role to play. its role is to write rules of the conduct, what is legal and what is not. so everyone understands the rules of the game. its job is to provide for infrastructure, the roads, the national security. you cannot grow economically if we are being invaded. that is the role of government. that is its proper role. also, provide for as a safety net. not as a way of life, but as a

way for helping those who cannot help themselves or for those who are trying. this allows them to get back on their feet and try again. what happened? what happens when people decide they want government to do more than not? the rules become unpredictable. they get crazy. the government changes rules depending on what they think is right. it becomes a role of men people are afraid to invest in countries like that. they have no idea what the rules will be tomorrow. no one asked them what the rule should be. those types of government are expensive. taxes have to go up. we have to have taxes. you have to be able to pay for the things the government does. when taxes get too high, people think they cannot keep that much money. we will not open that business.

we will not grow that business. the government gets its money from somewhere. usually, it is from the private sector. every dollar that goes to the government is a dollar that is unavailable to start or grow a business. it also means less money people have in their pockets to spend. i do not know and you country that should understand that better than this one. this community depends heavily on tourism. tourism does not happen unless people have money. every dollar you take out of their pocket in a tax is a dollar they can not been here. there are certain things the

government has to do. if you go too far to fund the big government experiment, that is money they cannot spend here. that hurts everyone. that is hurting you right now. that is what mitt romney understands. that is what this election is about. there is a choice between two different views of the role of government in america. it matters. that is what you are working for. you are working to replace somebody with someone, like mitt romney, who understands what has made a prosperous in the past as well as in the future. do you know who else police and in the free enterprise system? i do. coming in today, i remember why i believe in it so much. in 1956, my parents came to this country where they could

perceive their happiness. 25 years later, in search of that, they came here out west, where my dad was a bartender in my mom was a maid. my parents did not make enough money to save for their retirements for our college fund. they made enough to buy as a secure home. we were encouraged to dream. we knew if we worked hard, the dreams that were impossible for them would be possible for us. those dreams bring me here today. i come back to the place where those dreams took flight. i am reminded of the special obligations those like us have to those who have those dreams. now is not the time to abandon the american dream.

now is not the time to go back to the ways of the old world were become like those countries that people come here to get away from. now is not the time to embrace the policies that trapped people in poverty. now is the time to remember why the american medical works and why we are different, and why we are better than the rest of the world. do not ever be a free to say that. the reason we are better than the rest of the world is because we are the rest of the world. america is not a race. america is not a religion. america is people from all over the world who came here to build in this new land a life that was impossible on their

own. that is why here in this country, the poor, the tired, cain. they could not succeed in their own country. they came here to build america, the greatest nation in the history of all mankind. that is our common heritage. those of us to have lived it one generation ago had a special obligation to defend it. there are people that have the job my parents once had. there are people who lived the life i once led. they deserve the same america my parents and our grandparents

came to us. that is the chance we have in this election. i do a lot of speeches. very few of them have made me as nervous as this one. that was not the kind of heckler i was expecting, but thank you for the water. i love you. thank you for having me.

run for the supreme court? what elementary did you go to, sir? so much of what i learned to be true, and i understand how truly special this country is. it is something we should never apologize for. it did not become that way by accident, by luck, or by chance. it became that way because people chose that route. they believe in the power of the individual. they believe what a free people in pursuit of happiness can do together. they believe in a country where it was not your government that

gives you your rights. it is the job to protect the rights that god has given you. those ideas made this country. they also changed the world. no matter where you live on this planet, there is someone like you that was able to accomplish here but they never would have in the nation other on birth. it reminds you of how important the american miracle is for all the world. two decades ago, the american medical lived in my house. they made if the mission of their lives to give us a chance to do everything they could not. that miracle is in other houses. in this community, a bartender and a maid can open doors for the children is an issue of this election. we need to embrace the things

that made us great, or become like everyone else. no matter how fearful we are, because times are tough. when times are tough, and your house is worth less than they once were, those are the times that those who ask us to abandon the principles of the old rear their head. that has never worked anywhere. everywhere we have tried it, it has not made us more prosperous.

