[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] is not a first. prior to that it was the person it outside the capital since 1819 after the fire was completed. have a good rest of the day.

the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's room, washington, d.c., august 7, 2012. i hereby appoint the honorable mac thornberry to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, john a. boehner, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: the prayer will be offered by the guest chaplain, reverend dr. alan keernan, office of the senate chaplain, washington, d.c. the chaplain: mighty god, our redeemer, protecter, healer, we come today believing that you hear the whispers of our heart and long to see your plans to prosper us and not to harm us. we thank you for the opportunity to serve you and our nation here on capitol hill. during this summer recess, may all the members of this house, their families and staffs be refreshed and inspired to seek

your heart and be centered in your redemptive love and may we all commit to doing for others as we'd like them to do for us. i pray in the name above every name, amen. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 3-a of house resolution 747, the journal of the last day's proceedings is approved. the chair will lead the house in the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the chair lays before the house the following privileged concurrent resolution. the clerk: when the senate recesses or adjourns on any day from thursday, august 2, 2012, through tuesday, august 7,

thruffle on a motion pursuant to this concurrent resolution, by its majority leader or his designee, it stand recessed or adjourned until 12:00 noon on monday, september 10, 2012, or such other time on that day as may be specified by its majority leader or his designee in the motion to recess or adjourn or until the time of any reassembly pursuant to section 2 of this concurrent resolution, whichever occurs first and that when the house adjourns on any legislative day through thursday, august 2, 2012, through tuesday, august 7, 2012, on a motion offered pursuant to this concurrent resolution through the majority leader or his designee it stand adjourned until 2:00 p.m., september 10, 2012, or until the time of any reassembly pursuant to section 2 of this concurrent resolution, whichever occurs first. section 2, the majority leader of the senate and the speaker of the house or their representive designees acting jointly after consultation with the minority leader of the

senate and the minority leader of the house shall notify the members of the senate and house respectively to reassemble at such place and time as they may designate if in their opinion the public interest shall warrant it. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the concurrent resolution is agreed to and a motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. without objection, the chair lays before the house the following senate concurrent resolution. the clerk: senate concurrent resolution 58, concurrent resolution directing that the clerk of the house of representatives to make a correction in the enrollment of h.r. 4240. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the concurrent resolution is agreed to the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the chair lays before the house an enrolled bill. the clerk: h.r. 4240, an act to re-authorize the north korean human rights act of 2004 and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore:

without objection, pursuant to senate concurrent resolution 59, 112th congress, the house stands adjourned until 2:00 p.m. on monday, september 10, 2012. we will take you to minneapolis for the democratic national committee platform on days to win three of the proceedings. witnesses spoke about issues including merit a quality, requirement security, hiv,

farming. the meat in detroit this weekend. they will approve their draft. ted strickland chaired the committee. this is just under 5.5 hours. >> as one of president obama's most enthusiastic supporters, and he continues to help, on behalf of this committee, we want to thank for the wonderful hospitality we have enjoyed in your city. will we decided on minneapolis, you rolled out the red carpet and has shown us every consideration. we thank you for that. >> thank you. we are thrilled to have you. we are delighted to have you here.

the only regret i have is that you have a fantastic view of one of the greatest cities in the world and the curtains are pulled. i hope you'll take a look at the city. our chain of lakes is to the right. the mississippi is to the left. we are very proud. you are in a city of hubert humphrey or he was the mayor region where he was the mayor. this makes intensive policy very seriously. this is also the city of michele bachmann which shows we have a sense of humor. then there is jesse ventura. this is a community that deeply values the work you are doing. you may know minneapolis from the mary tyler moore show as a wonderful place.

there's a certain bit here. this is a city that is very much about what the statue of liberty is about. we speak 100 languages. we have welcomed people from across the world. one of the most important things is that we have proven that a more diverse america is part of a global strategy. our program has invested in our young people. we have now taken 16,000 kids, 86% of color and move them through our summer jobs program and into college. when you're looking for arabic speakers to make us better able to deal with them, you have a large arabic speaking population. when you are looking to speak with china, we speak multiple african dialects. this is also about an economic

policy of globalism. we are proving it. we want to welcome you here, say how much we appreciate having you here. i am looking forward to you laying the groundwork for the second term of one of our greatest presidents. thank you. >> thank you so much. it is time for us to get started. we will continue with the same format we used yesterday. the purpose is to solicit testimony from individuals regarding the content of our party's 2012 national platform. each speaker, because we have many, will be given five minutes for a formal statement. that will be followed by five minutes for questions from the mmittee members. time will be allowed for the questions. at the end of the 10 minute time, without being rude, i will

gently call attention to the fact that the 10 minutes has expired. i would ask that you try to be as sensitive as possible. it we have many speakers. we want to make sure we have the opportunity to hear from all of them as we proceed. we will begin with our first presenter. our first presenter is barry with the national association of home builders. barry is the chairman of the national association of home builders. the federation of the national association of home builders exists to represent the home- building industry by serving its members and affiliate's. it is a huge part of our national economy. we are so happy they have come to be with us. we look forward to your testimony. >> i am working homebuilder from

florida. more than 60 years ago the congress passed the housing act in 1949. it called for a decent home and suitable living environment for every american family. it continues to be important today. as we come out of the toughest economic downturn since the great depression. families need safe, stable homes. the housing industry is a key engine of job growth. home building can have an outside impact due to its local character. the construction of one single family home can create three jobs. jobsew homes creek's 300 -- creates 300 jobs and local tax revenue.

housing is responsible to a 18th term of the gross domestic product. housing starts at multifamily homes. it rose to 760,000 units. the highest rate of construction since 2008. we're almost back to 40% of our demand. home building is still at low levels. the long run demand should be between 1.5 million and 1.8 million a year. if housing was back to where it should be, we would have an additional 2 million to 3 million jobs a day. considering the key plays in the economy, we encouraged to draft

a strong pro-housing plaint in democratic platform highlighting that housing remains a national priority. -- 20% down payment. it would drive up the rental housing and prolong the recovery. please allow me to highlight key policy issues critical to maintaining a strong pro has a america. been andng gse's had remain critical components of the housing finance system.

the accretive by congress to support market liquidity and address this. they have operated with backing that allows them to raise funds at rate that of the many benefits mortgage borrowers. the system works well for decades. they have seen unprecedented wreckers that has been a staple of the finance system since the 30's. we support the goal of many to support the tax code's. this will spur economic growth and increase competitiveness. additional jobs means additional demand. , on a ship is one of the primary means for young people to invest in the future. it provides several this.

there is many representations. it is beneficial to younger households. it is by families earning less than $200,000. they are paying 43% of all income taxes which means that these make the tax code more progressive and fair. nahb represents all the assets of the residential construction industry. while it offers households bit as important for communities to offer affordable options. the low-income housing tax credit currently employs 90,000

people in the country and produces 75,000 apartment homes annually. it has created 2 million affordable rental units. despite this notable success, it is not sufficient to replace the number of affordable apartments every year. several commissions have suggested reducing not only the mortgage interest deduction the capital gains exclusion, and the deduction a property taxes. these increases would further depress home prices, put countless more under water, and trigger a wave of foreclosures. scaling back the incentives will also shrink the local tax base and many communities causing them to further cut jobs and essential services. i want to thank you for the

opportunity for allow me to represent this. i hope the consider this to help housing maintain been a priority. >> to the committee members have questions? >> i know this is one of the areas that has been discussed about simplifying the tax code. can you say more about what the impact would be, what the impact is in terms of distribution of the tax burden? >> the scoring is currently not accurate. we have fewer people in homes and home prices are down. interest rates are down. the proposed possibility is no longer accurate.

if you go back to 1986, we saw a multifamilyease in i properties. the numbers did not work. if you take a deduction, aside if we're being fair, the homes will cost more. they would be best valuable. one thing we did not want to see is further devaluation of family home stop. it has this on people. it put people under water. as we do not need to have lower values. we have a historical evidence that is possibly the outcome. what you face is a delicate balancing act going forward. we look forward to working with you on it. did i answer your question? >> thank you very much.

>> we have a couple more minutes. >> thank you for you contribute to this. >> it is a privilege to be with you. >> our next presenter is gabby. she is here representing the organization united we dream. it is a network of use of lead in madrid organizations are around the entire country. it is for all people regardless of their immigration status faced by immigrant use and to develop a sustainable grass- roots movement led by un document immigrant -- led by

undocumented immigrants and their allies. >> thank you so much. you read a little bit of what i'm going to be saying. i am really proud to be here as an aspiring citizens and one that will hopefully be able to in congress one day of making laws that will continue to shape our country. it is a privilege to be here. i am an aspiring citizens from ecuador. i came with my family when i was 8 years old. i came with the aspirations of that we were going to live in a beautiful country. i grew up in miami of florida.

i have been really involved. when i got to college i realize that i was a little bit different. not because i did not love this nation or everyday during school i did not stand proudly with my hand over my heart saying the pledge of allegiance because i was missing a paper. i was missing something that told me what i felt in my heart, that i was a citizen of this country. i used to say i hate politics. i never wanted to be involved. i realize that only if you were engaged in our system that we're able to create change. as part of the united dream, i want to say thank you for allowing us. we are a grass-roots movement of an immigrant rights organization. we are trying to achieve the gap to make sure immigrants have

access to higher education. we use this group organizing. we are afraid organizers reaching out to the community. please accept our vision of tomorrow. the station is in the midst of some of the ugliest and i immigrant sentiments of our time. with record high deportation and in the main enforcement that has separated thousands of families we asked for the termination of failed programs. these programs have allowed for racist laws to be voted and pass in our home state. the laws that allow police officers to racially profile people and told immigrants in jail without convictions are not only problematic but also unjust. the democratic party must realize that supporting this

goes against the interest of our communities. the democratic party should hold the agencies that directly work with aspiring citizens like the department of common security to follow through with this mandate. it is unacceptable to have dhs employees refused to carry out policies mandated by the department of common security. immigrants make our country stronger and more prosperous. we cannot allow ourselves to go into anti immigrant rhetoric. alien should be stricken out of our vocabulary. we should allow dreamers to apply for our citizenship. we should press for congress to act. we urge the democratic party to recognize the fact that all aspiring citizens hepburn and alienable rights -- have in

