and appropriated, because we need everybody. 22 million african americans eligible to vote. listen to me. even when it an african-american was running for president, 35% stayed home. 22 million eligible. even with an african-american, on the ticket, the first time in history, in a nation that was born and benefited from slavery. a million. -- 8 million stayed home. they stayed home. they didn't even bother to register. and in 2010, only 45% went out. we need all hands on deck. and everybody at the polls.

>> on bad hip-hop -- that hip- hop point, the reverend has been doing a magnificent job focusing hard on this registration issue, and the felon disenfranchisement issue. and to have been leading the entire effort can look for their rallies and other of events that they are holding all over the country. go to the hip-hop caucus and look up their schedule. the things i would say people have to do, and i mean must do. not optional, it would be nice if you did it, we must do these things. help people get id. every red stay on that map, you have got to make sure people get id even if there is a scale of justice there because all of

those cases are still in litigation. we may win, like we won today, or we may lose. it is critical that we always operate like we are in a parallel universe. on one hand we got it, on the other hand, we got to get it. i need everybody to be part of get id programs. everybody you know in those states. say to them, are you apart of a get id program? the second thing, home workers. what they are doing that we did not talk to you about, how they are going to have people at the polls intimidate voters, we failed to tell you that the big thing they are doing is encouraging people to become full workers. -- poll workers.

specifically to get on the inside to challenge our people when they come to try to vote. also, so that they can be helping them make sure the laws are interpreted correctly and people have the right to vote can stop folks inside those polling places being bad. we need people to monitor the outside of the polling places to stop these challengers. the next thing, the smart phone application, making it viral. take it viral. if it is viral, everybody you know, can you look up your registration? that allows you to go and and look up your own registration. anybody else's registration. help people know if they are registered. let's make it viral so that

everybody in the world is showing you that application. let's make it that popular. in september, september 25, that is national voter registration day. in many states, voter registration stocks as early as the first week in october. we want to make sure that we are encouraging people to have freedom schools, making sure that people are registering to vote and help register people. if we do those things, we will fight in the courts, don't worry about that. we are going to push the department of justice and we will do everything we got to do. but we need you to do those things we just talked about. everyone of you is indispensable in this fight. it was an honor to speak to you. [applause]

>> we are not through. we have some work to do. i will ask everyone to stand, i want to say a few things. everybody stand. we have embraced the program announced they called 1000 churches, mosques, and temples. 100% registration. how many of you at church? lost? temple? paternity? sorority? -- fraternity? i want you to take personal responsibility to say that you're going to go back to your church, mosque, temple, sorority, make sure 100% of folk eligible to vote are registered. why don't you may get 50%? we don't want 50% of freedom. you don't want 50% of the constitution or of justice.

we ought to have a goal of 100%. the second thing i want to say, it is critical that we do this strategy peace. i will open it up a little bit on wednesday when we talk to barbara again. where i come from, there is this phrase. if we ever needed the lord, we sure do need him out. -- need him now. this is going to sound funny from a creature. -- a preacher. i don't think that is where we are at. i think where we are at is if we ever needed to use what the lord has given us, we sure do need to use it now. you remember when moses was at the red sea and he got scared. he started crying.

moses said, a standstill. but god said, no. don't you stand still. i did not tell you to stand still. that is your fear, that is your motion. i told you to stretch out your laws, look at what is in your hand. -- stretch our your rod. and there are times we cannot ask god to do for us what god has empowered us to do. but if we do what god has empowered us to do, then god will grieve got that and make it more powerful than we can imagine. here it is. let me go back in history and that we will go to the strategy. we cannot be the generation -- we've had to stand on some

terrible stuff, but we cannot be the generation that does less with more. what our forefathers did more with less. we must do more with more. harriet tubman had epilepsy. her skull was crushed in by white slave master. but she got 500 votes out of slavery. she could have gotten 1000, but she could not convince them that they were slaves. some folks are not convinced we are under attack. asked a neighbor, are you convinced? it was born of the spirit of the moment. harriet tubman of 500 folks out of slavery with a bounty on her head. all she had was lost on the north side of the tree. -- moss on the tree and a north star that sometimes with a peak itself out against the buzz among the midnight sky.

she had less and did more. harriet tubman didn't have e- mail. she didn't have a car. she didn't have good health. healthn't have insurance. she didn't have myspace or facebook. she had a loss on the north side -- moss on the north side of the tree and a north star that every now and then would peak itself out against the backdrop of the bosom of the midnight. if she could get 500 slaves with that little bit, and now the lord has blessed us with all this technology and all this history, i start by saying, you better e-mail everybody you know.

tell them, if we ever needed to vote, we sure do need to vote now. you'd better knock on every door you can not caught and tell them, if we ever needed a vote, we sure do need to vote now. you'd better text everybody you know and stop sending the other text before the fbi gets you. if we ever needed the vote, we had better vote now. myspace, a phase but everybody you know and tell them, show up. if we ever needed a vote, you sure do need the vote now. if his car, a mercedes-benz, or something you don't know will get to the next street, i get in it and drive it and tell people if we ever needed the vote, we need the vote now. i don't know how to do this, but i see my daughter and my son. i can't tweak, but they'd better to leave.

-- i can't tweet. but they better tweet, tweet, tweetto everybody they know if you ever needed to vote, we sure do need to vote now. is there anybody in the house? [applause] c-s[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> president obama is on the road today in iowa. that will start at 12:20 by the stern might on c-span. in the meantime, romney is on a campaign bus tour through florida with marco rubio. that is expected to start by that by the top 3:00 p.m. eastern. paul ryan is also in iowa today

visiting the iowa state fair speaking at the des moines register soap box area. we will be covering that. we plan to show that to you later today on the c-span network. the republican national convention is in two weeks, august 27th-30. democrats will hold theirs after labor day, september 4-6. the debate began october 3rd. for the first time in two decades, a woman has been asked to moderate. then answered today that she will moderate one event. bob schieffer and similar will moderate the other two. >> executives from google, sysco come and twitter talk about the

impact and future of american technology from the world. >> one fascinating thing about the olympics has been, and i think it will be really interesting for media, people in the media industry to understand the change we're going through from it filtered out said in view of the event where there is a broadcaster and they interview michael phelps before or after the race. then you get this linear progression delivered to you in a certain way. now, but for come out during, and after the event you have very much of this unfiltered inside-out view of the event from the participant in the people at the event. even some of the participants take a photo of the guy three lanes over and will tweet it. >> i almost feel sorry for the nbc people who spend all this money to do something that is on

a time delay and lots of features stories and wonderful narrative's about how the athletes out their personal stories and so forth. there is an alternative narrative which is to watch the olympics via twitter. just a different choice. >> to can watch this whole discussion starting at 8:30 p.m. eastern on c-span2. >> again, president obama making a campaign stop in council bluffs, iowa, the first stop on his three-stop tour. live coverage in about 10 minutes. now, a look at the impact of mitt romney's pick of paul ryan. host: as the table, charles mahtesian. it has been two days. what is the bulk of for the gop ticket so far? guest: i think we've seen a

great deal of energy, similar in some ways to 2008. you can see the crowds there are attracting to the ticket. i think the selection itself was a surprise in many ways but generated a lot of enthusiasm on the republican side. host: your recent apiece in politico. you wrote this over the weekend. you weren't talking about the man paul ryan. what have you learned so far? guest: it was related to the budget plan, the controversial reforms. it was going to be litigated over the plan and the reforms for medicare. people like him. but there is some polling out there and it shows the country does not really know him all

that well. especially independents. he is still a blank slate and somebody to be defined. host: the president and democrats are trying to define him right away and in their own way. what should they do to get what they want into the debate? guest: it will be a different debate than folks expected. there is no debate about the ryan budget. you will see that they refer to paul ryan as the running mate of their local republican candidate for challenger. that will be the framework for this discussion. i think you have a serious discussion about the merits of that plan. host: a national politics editor for political. -- politico.

we will continue to talk about the race following the selection of paul ryan over the weekend. we will continue to take your tweets. they overlap in iowa today. why iowa? why now? what will the messages be? guest: i think there are a couple of reasons. bile is a swing states. it is up for grabs. th year, and it looks a little different. ryan has a great deal of appeal in iowa. he has some familiarity with that terrain. i also think that there was a lot of excitement not only about ryan, but about the idea of having a catholic on the ticket because he might appeal to other catholics in a year with the catholic vote is up for grabs. in iowa, it went heavily for

barack obama in 2008. i think it is much more up for grabs this year. i think paul ryan will appeal to that vote. he is a lot of connections and it has done well. naturally, they want to compete. host: mitt romney will be in south florida today in miami. what will his message be to south floridians? guest: the first message that will want to make is about the ticket and who paul ryan is. if you look at the map of paul ryan, if he will clearly be an asset in the midwest. that is obvious. if there are other democrats -- their other demographics in

place. places like florida if you pay close attention to the entitlement debate. off naturally, there will be some concern and a real effort among democrats to define the budget in a very negative way. i think you'll see an attempt to explain who paul ryan is and what the ticket stands for. host: we will have president obama on live in the 12:00 hour and paul ryan at 2:30 p.m. eastern time. and then mitt romney in miami at 5:15 eastern. our first call now for our guests, charles mahtesian from political. good morning. caller: good morning. i just want to say i think it is very important to know that the ryan budget cut medicare. please to not cut me off.

it cuts medicare, medicaid, and pale grants -- pell grants. i just heard your guest speaking about catholics. it is my understanding that a group of catholic nuns are on a bus tour right now talking about how immoral the rise in budget is. -- the ryan budget is. this is before he was selected as the vice-presidential candidate. i think in all of this the republicans are trying to avoid decreasing in the taxes on the wealthy people. they are willing to cut all these programs. there'd be some much more money in the budget if they had tax increases. if but they all signed this form from grover norquist about tax reform. and for people who do not understand one thing with that

medicaid, i hear a lot of older people calling in. that affects people in nursing homes. people will not be able to go to nursing homes that really need that. host: let's hear from our guest. guest: you made a point about the catholic vote. it is too diverse. already, you are beginning to hear voices in the catholic community who were in opposition to paul ryan. this was something that has been going on. i think you are seeing an interest of a debate in the catholic community about the paul ryan budget and i think that will play out in a place like iowa. host: jason from louisville. caller: my question is, mitt

romney said we cannot take four more years of on-the-job training. what president has ever had the experience of being president? host: thank you for calling. guest: it gets to the qualifications of mitt romney and paul ryan. mitt romney is not necessarily as widely known as you might think to the american people. people are getting much more accustomed to him. lots of questions about paul ryan. he is a fairly useful candidate. -- youthful candidate. host: a headline in "the washington post."

he says that i know him and he is a decent man and i welcome paul ryan to the race. we have more from the president yesterday. [video clip] >> this is central to governor romney and it is central to his running mate. my opponent shows his running mate yesterday morning. the ideological leader fo the republicans in congress, mr. paul ryan. i want to congratulate -- [boos] no. i welcome congressman ryan to the race. he is a decent and family man. he is an articulate spokesperson for governor romney. but it is a vision i disagree with.

[applause] host: that word "ideologue" is out there this weekend. guest: there is a war is being waged over defining paul ryan. it is for the democrats to define him in a way that works to their advantage. you heard this yesterday on the sunday shows that paul ryan was an extremist and an ideologue. host: here is paul ryan himself in wisconsin from yesterday. [video clip] >> a country with four years of trillion-dollar deficits, economic stagnation. the worst economic recovery in 70 years. the largest deficit and the biggest government since world war ii.

nearly one in six americans are in poverty today. the highest rate in a generation. you know what? we are not going to take that. we are going to turn that around. [cheers and applause] the good news is we can do this. we can turn this around. we can get this economy turned around and we can get people back to work. host: some say the crowd was estimated at 10,000. guest: there is a great deal of curiosity about paul ryan. the biggest crowd was in wisconsin, waukesha. that is his backyard. that is his home state of wisconsin. it was an emotional appearance

for him because of the size and it was an historic moment for him. he has a connection to the wisconsin a culture. host: sort of a homecoming rally for him. mitt romney and paul ryan will go their separate ways. what might their messages be separately? guest: they were joking about the nature of campaigning, they both have to be in different places. the vice presidential candidate gets dispatched to the smaller market and you'll probably see that now. that is why they are in different states. the message in the short term has to be defining paul ryan in a way that works for republicans and then gets back

him as an ideologue. host: charles mahtesian is the national political editor for politico. we have harold from new jersey, a republican. caller: we have a marvelous constitution and marvelous people with generous hearts. we need from our leaders inspiration. president obama has the ability to do that. he gave an inspiring speech in may to a high school that had been destroyed and came back. my president said correctly to the graduates, we need god. god bless you. may god bless the united states

of america. god has answered that prayer and said, mr. president, i will bless the united states if you keep our commandments. the problem is we have not been keeping the commitments, especially you shall not give false testimony and that kind of stuff. this great country deserves better than evil. we do not need to demonize people. we should have unconditional love. a love for people, for pets. \ what we need is to shine the >> you can see "washington

journal" in its entirety on c- span.org. we go now to the campaign running for president obama and the council bluffs, iowa. he will probably make remarks on the mitt romney's choice for vice president, wisconsin congressman paul ryan. the president is just now being introduced. >> two years ago, marshall passed away. it was tough for our young this daughter, laura, who is now 17 and my inspiration. she was born with a condition that requires prosthetic legs. it has not been easy but she'd never uses it as an excuse. we just keep moving forward. it makes a big difference to have a president to stand by you each step of the way. [applause]

let me tell you. obamacare matters. [applause] it shows that president obama does care that aurora can stay on my plan until she is 26. it shows that he cares that no insurance company can ever deny her coverage because of something she was born with. [applause] and it is the same with president obama's middle-class tax cut. losing my husband also meant losing half are in come. since -- our income. since day one, president obama's tax cuts have saved my family thousands of dollars. he wants to extend the tax cuts to save families like mine and yours.

as a parent come at any time you have to pay more taxes means less you can provide for your kids. so i went to barackobama.com to let you know how much you would save under obama and how much you would pay under romney. middle-class families like yours and mine could pay on average $2,000 more per year under romney. independent experts down to pay for the tax cuts for millionaires that he would ballot -- also get rid of tax credits to help send our kids to college. the ronny tax hike is just too much for my family to bear -- romney tax hike is too much. that is what this election is so important. we need to knock on those doors, make those phone calls, and register those voters. the stakes are just too high.

this election is even more special for my family. in january 2008, then senator obama held a rally right here in council bluffs. marshall was a big support and took me and aurora to listen. we left inspired and a few weeks later we went to our first caucus. four years later, i am proud to say we're still standing by president obama once again as he has always stood for us. [applause] so, ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming back to council bluffs, iowa, the president of the united states, barack obama. ♪

♪ the more you see, the less you know you find out as you go you knew much more than i do now ♪ [applause]

