john kerry, tim cain also one of the speakers. martin o'malley, along with duval patrick, and finally former secretary of state hillary clinton recently included an 11 day trip to africa where she visited six nations including kenya and south africa. while on her last stop, she visited the university of the western cape to talk about student about the global partnership between the u.s. and south africa. this 40 minute event is courtesy of the south african broadcasting corporation. member>> when it was suggested that i deliver a speech in south africa, and we ask the south african embassy in washington, there was only one answer. the university of the western cape. [applause]

of course, it is in most fitting institution, despite the ambassador's prejudiced. because this distinguished, diverse, and story university has played such an important role in berthing a new south africa. at a time when apartheid was deeply entrenched, the faculty and staff of western state took a great stand against division. over the years, they were in the vanguard in the struggle for justice, even giving thought to a new constitution.

it is only appropriate that this university and in this area of south africa which has known both the despair of apartheid and the birth of new freedom, was once called it the cape of storm before became the cape of good hope. i first came to south ever cut in 1994 for the inauguration of of course, a great leader and a hero to many, including myself. i sat at the inauguration and watched as jets from the south african defense force streaked across the sky, their contrails and tinted with all the colors of the new national flag. for decades, those jets had been a powerful symbol of the systems of apartheid, but on that day, they dipped their wings in salute to their new commander in chief.

for those of us who witnessed the ceremony, it was a searing moment. there was a man who had spent 27 years as a political prisoner not far from here now being sworn in as president. and president mandela's journey represented something even larger, his country's journey, the journey of your parents and grandparents and great grandparents, a long but steady march toward freedom for all its people. being president at the birth of this -- of being present at this was an experience that not only i but the world will never forget. we're now 18 years removed from that iconic moment. if you are a student here add uwc, you are probably just a toddler back then. a few of you might not even have been born yet. you did not just grow up in a

democratic south africa, you grew up with a democratic south africa. today, your country is different from the one i visited in 1994, and so, too, are the challenges you must confront and the opportunities that are there. in this pivotal time, the united states of america is committed to supporting you. as president barack obama said so memorably in ghana in 2009, the nations of africa need partnership, not patronage, not strong men but strong institutions. and the united states seeks to build sustain partnerships that help african nations, including this one, to fulfill your own aspirations. i am here on a trip that has

taken me from west africa to east africa to the horn and it out to the south. in each place, i've seen america's partners taking charge of solving of problems. in south sudan, the new government of a nation only a year old made a courageous decision to restart oil production for the benefit of its people. in uganda, i met with soldiers fighting terrorists in somalia and in working to end kony's reign of terror with the lord's resistance army. in malawi, i met not only a new female president, but also a group of remarkable teenage girls building their skills and confidence and a group of village women improving their

incomes and their families' future is through banding together in a dairy cooperative. at every stop, i have described how the obama administration's comprehensive strategy with africa rests on four pillars, which the archbishop just mentioned. first, promote opportunity and development. second, spurring economic growth, trade, and investment. third, advancing peace and security. and fourth, strengthening democratic institutions. we are working with your country on all four of these. i just finished the second strategic dialogue between our countries with foreign minister. during the year, many officials of both of our governments across many agencies worked together on important issues, and then we meet annually to review progress in our cooperation.

let me give you just a few brief highlights that help paint a picture of the depth and breadth of our bilateral relationship. today at the clinic, united states signed a document with south africa that marks a major transition in south africa's continuing fight against hiv/aids. south africa will become the first country in africa to plan, manage, and pay for more of your own efforts to combat the epidemic. while the united states will continue to provide funding and technical support through our program. we also brought a delegation of leaders from american companies like fedex and chevron and general electric that are looking to expand their work in south africa.

they met with their counterparts from the south african business community, nearly 200 representatives looking to strengthen our ties commercially. we launched a new $7.5 million public-private partnership to improve teacher quality that brings together our governments, foundations, and businesses. we announced the start of an opportunity grants program that will help disadvantaged south african students study in the united states. we established a global disease detection center that will be jointly led by health experts from our two countries. we established a new program to help judges and court systems more effectively combat gender- based violence and in to help south africa support other countries in the region trying to do the same.

and later today, we will complete an agreement with the city of cape town to provide high-speed internet access in one province. there is more to be said, but in short, it represents the work we're doing together, work that goes to the heart of our relationship. it is aimed on improving the lives of people, working to eradicate the disease, ameliorate and end poverty. working with you to help you solve the challenges you face. but there is a different aspect of our relationship that does not get nearly enough attention, and that is how we can work with south africa and in all the nations of africa to solve those challenges and problems not just within your borders but across the continent and

throughout the world. our shared mission is essential to our common security and prosperity and into the fundamental character of the world of the 21st century. this is about your world, the one you will inherit. consider some of the problems we face today, and anemic global economy, transnational crime and terrorism, climate change, disease, famine, nuclear proliferation -- none of these problems can be solved by any one country acting alone or even by several countries acting together. each one calls for a global network of partners, the governments, businesses, international and regional organizations, academic institutions, civil society groups, even individuals, all working in concert.

there cannot be a strong global network unless there are strong african partners. i have often heard it said that african problems need african solutions. i am here to say that some of our global problems need african solutions, too. [applause] and few nations on this continent can carry as much weight or be as effective partners and leaders as south africa. [applause] you are a democratic power with the opportunity to influence africa and the world. you have led on nonproliferation at the international atomic energy agency and on climate change at the dick durbin conference.

you have a lead on economic cooperation. you have a lead on women's participation in politics. the south african woman will soon become chair of the commission union, a first in the history of that organization. [applause] all of this is good news for the people of south africa. respectfully, i say, that we and you can, should, and must do more. two days ago i had the honor of visiting president mandela and his wife at their home. the man who did so much to shape the history of a free south africa has never stop thinking -- stopped thinking about the

future of south africa. you, the young generation, are called not just to preserve the legacy of liberty that has been left to you by courageous men and women, you are called to build on that legacy. to ensure that your country fulfills its own promise and it takes its place as a leader among nations and as a force for peace, opportunity, equality, and democracy. to stand up for human rights, at home and around the world. this is a journey that my own country knows well. although america and south africa are certainly different nations with different histories, we have a deep and abiding connection. like you, americans know what it takes to begin healing the wounds of oppression and

discrimination. we have had the leaders, our first president, george washington, but also frederick douglass, abraham lincoln, martin luther king, jr., and so many others, who both inspired us and challenged us to live up to our values. to keep faith with the ideals set forth at our beginning. we know this work is hard. it is not only on going, it is never ending. like you, we are compelled by the arc of our nation's history to stand up and around the world for the values we ascribe to and advance at home. discussions about the rise of emerging powers likes of africa usually start and stop with

people simply saying, with great power comes great responsibility. it is worth considering what this really means. some critics are quick to say, when america says emerging powers have great responsibility, they mean great responsibility to do whatever america wants. i do believe that because of your history, south africa has an obligation to be a constructive force in the international community just as the united states does. that obligation has nothing to do with what america or anyone else want you to do. it has everything to do with who you are. here in south africa, you achieved something that few countries have ever done.

you proved that it does not take an all-out civil war to bridge the divide between people who grew up learning to hate one another. you showed that the rights of minorities can be protected, even in places where the majority spent decades and decades living in oppression. he reminded the world that the way forward is not revenge, but truth. of course, you know better than i how much work needs to be done. south africa faces daunting economic, social, and political challenges. you have laid the foundation for a society that is more

prosperous, more inclusive, more peaceful, more democratic. the world needs you to contribute because you have accomplished much. for nations like ours, the united states and south africa, doing these things that reflect our folly is, our history is, for our own people, can never be enough. we have to look beyond our borders. let me highlight some of the ways the united states and south africa can work together to promote opportunity and development, spur economic growth, trade, investment, in advance peace and security, and strengthen democratic institutions. first, opportunity and development.

even as south africa response to your challenges at home, you are supporting your neighbors effort to fight poverty, to improve health, to create conditions for more sustainable, inclusive growth. you are working with the government of malawi to help farmers learn to use their land more efficiently. you are supporting south sudan in efforts to train judges and strengthen the judicial system. the united states and south africa can share our experiences, pool our knowledge, leverage our resources, so both of us get more and better results. for example, we are partnering with the university to train leaders from the public and private sector in developing agricultural strategy is. this is a partnership we want to see more of. not just with south africa, but with other african countries

who are becoming donors as well as recipients of assistance. tanzania and ghana are improving food security. nigeria has released food supplies to help its neighbors. we are only limited by our imagination. of course, our goal must be opportunity for all. development for those most in need. lifting themselves and their families and communities out of poverty. if that remains of a goal, there are limitless ways -- remains our goal, there are limitless ways we can collaborate. the second pillar is another where the world looks to south africa to play a constructive role in promoting a global economic architecture that benefits everybody. of course, that is easy to talk about.

the devil is always in the details. whether we are discussing tariffs or the speed of trade liberalization or local content and ownership share requirement. our shared interests, they are greater than any differences. we both want domestic and international rules that protect our workers while attracting investment from abroad. we both want clean and sustainable growth that does not pollute our water or air. we want transparency and a level playing field free of corruption. we both want to create jobs at home while promoting a global economic recovery that, as president kennedy says, lifts all of those. that is why the obama administration remains committed to renewing the african growth and opportunity act with south africa included before the act expires in 2015.

[applause] we are pleased congress acted to extend the provision to 2015 which will have enormous benefits for entrepreneurs, especially women, and also create jobs in the united states. president obama will sign the bill as soon as it reaches his desk. measures like the african growth and opportunity act will not reach their full potential and africa will not reach its full promise of less african countries break down the barriers with their neighbors. as we have seen from north and south america, to east asia, everybody benefits when

neighbors open their markets to each other and take steps to spur regional trade and investment. unfortunately, there is still less trade among the countries of sub-saharan africa than in any other region of the world. south african leaders have said encouraging words about regional integration. the region looks to them to help lead the effort to tear down the barriers that often make it easier to export goods halfway around the world than to your neighbors on the continent. the president is picking up the mantle by championing an ambitious corridor, in the skin governments, the private sector, and organ -- enlisting governments, the private sector, and organizations. the highway from cape town to cairo. with south africa in the lead, perhaps i will be able to come back and drive it. [laughter]

the third area of our shared agenda is peace and security. south africa and the united states have not always seen eye to eye. particularly at the height of the crisis in libya. the differences we have the cleanest in these moments are over tactics, not principles. that should not obscure our many shared goals, from supporting the political transition in somalia, to combating piracy. from addressing the threat of terrorism and violent extremism across the sahara, to reinforce in the peace between sudan and south sudan. in one crucial area, south africa has set the standard for the world, stopping nuclear proliferation. as the first country to voluntarily give up nuclear weapons, south africa speaks with rare authority.

you can most convincingly make the case that giving up nuclear weapons is a sign of strength, not weakness. you can help ensure -- [applause] you can help ensure that any country that pursues nuclear weapons programs will invite only more pressure and isolation. this means south africa can play an even greater role on issues like curbing iran's pursued of nuclear weapons. -- pursuit of nuclear weapons. south africa is also rescinded

by regional institutions and advancing peace. we have worked closely with the african union, which has emerged as an active force, in addressing security challenges from somalia to mali to sudan and south sudan. i thank the au for all their efforts to help broker the oral agreement reached by the two sides last week. regional organizations are engaged as we speak in peace and reconciliation efforts in madagascar. more informal arrangements are bringing leaders together to tackle the conflict in the eastern congo. south africa plays an important leadership and supportive role in all of this. the fourth area is protecting

human rights and democracy. americans and south africans alike pledge ourselves to the proposition that all people everywhere should live with dignity, pursue their dreams, voice their opinions freely, worship as they choose. we want to see all of that come to fruition. living up to these principles is not easy. nook countries record is spotless, including my own. -- no country's record is spotless, including my own. many countries are engaged in a debate. on the one hand, they want to promote democratic values and respect for human rights. on the other hand, they are wary of intervention that bears on the internal affairs of those

other nations. ultimately, we are all called to answer the question about how we live up to these principles that we share. there are no easy solutions. one country may not answer the question the same way as another. we all have to recognize that anywhere in any place where human rights are abused and democracy, a true democracy, denied, international communities must apply pressure to help bring about positive change. no one understands that better than the people of south africa. we welcome south africa's support last week for the resolution at the u.n. general assembly, condemning syria and the assad regime's brutal reign of terror. i hope this can be the foundation for a new level of cooperation. at the u.n. human rights

council and other venues, we look to you to help lead the effort to help protect universal human rights for everyone. when friends in power become corrupt and repressive, a decision by south africa to stand on this side of freedom is not a sign that you are giving up on old allies. it is a reminder to yourselves and the world that your values do not stop at your borders. i particularly appreciate the leadership role that south africa and other southern african democracies like zambia and botswana can play in supporting the newest democracies, egypt, tunisia, south sudan, and others. they are looking for advice and models. you can point to a university like this one that insisted on

the freedom to teach whomever and however they saw fit. you can point to the independent trade union that stood up for workers' rights and the civil society groups that provided the legal counsel. you can point to the courageous journalists who insisted on telling the truth, it even when it invited the government's wrath. here in africa, the international community has made it clear that the people of zimbabwe deserve the right to have their voices and folks heard and counted in a free and fair election. thanks to the efforts of the president along with zimbabwe's civil society, a draft of a new constitution is nearly complete. now, at the same leaders can help accelerate progress towards finalizing and adopting

the resolution. holding a free and fair election, monitored by the international community. [applause] if zimbabwe's leaders meet these commitments, the united states is prepared to match action for action. [applause] in each of these four areas, of development, economic growth, peace and security, a democracy, and human rights, south africa already embodies so many of the values that the world is looking for. we look forward to deepening our cooperation. let us remember, no country's influence is a birthright. not america's and not south africa's. [applause]

we have our own work cut out for us. to keep moving toward and trying to achieve the unachievable, more perfect union. to live up to our values. to use our influence and power to help others achieve their own dreams. if south africa is to achieve the full measure of your own ambition, you too must face and solve your own challenges in health and education, economic inequality, gender based violence, the issues that you

live with. the issues he must address. these are areas that we too face. we stand ready to work with you, but only the people of south africa can make the decision about how you will solve these problems and overcome these challenges. only south africans can fight corruption. only south africans can prevent the use of state security institutions for political gain, can defend your democratic institution, preventing the erosion of a free press, and demanding strong opposition parties. only south africans can truly preserve and extend the legacy

of the mandela generation. you will also be called on to define the very nature of your citizenship and your country's approach to your fellow citizens. you will decide if south africa moves forward or backwards. you will decide if south africa seeks to raise old dividing lines in global politics. you will decide whether south africa seeks to set aside old suspicions and embrace new partnership. our own partnership, not only between our governments, but between our people, can grow deeper and stronger if both of us remember our respective histories and the obligations they impose if we keep focused

on the future and move towards it together. nearly 50 years ago, robert f. kennedy, a united states senator, attorney general, and a champion of general rights, came to cape town and gave a speech. he painted a vivid feature of the futures he envisioned. accelerated economic progress. south africa, he said, can play an outstanding role in creating that world. he called in particular on the young people of that time, saying, this world demands the qualities of youth, not a time of life, but a state of mind. a quality of the imagination. a predominance of courage. one of my personal heroines and a former predecessor as first

lady, eleanor roosevelt, once said that human rights starts in the small places close to home. it is easy to talk about the big, sweeping issues. to pledge ourselves to human rights. it is harder, much harder to reach deep inside of our hearts and minds to truly see the other. whatever the other is of a different race, ethnicity, tribe, and recognize the common humanity. i have been around politics for a long time.