alienable rights. we should have a law that reflects the 21st century. we should pass immigration policies that have a clear road map for people to become citizens. democrats should include citizens not only as a platform but also issues like education, health care, and jobs in the economy. aspiring citizens are hard working members of our community. they are workers. they do taxes. they sit in our schools and churches. we what the democratic party and barack obama for the guidelines. president obama announced his a ministration would stop the deportation of close to 1.4

and offered usyouths them temporary work permits for two years. we feel this is a major immigration policy victory of the 21st century. we want to say congratulations. this is monumental. this is a transform the process we will go through. trimmer's will be a constituency that will change our country and expand the capacity for policy capacity. i would like to ask that both parties cease blaming our parents for the heroic decisions they made to move their families to this nation for freedom and opportunity. the nation who said we hold

these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal. among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. our parents inspireaspire to brs to us. we are encouraged to continue to achieve these goals. we know there also wanting to achieve these goals. thank you. i cannot wait till one day may bb in your side sitting down -- to one day may be sitting on your side sitting down with the desire to make our nation a better nation. >> thank you for your testimony encourage and being so public and open about your own status. you have shared a lot of important thoughts with us this morning. personally, i have felt that our

movement toward this is very harmful. incarceration when it occurs is a part of the end of the restoration of justice -- administration of justice. it bothers me that we would turn it into a for-profit thing. thank you for your testimony. we have some time for questions. any questions? >> i want to thank you for your leadership. i remember when your at the white house. it is incredible to see you here now and how far you have come. i want you to talk more about this policy affects dreamers and help it into the larger context

of the immigration system. >> your stocking up the policy of june 15 -- you are talking about the policy of june 15? >> where we have been occurring communities that have fallen through the cracks. >> one of the problems we're having is that immigrants are good at easy making money business. we are seeing a lot of this. a hike in the deportations we have never seen the number that the president currently holds. he has a record for its. it is very troubling to see how the communities across the united states are afraid of calling the police because the

programs like this. licensesave a driver's and access to being able to get those, people are getting caught driving without a license for instance and in doing these minor citations in crimes that are faltering people into the for-profits system. on any day we have 32,000 people in a detention center. they are being built in our backyards and communities. it is unfortunate to see members of the democratic party sass supporting these being built. there was a push to build up. on the same day, they announced the deferred action policy. we are seeing abuse after of use.

we have four months to talk to people. people are confused. they do not understand. it is not that we do not want to make the line. it is the fact that we do not have a system are policies that allow us to be able to get ourselves in line with the statices. >> thank you so much. we have listened. thank you so much. >> we are open to continuing the dialogue. if there are any more questions they're happy to answer them. >> our next presenter is grant wilkes.

he is the chair of the national hispanic leadership agenda. it calls to provide the hispanic community with a stronger influence in our country's affairs. it brings together hispanic leaders to priority positions that raised public awareness of the major issues affecting the community as a whole. >> thank you. thank you for giving the leadership agenda an opportunity to present portions of our public policy agenda with you today. i serve as the executive director of the leak of citizens. we are members of the agenda.

i currently serve as a vice chair. our chair is in orlando today at his national convention was not able to come here to present. the organization has been planning to be here. i was not born in ohio but we did our national convention there. i hope you'll give me more time to present. this is a long agenda. >> that is worth the extra 30 seconds. >> it was established in 1991 as a nonpartisan association of a major organization and leaders from all over the nation. our mission calls for unity around the country to provide the community with greater visibility and a stronger influence. it brings together hispanic leaders to establish policy priorities that raise awareness of the major issues affecting

the latino community. these policy priorities are it delivered to a process. it is a consensus of the community. it means in these directions that are parts of the leaders' agenda. it is a bipartisan agenda. in 2008 only one latino organization presented before this committee. thanks to your efforts, 2012 is much different. many have already presented. we think the committee for being so inclusive and your staff for inviting many of us here. it is a huge change important to open up the dialogue. my remarks with just focus on two of the recommendations that are outlined. they are not being covered by the other members testifying for

you. my focus is on this. i would like to ask that the entire 2012 public policy agenda be submitted as part of the deliberations. achieving progress on all the issues requires the latino community to fully participate in the civic life of our nation. they will therefore continue to advocate against efforts the purposefully dehumanize latinos. a lot of us have bn focused on the voter suppression of ours that have been taking place in doing our work to engage the community. we do need your help. it has been pretty dramatic. in florida the law that passed prohibited our organization from registering voters. luckily it is hung up in the courts. there are efforts all across the country.

i will speak about this specifically as it relates to the community. the foreclosure crisis impacted latinas with 17% of home owner'' losing their homes or about two. it is a loss to the middle class. as the latino community face higher than average unemployment levels, they are stuck at 11% unemployment. this is combined with lower than average wages to begin with. our policy recommendations include the following. achieve a deficit reduction for an approach that includes tax cuts to expire and cutting the defense budget. davison reduction should not be exclusively achieved through cuts to this.

we're concerned what happened at the end of the year. we do not want to programs to be cut to radically. we want capital for on entrepreneurs. hispanic small-business has been a great engine of growth. they need our help to make sure money is still available to them. expand the work opportunity tax credit that provide tax credits to employers by expanding it to include all the members of an underserved community and provide pathways to sustainable home ownership by increasing funding for housing and the national mortgage servicing standard. reauthorize the work force investment act to improve access to development training for the

veterans, and individuals with lower educational and english language attainment. create jobs through major public investments their legislation beyond the reauthorization of the federal transportation law. strengthen worker protections by defending them for collective bargaining and enforcing basic worker protections. support equity by enacting the paycheck act and implementing strong measures to prevent and prosecute sexual harassment and assault in the workplace. enact the help the families at allowing workers with more than 15 employees. to enhance the federal

commission program to subsidize teacher trading to help students gain literacy schools and keep computer labs in poor neighborhoods. promote competition in broadband market to provide lower prices. these are just recommendations we have. we have full details on each of these policy recommendations. it has been a pretty devastating series of decades ton latino civil-rights. one is opposing boater total advocation requirements and all the suppression efforts that have been put in place to try and stop bettino an african american communities from voting -- latino and african- american communities from

voting. we're struggling to register them at the same time people are getting disenfranchise. support legislation or a constitutional amendment to remove personage from corporations. safeguard the data collection which is indispensable to the enforcement of civil rights and fair allocation of federal funding. this might be a sleeper issue. the issues impacting our communities is unknown. i think this is what the strategy is here. encouraged a federal purification increase. at one time congress gave all

these media companies free airwaves to promote public good. they have been using it for hate speech. support efforts to ensure the department of justice aggressively pursued violations of workplace safety and employment laws. he had done a great job in pursuing the civil-rights violations. we're very concerned that congress held him in contempt of court. we felt part of the reason was because his impressive of force and a civil rights laws. we need to back him up in that effort to try to discourage him from moving forward. enact legislation that reprimands authorities involved in racial profiling. we have an effort right now with arizona on this topic. provide sufficient funding to

implement the elder justice act. increase efforts across the federal government to ensure accessibility standards by carried out including pascal performers and recipients of federal assistance. nominate and confirm it judges that had demonstrated record of expanding civil right to reflect the diversity of our country. the court has always been the place of last resort. it is disappointing that some of these appointments have been held up. we hope you will make this a top priority for your committee. we thank you for the opportunity to testify. >> because she came to ohio, we will extend this one minute.

we will be happy to entertain your question. >> to detach more on what you called the sleeper issue -- could you touch more of what he called the sleeper issue? >> the euro no longer has a long form. this is the only one that collects the type of data on what types of programs and services that pass. all we know is the specifics. we will not know what their income is. if they are successful, there is some legislation to do that. we would not know any more the problems are. we think that is an effort to try to attack the programs that

organizations are supporting. without that tell we will have no justification for supporting these programs. >> she has a quick question she would like to ask. >> you brought up thee-rate. a few of us were involved with this. >> it has been something that is very effective. it has allowed schools to be able to get access to high-speed internet services at a free costs. a lot of schools do have a very robust internet programs now. there is still a big gap for latino communities. only about 40% have broadband

access in their homes. with the spanish-speaking latinos it is only about 25%. it is a huge gap. we consider that a big disadvantage. if you think about your own children and not doing homework, it is almost impossible to do that. half of them open later. hopefully they will start having access. it that would be a big boom to helping that. the sec has been pushing to get more broadband adoption. we hope congress continues pressing the commissioner to move forward. that is helping a lot of families get access. we have to close that gap or we

will be in trouble. >> you have brought many issues before us. we will be happy to have the cement additional materials. thank you very much. >> thank you for your time. >> we are going to take a moment to recognize the good and great congressman from this wonderful area. i would like to introduce to you keeps alison -- keith ellison. he served as chair of the progression of congress. he uses his voice to fight for the middle class and for returning veterans. we are happy to have you. would you like to come and speak to us? >> thank you very much. i appreciate the opportunity.

i know you're coming from far away places to be here. we appreciate the time investment. it is good to see some of my regular friends here. it is good to me some of you i have not had a chance to meet, it too. it is an honor for me to be able to address you. the platform committee is doing the heaviest lived up us all. what you come up with will define who we are this is very important work. i'm glad to take it so seriously. you are in minneapolis. that is a big deal. this is a city where i believe it is on the dnc platform committee.