>> hello, iowa. [applause] its bid to be back. -- it's good to be back. [applause] well, it is good to be back in iowa. i missed you guys. crowd: obama, obama. >> thank you. can everyone please give patricia a round of applause for that great introduction? [applause] a couple of other people i want to the knowledge, your outstanding former governor and the best secretary of agriculture we have ever had. [applause] congressman leonard boswell and your mayor. [applause]

did you see the sun is coming out? [applause] i love being back in iowa. we're starting here in council bluffs, but we will be heading east and i think i will and at the state fair. michelle has told me i cannot have a fried twinkie, but i will be checking out the butter cow and chocolate moose. i will have to take a look at that, if i can. the last time i went to the state fair, secret service let me do the bumper cars. i was not president yet, so i could do that. not this time. now, before i get started, i

just want to say a few words about the drought because it has such an impact on this state and all across the country. right now, people in iowa and across the heartland are suffering from one of the worst droughts in 50 years. farmers, ranchers depend on a good crop season to pay the bills and keep a roof over their heads. i know things are tough right now. the best way to help these states is for the folks in congress to pass a farm bill that not only helps farmers and ranchers respond to natural disasters but also makes the necessary reforms to give farmers and ranchers some long- term certainty. unfortunately, right now to many members of congress are blocking the farm bill from becoming law. i am told that governor

romney's new running mate may be in iowa and he is one of the leaders in congress standing in the way. if you happen to see congressman ryan, tell him how when ports in the farm bill is to iowa and our rural -- how important the farm bill is. we need to put politics aside when it comes to during the right thing for iowa and rural america. [applause] it is always a problem waiting for congress. in the meantime, i have made sure my administration is doing everything we can to provide relief for those in need. last week, we announced $30 million to help ranchers and farmers to get more water for livestock and rehabilitate land. today, we're announcing the federal government will help livestock producers by producing -- purchasing me and fish right now while prices are low and we

will freeze it for later. we have a lot of freezers. that will help ranchers who were going through tough times right now and also over the long term, the food will be used by those in the pentagon and other places. america depend on farmers and ranchers to put food on the table, depend on them to feed our families, so we need to be there for them. not just today but tomorrow and every day until this drop passes because we are americans. that's what we do. we take care of each other. when tough times strike our neighbors, we give them a hand. [applause] now, that speaks to the larger idea of why i'm here. the notion that i am my brother's keeper, the idea that we are in this together was at

the heart of the journey that began here in iowa five years ago. you know, we spend a lot of time on bus tours like this one, in school gymnasiums, small businesses throughout this state. the bus we had was not as nice as this one. [laughter] that campaign back in 2007-2008 had plenty of ups and downs, but no matter what you, the people in iowa, had my back. you had my back. [applause] when the pundits had written us off, when we were down in the polls, you believed in me, and i believe in you. it was on your front porches and in your backyard where the movement for change in this

country began. but our journey is not finished. not yet. i'm going to spend the next three days driving all across this state, just like a did in 2007, to cross from council bluffs to the quad cities. once more, you face the choice. that choice could not be bigger. it is not just between two candidates, two political parties. more than any other election, this is a choice between two fundamentally different visions for this country and the path we have to take. the direction that you choose when you walk into that voting booth in november will have an impact not just on your lives but your children's, grandchildren's for decades to come. this one counts. [applause]

crowd: four more years!four more years! four more years! four more years! >> think about this, council bluffs. we came together. it was not just democrats but independents and some republicans because we understood we needed to restore the basic bargain that made this country great, the basic deal that created the middle class and the most prosperous economy the world has ever known. it's a simple bargain. it says it you work hard, your work should be rewarded. if you act responsibly and you put in enough effort, you should be able to find a job to pay the bills. you should have a home you call your own. you should count on health care when you get sick. put away and up to retire with dignity and respect.

most of all, give your kids in education that allows them to dream even bigger than you did. that's the american promise. that's the american dream. [applause] the reason we came together was because we had seen a decade in which that dream was being betrayed. jobs were being shipped overseas. you were working harder but making less while the cost of everything from health care to college kept going up. it all culminated in the worst financial crisis since the great depression. we knew that restoring the basic bargain that made this country would not be easy. we knew it would take more than one year, one term, one president. that was before the crisis hit.

we saw friends and neighbors lose their jobs, lose their homes, lose their savings, pushing the american dream even further out of reach for many americans. over the last 3.5 years, we have seen american grit. you are tougher than any tough time. when we get knocked down, we stand back up. some workers lost their jobs and they went back to community college, got retrained, and now have a new job. slowly we have seen 4.5 million new jobs created, 500,000 manufacturing jobs created. no matter how bad the crisis was, one thing did not change and that is the character of the american people and the

resilience of the american people. what has not changed is our determination to do what we came together to do in 2008 which is to make sure that in america, hard work pays off. no matter who you are or where you come from or what you look like, you can make it here in america if you try. [applause] that is what this campaign is about, iowa, and that's why i'm running for a second term as president of the united states of america. [applause] you know, i told you four years ago that there would not be quick fixes, easy solutions. the challenges have been building for decades. that's still true today. i want everybody to know that we have the capacity to meet every challenge. we have the best workers in the

world. we have the best on to print your words, the best colleges, universities, the best researchers, the best scientists -- the best of japan yours. we have a diversity of talent and ingenuity. -- we have the best on to entreprenuer.rint yo there's not another country that would not trade places with the united states of america. [applause] what is holding us back right now is washington politics. you've got people on the other side to have been thinking compromise is a dirty word and whose main idea is to go back to the same old top-down economics that got us in this mess to begin with.

you know, this weekend, my opponent, mr. romney, it chose the ideological leader of republicans in congress. congressman ryan is a good man, a family man. he is an articulate spokesman for governor romney's vision. the problem is that vision is one i fundamentally disagree with. [applause] governor romney and his allies in congress think we just get rid of more regulations on big corporations and give more tax breaks to the wealthiest americans, and medicare as we know it and make it a voucher system that somehow this will lead to jobs and prosperity for everybody. the centerpiece of mr. romney's

entire economic plan is a new $5 trillion tax cut, a lot of it going to the very wealthiest americans. last week, an independent study, not by me, but by independent economists said that governor romney's plan would are naturally raise taxes on middle- class families with children by an average of $2,000 apiece. this would not be done not to reduce the deficit. it would not be done to create jobs or put people back to work rebuilding roads, bridges, or schools. it's just you paying an extra $2,000 to get another $250,000 tax cut for those making more than $3 million per year. does this sound familiar to you? they have tried to sell us this

trickle-down theory before. guess what? every time and has been tried it has not worked. it did not work then. it won't work now. it won't create jobs. it will lower the deficit. it's not a planned -- it will not lower the deficit. it is not a plan to lower the deficit. we need tax relief for working families. [applause] you need tax relief. people trying to raise kids, put a roof over their heads, send them to college. that is the choice. that is the reason i'm running again. four years ago, i promised to cut middle-class taxes, and that is exactly what i've done. [applause] the average working family here in iowa and across the country

has seen their tax go down about $3,600. when you hear the other side talking about democrats raising your taxes, your taxes are lower since i have been president. that's the truth. now, i want to keep your taxes right where they are. for the first $250,000 of everybody's in the come. if you make under that, which is 98% of america, you will not see your income taxes go up by a single time next year. [applause] 97% of small businesses will not see their taxes go up. thing, council bluffs. this is important. and omaha. we love you. [applause]

we did not want to leave our nebraska folks left out. [applause] here's the thing. if you are lucky enough and fortunate enough to have been blessed enough to be in the other 2%, the top 2%, you still get a tax cut for your first $250,000 and then come. all we're saying is after that, and maybe you can do a little bit more to help pay down this deficit and invest in things like education to help our economy grow. [applause] listen. government will do its part. we have already cut $1 trillion in spending. we will cut more. we have to streamline government

and make it work efficiently and effectively, but what we can also do is to ask people like me to do a little bit more. all we're asking is for people like me to go back to the rates we paid under bill clinton. by the way, that was a time when we created nearly 23 million new jobs and we created the biggest budget surplus in history. here's the kicker. folks at the top actually did well because guess what? when a factory worker, a construction worker, receptionist, a teacher, firefighter, kopp has a little bit more money in their pockets, what do they do? maybe they go out and buy a new car after writing that old be around for the last 16 years. maybe they finally get a new dishwasher because the old one has been broke for a long time. maybe they go and buy a computer

for their kids for the new school year or they go to restaurants. heaven forbid, they take a vacation. that means businesses suddenly have more customers. that means businesses start hiring more workers because they are making more profit. everybody does better. that's how we grow the economy. not from the top down but from the metal out and the bottom up. that's the choice in this election. that's why i'm running for a second term as president of the united states. [applause] you know, across the board there is a sharp contrast between me and mr. romney. when the yacht industry was on the brink of collapse, more than 1 million -- when the automobile industry was on the brink of collapse, romney said to lead detroit go bankrupt.

i refused to turn my back on one of the great american industries. i bet on american workers. three years later, the auto industry has come back. [applause] now i want to make sure that high-tech manufacturing jobs take root here, not in china. i want them to take root here in council bluffs. governor romney likes to brag about his private sector experience. a bunch of that was investing in companies that have been called pioneers of outsourcing. let me tell you something. i want in sourcing, not outsourcing. i want to stop giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas. let's give tax breaks to those companies that invest in america, higher american workers up to sell all over the world with those goods made in

america. that's what i believe in. [applause] here's another difference. right now, home grown energy, things like wind energy, creating new jobs oliver states like iowa. governor romney wants to end tax breaks for wind energy producers. american now produces twice as much electricity from wind as we did before it took office. we doubled the amount of electricity we are producing from wind. it supports about 7000 jobs in iowa. without these wind energy tax credits, a lot of these jobs would be at risk. 37,000 jobs across this country would be at risk. i think we should stop spending

billions on taxpayer subsidies for an oil industry making all kinds of profits and keep investing in a clean energy that has never been more promising. that's a disagreement i've got with governor romney. that is the choice in this election. [applause] back in 2008, i said it was time to end the war in iraq. we ended it. i said it was time for us to go after bin laden and al qaeda. and we did. [applause] we set a time line to start bringing our troops out of afghanistan. after a decade of war, i think it's time to do some nation- building here at home. [applause]

we cannot have accomplished any of this without the extraordinary service of our men and women in uniform. i promise you this. as long as i am commander in chief, this country will care for our veterans and serve our veterans as well as they served us. if nobody who fought for this country should have to fight for a job or a roof over their heads when they come home. [applause] that is why we've invested so heavily in making sure the va works like it's supposed to. that is why we have put more money into treatment of ptsd and traumatic brain injuries, ending homelessness among veterans. those are investments we have to make. my plan says let's take half the money we are no longer spending on the war and also use it to put people back to work building our roads, runways,

imports, wireless networks, creating a veteran's job course of local communities can hire our veterans to be firefighters, police officers in communities that need it. that's the america we want to build. that's the choice in this election. that's why i'm running for his second term. [applause] i want to make sure that america, once again, leads in education. i want to help our schools hire of the best teachers, especially in math and science. i want to give 2 million more americans the chance to go to community colleges and learn the skills businesses are hiring for right now. i want to give colleges and universities the chance to bring down the cost of tuition once and for all because i read vacation is not a luxury. it's an economic necessity --

because education is not a luxury. everyone should be able to afford it. i have a plan to help homeowners refinance their homes at historically low rates to save an average of $3,000. my opponent solution is to let the market bottomed out. that's what he said. that's not a solution. that's part of the problem. that's the difference in this election. my opponent says one of the first things he would do would be to repeal obamacare. crowd: boo! >> i think that part of being middle class in america is making sure you do not go bankrupt when you get sick. because of this law, if you have a pre-existing condition he will be able to get health insurance. that is why 6.5 million young people can now stay on their parents' plan. that is why seniors are now

getting discounts on their prescription drugs. that's why insurance companies cannot doctor coverage or impose lifetime limits when you need it most. -- that is why insurance companies cannot drop your coverage. that is why we pass this bill. the supreme court has spoken. we are not going backwards. we are going forward. [applause] you know, all of these things, whether it is bringing back manufacturing, creating more construction jobs, protecting people's health care, making sure your kids get the best education, making sure our veterans of the same kind of opportunity my father had when he came back and was able to go to college on the gi bill, this

is all part of what makes middle class. they are all bound together in the idea that made this country great. that basic promise that if you work hard, you can get ahead. it's not always -- it is not always going to be smooth. there will be times when times are tough. but the idea that if you work hard and look after your family, that work will be rewarded. that is the promise that our grandparents passed down to us. now it is the promise we ought to pass on to our kids and grandkids. that is what is at stake in this election. over the next three months, you will see the other side spend more money on negative ads than we have ever seen in history. got someks, they've really rich people writing $10 million checks.

and basically, they are going to say the same thing over and over again. they know their economic theories are not going to sell. or member what happened when we tried them. all they will say is that the economy is not as good as it should be and it is obama's fault. they expect you to have and asia and not remember who it is that got us into the mess. [applause] but they figure, if we run these ads often enough, maybe folks will start thinking about it. that is true. they may have a plan to win the election, but they cannot hide the fact that they do not have a plan to create jobs or revive the middle class, or grow the economy. and i do have that plan. i have a plan to put you first. i have a plan that puts middle- class families and folks trying

to get into the middle class first. but i'm going to need your help. sure you areake registered. i'd get to make sure your friends are registered to vote. in iowa, you can get register online. all you have to do is go to gottaregister.com. the thing is, we have been outspent before, and we have been counted out before. but what you told me in 2007 and in 2008 was that when the american people cut through all of the nonsense, when you focus your attention and you remember the story of your own families and all the struggles that your parents and grandparents went

through, and how maybe because you got a student loan somewhere, maybe because your dad was able to get that job at the factory, you guys were able to build a good life together, just like nichelle and i were able to get opportunities that our parents could never have imagined. when you focus on that thing that is best in america, the way we pull together and give everybody a fair shot if everybody is doing their fair share and everybody is playing by the same set of rules, and everybody is taking responsibility, when you come together and reaffirm those core values that make this the greatest country on earth, you cannot be stopped. all of money those folks are spending does not matter. you are democracy. you make decisions about the direction of this country. and i've got to tell you, we've come too far to go back now. we've got too many good jobs we

still have to create, too many teachers we still have to hire, too many schools we still have to rebuild it, too many students we still need to help get an affordable education. homegrown energy, more trips we've got to bring home, and most of all, we've got more doors to opportunity that we've got to open for everybody willing to work hard enough to walk through those doors. that is what is at stake in this election. that is why i'm running for president of the united states. that is why i'm asking for your vote, not just for me, but for this country that we believe in. [applause] and if you are willing to work with me and stand with me and knock on doors with me and make phone calls with me, if you vote for me in november, iowa, we will win this election and we will finish what we started in 2008 and will remind every

nationwide the united states is the greatest nation on earth. god bless you, and god bless the united states of america. [applause] ♪ [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] ♪

♪ ♪

>> and the president is on his bus tour in council bluffs, iowa. clearly, we lost the signal there, but the president will continue on to boone, iowa, and spend the night in des moines, iowa. and presidential candidate mitt romney is also on a bus tour today, but in florida.