it is easy to lose sight of the common humanity of those who oppose you. you get to feeling that your way is the right way. that your agenda is the only one that will save the people. all of a sudden, you begin to dehumanize the opposition. the greatest lesson i learned about this came from nelson mandela. when i came to that inauguration in 1994, it was a time of great political conflict in my own country. my husband was president. people were saying terrible things about us both.

personally, politically, every way you could think of. [laughter] i was beginning to get pretty hard inside. i was beginning to think, who do they think they are? [laughter] what can i do to get even? after that inauguration, that i described in the beginning, i, along with other dignitaries from all over the world were invited to a great lunch under a huge tent at the president's house. i had breakfast there in the morning with the president, i came back to have lunch with president mandela. [laughter] there were so many important people there. our delegation was led by our vice president.

there were kings and prime ministers and presidents. a glittering assembly. president mandela stood to greet us all and welcome us to the lunch. he said, i know you are all very important people. i invite you all to our new country. i thank you for coming. the three most important people to me here in this vast assembly are three men who were my jailers. i set up so straight. i turned to the person next to me and said, what did he say? he said the most important people here were three of his jailers. he said, i want them to stand three middle-aged white men stood up. -- stand up. three middle-aged white men stood up. he said, in the midst of the terrible conditions i was held, each of those men saw me as a human being.

they treated me with dignity and respect. they talked to me, they listened. when i walked out of prison, i knew i had a choice to make. i could carry the bitterness and hatred of what had been done to me in my heart forever. and i would still be in prison. or i could begin to reconcile the feelings inside myself with my fellow human beings. that is the true legacy of president mandela. calling all of us to complete the work we started.

to overcome the obstacles, the injustices, the mist treatments that everyone, everyone of us will in conner at some point in our lives. -- will encounter at some point in our lives. that is truly what south africa is called to do. to continue the struggle for human dignity. the struggle for respect. the struggle to lift people up and give children a chance,

every boy and girl, to fulfill his or her god-given potential in this beautiful land that has been so blessed. it is a burden being an american. people expect you to really live up to those standards. people told us to a higher set of standards, do they not? we owe it to all who came before, all who sacrificed and suffered, to do our very best to keep working every single day to meet those standards. we mostly zero it to our future. -- owe it to our future. many things have changed. some have not. the world we want to build together still demands the qualities of youth, and a predominance of courage over timidity. in that spirit, let us work

together so that the values that shape both of our nation's may also shape the world that is more peaceful, more prosperous, and more just. thank you all very much. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] likes the political convention is a week away. the head is holding meetings today and tomorrow, lange of the positions on topics such as the economy and for policy. starting at 2:15 eastern, c-span will have live coverage of the meeting being held in tampa which is the site of next week's convention. >> i know there are those who criticize me for a scene complexities. i do. asks -- seeing some complexities. i do. saying there are weapons

of mass destruction to is not make it so. claiming mission accomplished as not make it so. three days after september the 11th i stood where americans died, in the ruins of the twin towers. workers in hard hats were shouting to me what ever it takes. a fellow grabbed me by the arm and said do not let me down. he says i wake up every morning thinking about how to better protect our country. i will never relent on could defending america, what ever it takes picture. >> are caught up to the convention continues with a way to go in until the gavel to gavel coverage, live on c-span

and streamed online access c- span.org. also senator john mccain and jeb bush. speakers include the merit delivering a keynote address. first lady michele obama. >> rahm emanuel, john kerry, and tim kaine will also speak at the convention as well as martin o'malley and former ohio gov. ted strickland. >> on a road to the white house coverage will continue with president obama attending a campaign rally in nv 0. he will be in reno speaking at

meadows community college. piquancy that live at 8:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span -- you can see that live at 8:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span. >> now i look at will tensions over oil exports pared will also hear from regard to members of the state department. it is hosted by the middle east institute. >> good morning, everybody. good morning. it is already 3:00. i'm the vice president of the middle east in situ. thank you for joining us for a panel on iraq and the oil sector. i want to thank our very

distinguished panelists for taking time off from their very busy work schedules are relaxing vacation time to share with us their insights on iraq. today's event is the third in a series of panels on iraq. neighbors. check this out on youtube. coming up will be looking at iraq's relationship with iran and turkey and also examining the domestic political situation in iraq. i want to think shelf for the sponsorship of this series, and recognize tracy for her encouragement. this is especially valuable at a

time when iraq is no longer on the front or back pages of most newspapers. when it is, it is usually to report on a tragic bombing such as the one that took place today. there are several today killing more than 39 people. there was even an attack on an iraq oil facility. rock remains of importance to the united states for many reasons. not the least of which it is the fact that it is one of the largest oil producers. those interested in iraq and have access to a substance of of tive discussion. i also want to recognize another individual who has been a

supporter. this is the second public appearance on c-span he is having quite the week. earlier be launched a paper looking at the u.s./iran relationship which he co- authored. please go online and check it out if he had not already seen it. he knows quite a bit about iraq. he served as the fet assistant secretary of state for several years. he is also director of for arabian peninsula affairs. he served throughout the middle east the route in bad debt. hopefully he will share eight baghdad story with us today. thank you for taking charge of this panel. >> thank you very much. i did serve in baghdad.

it was a long time ago. it was so long ago that saddam hussein was the vice-chairman of the revolutionary command council. i assert their with david right here. we were the --- i served with david right here. we were the reporting party. david was the political officer. we were not there exactly as part of the u.s. embassy. we were there as part of the u.s. interest section of the belgian industry. we outnumbered the belgians 11- 2. things have changed. i was a deputy assistant that covered iraq. i call myself the deputy assistant secretary of state for miscreants. it included not only iraq, iran, peninsula and all of north

africa. i know you are an adviser. i know there are four assistant secretaries covering that terrain. it is a sign of the times that our largest embassy is not in baghdad. one of the things that links these relationships through this 30 years that i have been involved has been woil. i look forward to this panel. it is a superb panel. i heard the speakers many times. the topic that runs there is iraq and the politics of oil. our first baker will be -- speaker will be the iraqi commercial counselor at the embassy of iraq. he has been an adviser on foreign relations to the prime

minister. he will give an overview of the state of iraqi oil. second is the partner and head of the market and country strategies group at pfc energy. he leads a team that focuses on political and sectorial factors that influence decision making at in oil and gas producing state. he will follow with an examination of the politics of oil. third speaking will be denise natali. she has a long association with

iraq. she will be talking about baghdad as it relate to oil. last will be brett to assert on national security staffs of both presidents george w. bush and president obama handling matters related to u.s. policy in iraq and afghanistan. he is a senior adviser in the u.s. state department. he will wrap up our sessions with lessons learned through the prism of 2007-2008. with that, the floor is yours. [applause] >> thank you for arranging this

event. it is my pleasure to be part of this distinguished panel. i know it will be difficult for me to talk about the oil sector for 10 or 12 minutes. five years ago i was coming to this city. we mainly focused on military and security topics. after five years our main focus is to talk about the economic relationship between iraq and the united states, cultural and other respect to military and security. i am glad to brief you about our vision, achievement, and challenges in the iraqi oil sector.

many note that the iraqi oil discovered in the early 1900's. iraqi oil became the main financial source for the iraqi budget. they were affected by wars, sanctions and management for decades. as a consequence, oil fluctuated. there was a delay in in investment program for both oil and gas. we'll play an important part in the iraqi economy. -- oil played an important part

in the iraqi economy. 100,000oyed more than one hum people. let's talk about the numbers. in 2003, daily crude oil production reached one plan 5 -- 1.5 million barrels per day. it rose to 2.2 million barrels per day in 2008. it reached 2.5 million barrels in 2011. a gross of around 85%. an average for the first half of this year was 2.7 million barrels per day.

in the area export crude oil, 2003 we were exporting around 1 million barrels per day. that does increase to 1.8 in 2008 despite all the damage today that increased to 1.8 in 2008 despite all the damage. it was 2.3 million barrels per day as an average for the first half of this year. it is almost a growth of 130%. the quantities of the crude oil was increased slowly from 340,000 barrels per day in 2003 to reach 484,000 barrels per day

in 2008 and recently reached 567,000 barrels per day as an average for the first half of 2012. that represents the growth of 67%. everybody probably knows the potential for the iraqi oil sector. crude oil reserves confirms, putting it in the third place worldwide. we do have one of the largest areas and the competitive tiv advantage and the crude oil includes the cost compared to many other oil-producing companies -- countries. we have around 80 years of

experience in oil operation. there is a lot of area for development and improvement. it includes the transportation of crude oil and isolation and many other areas. if we add years of sanction and wars, there is a lot of area for experience that needs to be gained when wanted from the international companies. the pipeline networks does not function the way they used to be. it deftly requires a lot of work in this area.

all refineries, most of it cannot mean the environmental regulations. we continue to burn a lot of gas as you can probably imagine, the list of challenges is in less. our vision is to increase the production capacity in the field of oil and gas. also to increase the amount of the area of oil and gas reserves. we live like to do that wisely while protecting our environment. the list of the objectives

handles it. they long for that 10 or 12 minutes. one of the keys that we work to open for foreign investment, we did suit for the last four areas. there's one more coming. all that to increase the quantity of oil exports from iraq, and also to gradually increase the capacity for our crude oil storage. in addition to that, we would like to work on the area of refinery. right now, unfortunately, because we had a lot of

difficulties in that part, we still import products from other countries. we export a lot of crude oil. mentioning these challenges does not mean we have not achieved a lot of tangible polls. we increased for refineries by adding more units. we increased storage capacity. it is now 16 million barrels. we plan to double its in the next five years to be 32 million barrels. we increased our exporting

capacities, and all of you have heard where we are now in the ranking for opec. i just mentioned the refineries and projects. there are four refineries open for investment in various provinces. we will start building new ports, and let me get to the conclusion. with all the potential i mentioned and other friends will mention, and i am sure you are familiar with it, with the iraqi government commitment to leveraging our oil wells to be in the benefit of the iraqi people, we understand there is a

lot of challenges, especially when we have an emerging democracy. the good news is we have an emerging institution to solve the problem. we have a constitution, which is our base and our reference. we as the iraqi government tried to push and encourage our parliament to ratify for that to pass, and then ratified that oil law. we also explored all the possibilities the balance between protecting our iraqi wealth and our iraqi interests

with getting a decent, reasonable, profitable yield with international companies, especially those companies who think in the long term in a strategic way and play a positive role for iraq. it looks like i have to stop it, and i believe there will be a question and answer. thank you very much for coming. [applause] >> good afternoon. it is a great pleasure to be here. uch forou very marc organizing this, and i believe this is the largest gathering of

friends and acquaintances i have been in in a long time. it almost makes it worth being back in washington. when kate said she would like to talk about oil and iraq, and it would take 12 minutes, there are some people who think i cannot say anything in 12 minutes. it is a huge subject. if i was being cynical, i could say that if you were ever looking for an example of a phrase which described oil, iraq would be a good example of how much it can ruin things politically. at pfc, we had a rule of thumb that quoted a 3 million barrel a day rule, and that the country

would go to war with a neighbor. now it apparently is doing it internally and not worrying about neighbors. some of that is comical, but it is also real. oil and politics in iraq has been in volatile mix and remains also. it is central to everything going on at the moment in the country. both positive, but also some of the more challenging aspects. i want to focus on three issues, big issues, so i will cover them in a cursory fashion. they are the important points in terms of thinking about will and politics. one is federalism and the shape of the state. the other one is an issue of how well and national reconciliation are coming together. finally, the impact of dysfunctional government and dysfunctional politics. we will show a number of things,

but most important, how destructive politics continues to be in terms of iraqi oil production at its future ambitions. also to make an important point about the stability of the state and the extent to which oil is threatening the territorial integrity of the state at the moment. iraqi politics is more polarized now than at any point since 2003. the country has been a constant state of crisis since november of 2011. arguably, it has been in a constant state of crisis since the elections of march, 2010. they were unresolved. the outcome was never accepted by all the parties. certainly the parties that felt they had lost. the deals that were struck after words -- afterwards have not always been adhered to.