they were making an argument that the democratic party should adopt an immigration plank in 1947. that was before brown versus the board of education. it is amazing. i am proud to be from a place like this. this is what the great senator called this comment this part of the country is called home. this is one of the bluest places you can go. we are proud of that. i want to cut to the chase. you have a lot of testifies. i think that the party platform has to contain at least four

value elements. i think these elements should be first the value of the equality and inclusion. seconds the value of economic prosperity for all. third the value of help the people in help the environment. lastly, the value of a peaceful world. specific things i want to share. all you have to do is walk into the united states congress and look at one side of the aisle and the other. the women,ee where i

the ones you represent the gay and lesbian party. we represent the broad mixture of america. we do not look like a country club and we are proud we do not. i think we should be very proud of that. we should hold it up. we should let everybody know that we are in a place where everybody count on everybody. there are a number of ways to demonstrate it. i would recommend to specific things. one is a voting rights. these rights are threatened. student rights are threatened. a whole range of people are said to be disenfranchised based on the republican strategy. it ought to be in our platform. i think we should oppose these

highly restrictive photo identification requirement. there are a lot of ways to identify people. a government issued photographic identification reflecting for current address is perhaps one of the narrowest ways to do that. it will eliminate currently eligible voters. secondly, i think we should stand for freedom to marry. we live in a country where in 1968 there were 16 states that said that we do not what you to marry a person who is black you happen to be white. the government thought that they could tell people who they should love and be married to. today we're still doing that based on sex. you do not have to approve of homosexuality. he does have to let people live their own lives and make their own choices. i think which is stand for that

idea. the second principle is economic prosperity for all. this is the challenge of our age. there were whitescal who were allies to people of color who wanted to aid in that effort. many of us to do not have disabilities were allies of the disability. when it comes to income disability there are no allies. we're struggling to put food on the table. this was a fight that everybody is in, and even the very well- to-do who are democrat ns know that if you did not have any

money you can not buy anything. i want to say the job creator is not the business owner. the decorator is the customer that creates the order. that is why you add staff, because you need to. they cannot do that if they do not have any money. i think we need a platform that speaks specifically to good jobs. not just jobs. the creek a lot of jobs for $7 an hour. -- you can create a lot of jobs for $7 an hour. we need good jobs. we need to focus on direct tie your programs -- hire programs. infrastructure investment. in this town you are in, we lost

13 americans five years ago when our bridge fell into the river. you can probably see from this building. i am sure you can see it from here. it was a catastrophe. when i talked to my friends from california and florida, they came to me and said it could have been us. we need to invest in infrastructure. housing. 2.7 million families have lost their homes to foreclosures. we have to use prudent strategy is to reduce principal. this should be an important part of our platform. the president has given a lot of effort. it is still not adequate to the needs and of the community.

we need to close tax loopholes. 2/3 to not pay any taxes. we should dispense with the idea that tax is a penalty. taxes is highly paid public works to defend our nation. we need to pay taxes to live in a civilized society. the democratic party must affirm that idea. there are they try to recreate tax as a punishment. have already tried to retreat tax as a punishment. i think we could start by closing corporate loopholes as it relates to the fossil fuel industry. we do need to talk about the shared burden of funding our nation. jobs has a lot of work that need to be done.

we should create jobs for public school rehabilitation. my third value statement is to protecting our health and environment. it has been said that the most important well is your helped -- wealth is your health. you need your health. our nation is one where we had in the last few years historic leaps forward in health care. the affordable care act are what i like to call, obamacare. obama does care. that is why he fought so hard for this legislation. we are standing with medicaid

and social security. social security and maybe the most successful program of the american government. we should affirm this program and say that we are not going to let anybody privatize it. we need to affirm. it will give great comfort to our seniors of people with disabilities if we affirm to protect medicaid and social security. also to protect our health and environmental health. we should and will, gas and -- oil and gas subsidies. exxon mobil is a great company but they are making a lot of money. i do not know why we're donating money to subsidize them. it does not make any sense.

i think the democratic party should be the way. the renewable energy industry is out subsidized by six-one. we could least help level the playing field for our nation's energy future and for our hel alth. the democratic party should take a stand about creating a more peaceful world. this is an important thing. we are proud of our nation's military. we should be the party that says that we should bring our troops home from afghanistan. for the sake of our economic and national security. now is the time to decrease our military presence and to bring our troops home safely. i think we should pursue

responsible defense savings. our son just listed in the military. i am proud of that. i do believe there are savings to be had. i believe we should look to do that by promoting diplomacy, developments, and defense spending. it has nearly doubled over the last decade as we waged two wars. this has driven our economy to the brink. we need to do more to advance national security by restricting the military to the 21st century. we will be able to have some savings but we will be more nimble and able to prevent failed states and the head of the curve.

let me close by pointing out a few things i think are important for us to consider. we are at a critical moment. the american dream seems to be getting a little bit further out of their grasp. i think the democratic party is the institution to change that, to reverse that trend. over the last 30 years, our economy has slowed because of prevailing republican ideas. the relief during the democratic administrations was helpful and beneficial. there has been a slow grind ever since ronald reagan. the time is not to reverse that trend. income inequality is the problem of our time.

the democratic party has to lead the way to reverse the trend. i know you're going to have hard work to do. i was really pleased to listen to the presenter before me. i love it's going to be about 10 hours worth of testimony in minneapolis on. so you have some choosing that you will have to do. right? you will have some choices to make. you will have to grind down and think about and things. i urge you to think about what it is we stand for as democrats. i am co-chair of the progressive caucus, good friends with the chair of the blue dog caucus. we are all democrats, though and

we have a wide spectrum and various points of view, but we need a platform that can reflect the core values of all of us. those core values have to do with things like equality and inclusion. economic prosperity for all. the value of healthy people and help the environment. and a peaceful world. -- and healthy environment. i look forward to seeing you all in charlotte. to chairman and all the members, thank you. >> thank you. if we are happy to be in your city and in your district, congressman pat. thank you for your leadership at the national level and for your service to the people that you represent in your congressional district for. thank you very much. >> take care and have a good time. >> our next presenter is rabin

m -- robin mann, the president of the sierra club, whose mission is to explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places on earth, practice and promotes the responsible use of the earth's ecosystem and resources, to educate and in this humanity in the protection and restoration and to protect the quality of the natural environment, and to use all lawful means to carry out these objectives. we are happy to have you and we look forward to your testimony today if. >> thank you very much, governor. i want to express appreciation on behalf of my organization for this great opportunity. before my remarks, i want to recognize congressman ellison, a recipient of the distinguished service award from the club for his leadership on the environment and environmental justice and a personal

privilege, and from the greater philadelphia area. special greetings to mayor nutter, making philadelphia one of the greenest cities. our country's economy was in shambles in 2008 and key environmental protections under attack. we are in a dramatically different place now. and automakers have regained profitability by building some of the most fuel-efficient cars in the world. the environmental safeguards had been blocked or weekend four years ago. now protecting citizens' health is a renewed priority. clean energy industries that were struggling have rebounded with i.t. were now producing over 20% of its energy from wind and other green resources. none of these successes would have been possible without the leadership of president obama. the sierra club, the nation's

largest and most influential grass-roots conservation organization applauds president obama's work to create an economy built to last and founded on a forward-looking energy policy. we share his dedication to ensuring the pair and water are every child in every town. every election is about making a choice. the choice between president obama and governor romney could not be clearer. resident obama's pool efficiency standards helped save detroit and position lawmakers into a top global competitors. the standards are the most ambitious steps taken by any president move beyond oil. one in 25 american jobs rely on the automotive industry. the fuel standards are estimated to create more than 570,000 jobs by 2013. the compromise worked out between the administration, the environmental, labor, and

management, is creating jobs taking strong steps to be in america all foreign oil and improving air quality. if governor romney had his way, all these things would disappear. in 2008 our economy was at a tipping point, but thankfully president obama successfully defended and sign the recovery act, the single largest clean energy initiative in history, with a huge investment in clean energy, moving us away from dirty energy sources for its clean energy and sustainable energy. governor romney said he would have rejected all that. every child in america has the right to breathe freely without a word of unknown and unseen poisons or the fear of asthma attacks. thanks to the president and the epa, lifesaving protections in the clean air act remained intact despite multiple assaults by a big coal, big oil, and their allies in congress. under president obama leadership, the epa has created

some of the strongest environmental safeguards since the 1970's. most notably last year's protections from toxic. mercury toxic final clean water act guidance on the waters of the u.s. would only strengthen those protections, giving the federal government clear jurisdiction to do his job. our public lands have benefited from president's stewardship with the protection of 1 million acres on the rim of the grand canyon, millions of acres through the land management act, and a 41 new national monuments. he has embarked on the largest public lands conservation effort in last 20 years, a legacy that is to be proud of. this administration has gone a long way to address the pool of cold pollution on our help and to ensure that our air is cleaner and our children can breathe easier. but there's more to be done. it's time to fully implement the clean air act, not just for our economy and our health, but to roll back the damage done by

climate destruction. current and proposed safeguards by the epa, especially mercury, must be vigorously defended against attacks from coal and oil interests. under president obama we know they will be. governor romney would rely on big corporations and millionaires to police themselves, a philosophy that has killed in the past and would fail again. today in the confluence of economic growth and environmental necessity and under president obama's leadership, we see america recovering, the inventiveness and ingenuity of former days. america under president obama's leadership and programs has begun to innovate and build the foundation of a new economy based on homegrown sustainable energy. however, we need an economy that will ensure economic prosperity for years to come. it does not flow through the

keystone pipeline. nor will subsidies to big oil create economic fairness. i appreciate congressman keith ellison's comments on rural subsidies. investment in sustainable energy will rebuild our economy and make us competitive in the 21st century. by rolling back subsidies for oil, we can give those industries a fighting chance to compete. if this were a romney presidency, there would be no vigorous debate on contentious issues. big oil would be secure with tax breaks and american innovation would take a backseat to the oil companies and corporation needs more interested in their own bottom lines than investing in american recovery. the sierra club is committed to ensuring that our air and water are clean and that our economy is innovative, invest in energy efficiency, and works for the middle class. we know that president obama

stands with our 2 million members and supporters and with every citizen dedicated to working toward an america where everyone can enjoy our national heritage, our government works for us, and where any child can take a deep breath without fear. thank you very much. >> thank you for that testimony and thank you to the sierra club for the great work they do. are there questions? >> led me just -- thank you for being here and thank you to the sierra club for protecting our planet. i come from the bay area. it has been a remarkable organization. i am so pleased the sierra club has increased environmental justice as one of its goals. i'm wondering could you talk a little about environmental justice and how low-income communities have borne the brunt of all of the health problems like asthma and lung cancer as a result of polluters? the epa under lisa dachshund's

leadership, has done remarkable leadership drought the country in addressing environmental justice. ckson.a dachshund's leadershja >> a lot of communities, the people nearest of the facilities and tend to be lower income americans and people of color. so, this has guided our work over the last several years or the last couple decades, actually, because our program is that old. we have a program where we are trying to really not just fight the old industries but more and more to really focus on transitioning communities to clean energy and economically productive operations that will

really provide jobs locally. and so, that is something where this administration has really created the foundation for that kind of transition to new economies that are clean and safe. >> yes? >> thank you for your testimony, robin. in one of your first comments you spoke about how the auto industry and the saving of the industry combined with automobile emissions was a good economic solution. so often it seems that the environmental community and business community are pitted against one another rather than finding ways to work together that solve our problems economically and save our planet. i wonder if you might address other industries that we might think about for our platform? >> are big focus on economic

recovery is on clean energy industries. we see a tremendous opportunity for really building the supply chain for wind and solar industries. we are doing a lot of work on the ground where we are trying to pursue the shutdown of coal plants that are no longer economical, that they are really not competitive, but they are still on line. we are working to ensure that the jobs in the replacement industries in solar plants and the construction of solar plants and wind facilities are union jobs. that is very important for us, that those are good jobs and career track jobs. i recommend that may be something to look at, what opportunities the committee might seek.