of 5:15ve live coverage p.m. eastern as mr. rahn is joined by florida republican senator marco rubio in miami. that is scheduled at 5:15 p.m. eastern and we will have live coverage. the republican national convention is in two weeks. the democrats will hold their convention after labor day. live coverage of both. the debates begin october 3, and for the first time in two decades, a woman will moderate one of them. c-span, created by america's cable companies in 1979, brought to you as a public service by your television provider. now the heritage foundation along with true to vote

organization look at fairness in elections and the ratification laws. panel members include south carolina attorney general allen wilson along with the colorado secretary of state. from the heritage foundation in washington, this is about an hour and 15 minutes. >> good afternoon. i am the director of the heritage center in judicial and legal studies. it is my pleasure to welcome you all to today's policy discussion. the heritage foundation is very pleased to be able to co- sponsor today's discussion was such a distinguished panel with true to vote. i'm going to introduce its , and letnd president her introduce theater speakers she has assembled, and then i may come back to this podium to pose a question or two to

audience members. those of you who are watching on the internet and those from c- span and cbs who are also watching today's event. the topic of today's discussion is of significant concern to all of us, and i might or might not interject a few thoughts later, but i'm also appointed by the house of representatives to be a commissioner on the u.s. commission on civil rights. it is a special duty of the commission on civil rights to examine voting rights. there is a special charge in our statute. i certainly agree with today's speaker that we can do a better job of improving the election integrity of the united states. with this, i'm going to give an all too brief introduction of

katherine king odebrecht, the founder and president of true to vote. prior to 2009, i think she would agree she had a pretty low national profile. she was primarily known, of course, as a mother and wife, and a business owner. but ad -- in 2009, she did something admirable. in houston, texas, she started the first of two nonpartisan organizations to increase the citizen involvement in the elections. and a second of those is true the vote, which is our spuck -- r co-sponsored today. it is a citizen-led effort to restore honor and that -- and integrity to the electoral system. recently, politico has listed her, and "among the 50 politicos to watch." sheet -- it is a pretty steep

climb she has had in two years. obviously, from the work of mother and wife and business are to being so recognized. debose because of the organization that she started, first in houston, to fulfill an important need. that is, to encourage citizens to be more active in ensuring voter integrity. one of the simplest tasks is just to fill the tank -- bill the ranks of poll watchers. those of you that have gotten engaged in politics now know that is betty -- now know that is a desperate need in our state electoral mission. and while that mission has grown in just a few years, to take a comprehensive approach to ensuring fair elections, true the vote provides the support and technology necessary to help citizens fulfill their role in ensuring election integrity. she can talk about her own

organization and their needs better than i can, but i understand you are now active in about 30 states. and i wish that not only her organization, but others like it cannot continue to flourish. with that, catherine, why don't you take over the podium? >> thank you. thank you so much, todd. thank you, heritage, for the great privilege of cosponsoring this event. today, we will hear from very distinguished leaders on the subject of the election integrity. why? why this panel? why now? why here? you heard it said already from todd, but i would like to take a step back and tell you why i'm here. as he rightly said, three years ago, less than three years ago, i was a wife, mom, -- and

frankly, i still am a wife and mom. but my role has changed mainly because of what happened in my life in 2009. a very small group of us in harrison county, the third largest voting bloc in the nation, we had to do something that would give back to our community. we heard there was a need for people to go and work at the polls. people to work at the polls. what happened was what ultimately said true the vote into motion. on that day, we saw everything from confusion about the very process by which we have to count our votes all the way through to what can only be described as election fraud. we saw people who would come in and did not show any form of identification whatsoever and be allowed to vote. in texas, you have to show

something. in some of the 50 states, you do not have to show anything. in texas, you do. people coming in with multiple registration cards. the voter approaches the table, presents a registration card, and it has been told that that registration card has already been voted. they present another one and they are told they can vote. we saw people come in and be told that their vote had already been cast by mail-in. that would have a blank look like, i did not vote mail-in. we also saw people who would come in and prepare to vote only to open the book and see that their name had already been signed but it was not their signature. when you see things like that -- let me preface it by saying in the majority of places, we had great experiences,

experiences that make you proud to be an american, like you were really contributing. there were enough of us that have such similar stories that we recognized, this might be something we need to take a closer look at. it made you wonder, if this is what is happening when people are watching, what happens when no one shows up? that is an all too common problem that i came to understand much better. we have about half the number of necessary poll volunteers across the country. it is a big problem because our system was always built around the expectation that citizens would be involved. when we advocate our duty, leave -- when we abdicate our duty, when we leave the field,

there is a boy. the boy has got to be filled with something. -- avoid has got to be filled with something. we grew into an organization that looks at all the ways in which citizens can get involved in the process and we set about trying to build a process that would support that engagement. how name scott added to the -- how names got added to the voter registries, looking at the registry itself, collecting data all along the way so that when the state legislative sessions came back in, if there was need for election reform, at least there was data to support it. you had empirical evidence you could point to and say, these things really did happen. it begins to clear some of the fog of the conversation. we started out with the intention of working locally and hoping one day that maybe this would catch on nationally. i guess it is just a sign of the times we live in. things happen very quickly. flash forward, here we are, active in 35 states.

supporting hundreds of citizen- led election integrity organizations, many of which contacted us after seeing similar things in their states, in some cases much worse. and they wanted to be part of the problem. if you're sick of forwarding e- mails to one another and being outraged about this or that, true the vote is an opportunity to actually make a difference. if our growth continues, we believe we might mobilize up to 1 million new volunteers up to the election process between now and 2012. that is what brings me here. my desire to true the vote, to know with certainty that our votes counted and are counted. when you feel that, all of the

politics, all of the narratives, all the posturing, when you talk to average american voters, they are concerned. that is why true the vote has become a national movement in such a short period of time. there is a consensus that we must put our elections first. we must be able to depend upon the accuracy of those elections because the leaders go on to lead our country. that is why these leaders are here. i suspect that is why you're here. something is not quite right. and we know it. in the last 10 years, there have been prosecutions or convictions in 46 states on counts of election fraud. margins of victory are tightening, also made -- often major elections are decided by only a few hundred votes. local elections are affected, but the process does affect national elections. in 2008, we saw an incumbent lose to a challenger by a

margin of roughly 300 votes only to later learned that more than 300 votes had been illegally cast by felons. the outcome of that election gave the senate a democrat supermajority that allowed passage of historic fleet controversial legislation like the affordable health care act. had election laws not been broken, would that have happened? elections have consequences and we continue to see the erosion of process. the insufficiency of face guards. i just yesterday in kentucky, there was a lot of news coverage about a new drugs for votes scandal. people were being paid in drugs for the sale of their vote. reports out of new york, new mexico, virginia, florida, wisconsin, indiana, all

reporting different types of election fraud subverting the processed in different ways but all with the same alarming implications. in april of this year, pew research center released a report that estimated 13% of our nation's voter registry is inaccurate. over 2 million dead voters on the rolls and hundreds of counties with more than 100% of their eligible population registered to vote. that is not good. according to a rocket -- a recent rasmussen poll, 64% of americans think voter fraud is a problem. something we should address. we are watching states trying to rectify the problem, restore integrity to the elections, meeting with outrageous levels of resistance in many cases from the federal government. state governments are being sued by our federal government

because states are following federal law. the root of many federal cases is the issue of voter identification. 70% of americans agree that photo identification makes sense. they want it. somehow, there is a disconnect between what people want and what some politicians want, what some special interests seem to want. somehow, the will of these groups who pretend to speak for the people have effectively muzzled their voice. we are here to discuss what is working and what isn't working. there is a problem with election integrity. it does not stem from a lack of ingenuity or a lack of resources or a lack of importance.

much of it stems from the reluctance to have tough conversations in a political environment that is less concerned about supporting the sanctity of american elections than they are about advancing a self-serving agenda. there are leaders who are stepping up and speaking out because if they do not, then the very cornerstone of our republic is at risk. a confident, engaged electorate leads to a united america. that is what everyone on this panel and i dare say everyone in this room wants. we want the united states. we want to be in agreement on issues of the election integrity. we do not want a divided state. that is the path down which we are heading. with us today are some of the leaders who have faced the breakdown of the system and are choosing to speak out, to take action in their states, and to protect liberty itself.

we are pleased to be joined by our distinguished panelists. i will introduce each one and each one will take the podium and share with you their own comments. the first gentleman i would like to introduce is kris kobach, secretary of state in kansas. he has been a strong advocate of requiring voter i.d. at the polls and has led the way in overall improvement of our electoral process by developing a legislative program that includes provisions for security in mail-in ballots, laws requiring proof of citizenship while registering to vote, and requiring voter identification. his secure and fair elections process has seen great success in kansas. our next speaker will be scott gessler, secretary of state of colorado.

he is fighting for election integrity in his state, consistently firing -- filing open records requests and checking names against the voter data base in an effort to improve the veracity of the database. prior to being secretary of state, he served on a bipartisan election boards and commissions including the election reform commission that has made many recommendations to the general assembly following the 2008 election. he has talked election law and has been widely recognized for his work. as secretary of state, it is his responsibility to protect the sanctity of colorado's elections. it is a task he takes seriously. our third speaker will be attorney general alan wilson. he realizes that voter fraud is a problem not only in his home state of south carolina but across the united states. in his state, he fought to

prevent criminals and the occurrence of voter fraud. he found that of 953 ballots cast by voters who were listed as dead, 73% of those ballots -- 71% of those ballots were cast after those people died. within a few months after they died of to six years after their deaths. that is amazing. our last speaker, artur davis of alabama. a former member of the democratic party, he served in the house of representatives from 2003-2008, representing the seventh district of alabama. he has been known to be a fighter in the house, never afraid to challenge the left or the right. he has been a vocal advocate for voter i.d., demanding that identification be required at the polls. i am confident that each of these panelists will bring to you a unique perspective of what we're seeing on the front lines in the states. without further ado, i will turn over the podium to

secretary of state kris kobach. [applause] >> thank you, catherine and thank you all for being here and think you to the heritage foundation for hosting this even. when i was sworn in as the secretary of state in kansas, my objective was to set about drafting the strongest anti- voter fraud law possible in any state and to get it enacted and implemented as quickly as possible. we secured -- we succeeded in doing that. it was signed by the governor in april of 2011. most of the provisions took effect on january 1, 2012. as catherine mentioned, the safe and fair elections act combined three things. we are the first state to have photo identification at the polls, criminal protection for mail-in ballots. you have to have a signature

verification before the mail-in ballot is sent out. and you have to have either a photocopy of a qualifying id or a full kansas driver's license number with the application coming in. thirdly, kansas requires proof of citizenship at the time new registered voters register to vote. the information presented to the state legislator showed -- to the state legislature was pretty compelling. we had credible cases of voter fraud between 1997 and 2010. that number is up to 235 if you count the 2010 election. we now have some early results from what the state achieved in its first six months. we have had lots of local elections. a total of 53 county and local elections since all went into

effect. i will share with you some of the statistics we have seen already. i will throw a lot of numbers at you in a coherent way. the heritage foundation just recently issued a study of some of those results. if you are not able to copy these down, there are copies of the report outside the auditorium. 53 elections. just over 68,000 people voted. pretty huge sample size. bigger than any survey. 68,000 votes cast, of the 68,000 votes cast, 84 people showed up at the polls without a photo id. we have access to the driver's license data base. it turns out the vast majority of those people actually had a driver's license. they either forgot to bring it or chose not to bring it to make a political statement. if you look at that number, that is approximately 0.1%.

all those people were given provisional ballots and they have either six or nine days to bring in a qualifying photo id to the county election office and to move their ballot from the provisional pile to the shelved and punched pile to make -- to the "shall be counted" pile to make sure their vote is counted current 39 of them decided to do that, roughly half. the others saw the margins in the election and fought their vote would not make a difference so they did not want to do that. those numbers are pretty compelling. that is the beginning. additional numbers debunked prominent myths that critics of photo id laws are propagating. the first is that large percentages of the american public lack a photo id. most of us, going about our daily lives, no that is not true.

-- we know that is not true. most of us are hard-pressed to think of one person who lacks a photo id. at any rate, there are some groups who make outrageous claims, like the brennans center and nyu, claiming 11% of the american public lack a photo id. they're sticking with the old numbers rather than getting better numbers. the percentage of people who came in for the free non-driver idea that kansas makes available -- ied that kansas makes available is astonishingly small. between january and may, only 32 people in the state out of a population of registered voters of 1.7 million, only 32 have come in and sign a form that lists all the acceptable forms of id and says, i do not have

any of these forms of id. that is .002%. there is a second myth. photo id laws will have a racially-disproportion that impact on some races. this has been propagated by none other than the obama justice department. the numbers from kansas do not reflect that. the people who of come in and -- who have come in and asked for a free id reflect the percentage of the various racial groups in the state of kansas. in addition, there is another falsehood. another false statement being propagated by people who oppose these laws. they claim that a photo id requirement only solves one form of voter fraud, up voter impersonation. i come to the polls impersonating you and try to cast a ballot. that is true. it also stops many other forms.

three types of voter fraud that it prevents. one is voter impersonation. we had a case of that in kansas. i am sure it happens many times we do not know about, but i will not go into that. it also stops fraudulent voter identities. there were many conditions in a -- convictions in a state like nevada. people register these false identities and many people said, they're probably not going to use -- probably not going to vote with those identities. maybe, maybe not. voter i.d. prevents voting with that fictitious identity. you have to have a photo i.d. that matches the fictitious identity in order to vote. it prevents -- voter i.d. prevents that from materializing on election day.

a third crime that voter i.d. prevents the -- prevents is double voting. this is extremely common in united states. they move from one state to the other and do not cancel the ould jurisdiction. a lot of people try to get away with voting in both states. it is much easier to prosecute with voter i.d. laws. people say, somebody else voted my identity in my old state. that was not me. with a photo identity, you prevent the assertion that it was someone else who voted. there are multiple forms of voter fraud that voter i.d. laws prevent. time is short so i will wrap up my comments. i will share more examples in the q&a. thank you. [applause]

>> thank you very much. my name is scott gessler, secretary of state in the state of colorado. many people are familiar with a lot of the things that affect voter integrity. bloated and inaccurate voter rolls. a very loose honor system when it comes to voting in this country, both in registration and voting as well. oftentimes, there is no photo i.d. required. over time, we have seen the increased use of mail ballots. it increases a common avenue for voter fraud. what underlies a lot of this and causes the challenge is what i call a culture of see no evil, hear no evil. this argument is propagated by some of the same people who see massive corruption when it comes to a campaign finance system. they see massive corruption in the ballot initiative process.

when it comes to calling our hearts become in purer with malice. -- impure with malice. -- when it comes to: in the voting booth, our hearts become pure without malice. the see no evil, hear no evil culture results in a few problems we have. you see a real politicization of some of the avenues many -- maintaining vote integrity. some are being accused of terrible things and drawing examples from problems in american history. almost always with no evidence whatsoever. you see that level of politicization. you also see from this culture is reflected in state election systems. more often than not, states have inadequate systems when it comes to the detection and prevention of voter fraud and

error as well. although there are many protections in place, there are real glaring deficiencies, and entered the elite in the collection of the data to provide -- particularly in the collection of the data needed to provide. one person who testified in denver, colorado, identified a nursing home where 14 people who had voted had died in the past or moved away just in that one area. i was embarrassed because that happened two years ago. this woman was a friend of mine. she knew i was running and that was the first i had ever heard of it. she instead reported to it -- reported it to our local clerk and reporter, who did nothing. actually, she did something, which was accused of people who

made those reports of acting and doing terrible things, suppressing votes, things like that. the lack of a detection system lax collection of information. part of the thing that causes this is a policy infrastructure that the people who support that culture have developed over time. very well-financed, asserted in its arguments. willing to produce what i think is evidence of very quality. the good news is there are some real opportunities and dynamics. first and foremost, the see no evil, hear no evil culture does not have much support in the country. we all want to believe that everyone is of good faith and willing to do the right thing. americans intuitively understand that elections are hard, complicated human endeavors. in any human endeavor, there is a small proportion of people who will, when tempted, do the

wrong thing. political power as gained through the elections is a temptation. that helps people to do bad things. americans intuitively understand that. this predominant culture is built on a foundation of sand, so to speak. i think three things are going on. those who focus on election integrity are beginning to build a policy infrastructure to bring those ideas for for improvement. true the vote is a great example. there is still a huge imbalance today, but it is beginning to change. the second thing we are seeing are really good policy breakthroughs. secretary kobach has some great evidence. what we're seeing in the photo id debate, kansas is one, in

vienna, ga. -- indiana, georgia, they have instituted photo id laws. it has increased confidence in elections. sometimes it is correlated to increase voter turnout. and a whole lot of good things. that shows that some of the hysteria is silly. there is a third opportunity and that is the opportunity for administrative complexity. unlike kansas, certain states like colorado do not have the potential for broad-sweeping legislative changes. nonetheless, elections are difficult and complex. there are plenty of opportunities to make improvements. i would like in elections to software.

when software is released, there are bugs in the software. vulnerabilities like vulnerabilities in our elections. sometimes they are released and no one ever touches them and nothing goes wrong. sometimes you run across a bug and you will have problems. you will have to shut down your computer or you will have some type of inconvenience. you know there is a problem but it still allows you to accomplish your task. then there are bugs that wipe out your system and you lose all of your data. those are the types of vulnerabilities we have in our election system. there are lots of ways to improve but it requires getting at the nuts and bolts. we have examples in colorado. you are seeing the citizenship debate where we are identifying problems and making changes to address those within the administrative machinery. overall, i am hopeful that this culture of see no evil, hear no evil, will give way to a

sensible culture where we want people to do the right things and we know that mostly happens. we also have to be prepared to address vulnerabilities in our system, new bugs and the old ones that we have seen happen repeatedly in american history. thank you very much. [applause] >> when i was new to the practice of law, an older member of the bar pulled me aside and said allen, the best way to be successful in litigation is to follow this rule. if you have bad facts, pund the law, if you had bad facts, lb. -- if you have bad law, found the facts. if you have bad facts and belloc, pound the desk.