it has not been always understood. part of that shows how the politics, personalities, political and agenda differences matter in terms of iraqi politics. there has been a tendency to see iraqi politics as a simple interplay of at note-sectarian ethno-sectarian factors. the dispute that has gone on and the battles that are going on to this day in terms of politics showed an number of deeper issues at play, and most important is the dispute over federalism. it is between the various parties in iraq over sovereignty, over the shape of the state, over where the party

lines. in terms of revenue and gas authority, management and licensing. is not just an arab-kurd difference. it is a matter of degrees in both communities. in the past, as politics has played out, the alignment of factions within those communities have lead to specific outcomes as opposed to each community standing apart and battling each other. the failure to reconcile our different views about federalism, and you that's the center should be powerful, versus the decision making be decentralized, the failure to recognize -- reconcile that has been the most

disruptive feature of iraqi politics and remains the most disruptive feature. it has let ambiguity as opposed to any accommodation or any resolution or compromise on key statutes of state, not least the constitution. the constitution is ambiguous because you could not agree on outcomes. key laws have not been passed. there has been a mindset that if you could get a hydrocarbon law, it would be capitalist to settle disputes in iraq. if you get a bad law, it can create more instability, and a good hydrocarbons' wall will be the solution -- will be the accommodation to these wider political issues. it will not be a stepping said. it is important to remember that

these issues are existential political issues for both sides of the debate and battle. for the kurds has been importing at a semi-independent, autonomous state with a week baghdad, and a divided remainder of baghdad. a senior kurdish policy maker said iraq is and 80-year failed experiment. why are you trying to recreate yet? that is encapsulated in the kurdish vision, better than anything else i have come across. it is important in terms of prime minister maliki and his actions, but also the wider arab community who have seen the dangers of federalization as somehow threatening the division and territorial integrity of the country.

make no mistake about it, this battle has gone on for almost 10 years. it will continue and continue to be a principal cause that could threaten to tear up the state. events over the last few months have suggested a decline in relations between arbil and baghdad. there has also been a new dimension to this, which is support in the predominantly sunni provinces. that appears to be adding to the risk of fragmentation. it is important to realize in terms of the dynamics in iraq that what is driving a sunni agenda is not a desire for independence as it is for the kurds. it is more a response to frustration, a sense of marginal

station by the government. it has got an element of political and personal ambition involved. there is revulsion in there in terms of some people linked with the former regime, and regional events are beginning to change the use, not the least the events in syria. if you want to go to the cost and what drives sunnis, it is the other great unsolved issues of iraqi politics since 2003, and that is national reconciliation, defined as who has the right to participate in the political process and that that might be guaranteed. oil has been central to keeping this issue alive at insuring it is and resolved. it has been possible a central government and has funded a central government that has been

able to wield its power to ensure it does cartelization and has taken place and also about how the prime minister's strength could be taken away, and how that has clouded the view of some of maliki's rivals. the sticks and carrots that any government will use will be very dependent on oil and oil revenue and access to that, but in terms of the opposition cost policies, the i took oil and to what they may get and how they can negotiate the best deal. in terms of where sunnis stand, it might be different. both of these things create the third and last point i would like to focus on quickly, and that is the issue of

dysfunctional government. and along with the events in syria, and i keep going to the events in syria and how they frame things, and most immediate driver for events that are characterizing what is happening in the oil sector in iraq is this dysfunctional politics aspect. it is eroding the value of investment in the center and south of the country, and a prompting the international oil companies to look elsewhere, including the -- despite a whole host of risks, associated with the kig, and also the risk that these companies are running in terms of threatening their position in the south. it is probably only bp, shell, and other companies remain committed to the central government, and it is not guaranteed that ioc's will

retain back a bit. baghdad has done a bad job, and not being able to understand commercial drivers for ioc's, and not be able to fix the operational and structural revenue issues and financial bottlenecks, and not understanding at the end of the day that no matter how big your resources and how much you give companies access, if that investment is not commercial, the companies not doing the best thing for their shareholders and not improving their position in financial markets because iraq has a massive reserves. that does not mean companies will stay. can i do my conclusion?

i have got to my conclusion. the question is in terms of what these charges me, and to throw ideas out there for debate afterwards. the first one is in terms of what these challenges at up to is the progress on oil production, which has been extremely good, is not guaranteed in the future, and possibly is not sustainable for a whole host of reasons. where the ceiling is for iraqi production is a bigger question. for those of us in the industry looking at this, the ceiling is not 12 million barrels a day by 2017 as the plan suggests, but the question is whether it is going to be 6 million or less than 3 million a day is an open question and one that can go either way. under the circumstances could leave this out and that would test the production. some may go north or lease of iraq altogether and decide resources

on the ground are not worth the investment. the crucial thing that will happen is will will continue to exacerbate -- its oil will continue to exacerbate the political crisis. where regional defense are brought to come in, so i will leave you with the stock, iraq is adding to the point. it is often said. now it is not one. the country could go in a number of ways come not all that happy, and oil will be central to that. federalism, and national reconciliation, and effective government means. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much.

thank you, kate, for inviting me here. it is hard to follow raad, as i try to be more optimistic. i want to focus on trends in relations that have emerged between baghdad and the krg, but what these applications have for the oil sector. there are two points i like to make. one of them is that the relations have deteriorated significantly, since 2011, with increasing consolidation of maliki's power, and the reactions on the ground among iraqi-arab populations. as well, shifts in the geopolitical security issues and regional relations. secondly, despite this crisis and the bottlenecks and how

pessimistic we may be, i do not see these tensions leading to sustained armed conflict between baghdad and erbil. more likely is a continuation of the status quo, posturing, each side attempting to gain leverage over the other. this will mean there will not be a national hydrocarbon law signed in the near future, but these temporary side deals cannot try to be negotiated at different points in time. how and why these relations have worsened and what has changed since 2007, when there were moments where baghdad and krg were negotiating. this is about federalism. there are three key issues that

remain missing between krg and baghdad -- article 140, disputed territories, the budget, and the national hydrocarbon law. the difference now since 2007, when the referendum was not occurring, when the national hydrocarbons what did not get passed, these issues have become entrenched in the national hydrocarbon law, so any lot that will be negotiated in the feature has now become an issue of negotiating disputed lands as well as the budget issue. this energy sector has become so politicized at this point that failure to move forward led to a reaction by the kurds where you have seen them moving into disputed territories.

you have seen the map of the 2003 to 2008 claims that the krg has claimed, and there has been -- in disputed territories, leading to reactions from gatt dad -- from baghdad. the second issue that has exacerbated relations is the turkish-krg relationship. this relationship which started to move into a dozen 7 has negatively impacted baghdad-krg relations. this has antagonized maliki and the central government, and you are starting to see that acura is dealing with -- ankara

dealing with krg as a separate entity. this is important with the krg, the kurds, the kdp, have further entrenched divisions between maliki and barzani, flicking their respects between ankara and erbil in assisting turkey to regulate the kurdish population from syria. these energy ambitions are and that currently breeding iraqi nationalism. one of the trends i have spoken about that is going on is createy to any plan to some grand alliance against the shia government in baghdad, that has not been able to

consolidate. local populations in the south and central iraq react not only to maliki, but to their perceived krg's maximalist ambitions, and on by turkey, particularly in the disputed territories. this is not just heard-eric -- but there is a growing anti-kurd sentiment, talking about kurds overstepping their autonomy. maliki has been feeding on it by trying to -- with tribes in mosul, and you know about the recent trips to kirkuk, and sunni arabs are saying they are against what the krg is doing

more. when we say kurds in baghdad -- and there is a unified kurdish opposition in baghdad -- but there has been a chipping away an increasing polarization. we do not see this in the press. as power has become more consolidated or as influence has declined and the strategic disagreement has dissipated, you have seen a polarization of these groups, and this is becoming salient. it is reflecting that trend that occurred in the 1990's, where there was a turkish alliance and the smuggling and the luk went to iran, and there is a regional polarization. these trends are occurring

again where puk did not want to support a vote of confidence. there was a delegation that went over to iran and a couple weeks back and negotiated increase trade relations, but it is to check the growing barzani family power. there's the supreme council that has been for by the kurdish government to negotiate with maliki, and that is something that is a step forward. i must emphasize that there are only puk members on this council, led by a person who is successful negotiated the last three deals and more amenable or approachable and baghdad. this is the same type of pattern that occurred when maliki visited kirkuk.

how does this affect energy issues? the more important issue is whether the puk has interests in were the real power exists, which is erbil. they did not have that great influence. you have to see to what extent that supreme council will be able to come back and get what they really need, which is an ongoing payment mechanism. we know this has become increasingly personal between two favorites of hours, have not been clear about their antagonism toward each other and it has become quite personal, but you have seen in public discourse where they say the

only person who has the right to export is -- and six months ago they're saying the kurdistan region as the right to export oil as well. this shift in the discourse at at least at times, to recognize who is a sovereign authority, has changed. why should we not expect an extended crisis? this is to me an indication of brinksmanship. if you look at the pattern of behavior for the last 80 years, at this has not been a state that is continually repressing kurds. there has been a relationship for over 80 years. at times posturing, and this type of posturing will continue, but today the stakes are greater. they are much higher for the kurdistan region. there's bristol family money involved -- there is personal

family money involved. krg does not have the leverage it claims that. it can threaten secession -- >> we will go live to the white house briefing where the president is talking about medicare. >> that the first of all say the views expressed were offensive. rape is rape. and the idea that we should be parsing and qualifying and slicing what types of rape we are talking about does not make sense to the american people. it certainly does not make sense to me. so what i think these comments underscore is why we should not have a bunch of politicians, a majority of whom are men, making

health care decisions on behalf of women, and all the these particular comments have led governor romney and other republicans to distance themselves, the underlying notion that we should be making decisions on behalf of women for their health care decisions or qualifying forceable rape versus non-forceable rape are broader issues, and that is the difference in approach between me and the other party. i do not think they would agree with the senator from missouri in terms of his statement, which was way out there. he was nominated by the republicans in the story. i will let them sort that out. >> your opponent accused you of waging a campaign filled with

anger and hate, and you told entertainment tonight that anybody who attends your rallies they are not hate filled. they have suggested that mr. romney might be a felon the way you and it -- he had it over bain capital. are you comfortable with the tone that is being set by your campaign? had he asked them to change your tongue? >> i am not sure those characterization's you laid out there were accurate. nobody accused mr. romney of being a felon. i think what is the truth is if you watch me on the campaign trail, here is what i am talking about. i am talking about how we put americans back to work, and there are sharp differences

between myself and mr. romney in terms of how we would do that. he thinks if we roll back wall street reform, roll back the affordable care act, known affectionately as obamacare, somehow people will be better off. if we are putting teachers back to work and rebuilding america and reducing our deficit in a balanced way, that is how you put people back to work. that is a substantive difference, when i talk about on the campaign. governor romney thinks we should be cutting taxes by another $5 trillion and focus -- folks like me would benefit disproportionately from that. icahn makes more sense to put out a detailed plan for a balanced approach that combines tough spending cuts but asking people like me, millionaires and billionaires, to do a little bit more. that is a substance it tiffs rents -- that is a substantive

difference in this campaign. if you look at the overall trajectory of our campaign, and the ads i have approved, and are produced by my campaign, you will see the point out sharp differences between the candidates, but we do not go out of bounds. but when it comes releasing taxes, that is a precedent that beset by decades ago, -- that was set by decades -- that was set decades ago by mr. romney's father. as john mccain did, as president clinton bit, i do not the a is and any way out of bounds. that is what the american would rightly expect, that a sense, when we are on to be having a huge debate about how we perform

our tax code and how we pay for the government that we need, i think people want to know that everybody has been plagued by the same rules, including people who are seeking the highest office in the land. this is not an entitlement, it is a privilege, and we have to put ourselves in front of the people to make our case. >> you should not be suggesting -- >> that's the issue, because you set a whole bunch of other stuff that was legitimate. i do not think the governor is responsible for the death of a woman that was portrayed in at ad appeared keep in mind, this is an ad that i did not approve, i did not produce, and as far as i can tell, has barely run. i think it ran once.

in contrast, you have governor romney creating as a centerpiece of his campaign this notion that we are taking the work requirement out of welfare, which ever people -- every single person here who has looked at it says it is patently false. to say we have changed the welfare requirement, the work requirement, and our welfare law, and in fact what happened was that my administration, responding to requests of five governors, including two republican governors, agreed to approve giving them those states some flexibility in how they manage their welfare rolls as long as it produced 20% increases in the number of people who are getting work. we would potentially give states more flexibility to put more people back to work, not to take them off the work requirement

under welfare. everybody who has looked at this as much governor romney is saying is absolutely wrong. not only are his super pac's running millions of dollars worth of claims, governor romney is saying it on the stump. the contrast is priest park. they can run the campaign they want, but the truth of the matter is you cannot make stuff up. that is one thing you learn as president of the united states. you get called into account. i feel comfortable with the fact that when you look at the campaign we are running, we're focused on issues and the differences that matter to working families all across america, and that is exactly the kind of debate the american people deserve. >> jake. >> a couple questions, could you

comment on the recent steps -- [unintelligible] why your commanders think there has been an uptick in the pilots, and with the economy still the focus about what can you expect in the next month out of washington, when it comes to any attempt supporting some more economic growth for the country. >> on afghanistan, we have been watching with the concern the so-called green-on-blue attacks, where you have afghan individuals, some of whom are enrolled in the afghan military, in some cases dressing up as afghan military or police, attack the coalition forces, including our own troops. i spoke today to mark the dempsey, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, who is in

afghanistan. he is having consultations not only with our commander on the ground, but also with afghan counterparts, and i will be beach out to president karzai as well, because to make sure we are on top of this. we are already doing a range of things, and we're seeing some success when it comes to better counterintelligence, making sure the vetting process for afghan troops is stronger, and we have what is called the guardian angel program to make sure that our troops are not an isolated stress is that might make them more vulnerable. we will have to do more because there has been an uptick over the last 12 months on this. part of what is taking place is we are transitioning to afghan security, and for us to train than he effectively, we are much closer -- and our troops are in much closer contacts with afghan

troops on an ongoing basis. part of what we have got to do is make sure that this model works, but it does not make our guys more vulnerable. in the long term, we will see fewer u.s. and coalition casualties by sticking to our transition plan and making sure that we have the most effective afghan security force possible. we have to do it in a way that does not leave our guys vulnerable. hopefully in the next few weeks we will see progress on this front. in terms of the economy, i would love to say that when congress comes back they had a week or 10 days before they go out and start campaigning again, that we will see a flurry of action. i cannot guarantee that.