>> was there a question? >> that was my question. much better than i would. have would. >> bank is so much, robin, and thank you so much for the great work the sierra club is doing. -- thank you so much. >> thank you. >> our next presenter is eric carlson from the national senior citizens law center. he is the directing attorney for the center. its principal mission is to protect rights of low-income older adults to advocacy, litigation, education, and counseling, and helping local advocates. the national senior citizens law center seeks to ensure the health and economic security of older adults with limited incomes and resources. it's a worthy goal. we are happy to have you. we look forward to your testimony. >> thank you very much. my pleasure to be here. i want to follow upon congressman ellis and's comments

about the importance of social security. two thirds of folks over age 65, so security comprises more than one half of their income. talking about saving for ideally there would be social security and private savings and pension. but for a lot of people this is a one legged stool. social security is incredibly important for folks. lessening of its effectiveness puts those people and into poverty. we reject any effort to cut back on existing benefits. we urge that benefits not been means tested. it is important for the political viability of the program that it be perceived rightfully as it is, as a shared program and not as a welfare

program. additionally, we urged the committee to combat any efforts to backdoor reduce the program by unfair constrictions of the cost of living increases, specifically, addressing the train cpi, there was some talk about instituting a chain cpi, which would lead to reduced cost-of-living increase based on the idea that if folks income is less and, that's a switch out certain more expensive items and replace them with less expensive items -- that they switch out certain more expensive items and replace them with less expensive items.

it inappropriately and calculate the real cost of living for those populations who have very little income to begin with. the current cost of living in social security is based on the cpiw, which is based on urban wage earners in general. we would urge the committee to move towards considering strongly a cpie, which focuses on the expenses of the elderly and disabled. for folks of greater age, health care costs are at an an extremely significant part of expenses. the. cpi used for social security does not take those costs adequately into costs-- the cur rent cpi. use of the wrong cpi is particularly harmful for the

most vulnerable populations. if you have the wrong one for a year or so, the change is relatively small, a 10th of a percentage point here or there. but for folks in their 80s or 90s, they have been suffering from the wrong cpi for 20 years or 30 years. for individuals on supplemental security income where the patent is based on a specific set federal rate, that rate has been lowered improperly due to the improper cpi, since the institution of the program back in 1972. it is extremely important, particularly for the most vulnerable people, if the cost of living be adequately recognized. or else their already low incomes year by year slip greater into a danger area. i want to mention some issues

specifically related to supplemental security income. this is a companion program to social security that is designed to guarantee a certain form of income for individuals -- floor of income for individuals who are disabled or aged. this has been in place since the early 1970's. you would like to think when this was instituted, the idea that older people or disabled people would have some legitimate floor to be able to maintain a small home perhaps, to live at a moderate -- certainly not extravagant -- standard of living. the current federal benefit rate is $698. the current amount of all lowed resource available assets is to thousand dollars. that has been raised only $500

since the institution of the program in the early 1970's. we would urge the committee to think about the realities of that, of living with $698 a month and having only $2,000 in the bank. this is not addressing the asset limit, it's not an amount of money that allows someone to repair the roof if a tree falls on it. it is not. it is an extremely low level. we urge the committee to think about that. every year ssi becomes less and less viable for people. more than $200 a month in income below the federal poverty line. that is the floor that we have set for what is meant to be a safety net program for older or disabled people. finally, i want to address briefly two items of equity.

we urge the committee to consider caregiving credits for social security. currently when folks stepped out of the labor market, the paid labor market, to care for aging parents or others, they're not able to bank quarters of credit for social security, which can become very disadvantageous to them down the road. it is important. i think we all recognize how important caregiving is on all parts of the aging spectrum. we urge the committed to respect that work and to create credits within social security to recognize that. finally, also related to equity, we urge the committee to support equality for lgbt customers and spousal benefits for survivors. the freedom to marry was

mentioned earlier. as part of the equity and respect, this is a change in the social security program that needs to be made. it's been my pleasure to speak with you today. i am happy to answer questions and make the services of our office available in the future to any questions you may have related to the health and income requirements of lorton, older folks. >> thank you. other questions? >> thank you very much for your testimony. you raised an issue that was raised yesterday about giving credits for caregivers in the calculation of social security. i recall having heard that this is something that has been used very effectively in other countries. are you familiar at all with that record?

can you give us any flavor of that? >> i cannot, i'm sorry. what i can do is guarantee when i get back to the office on monday, i can have information submitted to mr. grossman and others on the staff to make that available to you. >> i was surprised to learn a lot of countries to provide that routinely. >> i think that's correct. i would be happy to provide specifics. >> other questions? thank you so much for coming and for what you do and for having your testimony so succinctly stated. we truly appreciate that. keep up the good efforts. >> thank you, sir. >> our next presenter is michael baugh of the american civil liberties union, the chief legislative and policy council for the american civil liberties union.

the aclu works to defend and preserve individual rights and the liberties that the constitution and the laws of our country guarantee everyone. and so, we thank you for your work and for coming to speak with yesterday. >> governor strickland, mr. chairman, merv members of the committee, if it is an honor to be in front of this distinguished group. thank you very much for inviting the aclu to present testimony to be used in the preparation of the 2012 platform. we are nonpartisan advocacy organization with millions of members and activists in 53 affiliate's on the country. we urge the committee to reaffirm the party's commitment to our democracy by providing a vision for america that enhances our freedoms, to be free from discrimination, to equal opportunity in employment, and in education, and the marriage, and to lead a life free of unwanted government interference, to vote, to speak and associate freely, and to

believe according to our own beliefs. in the summer of 2012 we have heightened concern in the trend towards intolerance and marginal as asian of a new set of oppressed class as. class is defined on the basis of religion, national origin, immigration status, and race. i will focus my remarks today on the specially the need to push back part of the simile new environment of intolerance and discrimination. the traditional notions of racial profiling focused on discriminatory practices aimed at african-americans. the allegorical driving while black. there are three faces of racial profiling. while on wanted harassment of black americans continues, discriminatory enforcement action now targets immigrant populations, especially latinos, and religious minorities, especially moslems. states are passing anti- immigration laws challenging federal enforcement authority. boating laws make it harder for some people to vote.

if congressional committees hold hearings asserting the radicalization of american muslims and others use mccarthy smear tactics. we urge the committee to condemn racial profiling in all forms and to support certain critical initiatives to help achieve that. the platform should call for the department of homeland security to end partnerships with local law enforcement that unable biased policing at the local level. the secure communities program encourages police to rely on unlawful assumptions about individual's immigration status, causing well-justified fear and concern among some immigrants. terminating these programs would curb discriminatory policing. it would complement the department of justice those admirable effort to overturn anti-immigrant laws like that in arizona. the commission urged enactment of the end of the profiling act, to make racial profiling

illegal and provide victims with legal recourse. profiling that breeds resentment and suspicion toward law enforcement among minority communities and undercuts cooperation. the platform to call on the problem of justice to issue an updated internal guidelines that currently provide a proper instruction to federal law- enforcement officials. the discrimination inherent in profiling can manifest itself in other ways. when government singles out those of one ethnicity or religion to receive or be denied a public benefit, such action in debates the same disease of inequality. the school to prison pipeline reflects a trend to push certain kids out of public schools and into the criminal justice system? because of an overreliance on discriminatory discipline practices. the increased involvement of police and schools increases the likelihood students will end up in jail rather than college. the impact falls disproportionately on students of color or students with disabilities. the platform should support legislation to improve school

discipline policies, including the positive behavior for safe and effective schools act. a wave of new state statutes makes it harder to vote, especially for poor people, people of color, students, the elderly, and people with disabilities. the platform must emphasize the importance of upholding and strengthening laws like the voting rights act. department of justice should continue to enforce these laws and to scrutinize new state restrictions as they come along for discriminatory purpose. other federal legislative reform should include restoring voting rights to those with conviction, modernizing the registration process, and developing uniform standards for early voting. discrimination exists in other contexts. too many contexts. religion should not be used as an excuse to discriminate against employees, customers, or patients. whether it's the workplace or health care laws, organizations should not get loopholes that

sanctioned discrimination in the. name of the bans on public funding for abortion services include a disproportionate harm on low- income women and women of color. the commission denounce all federal limitations on insurance coverage for abortion and reaffirm its commitment to a woman's access to safe abortion care. it's time to end discrimination in the institution of marriage. a platform to endorse the freedom to marry for all committed couples and for repeal of the discriminatory defense america act. the platform to call for passage of the student nondiscrimination act to ensure that severe harassment of the lgbt students has no place in public schools. the platform to support passage of the patroness at a closed center pay equity loopholes. national security and privacy issues are inherently different from those of discrimination and equality. they bear on the authority of government to act. our system has become unbalanced in reaction to 9/11

and we believe it's time to restore equilibrium. the government should close guantanamo by charging detainee's in criminal court or transferring them to countries where they will not in danger of torture or indefinite detention. call for an end to the use of indefinite detention without charge or trial. the platform should reaffirm the rejection of torture and recognize the need for accountability for those responsible in the previous administration. the platform should oppose the use of on lawful lethal force against terrorism suspects away from any battlefield. the federal government asserts sweeping power to conduct group dragnet collection of individuals personal records and to monitor peace or religious activities. the platform should call for limits on surveillance and demand judicial involvement in that surveillance. the police have been tracking people long-term using tools like gps and cell site technology without a judicial approval. the commission called for enforcement agents to get a

warrant based on probable cause before using such pools. are written submission offers more detail on these recommendations and others as well. we believe the national government must continue in the ongoing struggle to create an even more perfect union. we are most grateful for your invitation to participate in this process. we would like to continue that involvement this year and in future years. i will be pleased to answer any questions. >> michael, thank you for your testimony. are there questions from the committee? >> spanx for comment. and thank you for your work camera work of your colleagues at the aclu. you mentioned the school to prison pipeline. could you talk a little bit more on how zero-tolerance policies might contribute to that and what some better alternatives might be? >> there's been a trend for quite some time to instead of handling discipline in the schools as perhaps most of us