every country that has tried it has become more pork. now is not the time to go backwards, when what you were going to be was decided by who your parents were. embrace the things that make us different. that is what november is giving us a chance to do. that is what you are working for. up and down the ballot, across the country, and race after race. those that ask you to apply the policies that will make us like everyone else. you will decide those elections in your willingness to work and make a difference. i promise to do my part if you will do yours. thank you. thank you. >> friday, a conversation with republican governors that have been mentioned as possible running mates from mitt romney. they discuss a variety of issues facing the country. the aspen institute hosted a forum with the governors of

south carolina, louisiana, new jersey, virginia, and wisconsin, friday, at 8:00 p.m. eastern. ohio republican senator robb portman has been mentioned as a possible running mate for mitt romney. he campaigned for romney on monday, telling supporters that pennsylvania would be in the red cone for mitt romney. obama won the state in 2008. this portion of the event is 10 minutes, due to technical difficulties. >> when the president pushed his health care bill through, he said a few passes, it will be great. i will keep their current health care. he says it will be cheaper.

he said the average cost for an american family will be $2,500 less for health care premiums if you push this through. we learned last week from a non-partisan group in congress that it is $2500 more. probably fill that in your family budget. i talk to small business owners that say one reason they cannot create jobs is because health care cost keep going up. it is difficult for them to provide health care for their employees. they are looking for ways to bring people on, but they cannot because of health care. this law has not made it easier. it has made it harder for our families, small businesses, and for our budget deficit.

it is $1 trillion. and the president says, look at my economic record, i hope people will look at it. they will find out they did not work. it is no wonder. the president is out of touch. he said the private sector is doing fine. i asked small-business owners if they are happy that the government built their business. i almost felt run out of the room when i said that. it is a joke. i am kidding. the presence of the private sector is fine. he also said, all we need to do is take your tax dollars, send them to washington d.c., have washington d.c. take a cut, borrow more from places like china, and send it back to the states so that the commonwealth can create more public sector jobs in pennsylvania.

that is the solution to our economic problems. does that make sense to you? it does not make sense to any americans. the private sector creates jobs. if the government would have created jobs, we would have been doing fine under the stimulus. it did not work. we have created the greatest economy on earth. we have created a beacon of hope for the rest of the world. we did it with hard work. we did it with small business owners. one woman i met said my husband and i started a music business. it had two employees. we are struggling. my husband says, is keeping a small-business owner because you can choose which 16 hours to work per day. the president says, if you have

a business, you did not built it. someone else did. the speech was about the government building it. those small businesses should be paying more taxes. the government really built it. that did not make a whole lot of sense to the people i spoke with. it doesn't make sense to me. when the president said that, he did not build the business. someone else did. i thought about all of the small business owners i know in cincinnati. i thought about my father. my father took a risk. he was a salesman for a big company. he gave it up to start his own business. he borrowed money from my mother's on to. that is risky. he could not get it from the bank. he had no record of starting a business, but he believed in himself.

he believed in america. he believed his dream could be accomplished. he hired five people. my mother was a bookkeeper. they lost money for several years. my uncle began to wonder. they persevered. he created a nice business. he did it through hard work and sweat. he worked seven days per week. this is what is happening across america. the president is telling those people, you did not do it. we should be holding those people up. we should tell them they are the backbone of our economy. we respect them. we love what they do for our country. if you look at every recession we have had in this country, there is always a recovery.

we are living through the weakest recovery since the great depression. think about that. if you look at it closely, it was not the big businesses that lead us out of recessions. it tends to be the small businesses. the people willing to take a risk. this administration is going the opposite direction. they are telling the people if they work hard, you'll get the reward you deserve. we will raise your taxes, increased health care costs, increase the regulatory burden you face. i got stories about the regulatory burden from small businesses. the government is making it harder to create jobs. we need to turn that around. we need to give small businesses a break. we talked about the epa, we talked about osha, and

regulations that make it difficult for farmers to make ends meet. it is harder across our country to create opportunity. the jobs we need to lift people up and give them the dignity because of the government. not that the garment is helping, but the regulations make it harder. the unpredictability, the regulations, the higher taxes. this is not how we turn things around. let me tell you why i am optimistic. we have been here before. america did go through a great depression. we went through a couple great world wars. we always come out on top because of the hard work of the american people. we trust the people, not the government to get us out of

this. that is the difference in this election. we can do it again. we have a candidate on the republican side who gets it. he is from the private sector. he took a risk, started a business, created a lot of jobs. not just a couple dozen jobs, but over 100,000 jobs in his businesses. he knows what the role of the government is. he knows what it takes. we need people like that in government. do you agree? the people say, can he lead in washington? absolutely, he can because he is a business person. that is what you do in business.