-- if you have bad facts and bad aw, pounding the desk. i have seen people attack the messenger and not the message. when you hear that implication of photo id requirements will take us back to the jim crow era or a time in the civil rights movement, i find it insulting for those who actually lived through that time. when you hear people say that there is an intent to suppress minority voters or that this is a solution in search of a problem, i find that disconcerting. you talk about having a solution in search of a problem, i thought about that on the plane this morning. i said hello to the pilot. if the pilot had said to me, based on my observations, i have a suspicious belief that this plane might crash based on the instrument panel reeves, i could -- instrument panel readings. i could tell you that i would

want that pilot to have every tool and take as much time as he needed to prevent if a plane from crashing -- to prevent the plane from crashing. what we have here is data, evidence across the country that shows our methods of managing elections, controlling data, are antiquated. for someone to come in and dilute the voting pool for fraud is very prevalent. i want to give our government the ability to combat that. it is difficult to prove a negative. if alan wilson goes in and uses a fraudulent voter card and i leave the polling place, you cannot go back in time and prove the negative. it is very difficult to catch someone in the act. i hear countless stories of people who witnessed that. i also see falls on the other side, while they may be good people, i see them of manipulating fax and twisting data to come to conclusions.

last year, it was determined that there are 70 people in south carolina registered to vote but do not have a voter registration card. a lot of people would be affected by having to get a photo id. in our state, there were 239,000 south carolinian who had a voter card but no photo id. the justice apartment made a determination that 10% of that number were non-white. 8.4% of that number were white. a 1.6% disparity of how people could be negatively affected. they said in their refusal to clear the voter i.d. lot that minorities are 20% more likely to be disenfranchised or have their vote suppressed. they came up with the 20% number because the number 10 is 20% higher than 8.4.

a twisting of facts. data companies using data from people who are of voting age, not likely or eligible or registered. they use inflated data to get a predetermined outcome. when you look at the 239,000 people in south carolina, we found out that 92,000 of that 239,000 do not even live in south carolina anymore. they are now citizens in another state. 37,000 of them are deceased and had not been taking off the voting rolls. of that 37,000,950 chose to vote in elections after they were deceased. that may have been dead voters, voting fraud, or it could have been an error by the poll watchers. we are looking at those numbers. the opportunity for fraud exists. you look at statistics.

georgia, our sister state, in 2007, they implemented the photo id law. in 2004, from 2004-2008, minority participation went up. people say that was because we had a special election, our first african-american president. let's go to 2010. minority participation went up 44%. hispanic his nation went up 66%. caucasian voters went up 11%. it went up across the board but statistically higher with minority groups. in no court case has some one been able to prove or show that there is actually someone who has been disenfranchise or had their right to vote suppressed. in south carolina law, you do not hear this talk about a lot, but if you show up without a photo id, it could be because you are 100 years old or sick or whatever reason, you can still vote.

you can vote that day by signing an affidavit. there is one last thought that i want to leave with. i was speaking to a group of african-american leaders in my community about this particular topic. i got to tell them something they did not know. there is a case out there called -- involving kinston, north carolina. in this community, 65% of the registered voters are african- americans. they voted overwhelmingly to go from a partisan-designated race to a non-partisan-designated race. the justice the far refused to -- the justice department refused to pre- clear them. when i was speaking to the folks in that community, i told them that i never tried to attack

someone's internal thoughts or intentions but i am not above using their words or actions against them. i put out a letter that the justice department sent to the people there. their reasons for denial were as follows -- "the elimination of party affiliation will reduce the ability of blacks to elect candidates of choice. it will eliminate the single factor that allows black candidates to get elected to office." one member in the room said, so we are too stupid to take our own candidates. i said, if this does not offend anyone else, it certainly offends me. when voter fraud exists, it dilutes everyone's vote. not one race or one group. that is what we're doing everything we can in south carolina to ensure the integrity of the vella box. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, ladies and gentlemen. i am glad to be here today. delighted to be at heritage.

those of you watching this on line and most of you in the audience knows i did this. one young lady in front is holding up a car that tells me how much time we have left and it tells me when to stop. i will make a promise to her that when you hold up the stop sign, i will smile. that is how we played today. let me begin. i want to start by showing you something. something that is kind of at the core of what we're talking about today. perhaps you cannot see it so well if you are watching this on the internet. most of you in the audience can see it. this is a virginia driver's license. also known as a state-issued photo id.

it is very small. pretty innocuous-looking, except for the ugly face on it. it has actually been sanded around the edges so on like the notes i have in front of me, you cannot even cut your hand inadvertently. it is a very tiny little thing that will fit in a breast pocket. it will fit in a wallet. you can carry it next to your pager or blackberry. it is not a billy club. if you look at it, that is clear. it is not a fire hose. i live in virginia now but i come from the state of alabama. i used to represent birmingham, alabama in the united states congress. i know a little something about fire hoses. it is not this.

it is not some kind of a weapon, a club that southern sheriffs used to use to keep people from voting or participating. it is a tiny, little photo id. this tiny, little thing i am holding up in my hand tends to do very weird things to people. it tends to create some very interesting political arguments. several months ago, two very prominent leaders of civil rights organizations in the united states were so riled up by this tiny little thing called a photo i.d. that they went to the united nations and they went to a very particular place in the united nations called the human rights commission. while i am not an expert on united nations terminology, they basically filed a

complaint against us and the basis of the complaint was the incredibly devastating potential to suppress this little thing i am holding up. i will not even get into the fact that cuba sits on the human rights commission and they would not know a free election if it walked in and bid them. -- and bit them. -- and did a burlesque dance in front of it. china sits on the human rights commission. they have many great virtues and are sometimes a partner of ours, but in china, unless you are one of a small group of private citizens that do get to cast votes, china has never had a free election in many histories of dynasties and centuries. they may us look like a rookie as old as that civilization is. they have never had a free election. saudi arabia sits on the human rights commission.

saudi arabia occasionally experienced -- a spur mess with -- experiments with voting. but if you are a woman, you are not part of the experiment. you get my point. not the group i would expect to judge our integrity when it comes to elections. attorney general wilson touched on this. you know the argument on the other side. frankly, the most powerful argument is to have voter i.d., it would have the effect of diminishing for dissipation. -- participation. it will have the effect of crushing the ability of all kinds of people who wish to vote. they are talking candidly about the men and women who are citizens. -- about many of our minority citizens. can we dial the clock back four years ago when some of us had no gray hair and some of us had more hair? four years ago, we were told

about the young people in this country. we were told that there were so fired up and so enthusiastic and so energized. we were told they were led to believe in a way that they had never been led to believe before. four years later, we are told that those same motivated go- getters cannot be bothered with getting an id. four years ago, we were told about the seniors who were in their 80's who had never missed an election. they were so motivated to get involved in politics right now. now we are told that those same people who were so fired up and ready to go and so motivated and cared so much about their country, now we are told that they're so fragile and so weak and marginalize and isolated

that they do not have an id and cannot be bothered to get one. you take my point. reasonable people can differ about almost anything -- everything in american life today, including this issue. reasonable people should not disagree on one point. we have had our share of suppression, particularly in the american south. there is no question about that. but this is not suppression. this is a simple, little device that we use all the time. when i leave here, i have to hightail it to the airport because i have to speak in salt lake city tomorrow. i will not get on the plane if i happen to leave this year. -- this here. most buildings in washington d.c., including the department of justice that has filed lawsuits trying to stop states from in limiting voter i.d. --

from implementing voter i.d. laws, if i were to decide i want to go by the department of justice and try to get a meeting with anybody there, i could not get in without this. finally, we have our friends in the news media. i love the definition of objectivity with journalists. objectivity to a journalist means exactly the opposite of whoever i am interviewing. i did an interview with a news organization about this very issue. they asked me what they thought were some pretty tough questions. when i went to the news organization to do the interview, the first thing that was sitting on top of an ominous-looking security guard was a sign that said, "photo i.d. required. no exceptions." which is more than most states, who would have made a number of exceptions. so i am glad to be here. i am glad to talk about this issue.

this is something democrats and republicans ought to care about. something conservatives and liberals ought to care about. something americans ought to embrace. the notion of voter integrity. thank you all. [applause] >> thank you very much. our director of lectures and seminars told me that i could exercise my discretion and extend the session. i will let c-span and other viewers know that i am going to exercise that. i'm going to ask the first question and thank all of the panelists for their great remarks. i will draw on a little bit of each of what you have said. i think it is great that secretary kobach said he is building an empirical data base. in his state, the laws allow

that. secretary gessler mentioned that. he referred to a see no evil, hear no legal problem. that. in some news outlets, it is report no evil. but it is worse. it is to propagate a falsehood, to emphatically denied that there is a problem. my colleague and i have had discussions with other people. when you bring up instances of fraud, they say, that is not in this state. you bring up instances in that state and they say, that is not in the last two years. elections are only held every two years. the problem is that there is unfortunately a great number of americans, particularly the poor, who have come to believe

this falsehood. that gives me great pain because it signifies to me that we need to do an even bigger effort to try to dispel the myth, whether it is intentionally propagated by those who think it is justified because they want to stop what they think is a bad practice of insuring voter integrity. the one thing i do want ask you data, the proof of the pudding is in the voting. you mentioned other reasons to suspect that getting a free voter i.d. is not a problem. in the 2008-2010, it was experimented another way. you could compare states with voter i.d. laws and those without.

what the statistics show is that the states with voter i.d. had a higher increase in minority votes than the states without. again, the important statistic is not that the percentage of minority votes increased in that state, because it increased in almost every state in 2008 with enthusiasm for president obama. but that the minority rate increase more in states with voter i.d.. they could trust the results of the election. some have speculated that is the reason for that. it was more worth it to them to go to the polls. i think the same result proved true in 2010. am i right? am i wrong? where can i go to help

publicize that data it is available? -- if it is available? does someone want to help me out? >> it is a challenge. when i was talking about the policy infrastructure, you look at what organizations that are out there that are organizing on a nationwide basis. a number -- the number of those organizations was pretty limited. heritage is one. what winds up happening and we both his faith in the secretary of state conferences, oftentimes, one of us will call someone us -- someone else and ask about the experience and we weave into our analysis or communications. there is a real hole as far as voter integrity organizations that are doing the rigorous

collection and analysis of that data. there are all kinds of things out there. you do not have to look far to find evidence of how voter integrity increases confidence in the election and increases turnout. >> as more states adopt photo id laws, some of those states, like kansas, are not having to deal with the free clearance because we are not a section 5 state. you have more data being assembled. many of those laws are being blocked by the abolish justice department. kansas is added to the mix. we will have the big general election in november, which will give us a lot of information. tennessee is moving forward with theirs. rhode island may be.

a number of states from all over the country. secretary of state offices are collecting that information. some are putting it out there more aggressively than others. there is a lot of information and it is all showing that the claims made by the critics of these laws are not valid. >> let me make one legal point that needs to be made. if you tune out everything we say today, please remember this little nugget. the supreme court has addressed the issue of photo id. they did it as recently as four years ago in 2008. the guy who wrote the opinion was john paul stevens, who is one of the great liberal icons to serve on the u.s. supreme court in the last 30-some years. a liberal justice wrote an

opinion upholding voter i.d. laws in indiana and he made the point that, because of the state's legitimate interest in combating voter fraud and the state's legitimate interest in verifying people as it does in many aspects of life -- verification is not a strange thing in our civil life. justice stevens recognized that because it was not a strange thing in civil life, there was not a burden to apply it in voting. there was a presidential campaign going on when that happened. candidly, this is not a partisan event. comment. it is a factual comment. i do not remember the then- press release criticizing the ruling. i do not remember the dnc, i chairman.

i do not remember the dnc issuing a released even criticizing that ruling. i know that some people are thinking, indiana is not a voting rights act-covered state. a different standard applies in the south. the voting rights act was crafted to give the federal government extra enforcement tools in a region where discrimination used to be a part of life from the time you got up to the time you went to bed. from the time you were born to the time you were buried. that used to be the stuff that we live in. today, indiana has fewer black elected officials -- indiana has fewer black elected officials that south carolina. terms of the number who are turning out at the elections. you were african americans are

registered to vote in indiana. if your concern is we want to make sure african-americans have a full chance to participate, would it not the odd to say that indiana has fell to a weaker standard? one final point -- this is about a very simple question. should we. two rules of law in this country? should we have one rule law for kansas and colorado and another rule all law for south carolina, virginia, and alabama? i submit that we do not. >> thank you very much. some say that justice stevens came to his view on the inherit -- by the way, the supreme court recognized the inherent problem of voter fraud. is lawfully allowed to be recognized.

i am going to show you my id here. i have it. i will now recognize those from our audience. please wait for the microphone so viewers on tv and the internet can hear. this is the first one i have seen. identify yourself, please. >> my name is sarah. i am a voting rights advocate. i really care about american voters. i am happy to have this opportunity. every time that an american registered to vote, you have to check a box that says, i am eligible, over 18, and a citizen. they send that to the secretary of state who decides to put them on the role. many years and is working. my question to you is, you want to take this much further.

you are talking about proof of citizenship. in order to register in your state, you have to show a birth certificate, a passport, or your naturalization papers. does and you -- is anyone carrying one of those documentsi am carrying a driver's license, but i do not walk around with my birth certificate, which would make it difficult for me to register in your state. what do you say to those voters? >> thank you for the question. first of all, we have a lot of evidence. you simply fill out a card and check a box and sign on the line and that was the end of it. no one asked you to verify anything. county clerks, when they had suspicion that a person was not a u.s. citizen, they could do nothing.

they had to register the person. let me give you one anecdote and i will disagree with your statement that it is a burden. the anecdote comes from right across the state line. kansas city is divided by the kansas and missouri state line. the election that best illustrates this was the democratic primary. the commission was held by democrats and whoever won the primary would probably win the seat. rizzo and broyster were the last two names. approximately 50 somali nationals walked into the polling place, one at a time, with the same translator who instructed them to vote for rizzo. this happened all day long. all sorts of witnesses saw this. at the end of the day, rizzo won by one vote. that election caused great consternation in the missouri legislature and i could go into the legal rambling about that,

but those people who registered illegally were non-citizens and they probably through that election. i am not saying that rizzo organized it, but somebody did. in counties, there was a hall- forming tissue in southwest kansas where there had to be a referendum to allow the particular type of operation. the county clerk testified that people who were non-citizens according to her belief were registered to vote. does it cause a great burden? i would say no. there are actually 12 different documents that kansas law allows you to use to prove your citizenship. after the real idea was passed by congress in 2005, most states were required to segment the driver's license list into citizens and non-citizens. the reason you do that is

because of non-citizen to our license had to expire when their stay in the united states expired. you now have aliens in the driver's license database andthe states are now requiring people who renewed their drivers' licenses to provide proof of citizenship, usually a birth certificate. in kansas, they are collecting the pdf image of the birth certificate as they renew their drivers license. it is actually easy. when they turned 16, they got their driver's license and the birth certificate is on file. we're simply having that image transfer so the person will not have to bring in their birth certificate. if the person is not in the group that already has their birth certificate scan, it is allowed to be sent in at a different time. you can register and have your mom back home take a picture of

the birth certificate with a self of -- a cell phone, text it to you, and you can text it to the secretary of state's office. we made sure it was very convenient for people to prove their citizenship. >> i would like to address that. the system works. that assumes our hearts are pure. the system does not work and we have plenty of evidence of that in the state of colorado. we have had over 430 people who have either voluntarily asked to be withdrawn from the voter rolls because they were non- citizens or they attempted to register and they checked the i am not a citizen box but were nonetheless registered. the argument is that 430 does not matter. there was a statewide election won by about 90 votes in the

state of colorado. in 2002, the congressman won by 121 votes. on top of that, we recently looked at immigration holds in our jails. those are holds that are placed on people who are suspects died being illegal. the current number is 185 people on the registration rolls. we have to confirm that. there is a likelihood that there is a problem. we compared driver's license database with voter registration database. colorado has a legal presence requirement. we identified 5000 people who were not citizens on voter rolls. i cannot believe all of them

have become citizens. the system is not working. most of the time it works for the vast majority of people because most people are on us. there's a small percentage where we have problems were either mistakes or fraud will occur. that can create a big problem. >> that you, that was a great question and a great answer. reasonable people can differ on what kinds of procedures states should use to verify citizenship, and i admire hearing the details of how far kansas and colorado have gone to try to make it easy. federal law requires or prohibits non citizens from voting in federal elections. the states administer state and federal elections. i submit is not responsible for state and forcing that federal law to do nothing but the honor system. next question, please.