i think there are specific things they could do that would make a big difference. i will give you a couple examples. making sure we have a continuing resolution so we do not have any disruptions and government shutdowns of the next couple months -- that is important. it appears there is an agreement on that, but we want to make sure that gets done. number two, we have put forward an idea at that a lot of americans think max cents, which is we have historically low interest rates now, and housing market is beginning to take back out, but it is still not where it needs to be. there are a lot of families out there whose homes are under water. they owe more than their house is worth. they are having trouble refinancing. we will be pushing congress to see if they can pass a refinancing bill that puts

$3,000 into the pockets of the average family who has not yet refinanced their mortgage. that is a big deal. at $3,000 can be used to strengthen the equity in that person's home, which would raise home values. that tree thousand dollars in pickles -- in people's pockets -- that $3,000 in people's pockets will allow them to buy computer for their kids to go to school. the big thing that congress could do is come up with a sensible approach to reducing our deficit in ways that we had agreed to and talked about last year. continue to be open to seeing congress approached this with a balanced plan that has tough spending cuts, building on that trillions dollars of spending

cuts we have already made, but asks for additional revenue from folks like me, from books and the top 1% to 2%, to make sure people who can least afford it are not suddenly bearing the burden and we are providing an additional certainty to small businesses and families going forward. alternatively, they could go ahead and vote for a bill that we have said would strengthen the economy, and that is getting everybody who is making $250,000 a year or less that their taxes are not want to go down this year. republicans have voted that down already once. it is not likely that it will bring it back up again before election day, but my hope is after the election, people will step back and recognize that the sensible way to bring down our deficit and allow us to still

invest in things like education better or to help the economy grow. chuck todd? >> what is your latest thinking on where you think things are in syria, and do you envision using u.s. military -- i would like to follow up on an answer he gave. he set one of the reasons you wanted to see mitt romney's tax returns is to see that everybody is playing by the same set of rules. do you think there's a big mitt romney is not telling us in his tax returns that he is not plank by the rules? >> there's a difference between playing by the same set of rules and doing something illegal. in no way have we suggested a ladder. latter.the first disclosure, the one year

th they have disclosed, indicated that he used swiss bank accounts, for example. that may be perfectly legal, but i suspect if you ask the average american do you have one, and is that part of how you manage your tax obligations, they would say no. they would find that relevant information, particularly when we are going into a time where we know we are point to have to make tough choices about spending and about taxes. i think the idea that this is somehow exceptional, that there should be a rationale for a justification for doing more than the very bare minimum, has it backwards. the assumption should be you'd do what previous presidential candidate did dating back for

tickets, and his own dad said reasons he put out 10 or 12 years is because any single year might not tell you the whole story. everybody has followed the custom ever since. the american people have assumed if you want to be president of united states, that your life is an open book. when it comes to things like your finances. i am not asking to disclose every detail of his medical records, although we normally do that as well -- [laughter] you know? this is not overly personal here, guys. this pretty standard stuff. i do not think we are being mean by asking you to do what every presidential candidate has done, right? it is what the american people

expect. on syria, obviously, this is a very tough issue. i have indicated repeatedly that assad has lost his legitimacy, that he needs to step down. so far he has not gotten the message and has doubled down in violence on his own people. the international community has sent a clear message that rather than drag his country into civil war he should move in the direction of the political transition, but at this point, the likelihood of a soft landing is pretty distance. what we have said is, number one, we want to make sure we are providing humanitarian assistance, and we have done that to the tune of $82 million so far and we will probably end up doing more because we want to

make sure that the hundreds of thousands of refugees that are fleeing the mayhem that they did not end up creating -- or being in a terrible situation or, also, destabilizing some of syria's neighbors. the second thing we have done is that we group would provide -- we have done is we have provided some assistance to the opposition in thinking about how would a political transition take place. what are the principles that should be upheld in terms of looking out for minority rights and human rights, and that consultation is taking place. i have at this point not ordered military engagement in the situation, but the point that you made about chemical and biological weapons is critical. that is an issue that does not

just concerned syria. it concerns our close allies in the region, including israel. it concerns us. we cannot have a situation where chemical or biological weapons are falling into the hands of the wrong people. we have been very clear to the assad regime, but also the other players on the ground, at a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. that would change my calculus, change my approach. >> somehow -- >> in a situation this fall will, i would not say that i am absolutely confident. i am saying we are monitoring that situation carefully. we have put together a range of contingency plans. we have communicated in no uncertain terms with every

player in the region that that is a red line for us, and that there would be enormous consequences if we start seeing a movement on the chemical weapons front, or the use of chemical weapons. that would change my calculations significantly. thank you all, everybody. [unintelligible] the president dropping into the white house briefing to answer questions. republicans complained it has been a weeks since the president last spoke to the press. this is on a day when the president is holding a press outlets inty to virginia.

we will also have a road to the white house and with president obama tomorrow evening. he will speak with supporters in reno, nevada. live coverage at 8:00 eastern. the associated press reported that missourcongressman taught akin has apologized for his comments about rape pregnancies. he appeared on mike huckabee's radio show, saying his comments were wrong. calls for his exit from the rest of a group today with at least two republican senators saying congressman akin should resign the nomination. president obama condemned during his briefing today, congressman's root comments, saying it shows the danger is of men deciding women's health issues. the republicans' political convention is next week in

tampa, florida, and today will meet tuesday to positions on a the economy and foreign policy. c-span will have live coverage of the gop platform committee meeting, which is in the site of next week lost convention in florida. -- next week's convention in florida. host: why does ryan matter? guest: more because of what they have said about the president. reagan picked the leader of the opposing part of the republican party which showed strength and confidence on reagan's part.

when clinton picked gore, i remember this well, that reinforced the message that it was a new kind of democrat, moderate democrats. in this pick, romney showed strength, showed that he wanted to give the voters a clear choice. he picked someone younger. i feel with the wind pick it looks more like a cause that a campaign. before it was a tough campaign, a couple hundred of people in boston tried to help romney, and now if you are conservative, even a moderate or dependents -- independent who was a desperate vision, you may not agree with everything romney is for, it is a forward-looking at the end of there. it is not just we are sick of president obama, let's get rid

of him. i always thought that the romney campaign was counting too much on disillusionment with president obama. host: you were dan quayle's chief of staff. what did you learn from that experience? that from awatched senate campaign perspective. most people did not know the dan quayle was suddenly he got introduced to the public. the bush campaign was not prepared to explain his

achievements. i do not know if dan quayle had a lot of time to prepare for this. they had a tough campaign. a lot of that was the campaign not being ready. with ron make you have seen a different process. in this, they may take more than two weeks before the convention. ronnie and his team had known about the pick for least a week. they had the biography ready to go and they did it with a good rollout. i liked and respected dan quayle and i like and respect paul ryan. but what strikes me about the picks and the management about the picks is how much better

mitt romney personally and team romney did than the bush team in 1988. host: here are the numbers to call if you would like to talk with bill kristol. as you mentioned, paul ryan's potential youth appeal. this in the washington post -- the other issue that has come up as medicare and his stance on medicare. let's take a look at an obama tv spot, one of the aspects taking him to task and criticizing. [video clip] >> i am barack obama and i approve this message. >> now mitt romney is attacking the president on medicare. aarp says obamacare crackdown on medicare fraud, waste, and abuse, and strengthens guaranteed benefits.

the ryan plan, a r p says it would undermine medicare and could lead to higher costs for seniors. experts say paul ryan's voucher plan could lead to future retirees paying over $6,000. guest: that is an amazing ad of the president defending himself against the ryan plan. how many times has that happened? the vice presidential nominee, his plan becoming the center of gravity of the campaign. i don't know if that is an attack and on the ryan plan. you can just say the ryan plan and democrats will attack. having the debate is good for romney.

it shows the strength of the ryan ticket. the vice-presidential nominee, his agenda being the center of the obama campaign. many people in the media have a simple-minded view of seniors, that they are narrow minded and care about keeping every benefit they can, the maximum level, but they don't care about their kids off or grandchildren. that's not the way people 65 and older are. they want to make sure benefits are there. but ryan drops it. if you say the word medicare, seniors will throw up their arms in panic, not true.

as far as the youth aspect, there are not as many individuals in the. the electric president obama won 18-30 by 2-1. obama won by seven points. six of those seven came from people aged 18 to 30. if romney-ryan can minimize president obama's edge among young voters, it can make a big difference. those are the most changeable voters. you voted fer times for one party or another, are less said in your political views, young people being more changeable.

a lot of swing voters 58 or 68 are not up in the air. the voters 25 or younger really could move. they may not agree with paul ryan in everything, but he's not your grandfather's republican party. the republican party has nominated a lot of older candidates in the last 20 years. there was ronald reagan, bush, john mccain, bob dole. people in their 60s and early '70s. and i liked many of them. mitt romney is a vigorous kind. it changes the image of the party. when they highlight marco rubio and chris christie and others at the republican convention, and the convention does not matter much, but if you turn on the tv and see chris christie

one night and marco rubio one night and paul ryan one night and susana martinez and kelly ayotte and others, that's a different looking republican party from bush, dole, mccain and it will resonate with younger voters. host: jack is a republican in manhattan. are you with us? one last time. moving on to ricky in baltimore. caller: good morning. the first thing i want to say is i'm a 57-year-old african american. i probably have seen more racism, bigotry, and discrimination in the first 30 years of my life then you'll probably go through in your whole life. the thing that really stands out about the republican party that people just hate is the fact that they are a party of

no diversity. 88% to 90% of the republican party is quite. you are not going to get this banner vote. 70% or 75% of hispanic voters will vote democratic. at least 90% of african american vote will be democratic. 75% of the jewish vote will go there. the asian vote is the same. diversity is what kills this party. do you think that people don't understand what they mean? every time we see a republican, where ever romney goes, you never see any people of color. you might see a handful. maybe just a handful of people that our minorities.

you don't see them. guest: i wish more african- americans voted republican. it's a free country and most african-americans feel the democrats present their interests better. i am jewish. i know how long historical allegiances can last. republicannk the party will look like the republican party from previous years. 44% of hispanics voted for george w. bush in 2004. and there are swing voters. with marco rubio, the senator from florida, and susana martinez of mexico, brines and of all of nevada, plenty of young hispanic leaders in the republican party. i think there are some good young african americans in the republican party.

tim scott, the republican from south carolina is a very interesting guy. i think they will win in florida. i wish more of my fellow jews would vote republican. but at some point you have to present your ideas and arguments. you can make the case they are good for the different communities people belong to, and what's good for one community is mostly good for others. if you really believe less government and more pro-growth policies and stronger foreign policy is good for the country, i think eventually some of these old barriers will break down. host: portland, maine. caller: good morning. the general growth -- how do you think it will affect the grind or a romney-ryan ticket? and when they realize we are at

war with al qaeda in syria. how the agenda and whether romney and ryan will be affected -- guest: people want a strong america. the best way to shape events in syria it is not to sit back and let al qaeda establish some connections against those fighting against assad. we get help to shape the government we get in syria and it will be a messy process. they deserve better than assad. in terms of defense spending, we're not an empire. the obama administration has entirely pulled out of iraq.

it would ahve been better if we left 10,000-20,000 troops as we did in germany and -- korea and then in germany. defense spending is low, much lower than it was and we're in -- and make no apologies of being for a strong defense. it is a dangerous world. maybe people think we can hide from it. host: you have called for mitt romney to release his taxes. [video clip]

>> 23 million people are out of work. iran about to become nuclear. one out of six americans is in poverty. i did go back and look to my taxes and never paid less than 13%. the most recent year was 13.6% or something like that. i paid taxes every year. i'm waiting for harry reid to put up who he said told him. believe it for a moment, by the way. i've paid 13%. the number is above 20% when you add the amount that went to charity. host: what do you make about his not releasing his tax returns?

guest: he will release his 2011 tax returns. we'll see 2011 and 2010. i personally do not care. when i just released five of the years and get it over with? he doesn't want to and it doesn't bother me much. we may be passed the ability of the obama campaign to gin up that issue. he is done everything legally and paid a relatively low tax rate because of the tax code. i would encourage him to be stronger in his tax reform message. i think he's for it much simpler tax code which would

have been pay more taxes and he should make that clear and make a little more of it in terms of tax reform. host: "usa today" has a piece about how the candidates compared to the average american's tax situation. it has what americans buy large pay. a typical family has a rate of 16.7 %. guest: a huge amount has been in capital gains and carried interest, which i did not defend and think should be changed in the tax code.

there is a question of whether there should be a capital gains tax. i was a supporter of the reagan tax rate which tried to simplify it to one set of rates. maybe a lot of this was the silliness of summer. i do not think people think mitt romney is some kind of a tax cheat. president obama has been president for four years and had total control of congress for a first two and where is his tax reform proposal? nothing really. he occasionally reminds us he wants to go back to clinton era tax rates.

is that his idea before tax reform? that's the case for mitt romney and paul ryan can be the more forward-looking ticket. they have the chance to be the ticket for folks in change. president obama is defending the status quo and defending his record. he is saying mitt romney and paul ryan want to change medicare. romney and ryan can be the forward-looking ticket. caller: he is trying to do a good job this morning. political is nothing but a democratic -- that is all the callers were trying to make and you were siding with them.

host: we were just listening to your comments charles. caller: this leak in the white house is big and we need to get to the bottom of this. on the platform for the democratic party, will this be the first homosexual that they will have a platform and say at a party in north carolina, the homosexual platform? my last comment is, i am sick and tired of people calling in to c-span and knocking the military. there has been a lot of wrong decisions, maybe some wrong decisions but america is so good. america is great. god bless america and our military.

i'm sick of these people knocking our military. damn it. god bless you, bill. guest: a huge majority of americans have a huge appreciation for our military. the military does say a spectacular job. we have the drawdown now by the defense cuts that president obama has ordered and that now loom ahead with the sequester. i am friends with politico and i would defend them. no one really is perfectly unbiased and they have their own blinders from conventional wisdom. i encourage people to look at different new sites and read different newspapers.