pat toomey is working on the budget. he is working on the entitlement reforms we need. on growing the economy. he will tell you we do not have leadership right now. and in the executive branch with no leadership, things do not get done. we need to reform our tax code. we need the regulatory relief. we need to build our own natural resources in this country to create jobs. [applause] we need to get away from our dangerous dependency on foreign oil. we can do that with leadership. we need somebody willing to step up and say we have to take on this debt and deficit because it is immoral for future generations. it is impacting our opportunity to create opportunities today. mitt romney is that man. he is that leader. he will do that. [applause] he had the experience, he has the background, and he has the

policy plans to actually change america in a positive way by showing the leadership we so desperately need. during the election in 2008, barack obama went around pennsylvania and ohio, both states he won, and he had an interesting message. he would put his hands together and say we need to put america together. to solve the problems. i would ask you if you would talk to the folks who voted for president obama, the fact the economic record has been a failure, and say to them -- do you think he has brought the country together? or you think he has divided our country using class warfare and the notion -- notion that it would divide the country between democrats, liberals, republicans, conservatives. we need a president who understands not is how to create private sector jobs and

how to get the regulatory burden off business, who is committed to tax reform and understands the need for us to create our own resources right here but it president who really have the record in the experience and the public policy plans to bring people together and solve problems. you look at mitt romney's background. he goes to the olympics, it is mired in scandal and debt. what does he do? turns it around. it is about working together, bringing people together to solve the problems. the private sector we talked about his successes. the governor of massachusetts. they do not call it massachusetts for nothing. it has a 85% democrat legislator yet he cut taxes 19 times, working with them. he starts out with a budget deficit at $3 billion, turned a round into a surplus in the rainy day fund of $2 billion. that is the kind of leadership we want. someone who can bring people together and solve problems. [applause]

so again, i got a feeling pennsylvania is going to be in the red this year. you will see the whole commonwealth red starting here in lancaster county. and it will be because in 2008, we made a mistake. america gave the ball to barack obama because he promised he was going to turn things around. he promised to bring people together to solve the problems. we gave him the ball and he fumbled the ball. it is now time to give the ball to mitt romney. to take this country forward to meet the promise of america. he can do it. our destiny can still be great. this century can be the american century but we need leadership, new policies. ladies and gentlemen, to keep helping me to insure mitt romney is in a position to lead our great country. thank you. god bless you. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> friday, a conversation with

republican governors that are possible running mates for mitt romney. they discussed a variety of issues facing their states in their country. the aspen institute posted a forum with bobby jindal of louisiana, bob mcdonnell of virginia, and scott walker, wisconsin. you can see it friday starting at 8:00 eastern here on c-span. mr. pawlenty was on the campaign trail in north carolina last saturday. he spoke with parents at the polar ice house. this is 40 minutes. >> how are you doing? thank you for taking the time to be here. appreciate it. good to see you. thank you for coming. [laughter]

how are you? thank you for being part of this. good to se you. got some kids here? right over there? hockey players? good to see you. good to meet you. it is an honor to be here. thank you for taking time out of your busy weekend. i know it is a beautiful summer day and you can be lots of different places with your time with civic and other commitments that you have to be preachy being a part of the round table here today. the point of this is i am here on behalf of the romney for president campaign, to make sure we travel the country and meet firsthand the people will have concerns and ideas about

how we can get america on better track and on a better path forward. these are valuable discussions for us. it is less of an opportunity for me to talk and more of an opportunity for you to talk and share with your concerns or ideas are or observations about the economy or other issues. then we can engage in informal dialogue. i would ask each of you to go round the table and introduce yourself. if you are comfortable sharing a little bit about your background and any ideas or concerns that you have for the country, for north carolina, that i can take a report back to governor romney and his team as he tries to advance his message and win this election. one of the main issues we have to address is getting this economy moving again. governor romney has a tremendous background in the private sector.