please make sure it is a real question and be brief. >> hi. i am a citizen of this country. i have several questions. why have all these laws cropped up so quickly? how come they did not crop up bush00 when george the did not win? finally, it is not just voter i.d. laws have cropped up. conservatorship legislators have limited early voting days which

have nothing to do with voter i.d. laws? >> that is a good question. thank you for being here. the voter i.d. law was intended to be passed in 2009, so it two years. it would have been attempted earlier, but there was interest in the indiana case which was sent to the supreme court before. the georgia law was passed challenged multiple times. it was challenged at the u.s. district court of appeals. those were all done during the bush administration. the order i the block -- voter i.d. laws precede president obama. our law was passed a year ago

this past may. we moved to implement all over a year ago, and the justice department waited a full length of time to deny esprit clearance, and we went to the process of getting to hear. -- here. our interest is based on a fear from numerous accounts by numerous citizens in south carolina. they have eyewitness accounts of voter fraud being perpetrated. there is not so ch of a hurry. these have been passed before this administration. >> one of the gentlemen on this panel comes from kansas. kansas is a republican and democratic candidate ready book

entitled "what is wrong with kansas?" i do not think republicans need to support -- need to suppress votes in kansas. it is not hot battleground state. if that sounds like a flip point to you, it is an important one, because there is a myth out there that the only states d. laws are these closely divided states, where it comes down to a few votes here and there. you have a better chance of getting kansas city in the world series than getting a democratic presidential candidate to win kansas this year. second point, young lady made another point that you hear a lot in these arguments, which is part these white crash right-

wing republicans passing these laws. rhode island passed voter i.d. law, and it was pushed over by black democrats. they said they were trying of seeing voter fraud in their districts. they were tired of saying i know that because i am not the machine candidate there will be x number of fraudulent votes here, so i need to figure out how to get votes, i need to figure out a strategy to offset fraudulent votes. those were not republicans in rhode island. there's a phone booth full of those. those for african-american democratic legislators, and those folks are credited because everyone has been threatened

013. a primary in 20,00 they're either purse on a non grata or did not know the difference. the other final point i would make, repetition matters in panels like this, i will repeat the point, indiana lost voter i.d. law passed 2004. the the only supreme court case on this subject is indiana's law. indiana is a typically republican state that happened nearly go for barack obama four years ago, but in 2004, it easily went for bush. the passed the law because they thought it was a problem in some communities in indiana. we cannot lose sight of one

important thing here. the issue is whether it is an unreasonable burden to make someone produced voter i.d. or some equivalent. we might debate the public policy all we want, but the courts are loooking at these issues, the and reasonable burden. the reason we talk about the ubiquity of driver's licenses, that id is common, is not try to make a point, but we are trying to say that how can it be a burden to ask people to do something they do all the time? how can it be a burden to ask people to do something they do all the time? >> regarding the passage of the safe act in kansas, 2/3 of democrats in the kansas house voted for the bill. 3/4 of democrats in the kansas senate voted for the bill. it was not a republican bill or

a democrat bill. this is an american idea, a kansas idea. it is an idea of all people who care about the integrity of the system. one final point, to the initial observation, it is true that in 2011 there was an unprecedented number of states, more than half a dozen states, which adopted some form of voter i.d. law or be on that as we did in kansas. it started backing shortly after 2004. indiana made the first big splash. the reason you saw so many states into does 11 is that issue did not reach the public's consciousness until after the 2008 election cycle when there was so much focus on acorn. that one group was just all over the news media and people started hearing about it. in 2000 i, at issue reports came out.

a congressional committee investigated. state legislators response of to what people -- are responsive to what people want than members of congress are. many of them got the idea i take it is an important issue. it got elevated to the national consciousness in the 2008/2009. , and that is what you saw some of the a lack actions -- saw some of the elections being affected in 2010. >> joined me in thanking all the panelists for their presentation. [applause] >> the president is on a bus tour through iowa today. he began in council bluffs, and we're able to bring you about

two hours ago. the president is on his way to boone, iowa, next, and he will spend the night in des moines, iowa. mitt romney is in florida today, stopping in st. augustine, orlando, miami, and fort lauderdale. he will be joined by marco rubio in miami at 5:15 p.m. eastern. >> hello, leaders of scientology, we are anonymous. we have been watching you. >> it is more of an internet phenomenon or a movement. many different people collaborating together online to protest against all sorts of different reasons, and also to harass people sometimes for fun. >> in a new book, a look at the impact and motivations of the hacker group anonymous. tonight at 8:00 eastern on

"communicators" on c-span2. >> publicans in u.s. house are asking a federal court to force eric holder to release records related to fast and furious. the attorney general has refused requests by a house panel to hand over documents. that led the house to vote to hold of her in contempt. -- to hold holder in contempt of congress. >> the air force welcomed the new air force chief of staff, general mark welsh. he succeeds norton schwartz. the ceremony included remarks by leon panetta and general martin dempsey. this is about an hour and a half.

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> the chaplain will now deliver the invocation. >> let us pray. blessed are you, creator of all. we thank you for your great. -- grace. we raise our voices in gratitude today for the life and service of general norton schwartz and his wife. they have led our air force and

modeled for us the values to which we pledge our fidelity. must now this transition as general and mrs. schwartz received new venues of service. keep them in your tender care. so also do we intercede for general and mrs. welsh. continued in them by the same spirit there contagious joy and enthusiasm for our air force -- air force. the present in these events, we pray, and be the portion and strength of our nation, guiding us in the light of your will that we may exercise our military instrument of power in the pursuit of a more just and peaceful world. all men. -- amen. >> please be seated.

ladies and gentlemen, secretary donnelly. >> good morning. what a great day for our air force. secretary panetta, chairman dempsey, family, friends, distinguished guests, and the department of defense, other agencies, our international partners, thank you for drawing us today as we begin a new chapter in the history of the united states air force. today we honor and pay tribute to our 19th chief of staff, general norton schwartz, as he retires following 39 years of service. we also welcome and swear in the leader who will guide our airmen as the next chief of staff of the air force, general mark welsh.

that me begin with a few words about our current chief. anyone looking for an example of air force core values need look no further than to general norton schwartz. the dean of the joint chiefs of staff and one of america up's finest public servants. growing up in a small farming community in southern new jersey, his interest in aviation was fuelled by the air shows that he attended at nearby lakehurst naval air station. when his college years are arrived, he was accepted as a cadet at the united states air force academy. as he says, it was a good fit. since credit rating from the academy in 1973, -- since corroborating -- since graduating, he has faithfully it

out his oath of office. the oath of office at his apartment -- his support to commit to the -- something that is uniquely shared by all officers of the armed forces. as he describes it, the oath is your head to toe promise to our country, to your fellow service members, to your families, and to yourselves. that is a promise he has kept every step of the way. starting with his first operational assignment as a co- pilot in vietnam, helping with the evacuation of refugees. to his entry into the world of special operations, which became his passion and his time as a wing commander pack at an air force base. to what he has described as his most difficult assignment, serving on the joint staff during the early days of the war

in iraq. to taking the lead as commander of the u.s. transportation command, and finally, serving as chief of staff of the air force and a member of the joint chiefs of staff. from his first day in august, 2008, to his last day in office, nortie and in wartime chief, leading our service at a time of great challenge as the air force conducted major operations in iraq, afghanistan, and libya, and as our nation responded with humanitarian assistance and relief following the natural disasters in haiti, japan, and shechile. he helped restore excellence to our nuclear enterprise and has been tireless in his efforts to prepare the air force for the future, strengthening the

evolving an increasingly important intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance world, and our cyber missions. along with the chief of naval operations, he led development of the air-sea battle concept, and he has advocated for the modernization of a central air and space systems. the f-35 joint strike fighter, and advanced satellites. a portly, through in all, nortie lost his focus on our air men in his family's -- and their families, the engine that powers air force. with nearly 40 years of military experience militarynortie has brought a wealth of expertise to his work, yet his contributions and success can only be fully understood in the quality of his service. best captured is by the noted military historian

fuller observes that by greatness of character general gaines command of himself, but by good as a character, he gains command over his men. in today's security environment, and which national and international -- in which national and international cooperation is a team sport, he has been a teammate to air joint entered-agency and international partners. he has demonstrated daily to our airmen that the best route to mission success is through teamwork across the total force, active duty, guard, reserve, and civilian air man, working together. a " his most essential to make has been suzie. she has always been a full and true partner in his service.

her dedication to our air force and air man has no equal, and we are grateful for her advocacy for air force families, for her leadership and encouragement to other military spouses, for her work with the air force aid society and other organizations, and most of all, for her unwavering support unwaveringnortie. -- unwavering support of norti e. [applause] nortie, you have enjoyed an exceptional career, and as you retire after 39 years of service, we thank you for keeping your head to toe promise and for living out the principles of your to office. they keep for your lasting contributions to our air force and for the character and

quality of your service. all of us wish you and susie fair skies, tail winds, and all the best that life has to offer her. by now, it should be clear that the 20th chief of staff of the air force will have some big shoes to fill. fortunately, in general mark welsh, we have found the right leader to take on this challenge. mark is a native of san antonio, and like the man he succeeds, also attended the air force academy. he graduated in 1976. a command pilot with more than 3400 hours, mark has command experience. his experience includes service as commandant at the air force academy, and is distinguished record on the joint staff and in the air cool forest secretariat. at the central intelligence

agency and elsewhere. mark comes to the headquarters of the air force following his most recent assignment as the commander of u.s. air forces in europe, which has provided forces for operations in iraq and afghanistan and last year played a critical role in successful coalition operations over libya. beyond his staff and expertise, mark is highly respected throughout the air force for his exceptional leadership and his ability to connect with airmen, qualities that will prove an extremely valuable in this new role. without a doubt, mark is an officer with a broad range of military experience and professional pacman. grounded with a core value and the characters that make him ready to lead this world class institution. anyone who has heard mark talk about his wife, betty, knows how

important she is to him, and to his success in our force. we are indebted to betty ford that supports it provides that makes mark bus service possible, and we thank you in advance for the additional sacrifices the air force will ask of you and your family in the days to come. secretary panetta, my sincere thanks to you and the president for this wise choice. experience make him the ideal officer to be the next chief of staff. adding navigated the senate confirmation process -- having navigated the senate confirmation process, he is eager to take on his new responsibilities and make a positive difference for the air force and our nation. mark, my new partner, i look forward to working with you as we build on the accomplishments

chwartz by general sfo take the air force to the next level. we wish you every test. this is an historic and proud day for the air force. as we honor general shorts on his retirement and welcome mark welsh, we recognize that both of these gifted military leaders personified some of our nation's greatest strengths. recognizing each of them at the peak of their service, and reflecting on the leadership examples of our chiefs of staff, down from hap arnold to the present day, this day brings us back our foundations, and in

spires and beckoned to our airmen to live out our core values, integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do. general schwartz and susie, general welch, betty, on behalf of 690,000 airmen and their families, it is an honor to serve with you in the world's finest air force. thank you. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, general dempsey. >> it is an honor to be here to

speak at this ceremony and to reflect on the service thenortie and suzy as they get ready to take the reins of a the airforce. it is my great privilege to speak not just for myself but on behalf of the joint chiefs of staff, a happy group sitting on the front who are wondering what is piling back up in their offices, but they are a great krupicka to serve with. it has been an absolute pleasure to have you on this team, and, more, we are excited to have you as well. for those who put this on, this is an olympic-quality ceremony. while we are here, and london there's a group of young americans who are standing on a podium watching that flag raised, and feeling for a moment in their lives the pride of representing their country. i can only imagine what pride

suzie and nortrtie feel, because it is a lifetime of service. i hope that moment washed over you and will continue to wash over you, and mark and betty, you have to be excited about what you know you will accomplish with the greatest air force. as we stand here today, the sun is about getting ready to set in afghanistan, and on the ground and in the air, the air force is watching over those and contributing to our missions there. they are running transportation air bridges, they are flying combat air patrols, and just simply getting it done in a way that i think we all ought to be extraordinarily proud about. mr. secretary, and you will continue to build what it needs

to be. you will be happy to note on this week in history i discovered that in 2010 jetblue flight attendant steve slater decided to quit his job by jumping down a sheet after grabbing two peers. if that is not a perfect image to use at the transition of the chief of staff of the air force, i do not know what is. [laughter] actually, i put a lot of stock and images, those mental pictures we all carry around to remember what is important, and i want to share a serious one with you, and that is a young air guardsman i met in the alaska air guard knew i just met upon his return from afghanistan, where, as a pa

ra jumper, he had lowered itself to ofttimes into the hindu kush to pull a small of army soldiers off the side of the amount who were under fire. he pulled a of them to safety, 12, actually, but a of them survived, and four of them died in his arms. the wire rope was struck three times by machine-gun fire. meeting this master sergeant, i asked, where do we get these young arab men, men and women who served so faithfully and so egregiously? the answer is self evident. we get them from america's cities, towns, and villages. they are us. we inspire them to be more than they think they can be, not for themselves, but for their country. that is the kind of air force

nortie and suzie have loved. you will always be remembered because you always put what was best for the nation and the families who serve and defend its first well before your own personal well-being. as the story goes, they were looking forward to retiring after transportation command, but the air force and our country need it is character and his leadership at a critical juncture. he is a leader's leader among the two chiefs. he was the right person at the right time to be our nation's flight lead. nortie us is not about the aircraft or about weapons systems, or the space or cyber capabilities, it is about the people, the men and women that he has led with extraordinary honor. the mobility kreuz delivering

supplies wherever they are needed, from a humanitarian crisis to combat zones, to bomber crews, the fighters, delivering support when they are on the ground need it most, the medical teams delivering wounded from the clutches of illness and injury, the intelligence professionals keeping eyes, ears, and mind on a determined enemy, and the eod personnel, maintainers, defenders, and civilians. schwartz has forged a legacy as a leader. the most important of his achievements is he inspired trust within the air force, among his fellow service chiefs, within and across our government, and with our allies and partners. i predict any moment nortie stand up here and give credit to those who served around him.