saw when we were much under, but to now bring in law enforcement. there is much greater participation of law enforcement in the schools and much more likelihood that misbehavior instead of being handled as school discipline turns into a criminal justice matter. the effect of that is not only does the child get pushed into the crystal justice system, but it makes it more likely the kid is removed from the school. -- the kid get pushed into the criminal justice system. we want to return discipline policies was trickling a school based effort. the impact is mostly on kids of color. and so, it does have a discriminatory impact. if we can put that roadblock in front of the heightened involvement of police and

schools, we think that should have an effect on the overall public school system. >> thank you. >> congresswoman. >> thank you for being here and for your testimony and for the aclu protecting our civil liberties every day. you mentioned the equilibrium. the. swan after 9/11 -- the pendulum swun after 9/11 in one direction. we recognize our important national security is and that we have to enact measures to ensure national security. for the democratic party, the balance between national security and civil liberties would be important to restate. could you elaborate on that equilibrium that needs to being put into place now? >> yes, the aclu things we can be a safe and free. the balance that we speak of is

to make sure that there is judicial involvement in the process at all turns. that is so there is a neutral arbiter making decisions whether are disputes about what the use of authority involves. so many programs we see, there's not that same involvement of are tried and true federal courts. for example, there is the military commission system to try detainee's according to a different set of rules than are available within our federal courts. we'd think that if the evidence is available to convict somebody in our federal courts, we know that several is a lot upon and is trustworthy. people have confidence in the results that come out of our federal courts. and same confidence does not exist in the military courts. why not use the system that we think people have confidence in?

that is an example of the kind of balance i'm talking about. relates to the use of neutral arbiters. >> we have a couple other committee members with questions. nutter.r >> let me emphasize greater appreciation for the work of the aclu. what you are doing in pennsylvania as regards to voter id and other jurisdictions where you may be actively engaged. i want to putalk about equilibrium. the question was raised about schools earlier. i want our schools to be safe. i want them to be education havens. we need to push back a little on the idea that just because there

might be police officers, whether local police or school police, in a building, does not necessarily make him people criminals or cause them to be caught up in a cthe criminal- justice system during it is their behavior in many instances that causes them to get. involved with get. that causes them to get involved in the criminal justice system. in personal responsibility, we don't have police officers in some schools, yet young people find themselves either bullied, we find knives, guns, box cutters, drugs, sexual assault, assault on student to student and assault on administrators and teachers on a regular basis. young people also need to take responsibility for their

behavior. in between the two sides, i want to make sure we are also talking about personal response ability. go to school, learn something, have a good time, and leave other people alone. then you don't have to worry about whether there are police in the school or not. thanks. >> the legislation that i mentioned, the positive behavior bill, it does not preclude that sort of balance that you are talking about. certainly, if there are extreme public safety dangers, police do need to be involved. but the trend has been for more and more police involvement in schools. the impact has fallen most significantly upon minority communities. the challenge is to try to keep people in schools and to benefit from a good public education. >> i had the bazile and

nutter bill. personal responsibility has to play a role in all of this. bless my parents. [laughter] >> i think we have a question over here. >> a question about guantanamo. the president has made clear since day one that he sees the as being against our values. congress has blocked the ability to transfer some of the presidents of guantanamo to face trial. around the world there is a bind between not being able to send individuals back to their countries of origin out of fear there will be abused by those governments and the reluctance

of other countries to take those residents of guantanamo for the same reason we are reluctant to have them on trial here. beyond what the administration is doing, which is continuing to push forward, continuing to push congress to do the right thing, what are you recommending? >> let me acknowledge that the administration has taken steps since it came into office and the day one executive orders on torture were a great step forward for this country. as to the issue of guantanamo, we would be concerned about transferring detainee's to the united states if it is still under the same system of holding them without charge or trial. and so, the trick is to either charge them and try them -- and we would say in federal courts

-- or to follow the process of releasing them to countries where they would not be tortured or subject to being held without charge or trial. i understand it is an imperfect system, but at the very least there is an option of charging those detainees and using the federal court system to determine whether they should continue to be held. >> quickly, one more question. >> the breadth of the questions reflect the range of issues on which the aclu works. all want to thank you for your testimony. these discipline issues are really tricky. this administration has pushed to make the process of getting data out of school discipline more transparent. that is a very important step forward. i also want to know to that part of what is tricky about figuring out the right role for law enforcement and this goes back to your exchange with the mayor. there are good models involving

community policing and emphasize the value of exchange of information between school principals and police personnel that emphasize the role of police and educating folks in the community. they underscore that alternately the partnership can be very important and effective if we focus the role of the police effectively. >> the issue of community policing touches on the points i was making earlier. when you have this distrust that exists between the immigrant community and police that are now charged with enforcing laws like arizona's, you create a distrust that sort of bricks that bond. the same thing happens in schools. so there is a challenge in finding the right balance. effective community policing systems are critical. >> if i could, i want to

acknowledge that i think one of the biggest problems is dealing with some of the restrictions that are imposed by congress in wanted to detainees. that is a challenge that has not been resolved. >> thank you so much for your testimony. obviously, it sparked a lot of interest within the committee. >> thank you again for inviting us to testify. we really appreciate it. >> we did pretty well time wise. our next presenter is from the national council of asian- pacific americans, representing the asian-pacific american coalition of 30 different national asian pacific organizations around the country. itit serve to represent the interest of the greater asian american and native hawaiian pacific islander communities. we are happy you are here today. we look forward to your testimony. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and members of the committee.

thank you for this opportunity to provide information as part of my testimony. i am the ceo of the partnershihg partnership. i'm here to provide information about the asian american native, and pacific islanders community. during this testimony i will refer to the collective community as aa and ahpi. over 18.5 million of them represented 6% of the total population. according to the census 2010, the asian-american population grew by 46% and the native hawaiian pacific islander population grew by 40% by -- between 2000 and 2010.

aa and nhpi represented over 60 ethnic groups and we speak over 100 different languages in addition to english. today i will discuss an issue facing those people and communities in the area of civil rights, education, health, housing, and economic justice and immigration. in civil rights, they often face daily biases and discrimination in the workplace, at the polls, in schools, and within the political process. not only do community members face bias and discrimination based on the perception of the group as perpetual foreigners, but individuals are often targeted for their actual perceived religion, gender, sexual a big, and economic status. there are three recommendations in the civil rights arena for

the platform committee to consider. first, the voting rights of all americans must be protected by supporting the continued vitality of the civil rights act, including the full enforcement of section 203, which requires language assistance in the election process. second, racial and religious profile and must be stopped through legislative permitting racial and religious profiling by federal, state, and local law enforcement. also, existing department of justice rules on racial profiling must be strengthened. employment discrimination and bullying and harassment must end of through the enforcement of existing anti-discrimination policies and the passage of legislation that expands the policies to preserve the rights of those discriminated against on the basis of race and national origin as well as gender and sexual orientation. on the topic of education, they

are often stereotyped by the model minority men, that's rooted in the misconception that all of them are exceptional students and face no barrier on the path to higher education. this draws attention away from the diversity and needs of individuals in the communities which often face significant challenges to educational achievement and attain a due to unique historic cansos hillocks econom -- historic and socio-ecc factors, including party. 51% of vietnamese, 63% of hmong , 65.8% of cambodians adults 25 years or older have not enrolled in or completed post secondary education. similar trends are found in pacific islanders with 49.3% of

native hawaiians, 53% of guam residents, 56.8% of samoan, have% of tonga adultswh who not enrolled in post secondary education. three things for the committee to consider. the u.s. educational system must be held accountable to students with diverse needs. schools must have the capacity to the asian students through high-quality, through data, increase language access, and protection in schools. high-quality and research based professional development must be provided to educators, in particular to support educators and staff in working with english learning students and

limited proficient families. third, adequate funding and technical assistance must also be provided to them serving institutions. the program seeks to increase participation and attainment of all incomes and communities with high poverty and limited english proficiency. moving on to health care, community members are disproportionately represented among the uninsured. many low-income families must rely on publicly supported health care programs for health care needs. currently more than 2.3 million asian-americans and many thousands of pacific islands

don't have insurance. our community member states health care disparities and unequal access to quality health care services that especially affect low-income, limited english proficient, and new immigrants. there are two priority recommendations in the health- care arena for the platform to consider. first, the affordable care act must be fully funded. and funded this will promote access to quality affordable and culturally and linguistically, health care, including comprehensive reproductive, mental, and they of your health care. second, health and health care disparity must be reduced through the expanded access to preventive services and treatment of hepatitis b, diabetes, human papillomavirus,

hiv, aids, cancer, mental health, and other disorders. regarding the housing and economic justice arena, the foreclosure crisis and recession have wrecked havoc on families throughout the country. many asian americans have been stripped of their homes and financial security. those who have become unemployed remain in this position longer than any other ethnic group. these economic hardships continue to severely impact the most vulnerable in our communities an. there are three priority recommendations for the platform committee to consider. first, neighborhood revitalization programs must be increased to increase the supply of affordable housing and to promote housing stability, preserve access to affordable homeownership opportunities, and

revitalize neighborhoods with low incomes. second, asset building program must be expanded to assist individuals and families to make informed financial assistance, increase savings, and develop access and improve credit. third, work force investment and economic development programs must be enhanced to create jobs, provide job training opportunities, and to enhance protection in the workplace. finally, i would like to turn to our broken immigration system. asian-americans are part of our country's rich immigration history. nearly 2/3 of asian-americans are foreign-born. today the broken immigration system not only makes it difficult for asian immigration to the united states but also increases hardships for immigrant women and their children, forcibly separates families, and keeps them from a

fully contributing to this country. of the 11.5 million undocumented people in the country, approximately 1 million are from asian origins. over 40% of people waiting in the family immigration backlog are from. asian from there are two party recommendations in immigration policy arena for the platform committee to consider. first, comprehensive reform is the only solution. the united states need comprehensive immigration reform at the federal level that provides a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, including young people, keeps american families together, including same-sex households, improves and strengthens avenues and protections for immigrant workers and their families, to live and work in this country, to ensure the due process

rights, and to prioritize human- rights standards, and to support the full immigration of immigrants and refugees. second, enforcement only approaches to immigration must be stopped, including initiatives at state and local levels that separates families and increases the vulnerability of domestic violence, sexual assault, and other crimes. i urge the platform committee to carefully consider these priority recommendations and work with asian american community leaders to explore the many additional issues and recommendations that are important to asian-americans, native paul ryan and pacific islander communities. thank you very much for this opportunity. i would be happy to address any questions you may have. >> thank you for your testimony. are there any questions this at this point? >> thank you very much.