he spent most of his life not in washington, d.c, but the private sector, trying to grow businesses, get investment, get jobs moving at the companies he was involved with. but also somebody i think who has a strong commit to getting the private sector moving. not just the government sector moving. we have seen under president obama a big commitment to government centered approaches. we need to get the private economy moving. we need to respect and appreciate in encourage private enterprise. governor romney has cited and i could not agree more -- president obama had his chance and it is not really working. not as political rhetoric but based on the numbers. 40 consecutive months of over 8% unemployment in the country. one of the long as streaks of the level of delegate unemployment in the nation's

modern history. i know it is even harder here in north carolina so it makes it more challenging for people here. we have the lowest rate of business formations in nearly 30 years in the country which obviously contributed to the fact that the economy is not growing. the gdp numbers came out yesterday. and another anemic set of numbers, showing almost no growth. we have people who are 23 million of our fellow citizens, who are either out of work, looking for work or have given up looking for work. 23 million adult americans. so it is really challenging. it is not just about statistics and numbers. you i am sure have seen people are no people or are in this position yourself of having lost a job or being underemployed or have a loved one are somebody who cannot find a job or is in a difficult economic circumstances. for me, my background is i grew up in a meat packing town. my father was a truck driver for a large portion of his life. my mother for much of her life was a homemaker. when those big plants shut down in my home town, a massive job last and economic dislocation, i saw as a young boy with this

means to a neighborhood, families. my mom died when i was in 10th grade. my father left it up for a while not long after that. in early chapter of my life, i experienced some of this firsthand. those of the kind of worries that the people have. we hear what people's hopes and dreams are. people are focused on belie have a job? will i be able to take care of my family? belie take my kids to college and pay for it? will i be able to pay my mortgage? we need actual results of policies that work. that is not what is happening under president obama. he gives great teleprompter speeches but those words did not put gas in sarcastic. they do not pay the mortgage. his speeches do not pay college tuition bills. they do not pay the health insurance premium. americans who are hurting need more the speeches, they need

results. that is what we are trying to articulate. governor romney has a better way. president obama has had his chance. it did not work. now we need somebody in there who is committed and knows how to get this country moving again. but and with that and go around the table and maybe he would be so bold as to start. i know it is a little intimidating with the cameras here. but if he could speak little loudly. maybe if somebody would turn the microphone your way. if you're not comfortable sharing, you can take a pass but if you are, go ahead. >> my name is michael and i am a native of north carolina." appeared theory went to unc chapel hill. -- grew up here. went to unc chapel hill. i have three children. one of my biggest concerns is this area of the country has had a lot of job creation in the past 15 years due to the housing market. that employed a lot of people. it created a ripple effect.

a lot of people needed to do the loan documentation, praised the house. it really rippled out and it created a lot of jobs and commerce. i feel like we need a plan for the next 10 years on energy, infrastructure, exploration and all the things that can spawn off of that to get a lot of people back to work. then we can start to work on some of the harder issues. but i think we really need to have a good catalyst for the next 10, 15 years in job creation during >> that is a great point. the difference between president obama thank governor romney on energy is striking. president obama has put more on drilling.

he shut down the expansion of the keystone pipeline. his epa and other regulatory arms have been a fairly hostile to certain forms of american energy. governor romney is saying let's do all of the above. but every piece of american energy we can to bring to the market. we have exciting opportunities if we are willing to go after it. one of those is we have tremendous amounts of shale oil and gas that three or five years ago, did not -- people did not understand how much we had. now there is enough natural gas within the territorial region of the united states to power the entire base load energy needs of the country by many experts estimates for 100 years or more. not to mention what we could do with natural gas on the vehicles and the like. so that is one example of many and yet you have the obama administration in many wage -- ways to try to slow down our

stifle that process -- that process. we can get america to be one of the world's leading producers of energy again. have to be a low-cost provider of energy. we will get new investments, new jobs and more people working. it will stimulate the economy like you suggested. i thank you. that is a really good point. >> my name is tiffany. i also have three boys. 15, 12, and 9. >> so you are busy. [laughter] >> yes. i am very concerned because i have always loved america. and teaching my kids about that and everything. i find it very sad that we have for the first time ever a president who i did not believe want america to stay the sovereign country in the world. i really feel like actions speak

louder than words and i think his actions, moving us to the socialist direction, i do not see that socialism has worked in other countries. so i am not sure. i'm frustrated watching blowhole process because -- watching the whole process because mitt romney obviously knows how to do it. he knows how to be successful and create jobs. i do not think taking away democracy and moving towards socialism is the answer. there are so many ridiculous a tax on money every day on the knees. i would love to see him fight back a little bit. >> he is. those are great points. those are great points.