i would like to mention one in particular who deserve special recognition, and that is suzie. suzie spend an equally inspiring all-in wing man to the tower air force family. she often says let's figure out how we can do it better. what i would like to say to you, is that it is because of you that it has become better. thank you for making such a difference for our military families everywhere. on behalf of the joint chiefs, i want you to know if has been a tremendous privilege to serve with you both. we appreciate how what a minute you have been to us and how deeply the dow you your wise counsel. some may wonder what this feature will hold. few know he sang choir at the united states air force academy, and some of you know my proclivity for songs. i think there may be a demand for the greatest hits. we need to come up with a good

name first. maybe the jersey boys. that would work, wouldn't it? he suggested two shades of gray. i am not seized with that idea. i know mark welsh can carry a tune, but anyone who knows him knows he is ready to carry our forced the next level, and we're excited to have him here. a seasoned pilot with experience around the globe, he is a veteran of the inter-agency battlefield. he is a lifelong learner and one of the most respected leaders in our military today. betty is one of those spouses that inspires confidence in everyone she meets. the message is always important in what ever we do, and sometimes it is most important how we communicate it. mark is something of a youtube sensation himself. if you have not seen his speech

from last fall, or if you have seen it, you won a what i am talking about. arc and betty r. creighton models, but i believe the selection of team welsh to lead is the message. it says we're and how we want our air force and nation to go into the future, and i cannot know anyone more ready to take the stick from nortie and suzie than mark and betty. we all look forward to facing a future together with you and betty, and we look forward to having you move in as our next door neighbors. god bless the schwartzes, and god bless america. thank you. [applause]

>> secretary panetta. [applause] >> thank you. 80 cents a the man, distinguished guests, leaders of the department of defense come nortie, mark, family members, it is a real honor and pleasure to be able to have this chance today to pay tribute to general nortie schwartz, four decades of exceptional service to this country. nortie is i believe one of the finest officers i have had the

honor to work with. he came at a very critical time in the history of the air force, and he responded with incredible leadership in making the air force an the central, credible, and capable partner in our national defense. nortie, i think you know by now that i often talk of being the son of italian immigrants, and my parents instilled in me a unique italian vocabulary, particularly when my father was kicking me in the butt. let me refer back to a family expression that i think is appropriate on this occasion for you. mazel tov, well done. and also thrilled to have the

opportunity to welcome mark welsh back to washington and back to work here. i was honored to work with mark when he served as my principal military adviser at the cia, and i look forward to continuing that partnership as he begins his new job. depends onreatness men dependsnortie schwartz and mark welsh, who choose selflessly to serve this great country of ours. but as we all know and has just been commented upon by the previous speakers, none of them would be able to do their jobs without the strong support of their families.

i too would like to thank suzie for supporting nortie every step of the way, and i would also ,ike to thank mark's wife betty, and their children for the sacrifices. military families seldom get the recognition that they deserve. separations, pressures, the move this, the loneliness, the stress the law that faces each family, but it is the love for each other and the love for this country that gives each family

the strength to prevail, to endure, and to grow closer. and that is why i am grateful to have the opportunity to personally thank all of them today. a native of toms river, new jersey -- i have a lot of people from new jersey who are involved in the military. this guy is a guy from new jersey, odierno. here is another guy, and from new jersey , i do not mind that. he grew up as many as we did, hard-working, blue-collar, jersey world. the world celebrated by bruce springsteen. except that with apologies to the boss, nortie was not born to

run, he was born to fly. as a young man, he understood the importance of hard work and dedication to his country, values that led to his decision to serve the station in uniform. these values guided him through a distinguished career in both the conventional and special operations communities. one of the best things that i think i have in nortie schwarz, and i am thankful i have that in all my keys service leaders, is straight talk, honest talked when it comes to the problems and challenges they face. i know i can trust them to tell me the truth, and that is what

nortie shorts is all about. early on, he served in the 1975 airlift evacuation in saigon, assisting those in p desperate need. he led a task force during the gulf war, and more recently he took over the huge task of running the u.s. transportation command during a time of tremendous demand as we fought wars in iraq and afghanistan. as the 19th air force chief of staff, nortie led the airforce with tremendous judgment and vision and honesty. even though he was planning to retire after his time at transcom, when he was called upon to help the institution he loves, he accepted the mission,

and he always has. nortie led the air force during a period of intense operational commands, and the evolving strategic and physical challenges. this was not an easy time. he quickly moved to restore confidence in our nuclear enterprise and absolutely -- enterprise, and absolutely vital component. he also recognized how critically important it was to have remotely piloted aircraft. hal important they are to our troops on the year-round -- on the ground in afghanistan, and thanks to him, history will always mark this -- he developed more of that capacity in the field, and i can personally tell you in my prior

capacity and in this capacity how essentials these operations borer to the fight against terrorism. chief,nortie's time as the air force played a critical our forces to drop them from iraq while searching personnel and equipment to afghanistan. serve as chief of staff, and he was uniquely qualified to oversee this undertaking. his accomplishments remind me of the old adage, a amateur's talk strategy, a professional stock logistics. the air force flew over 8000, conducting air strikes to our

nato led coalitions. all of this helped rid the world of a brutal dictator. the air force flew more than 33,000 close air support sortis in 2011 alone. in thousands of having -- in some of having thousands, there's no more comforting sound than jets are writing overhead to help them out of a jam 00 overhead to help them out of a jam. they have worked together to help make the air force prepare for the future. a future that includes the security challenges like cyber and opportunities to have to deal with fiscal constraints and

opportunities to open up the air force. those who want to serve their country. they helped in all of those areas. nortie played a key role in helping craft our new strategy. he has put the air force on a stronger footing by streamlining the fleet and pushing ahead with a key platforms for the future. the joint fight striker, the next generation bomber, and a new advanced uavs. more importantly, america's air men and their families were never far from the minds of nortie and susie. numerous supportnumismatist families.

one of the things that we have in the military, even as we looked deeply miss the leadership they provided and there will always be part of the legacy of the air force, one of the things we have a in at the military is a great bench. i know the air force will be in good hands as mark welsh takes the controls. mark is a straight shooter. i worked with him at the cia. he is a little bit like john wayne. he keeps a life-size cut out of john wayne in his office. he has kept it there for well over 25 years.

i kept waiting for him to walk into the office when i was cia director in say "well, pilgrim, what do you want me to do now?" i am depending on market to call it the way he sees it. he is the son of a highly decorated air force colonel. who towed a glider into action during the d-day assault on normandy. mark has distinguished himself in his own right in numerous operational command and staff positions. i do have to tell you that mark did me nervous once. we were on a flight from tampa to washington, d.c. suddenly, the plane lost

altitude. it depressurized. the oxygen masks dropped out. the pilots were scrambling to find a manual. i looked at mark for some assurance. he looked at the oxygen masks, he looked at me, and he said "h- oh, thisis not good." that was not reassuring. i think nortie will sell you you will be saying that a lot as chief. -- will tell you if you will be saying that a lot as chief. his judgment will serve him well as the united states confronts a complex range of challenges that will require us to maintain dominance of the skies, dominant of space, and

dominance of cyberspace. thanks to the stewardship of general shorts and now general the air force will be prepared and will celebrate its 65th birthday next month as the finest air force the world has ever known. nortie, i wish you the very best in your retirement. i hope you get to spend more time with susie and enjoy a quiet life. i do not think that will be the case. i hope you get to fly around in the plane you always dreamed of owning. i even have the perfect name for it. "air schwartz one"

amrk and betty, i wish you and your family the very best as you imports on this mission. the united states military and the united states air force has no shortage of cutting edge weapons and systems. half stealth bombers, remotely piloted aircraft. reflecting on these men's careers reminds me of something i have come to know as secretary of defense. the reason we are the greatest military power on earth lies not in our weapons or our planes or our fancy systems. did it lies in our people. men and women in uniform that serve this country.

[applause] it lies in their leaders, people like norton schwartz and mark welsh. may god bless both of you, the air force, and the united states of america. thank you. [applause] >> please rise as secretary panetta present the distinguished service medal to general schwartz.

citation to a company -- to accompany the award. he distinguished himself by distinguished service and the chief of staff from august 2008-2012. he exhibited extraordinary leadership as a member of the joint chiefs of staff, providing counsel to the united states of america and the secretary of defense while the united states was involved in many situations and fiscal challenges. the air force aggressively reclaimed a legacy of excellence in nuclear mission, ensuring an

effective deterrent for decades to come. he is unseizing to win today's fight. to include a rocky freedom, odyssey dawn. they gather momentum to the selection of the next revealing tanker, levy kc-46a. the accomplishments culminates a long and distinguished career and reflect the highest credit upon himself.

[applause] please be seated. he has been awarded the distinguished service medal from the army, navy, air force, and coast guard. secretary panetta will now presents mrs. schwartz the outstanding public service award. the citation to accompany the award to susie schwartz. she is recognized for distinguished public service from august 2008-august 2012. she consulted, and mentored, and

consoled thousands of military families boosting family morale across the globe. through her vision, a 4 acre campus was established with over $12 million in donations includes a meditation and center for families of the fallen which has supported 5000 family members. a supporter of the coalition, she identified and implemented programs to meet educational experiences for over 280,000 children a service members affected by family separation and transition. she entered military support awareness throughout local communities and provided spouse important policy information to spouses.

the accomplishment reflect great credit upon herself and the department of defense. [applause] please be seated. she has been awarded the distinguished public service award by the united states air force. ladies and gentleman, general

schwarz. >> first of all, if the color guard would go to ceremonial i.d.s as well. i still have that power. thank you. [applause] thank you. thank you for this very kind remarks. more importantly for your extraordinary leadership of the department of defense. the chairman dempsey, i thank

you for your exceptional leadership of our magnificent military team. you remain at the helm at a critical time in our history, addressing the nation's rebalancing toward the asian pacific and a fiscal predicament among other profound very important matters. as i leave my post, i remain supreme confidence in future of the department of defense under the very able leadership of secretary panetta, at chairmen did see, and especially -- dempsey, and especially marty, sandy, ray, linda, john, darlene, craig, and sheryl,

extraordinary. secretary donnelly, i have had the singular privilege of being your wing to ban these past 40 years. -- wing man these past 40 years. i cherish the friendship that we have developed with you and gail. your leadership of the air force during a time of turbulent change and uncertainty has been nothing short of extraordinary. on behalf of all air men i thank you for your vision and your steady hand. i also would like to think all my fellow air force four stars both past and present. each and everyone an incredible leader. i am very grateful for the

confidence that president bush and secretary gates and admiral mike mullen had in me when we were asked to continue serving. upon receiving that telephone call on our anniversary night in 2008, we almost instantaneously realized what was to be our answer notwithstanding the fact that our retirement paper work has already been submitted and approved. i can assure you that our lack of hesitation in accepting had nothing to do with a few glasses of wine that we each enjoyed celebrating our 27 anniversary. it came down simply to this. who would or could decline the

opportunity to continue serving with the finest, the most skilled, and the most respected world that's nothe me and certainly not suzie. an even moreht phad profound celebration. we immediately size up this opportunity and the privilege it really was. dry up in new jersey and air stations, it laid the foundation for my desire to fly and serve. it was our deep affection for our airmen that cemented our decision to stay. four years, they have

conducted effective combat operations the in multiple areas, revitalized the nuclear and tries -- nuclear enterprise, oversaw our ballistic missile arsenal in nuclear capable bombers. we consummated the nation's next-generation air refueling tanker program and institutionalized remotely piloted aircraft including the normalization of the remotely piloted aircraft career path. with these and other efforts under way along with the ongoing development of the long-range strike and battle initiating

concepts, mark welsh takes the step at a pivotal time. we can be proud of the progress we have made not only from a material perspective but also in caring for airmen and their families. this includes the comprehensive effort to end welfare in the programs are relevant to a broader range of arab men and family needs. we can be optimistic even after we look to improve further our exceptional family member program, enhanced services, and spouse employment programs. suzie was pivotal in this area. our air force family can be very thankful for the staunchest,

most passionate, and extremely supportive advocate for airmen and their families. above all others, i am grateful to susie whose love and support and her can or -- candor has been on wavering during 31 years of marriage. she brought into the and caring to a higher level, always sharpening our sense of obligations to our service men and women. for that we can all be grateful always. [applause] through the years, individuals

patiently cultivated core principles which have shaped my outlook and informed my actions throughout my career. they imported a wealth of experience and knowledge beyond merely how to jump out a perfectly good airplane. they have taught me what the backbone of our air force is and what day expected of their officers. incredible leaders like dick myers guided us and the joint staff through the unrelenting pace of operations of 2003-2003.

among other famous names, mike ryan and pete were all influential mentors to whom i owe so much. as we prepared to depart the stage in a few moments, i salute the amazing young men and women who have volunteered to serve our military during a time of prolonged conflict. they are the next greatest generation. they will carry on the hard fought reputation of the u.s. military as the most capable, most respected armed forces the world has ever known. as we proceed into a more uncertain times, we would do well to remember that complex

situations during the times can unleash greater creativity and innovation, aiming us toward novel solutions. the catalyst for all this is leadership, the kind that harnesses individual brilliance into collective genius and beverages individual efforts into team achievements. mark welsh is the man who can provide that leadership, who can further inspired this innovation that is the hallmark of the air force. as i hang up my blue uniform, that i have worn proudly for more than 39 years, i am heartened that you at this ceremony will stand with mark and betty in providing that

leadership and confronting the challenges of the united states. we know his ironclad credibility as an operator, a trainer, and his exemplary experience. this has developed a highly regarded and effective yet humble leadership team that is welsh.nd betty menworld's greatest air will confront what is difficult and stand shoulder to shoulder with soldiers, coastguardmen. they will achieve what is worthy. i am optimistic about the future

of our air force. we have been privileged for several decades to have surged in the united states air force. and for the remainder of our days will always be in our hearts and every thought very proud airmen with the deepest respect for those young men and women, guards, reserves, and their families who continue to search selflessly and with distinction. the air force has given us a home. including the air force academy in class of 1973. we are thankful that many of

these patriot are here with us today. the air force has afforded us an honorable and rewarding journey for the entirety of our adult lives. we remain grateful to nation and its people that have been so generous. it is time for all of us to look forward and not back and to fulfill the high expectations of the people whom we faithfully serve, as the stewards of their trust we must always keep the promise, keep the promise, keep the promise. thank you. [applause]

>> ladies and gentlemen, the secretary donnelly will pass the welshs general except the position of the air force chief of staff.

the passing of a flag was in front of the unit so all could witness the changing of leadership. it is entrusted to the chief master sgt of the air force, symbolizing peace special trust of the enlisted members. this transition has survived a third military history as he won our relinquish the position of bypassing the flight to general wlesh who accepts the position as the 20th chief of staff of the air force. by direction of the president of

the united states of america generalw marklesh -- general mark welsh is named the air force general chief of staff. [applause] please rise as secretary donnelly retires general shorts -- schwartz.

he is moved to the retired list as of august 10, 2012 with honorable duty. please be seated. we are pleased to present you with the following personal letter of caprice station from our commander in chief. "i extend the sincere thanks of our nation for your many years of exemplary service in the united states air force. you're patriotic devotion is inspiring and this speaks

volumes about your commitment to serving our country. in your career, you have looked beyond your own comfort and safety to protect the way of life of those you may have never meet. as to celebrate this milestone, take pride in the accomplishment you have made as part of the greatest fighting force the world has ever known. we send our warmest riches and wish you the best of luck as you embark upon the next stage of your life. sincerely, barack obama. " [applause] we will now present susie shoschwartz in certificate of

appreciation from the men and women at the united states air force. "you have earned your appreciation for your faithful service, at your unfailing support help make possible your husband's lasting contribution to the nation. we present to the certificate as a member and some of your years as the air force family. -- we% to you this certificate as a member for the years you were in the air force family." please rise as to general welsh will be sworn in. betty welsh will hold the bible that has been signed by every chief of staff.

[inaudible]

without any mental reservations or personal stake. i will discharge [inaudible] [applause] >> please remain standing for the posting of the colors.