there is some good reporting @ politico. host: this is from the web page at politico, the headline. guest: this seems to be some good reporting, not happy with vice-president biden. that would not be hard to discover. a big fight with david axelrod that is inside baseball. he fate offfect teh the nation. there is room for that kind of fighting. they have good reporters trying to get the inside dope. host: let's look at a piece you recently did an "the weekly standard." this is from last week.

host: do you think that impact on the outcome of the election? guest: the press secretary said he decided to and i think he deserved a little praise. slightly tongue in cheek. it would be embarrassing. i don't believe that. i think that would be a rough one or two days. than a week later, there be an obama-clinton ticket instead of

van obama-biden tickets. i do not know anyone that does not believe an obama-clinton ticket would be stronger. -- would not be stronger. mark warner to bring us an important state. i think the conventional wisdom is wrong. i would say, you can do better than biden. he has been loyal and deserves a gold watch. you didn't need to have him as vice president. maybe he likes biden and maybe he doesn't want hillary clinton at the vice president's residents. may be a 1% chance of a last-

minute switch. i think it conveys -- it makes him more on the defensive and more politics as usual. if obama wanted to recapture some of the fresh and new, it would be to get a new vice president. hillary clinton is not young but to be an exciting vice- presidential bid. ken salazar, warner would add something to the ticket. i suspect if the democrats in president obama's circle have thought a little bit of dumping biden. it sounds like it is not going to happen. as someone who prefers romney,

think the ryan-biden matchup is good for republicans. host: this is an ad that takes an attack and joe biden. [video clip] >> america needs a vice president americans can count on. >> three-letter word, "jobs." they will put you back in chains. you cannot go to a 7-eleven or dunkin' donuts unless you have an indian accent. rape continue to rise. >> we say joe should stay. >> they are going to put you back in chains.

host: that is an ad by american crossroads. guest: that is sort of amusing. i doubt they're buying a lot of time for that ad. remember this. president obama and joe biden has a record and that is what voters are going to judge. sometimes people stress the gaffes. none of that matters too much. the web is a great thing. you can make these ads and put them up. sometimes they can influence the debate. the conventional wisdom in washington is it doesn't matter.

vice presidents do not make much difference at the end of the day. it leaves president obama on the defensive. the ryan card was a big card. i would bet that most voters have never seen mitt romney for more than 20 seconds and now they will see them both to give speeches. what to the democrats have left? i think republicans have a chance to help define the race. host: robert from maryland, good morning. caller: it is so nice your

concern about obama campaigning and that mr. biden might be a detriment to the campaign. it is nice of you to be concerned. i enjoyed watching you on television and i think you are a low divorce from reality. that romney needed somebody to protect him. he is a weak candidate. he has no ideas and he brings nothing to the discourse. ryan should be running for president and romney should be running for vice president. he was introduced to the public as the new president and he was

telling the truth. we have a trickle-down economics the way the republicans were running the government when george bush was in power. you want to go back. guest: george bush left and the deficit went up in his last term because of the bailout and the crisis in 2008. president obama has run trillion-dollar deficits every year. i have been critical of some of president bush's policies. mitt romney and paul ryan should run it as having their own agenda. they should not tie themselves too close. it is reasonable for a voters to say that bush made mistakes.

other parties were partly responsible for it. it was a pretty big thing to happen on bush's watch. that is a problem for republicans which i think they have dealt with it pretty well. i wanted paul ryan to run for president. i'm happy he is the vice presidential nominee. host: we have a question on twitter from cindy. >> "washington journal" live every morning at 7:00 a.m. we go live now to tampa, fla., to the republican national convention platform meeting to discuss things like the economy and foreign policy in advance of the convention next week.

during this meeting, you will hear from the chair, gov. bob mcdonnell, the governor of virginia and also senator john hoeven and rep. marsha blackburn of tennessee. it should get under way in a minute.

>> we are now ready to kick off the full committee session of the committee on resolutions or the platform committee. i want to thank everyone for their participation and their hard, energetic, and civil work this morning to produce better documents than when we walked in yesterday. very good work. before we start, as we did before, i would like to start with a prayer. i would like to call on david barton from texas to lead us in prayer. >> thank you, mr. chairman. let me begin with a brief quote. george washington called the country to prayer, he said it was our duty to "technology providence of almighty god, to obey his will, to be grateful, and two hundley and for his protection and favor." let's do that today.

father, as we gather from all over this country and territories to run a platform that will guide us for now and generations to come, you tell us in your word to wear the mask of god. we asked for wisdom throughout this task. you also told a profit that he should write the vision down clearly so even those running would be able to read that vision. lord, we ask the same thing. help us to write the vision clearly so it is clearly written and understood. you also tell us how good and pleasant it is when we can dwell together in unity. we pray for unity today and tomorrow as we undertake this work. we want to honor you and approve of our work here, father. let us submit it to you in that realm. we ask for your 80 come your protection, and your favor. we ask that of our leaders and we ask for our soldiers across the world.

keep those soldiers, airmen, and marines saved. you know we love to sing "god bless america," but today that is also our prayer. god, bless america. remember the covenants that were made centuries ago. we still honor those and for you continue to bless our country today. we ask all this in your name, father. amen. >> thank you, david. i call on ken from iowa to lead is in the pledge. >> i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america. and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> ladies and gentlemen, again a few reminders. all of our proceedings beginning

at this time are being covered by our friend that c-span. there are other people here from national and international media, but we asked to please quiet yourself funds. we have a lot to do in the next four hours. i mentioned last night, and i know my co-chairs agree. we are privileged to serve in the leadership position over the next is to concisely construct a document of the heart and soul of the republican party. that is what we have all been called to do. we are the conservative party, the leaders of life, family, limited government, respect for the rule of law, and every thing that has made our country great for these last 236 years since

thomas jefferson has crafted the declaration. we need to remember what has made us great and look at the it specific areas you have been working on this morning. we will take your good work and act on it as a body. it is exceptionally important work. it's important for people in america and people around the world to know what the republican party stands for, from the time of lankan to now the time of romney -- lincoln to romney. we have ushered in the american dream for so many people are job today's to encapsulate that and provide a blueprint for our party and our people for the next four years. this will be a document that we can hand to our candidates, are

standard bearer, and stay here are some great ideas about 112 representatives from 50 states and six territories believe in. we would like to adopt them in your message as you go about putting the country together over these next 80 days. i think we all know that this is an exceptionally important time and we're certainly at a crossroads whether we embrace an entitlement society or an opportunistic society that embraces free enterprise, limited government come and all those values are founders enshrined 236 years ago. those are what drives us. we want a document that will help us win an election. we want independent voters and other undecided voters to read this document and say they want to be a part of this team.

many of you have said you have never served on a committee or been to convention before. to me, that is exciting. the matter who you supported in the primaries, we have a great group of men and women who have been elected by the states to come and serve on this platform committee. we have a common desire to come up with a service-oriented document that speaks to our hopes and aspirations. with the report i got from my co-chairman, i think we have started to march down the road. as we go through this process today after hearing the committee reports and anticipating amendments, you have already considered about two under 50 of them in the subcommittee. that's an awful lot. the constitutional committee got

their fair share, i would add. everyone finished on time except for one, but they have a lot to talk about when you talk about the constitution. there's a lot to talk about. it's not surprising they took longer. great work by the subcommittee chairs to get us to this point where we have a tremendous working document. with that, is the chairman here? hearing no chairman, i would like to proceed with a brief slide presentation. as i mentioned yesterday, the reason we're here is to come up with a good working document. over the last two months, on your incredibly dedicated teams have met with literally thousands of people, have heard from thousands more through twitter, facebook, email, text messages, have conducted countless meetings, have met

with any number of groups that wanted to have any year. we have received 30,000 different ideas and processed them to incorporate in the work document you receive last night. i think it already was a very good grass-roots top-bottom document. i think you have made it better. just reflect on the process, if we could go ahead and outline that, it would be helpful for all of our members. ♪

[applause] >> the chairman will be here any minute. in the meantime, let me introduce my co-chairmen. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, i present the gentleman from wisconsin, the home of paul ryan, scott walker, and green bay packers. [applause] >> thank you. are we on? ok. we're having a bit of a cheese

had revolution. we cannot be prouder. thank you for your hard work. asking me to keep pressing on. this will be so important for the future of this country. a talk about last night, this election is about liberty, freedom, and the american dream. this election is about big things. we have a president, as you know, that promised he was going to be about big things. he promised he was going to carpet the world. he promised he would get unemployment under control. he promised he would cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term. we are in a battle for freedom in this country. is the same battle that abound in this country, that james madison reaffirmed in the bill of rights. we know that a country that has to surrender its sovereignty to its bondholders cannot guarantee

prosperity or freedom to anybody. the country that buries its kids and grandkids in an avalanche of dead cannot rest on any vestiges of the moral high ground. we know, i know, everyone up here knows that none of you, nor i, are here because we're worried about the future of the american party. we are here on an important project because we're worried about the future of this country. mr. president has not followed through on his promises. we have gone down a road that is bound for this country and we know mitt romney and paul ryan will help save this country from the president whose priorities are not america's priorities. how many of you have been to the world war ii memorial? you would agree it's one of those places where you get in

when you put out -- get back what you put in. our kids, jack and grace, we give our kids normal names. we went the opposite direction of my parents. [laughter] my little guy, jack, is just a fun little guy. he loves geography, history. we went to the world war ii memorial in washington. we walk around the memorial and there are these great quotes from heroes of that time. then we walked up to that wall with those 4,000 stars. with my little guy next to me,

we are walking up. you read what it all means you realize for every one of those stars, it is 100 little guys just like jack, a little older obviously. as a parent, you could never put yourself in the shoes of what that feels like. for that flicker, you try to figure out what it would be like if little jack did not come home and it just hits you. in front of that wall it says, "here we mark the price of freedom." we are in a battle for freedom in this country. i just have to tell you that i wish all of god's blessings on

you as you continue to work through this document. this will help us start the week in a way that lights the path to victory in november. thank you very much. i want to thank governor mcdonnell, represent a blackburn, senator -- rep blackburn, senator hoeven. appreciate all the hard work you're going to do. thank you man got bless you. -- thank you and god bless you. [applause] b thank you, chairman previ iebus. here is senator hoeven from north dakota. >> thank you to gov. bob

mcdonnell for his hard work. he did not know about the hard work that goes on behind the scenes. to his team in the whole staff. it's not just that they have worked hard on this progress, they really care about it. the effort to set the process in place so that we could get input on the internet, more than 30,000 comments came in. my point is this -- they just did not go through the motions. they really worked to set up an inclusive project and all culminates with you being here this week and all of our delegates being here next week. as we talked about in the earlier sessions, this puts forward our republican ideals and philosophy. it is about our party, are

candidates, and ultimately as the chairman just said, it's about the future of our country. that is why you're here. that is why you are working hard to put forward the very best document, the very best plan, we can for america. this morning, i had an opportunity to be in a number of the subcommittee's and they reflect the conversations i have had. they demonstrate people who really care, more fully engaged, who have not only thought about what they are presenting, but people who come from all over america helping us build a better future for ourselves and our children. i know we will go through the economic development piece, the economic approach, for the first several hours, then energy, and agriculture. if you think about it, it is

very appropriate. job creation is a job number one. we need to get people back to work. we had 13 million people unemployed and another 10 million who are underemployed. it is the small businesses of this country, the people in this country, the creativity, the entrepreneur ship is in our people and our small businesses. our job is to foster that environment. when we talk about building a plan, that's what we are talking about. not more government but empowering the people of this great nation, the opportunities in energy and agriculture which are unlimited. their limited by the creative power and work ethic of the people of this great country. it is truly unlimited. i look forward to the

discussion. i commend all of you for what i saw in the subcommittee today, a willingness to work hard, reach out, bring forward your ideas, and to listen to work with others and build the very best document we can not just for our party and are candidates for the people of this great country. thank you so much. i look forward to a grin after noon today and a great day tomorrow as well. -- i look forward to a great afternoon today. >> rep blackburn. >> i can just sit here and say ditto. we are greatly appreciative to reach of you -- each of you for being here, taking our time and money and helping to come craft this. when i was growing up in south mississippi and my dad sold oil deal production equipment, i loved getting in the pickup truck with my daddy and driving down into louisiana, alabama,

florida, somewhere in south mississippi to deliver a drill bit or some part for an oil production rig. as we would make these drives, he would let me have a sip of coffee milk and i thought i was really grown up. we would talk about what i wanted to do. i could come up with some of the most outlandish, grandiose plans for my life and my dad would always kind of rain me in and help me focus. he would say, "now, honey. let's begin with the end in mind." let's begin with the end in mind. exactly where do we want to go with this? exactly what do you want to accomplish with this? i think that's a pretty good line of thought for us to take

now. the end in with mind. the end, in the near term, is winning in november. making sure that we have candidates, of course our presidential and vice- presidential candidates, but members of the senate, people running for the senate, people running for the house, state legislature. they can hold a document and say this is a great pathway. it adds up context to what they can talk about with their future constituents. that is a worthy goal for us to have. i think it is so important for us as we move forward to realize that we want to begin end

remember through our deliver tiv process -- deliberative process to win and chart a new pathway for this country so that we return this country to its greatness, so that people continue to believe in the american dream. don't you love it? people do not talk about the chinese dream or the australian dream. they talk about the american dream. each and every one of you have the opportunity to impact bat. you have the opportunity to impact the future generations to experience that american dream. some of you have asked for the quotes that i used yesterday when we started. dr. joseph warren was one of our founders and this was his

charge in the revolution as they headed into battle. i think it is appropriate for today. the full quote is this, "our nation is in danger, but not to be despaired of." on you depends teh futures of americans yet unborn. act worthy of yourselves. that is such a great charge for rust today. thank you for your diligence and the diligence to have done prior to coming here. we are appreciative of it and i look forward to a tremendous finished product. i yield back. >> well said, marsha. ben, the have any other administrative announcements?

then we will also call on the associate general counsel, john? >> we had an issue that came out this morning for the gentleman from the virgin islands that we should include the territories as well and less -- unless we carve it out otherwise. >> briefly, i just wanted to make sure that everyone seated has sections on the economy and energy that have been revised. denotation a that the bottom with the date and time of today at 1:30 p.m. if you do not have the economy or any deception that this time, let us know. -- do not have the economy or energy section that this time, let us know. we have all six sections ready.