i want to give you an update as to where we are. we have 28 presenters today. we have heard from seven thus far. and so, what i'm going to ask is, if at all possible, and we want to be fair to everyone, but if it is possible to make your comments as brief as possible, all of you are invited -- and i think all of you have submitted written testimony, and i've been insured by the staff that your testimony will be carefully read and thoughtfully considered, but we want to try to make sure that everyone has an opportunity to be heard today. and so, with that i will call our next presenter. janet roberts. thanks for coming. she represents democrats for life. she's the president of the board of directors for democrats for life. it is an organization that

represents the pro-life opinion that exists within our party. janet, we are happy you are here. we look forward to your testimony. >> thank you, mr. chairman and members of the committee. all like to express my deep appreciation for the opportunity to speak. i am the president of democrats for life of america. representing a pro-life democrat, democratic voters from around the nation who are strong supporters of democratic policies. we often told that we cannot be democrats if we are pro- abortion. we can express our opinion during an internal and important discussion over the language that will govern the party in the next four years. i'm a lifelong democrat activist based on values passed on from my parents. i'm also the owner and general manager of am 950, the progress of talks patient from minnesota.

i have launched many progressive talkers. democrats have varying views on abortion, ranking from legal in all circumstances to illegal in all circumstances, and every position in between. but we strongly support and share in a historic mission of the democratic party to provide economic, educational, and social opportunities for everyone. when we hear gallup polls which indicate a majority of americans do not support overturning roe versus wade of, it does not tell the whole story about american'' attitudes. the public believes abortion may be necessary in cases of rape,, or life of the mother. but after that, support for abortion substantial declines and americans, even the majority of democrats, support a corporate restrictions. as we look at the democratic party platform that will express our position for the next four years, we should reflect the diversity of opinion on

abortion. republicans are continually telling people they are not welcome because of who they are, what they believe, or where they were born. we are not that party. we can be better than republicans by ensuring that our platform language makes clear that we welcome, include, and support people regardless of race caller, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, or values. even if those values lead to different opinions on abortion. this is an historic opportunity to pave a new path for a bigger democratic party and one that can help us reestablished winning majorities in congress. i would like to submit testimony that shows the relationship between the number of pro-life democrats in the house and the number of democrats in the democratic caucus. over the years as the number of pro-life democrats has increased, a party has lost its majority status. by appealing to a broader

perspective on this issue, we can elect more democrats and increase our party's ability to pass important and historic legislation. pro-life democrats helped passed the family and medical leave act, the lilly ledbetter fair pay act, the americans with disabilities act, the dodd-frank wall street reform and consumer protection act, and the affordable care act. congressman from california, who has successfully sponsored the amendment to the act that allows parents to keep their children on their policies until age 26. she is pro-life. she left the party and that was a great loss. we should focus on those things that unite us especially in the swing states. we would like the following language to be included.

"if we respect the conscience of each american and recognize that members of our party have deeply held and sometimes differing positions on issues of personal conscience like abortion and the death penalty. we recognize the diversity of views as a source of strength and we welcome into our ranks all americans who may hold differing positions on these and other issues. the second paragraph reflects how pro-life and pro-choice democrats differ from republicans. "however, we can find common ground. we believe we can reduce the number of abortions because we are united in our support for policies that assist families to will find themselves in crisis. we believe women deserve to have a breath of options available as they face pregnancy, including among others, support and resources needed to handle the challenges of pregnancy, adoption, and parenthood. access to education, health

care, child care, and to prepare a child-support. we envision a new day without financial or societal barriers to bring a planned or unplanned pregnancy to term." the first paragraph was composed in 1996 and supported by former president clinton and was included in two democratic platforms, to show we accept democrats of all persuasions to be part of our mission and our democratic family. it sends a message that all democrats regardless of their position on abortion are welcome in our party. earlier this year in a letter to president obama, a group of pro- life democrats, including jimmy carter, and others, reported our approach in writing. "democrats are people of many faiths. some find abortion immoral and others find it acceptable only under limited circumstances. we support the whole life of a human person so we value, protect, and provide for not only the unborn child but the pregnant mother, father, and our

entire human family. being pro-life means diving for a government that enhances all life. calls by democrats to strengthen child care, provide an advocate responsible land-use and environmental requirements. a full copy of the letter is an hour cemented testimony. i like to thank this committee. we are asking that the platform reflects the acknowledgement of the commitments we all share regardless of our positions on abortion. in the. of the earlier remarks, regardless of your individual positions, we urge the committee to restore the important conscious language as reflected in the first paragraph.

i encourage you to consider the second paragraph for conclusion. it states the common ground that we share, a societal support for people in need. >> thank you for coming in. do we have questions? >> i think this helps us overcome a historical mistake. i am proud to be one of those issues helping reverse that. i was very pleased that you're testifying. the second paragraph does get into areas where there be a majority disagreement. there is one area we could phrase people young enough.

we made this remark 30 years ago. from the standpoint of the reagan administration, and they believe regarding the federal government like began at conception but ended at birth. once the children were born there is no obligation whatsoever to provide service. a paragraph stressing back not to what the position is, if democrats do believe that. there would be unfair system of the pro-life republicans that .ote against abortion but i commonality of democrats who believe that what the children are here that there is this obligation. i am pleased that we have set a very good example.

i think that first paragraph ought to be in there. >> are there other questions? >> i want to echo my appreciation for your testimony. i think it is a wonderful that you are here and encouraging us to adopt the steed of the zero paragraphs. one of the things that i have presented most about the approach to politics is their insistence that everybody agrees to one set of values. we are about including many. i join him in thanking you for your presence here today. >> thank you so much. thank you for this testimony. our next presenter is julie.

i believe that i'm pronouncing that correctly. dooley represents the national park hospitality association. this assists allies to be outstanding partners with our national parks. we look forward to your testimony. >> thank you. i will try to adhere to the end of punishment to be brief. i really appreciate the opportunity to present today. i when i to discuss two topics. -- i would like to discuss two topics. i would like to encourage the committee to encourage a statewide adoption enforcement of building codes. as part of the platform on infrastructure and investment. as you know, a strong building codes are our single perce line

of defense against national disasters. it will enhance investment in the sustainable infrastructure and return but that to the american economy. stronger and safer homes and businesses save lives, protect largest investment and protect our emergency responders. there is evidence regarding a statewide adoption as a way to empower fema at to assist a national disaster recovery while working to prevent future damage. a study found that bipartisan legislation would have stayed u.s. tataxpayers $11 billion since 1998. that does not mention the loss of life and property. the 2008 platform pledges to work to "prevent future catastrophic response barriers

whether it comes from hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, but droughts or any other natural and man-made disaster." aid is an essential component necessary to achieve that goal. the act will encourage state adoption and enforcement of nationally recognized building code for residential and commercial structures by providing an additional 4% to states with enforceable codes. it is supported by a diverse coalition of emergency responders, builders, and the insurance industry. as part of our commitment to build a strong infrastructure and respond, i encourage the committee to include encouragement for state to adopt building codes. second, i would like to

encourage the committee to include a strong statement of support now could 2012 platform for our national parks. our parks are truly our country's crown jewels. it preserves our natural and historical resources and contributes to the vitality of our country. the service is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2016. the centennial provides an excellent opportunity to stress the importance of our parks and commitment to those parks. as part of the platform and natural resource protection, support must be at the forefront. our national parks are threatened by a budget cut the policies that will make them less accessible to average americans, preventing them from the filling their mission of providing for the enjoyment of our parks while preserving america's greatest national

wonders. we must be aggressive in protecting the places americans and families enjoy visiting and representing crucial aspects of america's greatest legacy. the national parks provide us with some of the majestic and of inspiring places on earth. if you have not been to one this year, i encourage you to go. they should be cherished and cared for. they should be used and experience by the american people pirie it the 2008 platform ensures that are protected as part of the system so that they are here for generations to come i urge the committee to extend this platform to preserve and protect our national parks system, expanding opportunities for all americans that experience our national parks including

promoting national parks as a key pillar to our efforts in boosting international tourism, expanding volunteerism throughout the national parks, connecting them to our american classrooms to excite students about learning science and other topics and developing in creating partnerships to protect and expand our national parks. i want to thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. i kept it brief. >> you did. i thank you for that. thank you for being here and for your testimony. we will hear next from ben cr ouse. this was formed in 2002 by

enlisted war veterans, it provides grass-roots public policy public education and government relations. we thank you for your service and thank you for being here. >> thank you. i would like to thank you for the opportunity to abide veterans for common sense to speak today. i would like to thank you for coming to minneapolis. we love it here. we appreciate you chose us to meet. dick trickle down economics work? -- did trickle-down economics work? >> probably not. >> it was traded in a bubble to avoid of reality. the majority of our policies that derive our in va policies also came from a bubble, which is washington, d.c.

i would encourage you to think about that. think about the need for including veterans at the grassroot level. veterans when when politicians understand this has become a mere presence. this is not work any more. soldiers are getting ambushed by a panic this system posing as allies. -- by a system posing as allies. when you pretend that we will keep our promise to you? president obama has begun the essential work freebooting the va system. veterans are grateful for it. we ask you to continue the effort to solve the persistent problems of why veteran suicide, a veteran unemployment and

homelessness, veteran college dropout rates, poor and demoralizing delivery of veteran benefits, and underutilization of veteran training and expertise in american workplace. every unemployed or under sir the veteran is a lost opportunity and a lost investment for this country. american taxpayers have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars per veteran to train them in the most advanced technologies the world has ever seen. we relinquish that by letting them joined the ranks of the jobless, and the homeless, and the underserved. by failing to solve these five lingering problems, it is as if we are asking me we use you then drop you. it does not make economic sense. it does not make moral sense. it does not make future since. it is a societal sense.