♪ [playing "you're a grand old flag"] >> please comment be seated.

ladies and gentlemen, at the 20th chief of staff of the united states air force, general welsh. >> thank you, everybody. thank you so much. thank you for being here to honor our air force. let me start by reminding all of

us that somebody cleaned it is hanger up. somebody buffed this floor. somebody drove the airplanes into the building and cleans them up. somebody set up the sound system. great chairman -- airmen did this. i would like to say thanks to them. they're probably hiding waiting for something to go wrong or to clean up. and they made this possible. thank you to each and every one of them. [applause] the really do need to thank president obama for nominating me for this position and the senate for confirming the into it. a what to think secretary and net debt and dempsey -- i want to think secretary panetta and

dempsey. i did not make this choice but i will try not to make you pay for it. thank you for everything you have given this nation. i am already a big fan it to be such a personal honor to serve beside you. thank you for what you do every day to represent our air force in so many other places. s thatyou to the band' represent does in so many areas. i want you to know that not too many years ago i looked exactly like that. sorta. maybe not. i always believed i did. i like to add my thanks to

zt. thank yourzkop for the constant care you have given our air force for the last four years. there is never a more energetic and effective advocate for our families and you have been. thank you both. we will miss you terribly. i was lucky enough to be born into an air force family. my brother and my sisters are all here today. it is very cool. their families are also with them. the highlight of our childhood is that my mother was a saint. my mom is here sitting in a purple dress on the edge of the second row. [applause] you probably do not know this. my mom was recently nominated the best queen of the angels.

if confirmed, and she will be spectacular. she is an angel. she has built a family based on love and respect. we have all benefited. we grew up surrounded by friends to became family. many are here today. we grew up surrounded by thousands of professional role models. that is continuing into my career. my number one role model was my dad. you heard the speaker previously. he was a hero. you cannot even imagine how he would enjoy this. in the 34 years my dad served, he served a three quarters. he flew over 9000 hours. 7500 were and fighter aircraft. that is not likely to happen again. 600 were in combat.

he was highly decorated. he has many battle stars from infantry in germany after he flew a glider in long this assault in history. i am proud of him. today i think he would be proud of me. any day a kid can make is that proud is a great day. thank you for joining us for it. my wife is here. betty is sitting forth in from the right on the front row. you saw her a minute ago. she is a serious babe. she knows i love her. she cannot possibly know how much. one of these days when i am laying on my deathbed and i'm trying to decide whether or not i won the game of life, being

the chief of staff will not even be part of the equation. if she is still standing next to the bed holding my hand, i win. this day never would have happened without you. he does not need help getting dates. there also here today. this is a row privilege for us. jim and barbara are also here. here.ghter to live iz is

i'm the only one not here is my son john. he cannot get free. his kind enough to call me at t is going into surgery to wake me up. i have been thinking about him all morning. no parent anywhere have been prouder than their kids and grandkids as we are. no parents have more reason to be. when i became a commander i felt excited. when i became a wing commander i felt proud. when i became a major command commander i felt privileged. and a little bit old. today being sworn in as chief of staff of the air force i just feel humble. we can continue to serve our nation and be given the honor of leading thiese incredible chairmaairmen.

if i could i like to say a couple of things directly to the men and women of our air force. you need to know that i believe in hangar full of beautiful and talented women my wife is the most beautiful and talented. but i will tell you, glancing over here, at the competition is getting tougher. i believe joint operations are the only way we will succeed on the battlefield. if you plan to criticize one of our sister services, do not let me hear you. this the only way we can be successful on the planet. we need to be great at both. i believe our air force is a contributor to the joint team. no one else can bring what we bring to the fight. every war fighter nose that.

-- knows that. i do not believe one service is better than another. but now i am an air chief saw believe the future of the united states of america is in large part in care in cyber space. our nation will simply not be able to project all protect its power and interest without us. our job is to make sure we can. i believe the air force remains the model of total integration. herrmann today operate seamlessly to get the job done. --airmen today operates seamlessly to get the job done. i commit myself to doing that. i believe every member of our air force dam it is important to our success in each deserves to

be treated that way. the suicide prevention, at the sexual assault response i believe you're either part of the solution for your part of the problem. there is no middle ground. i believe we need to stay consistently focused in three areas. when the fight. -- win the fight. readiness and training are not optional. we have to strengthen the team, and the coalition team, at the team.issiothe interagency our goal is to fight and win the nation's war. if that is your job it never be strong enough. we have to shape the future. that will require an innovative thinking in different approaches

to problems. it will require modernization. i believe success is all about people and pride. i will insist we walk the talk when it comes to taking care of the people we are privileged to leave. d. the bottom line is performance. no one will care how we treated our people if we lose the war. you need to know i trust you. i know how talented you are. i know how well you serve our nation and how proud you are of what you represent. you need to know that no one ever has never been prouder to serve as your chief of staff. it is about time i sat to work. before i do, i would like to ask two favors. general schwartz, would you mind

stepping to center stage front? the second is our commander of troops. i like to ask if you and your information would afford one final salute from his air force to general schwartz. [applause]

>> if i may go off script for a second. please, sit down. i have something for susie. it is not a small box. it is a little larger. it is an adequate -- an inadequate gift to a great lady. thank you very much.

>> they will not pass and review in honor of general wlesh. -- welsh. it is customary for the senior officials to review.

secretary donald has deferred to general wlesh. everyone should stand. once they have passed coming maybe see to it. -- once they have passed, you may be seated.

♪ ♪ >> ladies and gentleman, and the men and women of the united states air force wish them every success in their future endeavors. the united states air force is pleased to welcome a general and the first lady of the united states air force. the united states air force band and not play special musical selection appeared immediately

following comment the air force song will be played. is a proper for everyone to stand. once it is completed, please stand for the official departure for the party. ♪

>> mitt romney is on the campaign flameproof florida with marco rubio. he will be stopping in miami. a gets under way at 515 eastern. paul ryan is and i let today. he spoke at the des moines

registers soapboxes area. they're given 20 minutes to talk about any issue. we'll have that later today. joe biden says met ronnie m. paul ryan are decent men that they have a fundamentally different values. the vice president criticized his counterpart saying congressman ryan was to privatize social security. -- want to privatize social security. >> later tonight, is it is from google and twitter talk about the future of american technology around the world. 1 >> one of the fascinating things about the olympics is that it to be interesting for the people in the media to understand this change that we're going. from a filtered outside in the view of the event were there is

a broadcaster. you get this linear progression delivered to you. you have this unfiltered event from the participants and peoples who are at the event. >> we were feeling sorry for the who spent all this money on something that is time delayed. they have wonderful nea narratives. the alternative is what the olympics -- watch the olympics via twitter. you can watch this whole discussion starting at 8:30 p.m. eastern on c-span2.

>> president obama's counter- terrorism adviser is defending the use of drone attacked in yemen saying al qaeda that cli't country remained a threat to the west. in remarks to the fore in council, he called on congress to pass a separate security bill. he served in the george w. bush administration and this lasts about an hour. >> welcome, everybody, to the foreign relations meeting. i think most of view of veterans of this and should know the ground rules. turnoff yourself funds and pagers that i am doing right this second. i would ask that you not even put it on vibrate because it will interfere with the sound system. this meeting is on the record and it is my pleasure today to introduce today's guests.

that means he is the chief adviser to the president on counter-terrorism strategy as well as policy and implementation. he also record mental the homeland's security related activities throughout the executive and legislative branch. he is going to open today with some remarks about u.s. policy from yemen and he and i will have a conversation for 15 minutes yourself and we will open up to questions from the audience. [applause] >> thank you very much, margaret. and thank you for being here today. it is a pleasure to see so many familiar faces from inside and outside the government. i hope they are here because of

their in dressed in niemen and u.s. -- yemen and u.s.-yemeni relations. when the subject of yemen comes within thealways context of terrorism emanating from there. most-activeda's most active's pavilion. it has carried repeated attacks against the u.s. and u.s. affiliations. efforts tend to focus exclusively on the use of one counter-terrorism tool. targeted strike. the at the white house, we have always taken a broader view of the challenges and u.s. policy.

they said the united states is singularly focused on that to the exclusion of yemen's social ills. the u.s. officials publicly convey that the united nations is making a sustained commitment for economic development and stability. both in an official capacity and as someone who has come to know and admire yemen and its people over the last three decades. i want to begin with a snapshot of where yemen is today. they have made progress toward implementing to key elements of the cooperation council agreement. they provided a road map for political transition and reform. as part of military reorganization, commanders including the supporters have been dismissed or reassigned.

discussions are under way. haadi ago, president took the important stuff of reassigning commands. in addition to organizing a national dialogue, he has appointed representatives from political parties, youth groups, women's organizations, and opposition best in the north. on the security front, they have achieved important gains. the five no longer flies over the city centers. as one resident said, it is like seeing darden is lifted from our lives after a year. elsewhere, checkpoints are being removed, public services are

resumed in major cities, and public servants are getting paid. the infrastructure is slowly but surely being restored. at the same time, yemen continues to face extraordinary challenges. we saw this last week with holly minister of the interior and one that killed dozens of innocent yemeni people. there remains one of the poorest countries on earth and conditions have only been compounded. most lack access to basic services including a electricity and functioning water systems. chronic poverty is estimated at 54%. nearly half of the population go to bed hungry every night. what and 10 children does not live to the age of 5.

president obama understands the the challenges are great and intertwined. focus on the clear goal to facilitate the democratic transition while helping yet advanced political, economic, and security reforms second support systems. ec the comprehensive approach in the numbers. this year alone, assistance is more than $337 million. over half of this money is for political transition, humanitarian assistance, and development. more than half of the assistance we provide gm and is for political transition, humanitarian assistance, and development. this is the largest amount of civilian assistance the united nations has ever provided to yemen. any suggestion that is, unless

security and counter-terrorism efforts is simply not true. first, the united states has banned and will remain a strong and active supporter of political transition. if that is why president obama called on him to step down. despite claims by doing some that it would jeopardize the terrorist operation, we have worked hard to facilitate elections and promote an inclusive international dialogue. president obama authorized sanctions against those. we will continue to push for the timely, affective, and full of lamentation of the agreement. we call on all yemenis to show that they will put the national

interests ahead of parochial concerns and abide by the letter and the spirit of the agreement so that yemen can move toward a more inclusive democracy. as this of were the transition, we hope to strengthen government and institutions upon which he lo-term progress depends. yemen has a foundation on which is building. that has a vibrant society. the independent media, and leaders of place the larger national interest above politics or tried the. its president is one such leader. i met with him twice and spoke to him numerous times. i was impressed with his integrity and the willingness to make difficult decisions to move the country forward even at great risk to himself. the people are fortunate to have him as their leader.

we're hoping to strengthen the government institutions so that they become more responsive, effective, and accountable to the people. we have expanded central services, improved efficiency, combat corruption, and enhance transparency. we will strengthen the rule of law. beyond government, we are proud to continue long tradition to help strengthen the role of society to conduct of parliamentary oversight, raised public awareness, and their transition. to run parliament and provide leadership and advocacy training to engage in peaceful and democratic discourse lasting political and economic progress is impossible so long as half are malnourished and struggling to survive another day. that is why the third molar approach is in immediate humanitarian relief.

the united states provide $110 million in assistance to young men through the humanitarian response plan. that makes the united states the single largest provider of assistance to yemen. the these funds allow the u.n. and ngo partners to provide food and food vouchers, improve sanitation and basic health services to help meet urgent needs. usaid is providing food security and interest in programs. enabling unicef for assistance first of and children. they completed a large scale immunization campaign that may have successfully halted a polio outbreak that began last year. so many of these remain in desperate need. we commend the european union for doubling the humanitarian aid and urged others to follow

suit by contriving to the humanitarian response plan. this will provide critical at life-saving relief to millions of yemenis. as we address humanitarian needs, the economic reforms and development necessary for long- term progress, the $68 million in economic development that we are providing this year include vital assistance to improve the delivery of basic services including health, education, and water. renovateping them health clinics, providing clinical equipment, maternal and child health, and the support education. we will provide you with a skilled training, job placement, and entrepreneurial programs. .e're helping them rebuild

we are undertaking reforms to help raise living standards and promote a more diversified economy. in following the success of the south, u.s. aid is supporting the government efforts to repair war-torn infrastructure and rehabilitate communities. for its part, yemen must have a plan to address unemployment and poverty as well as develop, and diversify, and reform its economy. so that government revenues and donor funds are not diverted to private interests and at the expense of the yemeni people. donors want to know that there projects are part of a comprehensive plan. providing a vision of where the leaders plan to take the country will help its friends invest wisely. the final color of the comprehensive approach is

improving security at combating the threat. women cannot succeed politically and economically or socially so long as it remains. the long-term battle must be fought and won by yemeni. to their great credit, the president and his government including the defense investor have made in combating which a top priority and have forced them out of their strongholds in southern yemen. so long as it seeks to implement its murderous agenda, we will be a close partner in meeting this common thread. just as our approaches multidimensional, our counter- terrorism approach involves many tools. including law-enforcement and justice. with the international partners,

we have put unprecedented pressure. operatives of floyd have been detained. plots have been thwarted in the leaders have targeted u.s. interests have the vet and lies including the chief of external operations. attention has focused on one counter-terrorism approach in particular. sometimes use a remotely piloted aircraft referred to as drones. in june, the obama administration declassified the fact that our joint efforts have resulted in direct action against operatives and senior leaders. this spring, i address the subject of targeted strikes and why they are legal and highly effective. i would say all our efforts are conducted in concert with the

government. and direct action is taken, every effort is taken to avoid any civilian casualties. in fact, we see the opposite. partners are eager to work with us. they have been free from the hellish red and are more eager, not less, to work with the yemeni government. targeted strikes against the most dangerous terrorists are not the problem, they are part of the solution. we are helping them build capacity for its own security. if we are spearheading the international effort to reform and restructure the military into a professional and unified force. the $159 million we're providing, almost all of it is for training and equipment.

we are and powering them for intelligence driven operations to locate operatives for the training they need to ensure counter-terrorism operations are conducted lawfully in a manner that respects human rights and makes every effort to avoid civilian casualties. our approach to yemen is reinforced five broad support from the international community. the cooperation council, especially saudi arabia, united nations, heavy diplomatic community have come together to push for a peaceful solution and facilitate a successful transition. the international community has threatened sanctions against those that would undermine transition and undermine assistance for the national dialogue and reform. others have pledged aid.

study arabia alone offer 3.2 $5 billion on top of the grants that gave yemen to offset the lost -- and lost by infrastructure. -- loss by infrastructure. supporting the transition, strengthening government institution, providing humanitarian relief, encouraging economic reform and development, taken together, our efforts send an unmistakable message to the people. we share the vision that guides so many. what were all the citizens, men and women will that dion have a government that is democratic, responsive, and just. we're under no illusions. progress toward such a future

will take many years. and if we have learned a thing in the past two years, do not underestimate the will of the people. hundreds of thousands of men and to amend to industries had engaged in political and social movements for the first time in their lives and helped pave the way for a change that just a few years ago would have seemed unimaginable. that did not evolve into a civil war it is a testament to the courage of the yemeni people. the future need not be determined by violence. the people have a long and hard road ahead of them. how are willing to make the journey. as we go forward, they will continue to have a partner in the united states of america. [applause]

>> thank you for that comprehensive laying out of policy. you've mentioned that helping yemen move toward a transition of government that is democratic and responsive, i am wondering how the jives with the u.s. as important partners, he transition bettis of arabia. what degree, financially and politically, are they very involved in partnering with the u.s. there? what does it allow the flourishing of a more vibrant democratic model in yemen? with the kinds of institutions that you cite. flourishing political parties, opposition, a free press. >> saudi arabia has done more

for yemen than any other country in the world. study arabia was one of the key drivers to forge the agreement called for his political transition to take place. its political reform and political transition, i invariably will go to saudi arabia before and after my visit their because what they want to do is make sure that we are working this together. there needs to be a team approach to yemen's problems. i have found only support coming out of saudi arabia, the other senior officials for yemen to continue along this path. yes, they have political parties there have been there for quite some time. now moving into this new phase,

what they want to do is make sure yet that is able to take advantage of the foundation that it has already had to make sure it happens in a peaceful way. and one that is consistent with what the region is trying to accomplish. >> [unintelligible] tothe president agreed step down before his term was up. and so they realize that getting him out of the opposition was not in itself a remarkable achievement. it was an achievement, but to be able to go along the path of progress -- >> how you compare the two presidents in terms of combating aqap. the u.s. refererd tred to presit

sali foas a great partner. >> with great terror -- counter- terrorism arguments, we are seeing that. there are strong disagreements with the way to have -- some a difference how things -- affecting their political.