if the volunteers to distribute the other four section that this time, it may take a minute, but we can go ahead and do that now. you will have all six sections instead of distributing them later on. john is here to address that issue, governor. >> do not spend a lot of time reading them right now. we're focusing on jobs and the economy, energy, agriculture, the environment. you will have a lot of time to read them in length to prepare amendments tomorrow. go ahead, john. take the issue on the territories. >> thank you, governor. for clarification purposes in defining the term "state" and "states" in the platform, we can look to guidance in the rules of the republican party, specifically rule 1b where we deal with this issue in defining

what a state means and how we include the territories and the district of columbia in that definition. i will very quickly read the relevant part of that definition for informative purposes. rule 1b of the rules of the republican party states, "for the purposes of this rule and other rules state or states shall be taken to include american samoa, the district of columbia, guam, and the northern mariana islands, puerto rico, and the virgin islands." so for clarification and guidance proceeding with the definition of "state/states" as it is turned generally in your use of the platform, you can look to the rules of the republican party for that guidance. >> great.

ladies and gentlemen, we are ready to conduct our first order of business, review the work product of the jobs and economic development subcommittee. if you could turn to that, i will just make a few comments to start. i will call on the subcommittee chairman for report. we will have a general overview of that area and then the amendments that have been submitted, we will take them up in order. as other things come up, you can submit written amendments as they come up so we have a full exchange. why did we start with jobs and the economy? that is self-evident. there is no bigger issue facing the country nor any greater divide between our team and the other team and it comes to getting the greatest country on earth out of debt and back to work.

as you have already seen from listening to the candidates, there's a tremendous bulk between the two. overwhelmingly, americans say this is the issue most important to them, for their kids and grandkids, and frankly their own future. everyone knows somebody that is out of work or underemployed or hasn't given up looking. the job gives a person a sense of self-worth, dignity. it is their ability to be self- reliant, the great american virtues cannot depend on the government or government programs because they can take care of themselves and their families, something we strongly believe in a republican than americans. we look at what has happened over these last three years and it has been tragic for the american dream. we are at 8.3% unemployment. we have been over 8.1% for 42

consecutive months. that is the longest trend we have had since the great depression for this kind of massive unemployment or underemployment. the number may be higher when you count the people who were not factored in to the bureau of labor and statistics numbers because they have given up and they have not had the hope that they were promised. we have the lowest number of entrepreneurs that have started a new business in 30 years under the reign of this president, only 400,000 or so who have started a business in the last 12 months, so the spirit of entrepreneurship that is the secret of a growing us out of this downturn, more prosperity, and therefore more growth, that engine is being shackled by the said administration. why? they want more stimulus, more bailouts, more taxes, more litigation, more unionization.

we know that is not the ticket to prosperity and success so it's no wonder we have an unemployment rate that continues to hover over 8%. that is why this is a job number one. the first thing we are taking not -- taking up. getting people back to work is the essence of the american dream come using their talents in an opportunistic society to find work. that's exactly what congresswoman blackburn said. i'm very happy about the worked that has been done here. we will also be talking about balanced budgets and getting our great country out of debt. $16 trillion is a staggering amount of money. i think the american people and all of you need to know how difficult the situation is. our country is literally broke. the president submitted a budget

that was shut down 535-0 that would have gotten us to $25 trillion by the year 2021. the senate has not taken up a budget in three years because of harry reid refusal to have a budget document for the united states of america. so, those other problems well known to you. our job for this platform, in this section, in this document, is to chart the course about how we get out of debt and back to work. how do we honor the entrepreneurs who have always been the great engine of the american economy? i think the team has done a great job outlining some of those in a very concise way. let me introduce to you the leadership team from the jobs and economy section. andy posner fromalifornia. lynn fitch, the state treasurer from mississippi. and jonathan barnett from

arkansas, the republican national committee man from that state and a member of the legislature. andy, i will turn it over to you. tell us what you did. >> how about now? >> there we go. >> how about if our three co-chairman can stand so we can see you and thank you for your work. [applause] >> andy you're going to deliver the report? >> i will. thank you mr. chairman and thanks to the senator and the congresswoman for your leadership of this committee. it's been great. i would like to preface my remarks by thanking my co-chairs. it's been great working with oath of you. it's been a real pleasure. it's been a pleasure to work with the other committee members. a great group of people. i would like to thank matt and

andrew for the great job they have done as our staff members. in our subcommittee, we had a very open and positive discussion and exchange of ideas relating to the economy, job creation and the debt. the policies we should pursue as republicans, not the tactics, but the policies to get our nation back on the path to growth and prosperity. we acknowledge in our section of the platform the role of economic freedom in securing individual liberty and creating prosperity as well as the economy's role in creating military strength so critical to our national security. we acknowledge it is the private sector that creates jobs and economic growth and that the government's role is limited and supportive, not controlling. the best way to boost economic growth is to pursue free market policies as the last four years have clearly shown that the government directing the economy does not work. we call for, one, a simpler

transparent, flatter and fairer tax system. two, a reigning in of government spending and regulations that strangle business, both large and small. three, aggressive promotion of open markets for american products and an even playing field for all nations with whom we engage in trade. four, a federal-state partnership to invest in our nation's infrastructure and to ensure that infrastructure dollars are actually spent on infrastructure. five, an overall of federal training programs to make them relevant for a 21st century work-place. sixth, we support right to work laws at both the state and federal level, although i still seem to be getting emails on that subject. [laughter] >> small businesses and entrepreneurs create 90% of the jobs in this great nation. we call for cooperation between

the president and congress to create the positive certainty and the predictability potential employers need to create jobs that our economy so desperately needs. we acknowledge that our massive federal government is structurally and financially broken. we call for reduced spending, a balanced budget and sound monetary policy as the means to fix it. now to conclude, as congresswoman blackburn stated earlier today, we are the great opportunity party. so we pledge to workers without jobs, to families without savings and to neighborhoods without hope that together we can get our nation back on track and fulfill the promise of a better life and a brighter future because as a people, we built this nation. we built the roads and the bridges. [applause]

>> we built and created the businesses and the products and we built our homes and our families. the government didn't do that. we did. and because we built it and because we understand where wealth and prosperity come from, president romney and vice president ryan with the republican congress will revitalize this nation and bring it back better, stronger, and more prosperous than it has ever been. that's the message of the proposed platform section on the economy, job creation, and the debt. it was an honor to work on it and we submit to the full committee for your consideration. thank you, mr. chairman. [applause] >> would either co-chairmen

like to take up the remarks before we take up amendments or any general comments about the document before we go to the amendments? hearing none, let's go ahead and take up the amendments that have been offered from the floor. i would like to recognize david bouton from new hampshire. >> thank you, mr. chairman. appreciate that you got the pronunciation right. usually it's bouton. mr. chairman, members of the platform committee, i have proposed an amendment that i think goes right to the heart of what we all stand for. we often talk about small business and small businesses are the engine of our economy and create jobs and i think there is a second piece that is missing that i think needs to

be emphasized. that is why is it important for small business to grow and prosper. it's because we want jobs created for our families, our friends, and our neighbors. so i have added those words to those line 16 of page 2 to say that it would be, we will reform the tax code to allow businesses to journey, enough capital to grow and create jobs for our families, friends, and neighbors all across america. i think that link is critical and i hope that the other members of the platform committee will adopt that amendment. >> is there a second? >> second. >> any discussion on the amendment? hearing none, all in favor of that amendment say aye. >> aye. >> all opposed? that amendment is adopted. if we could go back to page 1, i needed to go and sequence

since when that amendment was actually drawn to the third subsection, i want to make sure that we have formally had an opportunity to review each section. while there were no amendments presented to subsection 1 captioned rebuilding the economy and creating jobs, i would like to see if there is any comment on this section before we close it. hearing none, then that section will be closed. second section captioned job creation beginning on line 30. any discussion on that section? hearing none, then the jobs section will be closed. the amendment we just adopted was to the small business and entrepreneurship section. any other comment or discussion on that section?

hearing none, that section then also will be closed. next section, starting page 2, line 21, tax relief to grow the economy and create jobs carrying over to page 3, any discussion or comment on that section? hearing none, that section then will be closed. next page 3, lowering the u.s. corporate tax rate. any comments on that section. >> i have an amendment. >> mr. chairman, i have an amendment.

>> i'm sorry, my amendments were out of order. i apologize, the gentlemen from indiana. >> it's e.c. 4. this is jim bob from indiana. my amendment would be to add on page 3 line -- >> excuse me, jim. all of these amendments should be in your packets in this order. we'll let you know if there is a new one that has been submitted that's not. go ahead, jim. >> thank you. to add at the end of the sentence on line 19, "and donations to them should continue to be tax deductible." this sentence addresses the vital role that religious organizations chair these and frarnt benefit associations serve in fostering many of the civic values that we affirm. of course, very importantly, they are the principle means in america through private charities by which many of our

citizens who are less fortunate than others can be afforded the assistance that they need. the obama americans has very cynically sought to eliminate the tax deduction for charities in order to shut down private charities in the united states so that the government would be the sole provider of what has traditionally been private charitable activity in the united states. so this amendment would modify that sentence which currently affirms that these organizations should not be subject to taxation, but that they should will continue to enjoy tax deduct ability. >> second. >> it's been moved and seconded that that amendment be adopted. is there any discussion? hearing none, all in favor of

that amendment say aye. >> aye. >> all opposed? it is adopted. the next section is page 3 starting at line 23. reigning in out-of-control spending, balancing the budget and ensuring sound monetary cap and balance. we do have an amendment in that section on page 4. lynn fish from mississippi. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i just offer an amendment, it's e.c. 2 in your packet. it is page number 4 and line number 4. i strike the $800 billion and insert in place of that $1 trillion. the congressional budget office and the joint committee on taxation has confirmed that something that we already know, this obama care is $1 trillion

tax hike that families and employers cannot afford. the health law has 21 tax increases, 12 which hit on the middle class. this new amount is nearly twice the advertised tenured tax hike amount that was claimed by the democrats when they originally pushed the law through congress just two years ago. >> i have been informed that is the right number by other experts up here as well. >> mr. chairman, i second the amendment. >> moved and seconded that amendment that be adopted. any discussion? all favor in that amendment say aye? >> aye. >> all opposed? the amendment is agreed to. anything else in that section? ok, then that section will be

closed. on paying 4 starting at line 12, balancing the budget. any discussion on that section? >> excuse me, i have an amendment that i would like to propose. >> ok. >> i did submit it. >> who is speaking, can you raise your hand? >> terry from the district of columbia. >> terry, is your amendment in writing yet? >> yes, i sent it over. >> just procedurally, do you want to get that copied and distributed before we take it up and we can come back. >> absolutely, chairman. >> terry, we have to make copies for 112 people so we're going to continue through the process. there are a couple of other amendments and we will be jumping but we will come back to this section. ok. >> ok. >> we will not close out that section at this time so we can come back to it.

any other discussion on that section at this time? ok, at the bottom of page 4, inflation and federal reserve. any discussion on that section? chris sterns from virginia. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i just wanted to make a brief comment. the fact that we, we're addressing a couple of great items, cutting taxes and balancing the budget, et cetera. i just wanted to say this. monetary policy is the key motivation and one of the key motivations why i'm here today. it's one of the often forgotten facets of what drives our economy and what can sink our economy. the fact that we're covering it in this platform i am extremely gratified by. we're calling for further transparency in the federal reserve. i just wanted to commend the

committee for actually putting together some great stuff regarding monetary policy. i just wanted to say thank you very much. >> you're welcome and hopefully next year we'll start auditing the feds. any other discussion on that section? >> this is mike wallace from maine. i have an inserted comment at the beginning of line 37. >> mike, can you raise your hand. ok, there we go. mike, go ahead. >> mike wallace, i have a comment i would like to insert at the second sentence in line 36. i have that written down if you would like to copy that for everyone. >> line 36 on page 5? >> correct. >> we're coming back to you -- >> page 4, excuse me. >> oh, i'm sorry. >> line 36, paying 4. >> that's at the beginning of the section. go ahead, mike.