every day in offices around the country, veterans are denied benefits. their disability claims get buried for years in the backlog of over 900,000 claims. veterans commit suicide while waiting for health care. stigmas from the of vietnam area still keeps them from jobs. president obama is among the political leaders who are out to change what is true for veterans today. they have invested billions of dollars in upgrades to technology and policies. recent choices are being made about sequestration that will threaten the progress that has been made. this situation is complex. the fresh thinking is needed. new solutions about the department will be required to win the veterans vote this upcoming election and in the future. veterans and their families and make up more than 25% of total

voters. they will not tolerate the failure to deliver on a promise to fix the va system. veterans want new solutions that fit today's realities. they want new leaders with in the bureaucracy who will actually implemented the 6 existing policies. they what improvements in how they improve their education. 88% of veterans job at the college after the first year. only 3% graduate. there is something wrong. veterans what a grassroots of boys and fixing the va. veterans what opportunities for veteran owned businesses to compete for be a contracts -- va contracts. 10% of businesses are owned by veterans.

they generate over trillions of dollars a year. we have an army of veteran owned businesses ready to fix the system and create jobs for veterans. nearly 2/3 of the recent 7200 veteran owned businesses applying are being denied veteran owned business that is. this was caused by tinted fixes by president obama that were implemented in 2010. veterans when when politicians understand the real need of all veterans of both of those needing help and those delivering it as leaders of society. one veteran spent four years working on multimillion-dollar avionic systems. after service he decided he had a decision to make, go to school or work. he chose school. this lets him in a draining

battle for benefits. he worked hard at college, received an undergraduate degree from northwestern. he will receive a law degree from minnesota. after 10 years and an advanced legal education, he finally won his disability benefits. how insane is that? i am that minnesota veteran. how many veterans never had that chance? how many veterans died before? how many veterans and give up? i can tell you. i talked to thousands of them regularly. we devote ourselves to helping other veteran secure their benefits. the struggle is real. the solutions are possible. every day i receive an e-mail from veterans who have been

denied benefits and were able to use my experience to battle their way to what is theirs. a grass-roots solution is the va. way to fix d bthe it is going to take a grass- roots effort. our nation and our veterans will try when we leverage the skills veterans have learned to help solve what ails all americans, a withering economy and social ills. we will try for me welcome veterans and to our businesses and organizations as highly trained leaders they are. we will thrive only train colleges to retain veterans as students. we will drive for me shipped our country's to that of a resource rather than a problem.

we will thrive warmly create a a va that walks the walk. it is time to make the premise. we are ready to be part of that solution along with the dnc and anyone else that wants to help. thank you. >> thank you for your service and testimony. are there questions ? >> wii thank you for your service. the statistics he shared are very powerful. drop out rate and suicides. i want you to expand on the notion of grassroots involvement. this is a challenge that is one that is very big in this context, how to marry the need a public engagement and involvement and thinking about

how large bureaucracy works. >> that is a great question. i would give an example within the va. he has initiated a campaign that is starting to work. it is very possible that he talked about this on thursday. efforts will be eroded completely. all we will be left with is the dollar amounts that are not being delivered without the backbone. as far as the grassroots process is involved, blogging, facebook, etc. however, when we have situations where business owners are not able to get access to contracts, we know that is a problem. why is the va not doing

something. there is a navy seal interviewed. he was injured in afghanistan and lost his better and owned a business that is because the contractor said you are not managed enough by disney be sealed. there are many instances like this that the va is not listening to. if they are all around us across the nation. for what ever reason, if they are impacting what they pick them what they do not take. that is what i mean. we should find a way to aggregate those issues. >> are there any other questions? thank you. thank you for your service and advocacy. thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> our next presenter, david is

the president of the aids institute of chicago. it was founded in 1985 by activists and physicians. the aids foundation of chicago is a local and national leader in the fight against hiv/aids. we are happy you are here. >> thank you. thank you for the opportunity to testify today. i am a proud chicago andan, gay man. and since 1984, living with hiv. my entire professional career has been devoted to unit fighting against hiv. i serve as ceo of the aids foundation. i spent this week with the 19th aid conference with thousands of

scientists and officials from around the world. taking stock of progress made in my absence yet to be one. -- and milestones yet to be on won. we heard support from democratic leaders such as bill clinton, kathleen sebelius, hillary clinton, nancy pelosi, barbara lee, and other senior officials. the pursuit of an aids for a generation is the official policy. president obama posted organizers and activists on thursday at the white house. he reiterated his determination to usher an end to the aids crisis. while we still lack a vaccine, u.s. research has transformed the landscape for those with

access to powerful medications that literally are lifesaving. the medication can render an hiv-positive person virtually unaffected. the medications are part of our prevention strategies to help hiv negative individuals avoid infection. u.s.-led research is pursuing novel ways to eradicate hiv from those affected and support long- term suppression. i have not always been optimistic. in 1994, the year i was diagnosed, there were no effective treatment. 40,000 americans died of aids that year. 50,000 the following year. i was 25 years old. recombination of therapy i was initially reluctant. i feared the medications would

not be affected or that they would result in scarring effects. for years i was not ready to confront on a daily basis the reality of living with hiv. as time passed, i started to feel the effects of the virus. i agree susceptible to persistent colds and infections that readily became severe. my energy waned. i started treatment in 2004 and have maintained an undetectable load ever since. the virus in my body is suppressed. my energy and vitality vastly improved. i am happy to say that i'm healthier than ever before. since starting treatment i have completed 10 marathons and continue training. such exertion would have been unthinkable before. when i was diagnosed, i had not expected to live past age 35.

i reached and easily surpassed. i am also very lucky. i am educated, employed, and have health insurance. i have not struggled with drug addiction or homelessness. i have support of friends and family. i have access to a wealth of information. i have not been bullet for being gay or face life behind bars. i'm not face the barriers many clients encounter every day. the hiv epidemic is proportionally affecting african-americans and latinos, especially in low-income communities. gay men remain most affected followed by african american heterosexual women. of the estimated 1.2 million americans living with hiv, less than 1/3 are barely suppressed. less than half of all people

diagnosed with hiv reseat continuous clinical care and treatment needed to extend their lives. another 250,000 are estimated to be unaware of their hiv status. lacking knowledge, they risked serious help complications and inadvertent transmissions. we work with advocates to treat the first other national strategy. it is a five-year road back to achieve better results in the aids fight in the u.s. it is an incredible plan that has made only incremental progress to achieve the target of the national hiv strategy. it will require substantial new investments particularly for prevention. to help close the treatment gap,

the affordable care act cannot be more important. lack of health care actions is a fundamental driver of the hiv epidemic. we must do all we can to help people with hiv gain access to high-quality health care so they can benefit from an array of state of our treatment. it is cost-saving. every infection averted saves 300,000 and an average lifetime health care costs. u.s. leadership is not limited to our borders. american generosity has saved millions of lives in the developing world and motivated important international and for national investment on hiv related care and prevention. our party can be proud of the diplomatic and safety it is securing a around the world with its investments in the emergency plan for aids relief in the global fund for tuberculosis and

malaria. the party must and behind its leaders and back up their soaring rhetoric with firm commitments of actions. the dlc platform should support science and make progress against hiv/aids at home. the platform is committed to concrete steps to achieve and eight free generation. leader pelosi said the u.s. has a moral authority to unveil a check the health care prevention for all who need them. it is an immoral imperative to fight discrimination which compounds the crisis. i hope this committee will aids platforms.d i have more recommendations for

you. i would just hand these out. i also have a sheet about hiv/eat in the u.s. >> thank you for your optimistic testimony and your willingness to share this with us. are there questions? >> let me refer to the leader on that. but i will be brief. i want to thank you so much. you are living testimony on why we have to move toward an aids free generation. i want to mention that while it was signed into law, president obama lifted the travel bans for 22 years in our own country. this is a significant development that we need to apply this administration for. as it relates to the campaign commitment, the president

developed a national hiv/aids strategy. he moved forward very aggressively to put it into place. i think we need to rethink the importance of redoubling our efforts on the domestic front and our national plan as well. i believe under this administration we can move much closer toward and aids free generation. >> i agree with my colleague, especially on the contrast between the previous administration and now. i would urge you. i agree we should have more resources. but not at the expense of other important programs. we are not talking [inaudible] i would hope every organization like yours would say that mean

to have to increase taxes on wealthy people. we have to reconnect the dots on people. i believe there is money we can reduce in military and put it there. it will reinforce the request for more resources. you do not want a position where this comes at the expense of cancer are women and children. it is important for everyone to say this is why we support a higher level of government spending on domestic programs. >> are there other questions? >> affidavit, thank you for this compelling testimony. thank you for the optimistic tone of your testimony and your willingness. it has inspired us. thank you so much. >> i want to thank all the

groups to have come before us this weekend and provided testimony. we want to keep the floor open. we want to hear from some of our grass-roots activists and leaders. four years ago we introduced a component to our drafting process that we called "listening to america." we've reached out to supporters to solicit input on our party's platform. we have continued it is our region in 2012 by creating an on-line portal where democrats at all levels can some there testimony. hundreds of countries have been received over the past few weeks. today we will hear from several individuals who are representative of these emissions. for this section of our meeting, i will introduce our speakers who have volunteered their time to share their stories with us today.

after the committee can ask questions. because we have so many coming before us, i am encouraging you to be as concise you can be with your testimony and with your questions. we want to hear from everyone. we will begin this section with a hearing from peggy flanagan. she represents listening to america. she's a member of the white earth band. she is also a former elected official. she is a longtime political activists and organizer. she is the director of external affairs at wellstone action. we look forward to hearing your story. >> good morning.