al qaeda is killing yemeni men, women, and children hot sustained basis. >> i won't lead you into any more comparisons, let's move on to syria. increasing reports, both media and not just coming from the government that increasingly extra minutes and went fighters are coming in from all over the world, joining with this rebel cause, could that threaten u.s. security interests? the eupepsia potential threat there? >> it has tried to take

advantage of environments that are either lawless or going through political change. the have taken advantage of the situation. syria is the difference. they have said that they don't allow the situation there. >> it can contradict your name here. since the u.s. at the west are not actively publicly funding the rebels, or the united states

as part. >> it won't go into other details of this. there is a lot of humanitarian assistance going in there. we understand exactly who will be the recipients of any type of aid, whether it be a number of types of things. a the the policy of the u.s. government is very clear. assad must go. the tragedy perpetrated on the syrian people is something that really needs to be addressed and we are very much supported by the opposition --

>> the secular rivals are now complaining that they do not have had weapons and the firepower that some of these newer and more extreme rebel forces do. >> a night when you look on the video footage news programs, there is a lot of weaponry in syria. there are a number in the military that have affected. we are concerned about that extremist elements. i will say when you look at the syrian opposition as a whole. diplomatically and also along the borders that are in the area, it is tragic that we will

do anything or unintentionally lead to greater bloodshed. >> there is a territory beginning to take shape. are there situations where they can be protected by aerosol? >> the united states government deals with situations, and accordingly, it looks like they can deal with those circumstances.

the united states very carefully has been trying to understand the implications. and not again do anything that will attribute to more violence. >> whether the objectives, legislatively, that would have the gun to put in some projections. water supplies and so forth.

last thursday, the senate republicans blocked the bill. what are the consequences of that? >> the consequences are that we are not going to have enhanced the authorities that are increasingly serious challenges. the bill, unfortunately, did not advance last week. cyber security provisions that were included in a bill that unfortunately did not advance last week. what of the implications? one of the things we need to do is to see what we can do to maybe putdditional guidelines or policies in place. if the congress is not going to act on something like this, the president wants to be sure we are doing everything possible.

the legislation calling for minimum performance standards on the cyber security front for critical infrastructure that the u.s. government would help develop with private industry. this standard would have to be followed by elements of the private sector that have responsibility. obviously, there are a lot of people that came out and misrepresented what was in that bill. the critical infrastructure of this country is under threat. they are developing advanced technologies and we have to improve our defenses on this issue. president obama has called on us to keep pushing on congress and doing what we can under executive branch authorities. >> how serious are the threats? from theoretical vulnerability to actually being attacked. >> when you do in that assessment, you take a look at

what the capabilities are. then it talks about the vulnerabilities of the target of the attack. right now, i can tell you with great certainty that the vulnerabilities are there, the capabilities are there, so it is a question of intent. whether certain actors are going to operationalize the capabilities. we see intellectual property rights are just robbed. it is a system that is privately owned and privately operated space. the government is not trying to go in and regulate. clearly, the market has not

developed in a way to satisfy cyber security requirements. if they did, we would not have billions of dollars in losses that companies are now writing off. the american people are going to be at risk. the water we drink, the electricity that we depend upon, the hospital that requires that type of support. that is increasingly at risk. >> give us an example of a vulnerability. let's take the electricity grid. it has the vulnerability of being disabled or crippled. >> there are cyber intrusions that go in and operationally prepare the environment to map it, or understand it, infiltrate data, or then you

understand it and take actions to destroy it. we are seeing a lot of intrusions and infiltrations'. the next that is disruptive, disabling types of attacks. electric grids, water treatment facilities, mass transportation systems, railways or trains. if those intruders can determine how they can interfere in the command and control systems of these systems, they can do things. they can put trains onto the same tracks and bring down

electric grids. >> who is most interested in doing this? >> bad guys. [laughter] >> define bad guys who would want to cripple u.s. infrastructure. is in other countries? >> first of all, you look at foreign countries. some that have tremendous cyber capabilities. do they want to bring down critical infrastructure of the united states right now? no, because they rely on the economy for a number of reasons. there are certain foreign actors who would do it in an instant. they fortunately do not have the capability at this time. you also have international criminal groups.

you can do things to increase your criminal intent by bringing down infrastructure. there can be all kinds of different reasons. >> when you say you were looking at what the executive branch can do without congressional action, are you talking about executive orders? >> executive orders are a good vehicle to direct departments to do certain things so the nation is protected. the president priority is to protect the safety of the american people as well as the prosperity of the american people. we delivered our legislative package to the hill last year. unfortunately, the senate bill went down last week. we can now wait. we are doing things in conjunction with others, working to make sure we can better safeguard our environment but

also be able to respond and be resilient. if you take down some part of our critical infrastructure, you want to be able to recover very quickly. >> one final question before we go to the audience. this leak investigation that is going on. everybody has accused members of the administration of leaking sensitive operation details for the president's political benefit. they cite the hunt for and raid for osama bin laden. they talk about a virus in iran, selecting drone target and the president's involvement. i think some have cited the foiled terrorist plot in yemen. what do you say in response to that?

>> a couple things. there are investigations under way so we have to be respectful of that process. secondly, the president has made it clear that any leak of information should be vigorously pursued and prosecuted if there was a violation of one's responsibilities in terms of protecting classified information. there have been some devastating leaks. it is unconscionable what has gone out. the president has made it clear to his senior team that for whatever reason if someone is trying to advance their own interests or the one to be able to cultivate a relationship with a reporter, there are very, very critical national security matters that require their to be protection of that information so it does not get out so we can keep the american

people say. without a doubt, anybody who has released any of this information should be held to the requirements and if necessary deal with the judicial system appropriately. >> there has been damage from some of these leaks. >> absolutely. there has been a conflation from people out there making claims about individuals who have leaked national security secrets for political purposes. it is easy to point fingers at the white house. frankly, i think a lot of the allegations are irresponsible. we need to make sure we are dealing with these issues in a very serious manner because the security of the united states is at risk.

we want to be able to be as transparent as possible with the american people. you mentioned when there was this instance when there was an ied that al qaeda was trying to put on an aircraft. unfortunately, information was leaked. when that operation came to a conclusion, we do have an obligation to tell the american people about what the threats are coming from al qaeda.

it is mixing apples and oranges. we need to make sure leaks of national security secrets need to be pursued and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. that should not inhibit us from talking to people. the president feels strongly about engagement. i have said things about our counter-terrorism program in terms of what we do, our ethics and values as a people. i will be mindful of our national security matters. sometimes there is tension between these things. >> we are going to questions. you all know the rules. let's start here. >> i was going to take the question back to yemen. he mentioned that it is one of the poorest countries in the world -- you mentioned that it is one of the poorest countries in the world and will be increasingly water insecure. you did not mention anything that we are doing to assist in that or direct that. i wonder if you could comment on what is a significant issue in that poor country. >> i think i did mention water a couple times but did not mention specific projects. it is part of our program to

look at ways where water can become more available. the water tables are being depleted in yemen rapidly. you have a population growing exponentially. as you mentioned, it is one of the most water consuming crops in the world. there are a number of things and we have talked to the yemenis and the saudis. that is not a question of building more plants along the coast. it is also a question of trying to develop communities that have a better opportunity. the population of yemen is concentrated in some real densely populated areas in just a handful of cities. so, water development and projects that are going to allow them to address their longer-term water requirements is absolutely the central.

we would like to try to work with the world bank so we can have some aid that will address the infrastructure deficiencies that exist in yemen. even their existing water system is sub-optimal. i think there are greater efficiencies that can be put into the system. saudi arabia has similar types of issues, but their population is not as concentrated in these urban centers without the availability of desalinated water. the way to address the water problem has to be multifaceted. some of it is going to be developing communities in other areas, and also a combination of what types of projects will be able to generate more water

that exists in the water table but is not available right now or desalinization project. >> right here at. -- here. >> i am a fellow at the university of virginia center for national security law. i was doing to of research on al qaeda's relationship with indigenous tribal structures. i think your assessment of the regime is correct. i have seen a lot of progress and i think the administration should be commended. i also think there are significant improvements in the security situation in the south. i have some concerns about implementation on an indigenous basis in terms of security on the one hand and development on

the other. it was clear to me from the leaders that i interviewed that economic desperation is the primary driver of al qaeda recruiting in the country. some of these regions are so desperate that it is hard for the government let alone our security apparatus to get out to some of these places. the concern i have is how do we do this diligence and who will be doing a going forward? thank you. >> we have a lot of challenges ahead in terms of addressing the multiple needs of the yemeni people in different parts of the country cannot many of which are remote and distant -- of the country, many of which are remote or removed from the government. i think what the president is

trying to do -- he is a southerner from the area, so he knows the people in that area. there is going to have to be a period of time with you are going to have to develop trust in individuals so the mechanisms are in place. as money flows down, it will float down to the right places. corruption has been rampant for years in yemen. the president is trying to address that. we are talking about a short period of time. there have been complaints in the south that as a result of military forces, you do not have the police coming in or the regeneration of the communities or the shops have

not been repaired. that is difficult to do even in the united states. in a place like yemen which is seriously challenged, the instruments of interaction with local communities have been interrupted as a result of what aqap has done. what we need to do is make sure what is pumped in at the top flows through the people and the mechanisms that are going to give you confidence to derive benefits. this is going to take a while. we are counting on the president to do as much as he can. two years from now, we're still going to be facing some enormous hurdles. yemen is one of the most backwards parts of the world. it is beautiful. but trying to have a country- wide system where you can connect the government to the people in a sustained way is really tough.

>> yes, someone in the middle here. the lady in the middle. if i may ask to keep your questions short because we do not have a lot of time. >> thanks. i very much appreciated what got the most attention putting in a broad context. the reason i think the drone program gets so much attention is because of the use of legal force which tends to get people's attention. i would like to understand more about the framework in which we are operating. this is one of the concerns a lot of americans have about that program.

you described this in turn a conflict that we are trying to assist the yemeni with in driving out aqap. the u.s. has a strong interest in making sure it is granted in the rules of law. are we granting that in the concept of being a party in yemen? if not, what is the legal basis for the use of lethal force? >> i would draw the distinction between what you said and what the reality is. first of all in terms of the basis for the use of lethal force, the operation of the use of lethal force provided the basis for the u.s. government and military to take action against al qaeda because it presents a threat to us. aqap clearly is one of the most active al qaeda franchises worldwide and has been determined to carry out attacks against us. while we have aided the

government in building the capacity to deal with the insurgency that exists on the ground, we are not involved in working with the yemeni government as a part of that insurgency. what needs to be made clear is there are individuals in al qaeda that are determined to kill americans whether in the homeland or other parts of the world. we go to a great extent to thwart those attacks. when we do not have those opportunities to prevent these individuals from carrying out the attacks, if our only recourse to take legal action to provide our partners with assistance or to do things with them to mitigate the threat, we will do it. so, there is uncertainty -- aqap is a very interesting

organization. you look at al qaeda. there are some pakistanis up there in al qaeda, but mainly they are arabs. the arabian peninsula is mostly made up of yemenis. they are not determined only to carry out attacks against americans. and a lot of them are trying to gain ground. that actually put up their flags. controlling the territory. they are trying to unseat the government. we are trying to help the

yemenis thwart that insurgency and push it back. it is counter to our interests and the arabian peninsula as a whole. where we get involved is to mitigate those terrorist threats. al qaeda in the arabian peninsula has some very creative and determined murderers that have gone to great lengths to try to find ways to put ied's on aircraft and carry out attacks on a daily basis. we are not going to sit by and let our fellow americans the killed. if the only way we can prevent this deaths is to take direct action against them, we will do so. >> this gentleman right here. then the lady right there. >> thank you so much. what is your assessment of the

claim from five members of congress that the muslim brotherhood has deeply penetrated the u.s. government? [laughter] >> i would refer you to the five members of congress who made that remark. i have no idea what it is they are making reference to. [laughter] i really cannot address that statement. >> i wanted to give you a chance to give us a report card on al qaeda at large. how they are doing in the arabian peninsula. you mentioned that you disrupted their recording operations. can you give us more specifics? >> i will start with yemen. there is a lot of attention paid to when there is an ordinance dropped by somebody

against a terrorist organization. that is what gets the focus them back on a daily basis, -- gets the focused. on a daily basis, there are operations under way thwarting these plans. you know there are different phases and in operation, from fund-raising to identifying operatives and materials or whatever else. there is a continuum there. regularly, we and the yemenis are disrupting things taking place on the continuing. on a regular basis, we are doing that. in yemen, two things are in very positive directions. one is since the president has assumed the presidency, there is a new consistency in what the government is doing on the terrorism front.

our ability to work with them and the intelligence, military, security -- that has increased significantly since he has come on. secondly, thankfully, the military has been able to reverse the gains and the momentum of aqap in the south. they have dislodged and number of those units. -- dislodged a number of those units. there are several hundred hard- core, committed, full-time fighters. then there are part-time tribal fighters that will join them because they are in their area. i do think psychologically as well as geographically there have been significant gains made by forces being able to demonstrate they can push them

out. it is the concept of clear hole ville. they have been degraded significantly in terms of the number of operatives and leaders that have been taken off the battlefield. they will continue the pressure on them because that is the wellspring of al qaeda that has sprung. just because they have been bad the damage, that does not mean they do not pack a lethal punch. we know what they did on 9/11. there are a lot of individuals attracted by the al qaeda propaganda that went to carry out these attacks. we have degraded that. i am concerned about the growth of the franchises. you look at iraq or syria. yemen, then you look at africa where you have a lot of areas that have been able to take the

vantage of a vast expansion of territories that are ungoverned. in mali, there are areas in the north where al qaeda has been in with tribal areas and others that present a continued threat. right now, al qaeda elements in africa pose a regional threat but there is the concern they could use their growth to look to the north to europe and even beyond. unfortunately, al qaeda has not gone away. i know memory sometimes fades since 9/11, but the appendages of the al qaeda still exist and continue to grow. that is why we have to work with our partners. no matter how many drones you

have up there, we are trying to give space to the countries to be able to take the situations on themselves and be able to carve out the cancerous tumor of the al qaeda. >> we only have a couple minutes left. let's take two more questions as long as they are short. >> i wanted to follow up on a question. who threatens the critical infrastructure? your response was "bad guys." what is the sense of collaboration among those bad guys? >> thank you. pass the microphone over. >> i would like to address your attention to nigeria and see what your assessment is. is this an existential threat to the state? >> those are two very big

questions to answer in two minutes. >> in terms of collaboration among various groups, one phenomenon i would point to is that there are a lot of individuals who have been a part of different types of intelligence and security agencies abroad who have developed and refined their capabilities in the cyber realm. sometimes, these individuals will retire or move on to other pastures, and sometimes they set up their own efforts. sometimes they maintain relationships with their previous employers in the government. so, what we are seeing in different places in asia, there are a number of activities emanating from asia sometimes

very hard to distinguish whether it is coming from a state sponsor or working on behalf of a state-sponsored or coming from an organized criminal group or a business that is trying to advance its commercial interests. we are seeing more and more common features. we are seeing the dna that is flowing downstream. frequently, it comes from the skills that one acquires and the government. i think we have to be mindful there are relationships there either born out of a pedigree or how they develop these skills or because different types of organizations have common cause. on nigeria, it is a very serious concern that we have and the government has as well. you have the domestic dynamics