>> i would like to add after the monetary policy is critical for maintaining trust and a strong economy, currency is one half of every voluntary transaction and thus it should be honest and transparent. that would be my amendment. >> mike, what we need you to do is get a submission form. we need it in writing so all of the members can have it. >> i have that on the submission form if you would like it. >> that would be great. we'll send a runner up there and make copies for everyone. if we can leave that section open? >> we'll leave that section open as well. that section will remain open. on page 5, line 19, the housing crisis. we have one amendment offered there.

shirley wiseman from kentucky. this one is not, excuse me, those copies have not been fully made. that section will remain open. let me just ask if there is any other discussions. if we have discussions, it might answer them or product your need for an amendment which is why we're going section by section. is there any discussion or questions on the housing crisis section? >> if you have an amendment you would like to have submitted and have copies, please raise them up and we will send runners to get them. i see two right there. ok, i'm sorry. you do -- you have the one from ms. wiseman, then we got that one. the share will recognize shirley wise from kentucky. >> mr. chairman, shirley wiseman from lexington, kentucky. i would like to bring to page 5, section 23 and 24 lines

insert. we must preserve the mortgage interest deduction, period, because 95% of homeowners say they are happy with their opportunity to buy home since the mortgage interest deduction has been in place since 1913 and because we have been in a housing recession for the past four years, we need to support the mortgage interest deduction to sustain what little viability we have left and to give confidence to our first-time and future home buyers. thank you. >> second the motion, april newland. >> moved and seconded that that language be inserted. is there any discussion on that? i know for the average american homeowner and the real estate community, that's obviously a significant issue. april. >> yes, mr. chairman, as a real estate broker for the last 30

years, i can tell you that the mortgage interest deduction is high on the list for all realtors across the country. especially in light of the recent housing crisis, this is the last vestige of why people would want to be interested in buying a home because it's very difficult these days between making applications to the bank, having appraisers give proper appraisals, having sellers be realistic on their selling prices, buyers having the opportunity to take advantage of some of the market prices. so the mortgage interest deduction is paramount to the real estate industry, the home builders industry, home buyers and sellers across the country. so i hope that everyone will vote favorably on this amendment, thank you. >> mr. chairman. >> yes. >> thank you, mr. chairman.

with respect to the amendment and i certainly understand the impulse behind it. what we have now on tax relief and tax reform is a very simple plain and powerful statement of principal that is in favor of a tax system that's simple, transparent, flatter and fairer. the reform code should promote innovation and goes on with a powerful statement with principle and avoids getting into specifics about specific areas of the code that might be changed in the context of tax reform. i'm concerned about opening up those subjects that the subcommittee decided not to get into. we could talk about each one of these deductions, talk about different kinds of credits, we could get into caps or noncaps. i think that would take away from the power of the subcommittee report and in a the use himty that presented.

i would urge a no vote on this amendment. >> did this come up in the subcommittee, this issue, and how did you handle it? >> this particular issue did not come up. while i let pass the maintaining the charitable deduction that jim bopp raised, it was my position in the meeting that we should not get into individual tax deductions and try to limit the candidates with respect to what they want to do with tax policy. we have to amend the internal revenue policy or toss it away or doing something with it. the policies in particular, i think this is more tactical. it's not policy. we should deal with the policy of a fairer flatter tax system, but not necessarily try and preserve individuals parts of it. we did not get into any of those issues at the committee meeting. >> any other discussion on the amendment? april, you want to be heard? >> well, mr. chairman, this has

been a discussion in congress and the senate for many years and it sends a message to not only realtors, but home buyers across the country. i think it should be demonstrated and stated in the document because it's so far reaching and really are sends a signal that we care about home ownership. >> mr. chairman, if i may? i'm over here. >> raise your hand. yes, sir. >> columbus, ohio. i serve as the tax assessor for my county, my job which is elected to determine property tax values and in ohio, our school system is largely dependent on dollars raised from property taxes. so we have a great interest in ensuring that there is incentive to purchase homes. it contributes to our overall economy and it's great benefit to it. i'm very supportive of the amendment because i support the

concept of home ownership and know the economic value of responsible home ownership particularly in ohio where many of our school districts are dependent on the tax dollars and revenues. anything we can to incentivize home ownership matters. >> i would say this is one of those areas that creates that conflict between the broad uplifting policies of our party, where we stand on principal and getting into those earrings of specific policy where we may feel very strongly about it. as senator talent says, it is one that gets into some degree of specificity. the challenge, of course, is i think several, the candidates running have said we need a flatter and fairer tax system where we try to broaden the base and flatten the rates and that's certainly an enterprise that may be going through. i would just suggest if we do it, this amendment, there are

are many others that i'm sure are equally as important to others as well, medical deductions, we could go down the line and fill it up. senator talent, to your point. this one is a matter for fair discussion because it gets right to the basis of the american dream, 2/3 of americans own a home. that's an industry that has had obviously a real hit over the last six or seven years. so it is one that certainly straddles that fence between principal and a real practical policy that we might embrace and want to preserve. i would suggest and certainly entertain other discussion that we don't go down this road any further to load it up with specific limitations on tax preferences and leave it up to the candidates. >> mr. chairman, i would like to offer a friendly amendment that we can maybe include some language before that that says until we are successful in reforming our tax code and then

we could add this. >> that would have to take, we amend an amendment, you need that in writing as well? >> kathy, then following the rules -- so if you would like to propose that for discussion, we can do that. there is another comment on the amendment. i'm having trouble seeing those lights go up because of the glare up here. when i recognize you, just put your hand up and state your name and your state and then speak. yes, sir. >> mr. chairman, delaware. >> john. >> mr. chairman, i believe that this particular amendment goes to the heart of policy rather than tactics in that this shows the republican party policy supporting the middle class, supporting the uplifting of those that would like to enter the middle class. i think this sends a very, very important policy statement to the rest of the nation as to what exactly the republican

party stands for. >> yes, sir. >> kevin erickson of minnesota. i would argue that this is exactly why we have been unable to get any kind of comprehensive tax reform is because as soon as we start talking about it, everybody has a pet one. i agree, it's an important deduction in our current system, but comprehensive tax reform that we're talking about that we stand for means the entire thing gets redone from the ground up. and if it's a fair flat tax, then we don't need the deductions. >> any final comments before we act? i think everybody has heard both sides of this discussion. >> mr. chairman, jane timkin from canton, ohio. i would oppose this amendment. i believe and agree with senator talent that it does not

produce the document that we need to produce if we get into specifics of tax policy. i suggest that we adopt an understanding of the general view of promoting home ownership, especially for the middle class, but notway into the weeds of tax policy in our platform committee. thank you. >> can we act before we act on her amendment? ok. ok. >> ok, it's been moved and i believe there was a second on april's amendment on the mortgage interest deduction. i'm sorry. shirley, you spoke in favor of it. ok. so the amendment is properly in front of us. all in favor of the amendment say aye. >> aye. >> all opposed?

>> no. >> the chair is in doubt so we should have a show of hands. all in favorite of the amendment raise your hand, please. >> all opposed? ok, the amendment fails.

ok, we had another amendment that was originally offered to the institute in light of that vote, do you still want to pursue that amendment? >> no, i withdraw that amendment. >> all right, that amendment is withdrawn. any other discussion or comment on the housing crisis section beginning on page 5, line 19? yes, ma'am. >> may i request, i'm writing an amendment, that we move on and leave this open? >> we have another comment from that section, so we're just going to go ahead. we will get back to you before it closes up. >> thank you. >> ms. kennedy, do you have

something on this section? >> yes, cynthia kennedy from effective. do you want any stronger seven siring of fannie mae and freddy mac. they created this housing bubble that we're dealing with. is there any stronger language that could be in there so that either, these agencies be examined and perhaps some consideration be given to their viability as being a help to the housing market or being a hindrance? >> it appears to me to be reasonably clear about their role in creating the housing crisis disaster. if you like to offer an amendment, will be glad to leave this section up. any other questions or discussion? anything else on this section? moving on to page six, line 29.

>> i do not at this point have any written amendments to the document. are there any others? >> others are being copied right now. >> others are being copied and we will get them distributed once they are written. any other questions or discussion on page 6 on the infrastructure section? are there any other on this section that you are anticipating? >> [inaudible] >> ok, then hearing none, that section will be closed. page seven. ms. kennedy? >> cynthia kennedy, nevada. this is a minor problem. line 23, you left out a space. the federal government has a role. there isbetween a and roll. >> it is a technical -- there is no space no"a" and "rol."

>> that will be corrected. page seven, is there a discussion? any amendments in the queue on that section? hearing none, that section will be closed. page eight, line 25, the 21st century workforce. that is the remainder of the document. any questions or discussions on that section? then that section will also be closed. we have now been distributed --

being distributed one additional amendments. i would like to recognize mike wallace from maine. page four, line 36. >> well, yes, i would like to propose an amendment. line 36 is read, unquote some monetary policy is critical for maintaining a strong economy. are would like to strike "some economy" and replace its.

>> is there a second to that amendment? >> if i can ask, what exactly are we trying to accomplish with this amendment to the document that the document doesn't already say? >> i replied to expand on the language being used for inflation as being reconfirmed that they are for voluntary exchange and it should be genuine and free of fraud. >> ok, any discussion on the amendment? it means. know what i don't understand it.

i do think that some monetary policy is critical for maintaining a strong economy. i do not know if it is necessary to trust in the economy, but it is important to maintain a strong economy. but i do not know what the second sentence even means. >> did this come up in your subcommittee? >> it did not. >> is it ok if i call you governor instead of mr. chairman? >> sure. >> your the governor of my state. the currency is one half of every single transaction. people say they do not understand. when you go to restore and to purchase an item, what do you purchase that with? a dollar bill or a credit card or whatever. you are using one item in exchange for another. that is two parts. the significance of this is -- this is often overlooked a lot of times, that the value of

products is gauged on supply and demand of the product itself and not so much the medium of exchange. this just recognizes that the medium of exchange also has an impact on the price of a product. if the value of the medium of exchange is diminished by inflation, then the value of the -- the price of the product is going to go higher. that is simply what this says. i think that is a pretty significant point that a lot of people do not intend to think about, but certainly ought to be incorporated in the text of the document. >> i do not think anybody disagrees with that. these points seem to be reasonably clearly inferred from those first two sentences. but let's have the -- any discussion on the amendment? >> mr. chairman, i'm in the same position that the subcommittee

chairman is in on this. as i read this, it suggests to me that half of every transaction has to be "in currency" as the way i read it. i do not know if that is intended. i don't think is intended. maybe of the sponsors, tried to redraft. if the subcommittee chairman could not be certain what it meant, i do not know that the people reading it will be certain. and then we can all know what we are voting on. as it is, to me, it seems like you have to pay half of your transactions in cash. i just do not think that is correct. >> as a point of clarification, i'm curious as to what is honest and transparent? is the currency honest and transparent, or is the transaction?

i do not think this language clearly defines what is supposed to be honest and transparent. and i also share the senator's concerns about the currency issue as well. >> i believe this person is actually spells it out very well for us. this on monetary policy is critical for maintaining a strong economy. i do not think it is important that we get into the munier shop. and i think it is distracting from the purpose that we are trying to forge. >> any final comments, ms. kennedy? >> i think this amendment is more of a punctuation to what you were trying to say in the first sentence. and i do not think it was in any way misleading to have people think that all transactions are done in cash. a dollar on a credit card is the same as a dollar on a federal

reserve note. i think what the individual is trying to do here, mr. wallace, was to punctuate the idea that the republican party is aware of the federal reserve's world in the value of our money. so many people think the federal reserve is part of our government and do not realize it is a private corporation. and the influence that they do have on the value of our money and power that has reached a state of crises, actually, because how many people are putting money in a bank anymore? when i was a little girl, i opened a bank account and i put my $5 christmas present money in there and i would watch it grow through college. nowadays, you cannot do that. you do not get any interest putting it in the bank. what the gentleman from wayne -- maine was trying to do was to

pump tree die. i do not know if you are going to see anything in the democratic party anything about the federal reserve. money is very important to people, and the idea of saving, and having the idea of saving being ingrained in part of america's growth and having people prospering. if we do not save money, or have any encouragement to save money, where will we be? >> i do not think anyone disagrees with that, or the importance of the federal reserve. i think the question to me was whether that was already not while said with these first two sentences. and then there is some question about the drafting clarity of the second sentence. at least, that is my view. anything else that we should act on with this amendment? during un-, it has been moved and it did. all in favor? all opposed? the no's have it.

the amendment is rejected. there was another amendment that i understand was withdrawn. are you withdrawing that? >> yes, i am. >> are there any other amendments on anything in this section? any other discussion on the section on page four, caption bouncing the budget. -- balancing the budget. hearing none, then that section will be closed. section 5, housing crisis, any further discussion on that? hearing none, no amendments pending that section, -- no amendments pending, that section will be closed. any other amendments?

ok, we have acted and accepted some and rejected some amendments. all of those sections are not closed. is there any further discussion on this subcommittee report on jobs and the economy? >> mr. chairman, this is just a clarity matter. i would ask that the staff in editing this for its final print not only in this section, but all sections of the platform document, where there is reference to administration, we want to be clear that we are talking about the current administration so that there is no misunderstanding in reference to what we all hope in this room to be the romney administration. if that could be taking care of, i would appreciate it, mr. chairman.

>> the chair is going to roll that any criticism of the administration means the current administration. we will make sure that is appropriately noted. any objection? i did not think so. any discussion on the remainder of this section? do you or your co-chairman have any concluding comments? >> no, i want to thank everybody on the committee for giving it all of their bought for consideration. we appreciate -- they're thoughtful consideration. we appreciate everybody's work. >> i think it speaks to what we believe and what is a solid prescription of principles to turn our economy around and get us out of debt. this is good work. is there a motion on the subcommittee report?

moved and seconded. >> can we have the name and the state of the individual who made the motion? >> [inaudible] >> [inaudible] >> april newland of the virgin islands and moved by the senator from wisconsin. we have a court reporter that need to keep track of this. >> all in favor? all opposed? it is adopted. [applause] ladies and gentleman, of regulations. u have earned a 10 minute break. please be back on time. there are refreshments outside. any additional amendments for energy, please submit them right now.

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> we are watching the republican national committee's platform committee meeting this afternoon. committee attendees are taking a break of about 10 minutes, as you heard. they will be back a little bit later to continue discussing policy positions heading into their convention next week. we have been taking your tweet on the platform meeting this afternoon. you can send your comments, if you desire. by the way, at the close of today's session tomorrow, will have live coverage at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow. we will have complete coverage as the rnc gets underway next monday. it will be live starting at 2:00

p.m. beginning a week from thursday. the democratic convention will be live in charlotte. earlier today, president obama answered questions from reporters for our 20 minutes. one topic he touched on were the week at -- the weekend remarks about rate -- rape by the missouri synod -- senator. >> i wonder if you think those views represent the views of the republican party in general. they have been denounced by your own rival and other republicans. are they and out liar? -- outlyer? >> let me first say that the views expressed were offensive. rape is rape. and the idea that we should be parsing and qualifying and

slicing what types of rape we are talking about, it does not make sense to the american people. and it certainly does not make sense to me. what i think these comments and do underscore is why we should not have a bunch of politicians, the majority of whom are men, making health care decisions on behalf of women. although these particular comments have led governor romney and other republicans to distance themselves, i think the underlying motion that we should be making decisions on behalf of women for their health care decisions or qualifying forceable rape as opposed to non-forcible rape, those are broader issues as opposed to

others between me and the party. but i do not agree with the statement that the senator said. he was nominated by the republicans in missouri. i will let them sort it out. >> you can see all of the press briefing tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern. earlier today, at a meeting with mitt romney and his vice presidential running mate, paul ryan. they spoke in manchester, new hampshire. we aired it live this morning and it will start again tonight at 8:20 p.m. eastern. that is on c-span. and once again, we are live in florida for the rnc platform committee meeting today. while we wait to my your phone calls from this morning's "washington journal" on whether

it matters. host: critics call the conventions cosley infomercials, but they clarify, and sometimes electrify. the wall street journal looks at online media and why is .nlikely to star and the "new york times" has this order looking at the convention floor. there is a story about the stagecraft of conventions. let's take a look at the akron -- the christian science monitor.

here is what to look for this year. harry truman wearing a white linen suit appears out of the delegates. he is trying to start his speech at the democratic national convention, but so far it is humiliating. let's hear from bowe, a democrat in brooklyn. good morning. >> it is disgraceful. these things are set up from the pr party. it is nonsense and the press plays along with it.

all of these talking heads and tv people, they do not write any republican. we have no hope left. host: do you plan to vote this year? caller: i am a democrat all my life. we do not get a vote any more in new york. it is a blue states. i have lost faith. i probably will not vote. there are a few independence the shot. it is a disgraceful race. host: the christian science monitor looks at harry truman's effort to gain control of a raucous crowd at his convention. and it says "64 years later, republicans are gearing of to gavel and at their convention in a way that will allow them to control every moment of the

multi day event ." what do you sing? our first caller said that the conventions do not matter to him and that they are overly stage. the christian science monitor looks at the history of conventions. how they evolved, how we got to this point, and where we get the legacy from the convention. here is from the "washington post" yesterday. they look at advice from the very experienced folks who are behind many of the big moments of conventions of the last couple of decades.