[inaudible] i am a member of th. the role of the wolf clan is to be the protectors of the community to make sure we're not leaving people behind and to ensure that our language and our way of life is honored and protected. that is why i do this work. ork we travel around the country and teach folks out to make change in their community. in that time i've been able to see firsthand what a difference having barack obama as president has made for us. i am not speaking with my nonprofit hat on today. i'm speaking as an activist. it is out there. people know.

i think first of all, just the stark contrast in different the last four years compared to the eight years prior has been in india country. as a native women, you can see me. i feel like i have really a voice and similar presentation. as a native person having an elected official having them on their promises is a big deal. to see the follow through, the commitment has been very

powerful. the nation to nation relationship and honoring that and the promises of literally meeting annually with tribal leaders all across the country. it sends the message that he is listening. the appointment of several native members throughout the administration, i can see myself reflected. this i think speaks volumes to how this administration and president has really supported native folks. the present site on in 2010. we were one of the last nations to sign on. it seems like a cigna signature. it goes a long way. we are entering into a time more

native people are being honored and respected in this country and seen as partners. i think the affordable care at is something we have talked a lot about nationally. for native people this is important. it is very special. when it was passed, it meant the indian health care reauthorization act was passed. we are now getting additional funding and resources so that in own family what i have seen in past is that family members are having imputations because of their diabetes has gotten so out of control. that was the norm. we would treat a problem when it got so bad that was the only option you had. with the affordable care act and the indian health care reauthorization, we can actually talk about prevention. how do we keep our communities and our people and families help

the? i do a lot of work with young people. so often what i hear is when i get diabetes. that is not a sentence i want to hear any more. we're on the right path now that we have the opportunity. dieppe policies to teach folks about their own culture -- they have policies to teach folks about their own culture. as a survivor of domestic violence and a child witness, the tribal law and order act is something that means a lot to me personally. native women -- one in three will be raped or sexually assaulted in their lifetime. we should be on fire but that statistic. i think the signing of the tribal law and order act was the first up in ensuring that these

tries to be prosecuted. there'll be more coordination with law enforcement. being made it does not mean that different laws apply to you. it means that you will be protected. he can have the expectation of safety just like everybody else. with my own personal experience and so many other folks in indian country, that means a lot. looking forward, i think there's always room for improvement. the last four years have been really phenomenal. i think the president deserves four more years to see even how much further we can go. i look forward to knocking on doors and calling people. if i need to wear a sandwich board on the side of the road, i am going to do it. there is a lot of damage that was done under the bush

administration. we are only just beginning to see how we can reach our full potential by partnering in this government to government relationship. in addition to being a member of the white earth, i am an urban indian. that is one place where we have some opportunities to think big. huckabee also serve the needs and ensure we're working relationships with native americans that there are several opportunities there. i look forward to that. indian country is impacted dramatically by this economic situation. what we can really look forward to and focus on is the job creation and economic development.

as the d and c platform committee, one of the things that i would like to think about as we move forward is that we really need a native american caucus. an official native american caucus at the dnc and that we are able to encourage and get more native delicate. i think that this is just the beginning of an opportunity to grow their relationship with native communities. i want to be a part of that. i want to help. it will take a commitment from the dnc as a whole. those are my comments. >> thank you for your testimony. are there questions from the committee? >> i want to thank you for coming in. you are wonderful.

i really appreciate what you had to offer. i am a native american, too. i was wondering who from our community would come and talk to this committee about the importance of what the president has done for us and what work is yet to be done. i know that in 2008 native americans are really rallied behind president obama. in some of the states like south dakota and arizona, and their vote was pivotal. he has done well by our community. one of the things that is yet to be done is the passage of the reauthorization of the violence against women act. we know that republicans have gutted those protections that have been in place before. i was wondering if you might speak to us about the value of

that act. >> absolutely. thank you for your question. she has spent a lot of time in native communities talking to survivors and advocates. it is critical that this passes. the proposed act would address the gaps between law enforcement to ensure that these cases would not slip through the cracks and native women felt se and supported to report these crimes. statistic is appalling. it is critical that we get the president reelected and that in

congress and the senate we have a folks who will be champions for native women. i agree with you. it is critical. i also think that the job and the role of native americans at this time is to tell the story, to talk to our families and friends. anybody who will listen to our communities about how critical it is to tell the story of all these accomplishments and promises he has kept. i look for it to be able to that in calling on other members to do the same. >> we are not quite halfway through our presenters. let me ask you to keep your questions as concise as possible. you want to make sure everyone has the opportunity to speak

with us. >> thank you. as an adopted member of the blackfoot tribe, can you speak a little bit about the importance of education and the importance of that education in the leadership of indian country and indian nations as all of you come back to those nations? >> i am a recovering minneapolis home board member. the first i was american indian on the board. education is the foundation for nation building. i think that one of the things that the president is committed to is honoring culture and language with in the education of native children. if i did not see myself reflected in curriculum, i would

not have valued my education as much. that is really what is going to be what bridges that gap. it is critical for us to rebuild a lot of our nations. it needs to be something that is listed in support of our native children said they see themselves reflected in education. >> i wanted to thank you for it their testimony. we're looking to having a native american caucus at our convention. we do have a native american council at the dnc. we are looking for two more members. we're working hard to attain that said the council can become a caucus. i welcome your comments. i want you to know that we agree. we are working on it. thank you.

>> thank you so much for coming. thank you for your testimony. our next presenter is carolyn. carolyn is a field representative for this. she has come to share with us her personal experiences as a result of the attacks on public workers in state of wisconsin. we are anxious to hear what you had to say to us. >> i do appreciate this opportunity to speak with you as the democratic party platform. my history is working as a licensed practical nurse in wisconsin. i am currently unemployed. in wisconsin we value fairness above all. for members in my home state comment the balance has been tipped toward injustice.

today i would like to ask you to highlight two issues that will level the playing field for public employees, a collective bargaining, and federal aid for the public services that we provide. i am sure you have heard a thing or two about the struggle the public workers we have had with our governor in the past year. it all comes down to collective bargaining. we took a big hit when the governor still our right to bargain. his actions show why we need the democratic party to do all you the tax collected bargaining rights. i work with people who have a dual diagnosis of developmental disabilities. workers in this agency are no longer able to negotiate with our administration about the issues of safety for the workers and the client.

that worries me. it worries my colleagues. the need for safety equipment used to be a subject of collective bargaining. now we have no collective voice to make sure we have the equipment we need. the state is done filling vacancies. to meet staffing requirements employees have to work overtime and then mandated over time. this work is challenging enough without having to work extremely long days. our members and corrections are also feeling the impact. they are expected to perform the same work with your employees because their post collapse. they know they will not get paid overtime. they get reprimanded. workers across the board are facing these problems and many more. the stakes are high for us and for our communities that we serve. it i am asking you to pledge

that the democratic party would work to collect the debt of bargaining rights that are central to our democracy. we need you to help us get rid of the gaps that are in the way for more workers to become union representatives and for us and wisconsin we will keep fighting hour battle. i would like to raise another important issue for state employees and our committee. that is the funding we provide. a federal funding for medicaid and other programs are our lifeblood. it let us do what we do and do it well. in many of the areas including highway maintenance and public safety, this funding is critical. i hope the platform will have a strong statement about increasing funding to states and local governments. i know that money does not fall

from trees or from the sky. we were thrilled that president obama is pushing to end the tax cuts for the richest 2% of our country. of2% do not pay close to their fair share of taxes. we are asking the democratic party to support getting rid of the special tax rates for millionaires and billionaires. making our tax system there will make them support the work we do. thank you for this opportunity. >> thank you for the work you do. are there questions from the committee? >> thank you.

i know you have had a really traumatic year starting with the governor walker's assault on public employees. i appreciate the other points he made about state and local aid and letting the bush tax cuts expire. those are crucial. can you say a little bit about how the battles and wisconsin really brought out a lot of community support for public employees? there were a lot of folks at the capitol and standing with you all. if you could just say a few words. >> i was there on the thursday that it happened. we were overwhelmed and gesso honor that so many people realized the work that other people do. many people came to were not union members. their kids had teachers.

they had gone to teaching hospitals. what everyone does, everyone has a role. today we make it. >> other comments or questions? you do hard work. usurp vulnerable people. we honor you and thank you for being here. >> our next presenters are two. amy ward and ross daniels. amy and ross are from a west des moines iowa. they are here to tell us about the impact of the affordable care act on their lives. we look forward to hearing your testimony. >> thank you very much i wanted to say thank you for inviting my

husband and i here to share our stories. particularly about how obamacare helps my family during a catastrophic illness. last summer we took a vacation in northern minnesota. my husband likes to fish. i like to kayak. it was a great vacation. one day when i was getting out of my kayak i slipped, fell into the water, and swallowed a small mouthful of water. i do not think anything else about it until two months later. i got a really bad cold and cough. my doctor said at a mild case of pneumonia. i thought after a few days of antibiotics i would be back to normal. i was wrong. a week later i was on life- support in medically induced

coma, a terrible infection was raging in my body. doctors had no clue what was causing it. even though i was on a ventilator, my body cannot get enough oxygen. my lungs had failed. i developed septic shock. my kidneys failed. my digestive system failed. and my liver was not working so well. my blood pressure was dangerously low. i had multiple blood transfusions. because of my kidney failure, i was on a constant dialysis for two weeks. i learned later that my chances for survival were very low. about one in three. my doctor decide what was making me so sick, i contracted a rare fungus and ammonia in my long from that one mouthful of lake

water. just one. i was lucky. there was a medication that could help me. that medication cost $3,000 a day. i was in, for six weeks. -- in a coma for six weeks. this is what it took to save my life, expensive cutting age of bioengineered medication, the boasts advanced medical technology -- the most advanced technology available including a modern telemetry equipment and more. also the finest specialists in infectious disease, pull monology, nephrology, cardiology, and your nose and throat.

definitely the finest nurses and a two in intensive care. when i awoke from my comment i wish shot. almost all of my strength was gone. i needed help with everything. after those two months in intensive care, i had a month of inpatient physical therapy. later i needed home health nursing and home health equipment. my doctors recommended a tracheotomy to help me to be able to breathe better. as you can see, i still have it. due to complications i had no place for several months. i still need this tracheotomy to breed well and speak well. i have had four surgeries to

help me read and speak better. i know i will need at least one more. i had to learn to walk and care for myself again. all of this was caused by one mouthful of lake water. the cost of my i see you -- icu stay exceeded $1 million in less than two months. today the amount is now $1.5 million. i was really lucky that my health insurance no longer at m1 million-dollar cap. before i got sick, i know is that $1 million would take care of just about anything. i never imagined i would need $1 million worth of care. when i've looked at that million

dollar limit on health insurance card that number seemed just fine. i was wrong to think that a million dollars would always be enough for a lifetime's worth of health care. i am so grateful that i had the resources to get well. before obamacare, we would have gone bankrupt trying to do so. one day i will be well enough to go back to work. because of obamacare, my pre- existing condition will not exclude me from employer insurance plans. though i am getting better, it the battle for making health care available to all americans is still raging. so many people still need help.