1992, the republican national convention. instead of ronald reagan, it was pat buchanan that spoke in prime time at the rnc. the advice of george w. bush, he says, put your best speakers in prime time. he says they should have gone with ronald reagan instead of parking -- pat buchanan. here is the "washington times" platform. it excites the base, do no harm.

irene in trenton, mich., democratic caller. what do you think? caller: i think they are to be done away with after the months and months of politics that we were going through. we needed them when this country was being settled, but we do not need them now. there is a polling place on every corner and that every school. those were set up so that people could pack up their households and servants and drive for weeks to get to their polling place. we no longer have that necessity. the electoral college ought to be limited, because they do not vote the way the people they represent say they should. i think both of those things are very obsolete. the world wide web and as small as the country has become because of technology. host: how would you change it? how would you move things forward?

caller: i would put down on a six-month timeframe. they can advertise for six months, until the media with their advertisements, do whatever they want of to and the election. but this two years worth of political warfare and allies and the finger-pointing and then on discussing the issues and the stupidity i have seen in both parties is absolutely childish. i think there is no place for it in politics. we are talking about a country, not a little village. i grew up in a little village. that was easy to handle. a country is a whole different matter. when we start talking about taking things away from senior citizens and children and the poor and the elderly, that i have a problem with that. and i do not need a big convention to tell me how many ways they will starve me to death. host: c-span will be on-site at both of the conventions coming up.

here is the campaign calendar for the rnc starting next monday. 2:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. eastern time c-span will be there with cameras rolling. also, throughout the rest of the week. you can see the schedule at c- span.org/campaign2012. there is a list of coverage on our website. here is the "christian science monitor." in massachusetts caller in malden, richard on the independent line. caller: good morning. i agree with the woman that was just on from michigan. we do not need to years of this event and cutting each other up.

they act like a bunch of children. if i have a problem at work, we sit down and we talk about it. these are like kids. this is a country we have to run here. i do not care if you're a democrat or republican or independent, you got to talk to each other. of it.ver seen the likes this election coming up now, it is getting really nasty. i thank you for listening to me. you have a nice day. host: in the "washington post" yesterday, martin cohen looked at the five minutes of the political convention. touching on what our caller from massachusetts to just said, he said that considering how-both campaigns have been, it would not be surprised -- a surprising if both conventions focus on the

flaws of both opponents. in some years clarksburg, west virginia. caller: the lady from michigan was right on. it is sad. i remember in conventions when you discussed real issues. real people had disagreements on the floor. they will not let you see any disagreements. it is sad that politics has come to that. it is always a lot nicer to watch people debate issues. but we will not see any debates over any issues, i do not think.

at either convention. it is more of a production anymore. host: do you have moments that you reflect on from past conventions that interested you? for example, then senator obama's speech before he became president many years ago electrified a crowd. we also saw powerful speeches by president ronald reagan. did any of that ever affect you? host: -- caller: i know your callers can tell you the names. there was a black lady that spoke several years ago that was right on that was that the democratic convention. with third party candidates in the past, like ross perot, those connections have to stand for something. this year would have been a perfect year for a third party candidate to run.

i am abut i cannot believe how they have treated other people that are running for office, ron paul. i mean, for heaven's sakes, he stands for no war. you could talk about the medicaid cuts and all of that, but can we ever talk about let's not stick our nose in everything? anytime we want to make cuts, it is on the working people or the older people. let's cut the salaries of the people in washington a little bit. let's talk about some real pain. then we will be talking. and i want to compliment you on how far you have, on the program. thank you. god bless, and have a wonderful day. host: thank you. here to talk with us is the press secretary for the gop convention. good morning.

guest: good morning. carrasco tell us about it. >> reince priebus will be here to pull back the podium or what is referred to as the stage. host: why is that significant? >> it is the focal point of the convention. it is where we will tell the story of mitt romney and paul ryan and contrast that with the last 3.5 years of president obama. >> kyle downey, what kind of work goes into that? guest: a lot of work goes into it. roughly 30,000 man hours went into the production of it.

i have to be honest. it has a wow factor. it is unlike anything that has been done at a convention before. i think people are going to be really, really excited and blown away by what they see. host: we are about one week away from the convention. what is the activity level like there? >> it is high. there is a real buzz all around town. all of the finishing touches are taking place and are under way, inside the convention center. but all around town, people have been sprucing up their hotels and the downtown area, and it has just been overwhelming, the welcoming atmosphere and the enthusiasm from the local community. the mayor, a democrat, has called this the economic dimension because of the money

that has been injected. host: kyle downey, press secretary for the gop convention, thank you. reincce priebus and others will unveil the podium. we are talking about whether you think political conventions matter. hi, gary. caller: hi, there. i love c-span. i watch it all the time. i think it is one of the most important elections of our time. i do not believe i have ever seen an election that is more important than this one coming up, and i do believe the conventions are important because this will give us the enthusiasm to go the next almost i guess 80 days to the elections, and it will tell us a lot about what we are going to look for, so i do not really

agree with some of the people who have been on before me. i do believe that we are going to see a change in our country, and i believe it is going to be very, very exciting. host: here is a comment on twitter. liz writes in. -- hi. caller: i do not agree with the conventions. where does everybody get all of this money for these big parties and these big pac's? all of the money they spend on advertisements and parties, we could be -- i am really tired of hearing everybody saying washington is dead, washington can i get along. the man has been attacked for

four years. the minute he defends himself, calling the sudden, both parties cannot get along. host: here is one. they would like to see them say something about the other candidates. hi, bill. caller: how are you doing? host: we are good, thanks. what do you think? >> -- , they do not matter. some americans are starting to wake up and say, and with all of these millions of dollars on the television, you know what i'm saying, from the taxpayers, that

money does not go back into the neighborhoods. there is people getting shot. do you know what i am saying? and education and stuff like that, it does not make any sense. all of that money that they are putting into it these, why do they not put it back to the people, you know what i am saying? host: what would you want to see the money spent on? caller: i just want to see the money go towards a good cause. my word does not stand a chance against these politicians. they will do whatever they want to do with that money. you know what i am saying? they can say they are going to give it to something good, but their actions speak louder than words. host: this is the l.a. times --

the major television networks, they have cut back in recent years to one hour of prime-time programming each night. politicians in both parties have said they would skip the events entirely.

c-span will be airing one hour of programming. c-span will be at the conventions. gavel-to-gavel. you can find confirmation on our website. and our facebook page has information. let's look at a couple comments -- you can join that conversation by looking for c-span on facebook. ken is a republican in chicago joining us now. hi, ken. candidate as opposed to last time. what point to happen at this convention, barack obama will be dogged because he took $125,000 from tony rezko.

and he is an unindicted fraud, so he is through. host: another democratic caller caller: i enjoy looking at them, but i hear a lot of people say they look at c-span all the time, but they should look at c-span when they have the democrats and the republicans passing laws or trying to pass who is really working for the middle class. you find a lot of them voting against the middle class and a lot of them for the middle class. a lot of people say democrats and republicans are the same. they are not the same. all you have to do is pay attention. i cannot believe that americans fall for the same lies every four years from the republicans.

they tell you the same things and you fall for it every time. republicans do not care about the middle class. thank you. host: -- roseland, virginia. tennis, independent caller. good morning. -- kenneth, independent caller. good morning. caller: the convention this year matters a great deal. although they say it is scripted. while ron paul says he's not a the the delegates who have been chosen from virginia and all the other states. there's more than five states ron paul is favored. they will decide. for example, in maine and iowa, for example, they control 28

each. so this is going to be extremely exciting. it's going to be much more wide open and it's going to be very exciting to watch. i encourage everyone to the tune in next week. thank you. host: the washington post would agree with you, kenneth that there can be surprises at the convention. it says --

potomac, maryland, democratic line, adrian. what do you think about the probable convention? good morning. caller: how are you? host: what do you have to say for us? we have to move on. gainesville, florida. scholar.

hi, steven. caller: good morning. i agree somewhat with the washington post. i remember when reagan almost overtook the convention delegates. i am a political science major. during the convention, some things can happen. however and a good part of me says it does not matter. i believe what the post leaves out is we run in a four air- year -- a four-year election cycle now. this is not where we tried to and-a-half ago. as soon as it's over with, we will be talking about where we will be for 2016. and is going to be there. one last thing, your last caller, the kind who was down there, the reporter, he spoke about the podium. it is supposed to be a big deal. it took 30,000 man hours. if we think about that, skilled

labor only getting paid $15 to $1 an hour. a podium costing almost $600,000 to make. i don't know if anybody has brought this up, but the convention is in tampa and i am two and a half hours away in florida. orlando and tampa, there is a ridiculous homeless problem in orlando. it is unbelievable. i mean, how can we justify force decided to spend $600,000 on a podium for a tv show -- how can they justify to society? representative and not a reporter. just to clarify. we are talking about political conventions and whether they matter. if you would like to join the conversation, call us. the numbers are -- monty agrees with our last caller -- waterbury, connecticut, james, a democrat.

good morning. caller: they do matter. to those that are less informed. get involved with the hoopla of it and the glamour. the conventions arespending all this money to attract people, almost like an infomercial. so they get caught up. i think they tend not to hear the most important part of the convention, the concerns of the country, the issues. they get watered down and diluted. people get caught in the hoopla of the convention, the excitement of it and that type of thing. what happens is the less informed -- they get caught in

the hoopla. those that are well informed, their decisions are not swayed. so they spend all this money to excite the crowd and to get those that are less involved more involved. it is a political ploy. host: the christian science monitor says -- >> you can see "washington journal" live, and we are going back now to the republican convention after a short break. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

>> hi, ladies and gentlemen. we are ready to get started. there is an issue about a potential change in schedule that i want to put before the body. i represented to you earlier today that the meetings, the subcommittee reports that would take up this afternoon would be jobs, the economy, and then energy and the and carnage. but we are presiding, to proceeding at a good clip, and we only have a couple of items for the energy subcommittee that chairman hogan will do and just a minute, and assuming that will go with some dispatch, which i hope it will, we will have time. what i'd like to recommend to you is that even though tomorrow ito to be good to

constitution, government reform, health care, and then defense, but since we will have it looks like 1 plus hours still remaining in the schedule time for this day, that with your concurrence, we begin to take a one of those. i would recommend american century, which is defense. that is one that was well worked through. what i'd like to recommend is at the conclusion of the energy session that we adjourn or recess for 30 minutes, and give you a chance to macbeth, prepare in the amendments that you would like, and then we would take up the american century defense portion. that would still give us time to work through that and conserve your time as opposed to tomorrow when doing government reform and the constitution i anticipate will have some discussion, from what i have heard. just in the subcommittee

meetings. so let me just bring that up. i represented to you that you would have overnight for the four, but i want to conserve your time. the subcommittee did such a good worker, and there was such concise discussion that we are in good posture, so that would be my suggestion to the group. take anergy, adjourned for half an hour. you have all subcommittee reports that were distributed at the break. this is 15 pages. but i suggest we recess at 30 minutes at the end of energy and then come back, and then we will work until 6:00, 6:30. any discussion? ok. without objection, that will be the plan. senator hogan. >> thank you, governor. we will proceed to the agriculture, energy, and environment section.

up front, i want to thank congressman ed whitfield and another for their leadership on the committee. i would just have a few comments, and then i want to turn things over to representative whitfield for his comments and then over to mary, as well, for her comments. we have tremendous opportunity both in energy and agriculture, and so i think we are laying out a plan that is just incredibly important for our country, and it is not just energy. jobs. it is growing this economy. we have got to grow this economy, combined with real savings and controlling government to get rid of the deficits and the debt. we have got to get the economy going and get people back to

work. and it is about national security. we cannot be dependent on the middle east for our oil, for our energy, so it is a national security issue, as well, and the bottom line is we have tremendous opportunity if we pursue the right type of energy policy. as i mentioned, i started as governor, and i and the governor mcdonnell sometimes, but it was a great honor to serve as governor from 2000 and 2010, and this is empowered the private sector and unleashed private- sector investment and brought credible investment to our state, and our state is a true energy powerhouse for the nation. the only state that produces more oil is the great state of texas.

texas is about 1.5 million barrels per day, and we are closing on 700,000 barrels more, so it shows what can happen. the states are laboratories, and we believe in article 10 of the constitution, but there are laboratories. this country can do incredible things. we can become energy secure if we do pursue the right kinds of policies. we have an administration now that says we are going to produce all of the above. not only do they do it, they blocked it. this is a plan to energize the country. in a big, big way. and i know we can do it.

nobody in the world does it better than our farmers and ranchers. those that have their job in agriculture, or their job is related to agriculture, so this really is about a plan for the future that is important for the country in so many ways, so with those remarks on the front and, i would like to call from somebody who is a real energy leader in the house of representatives, and that is the congressman from kentucky, the congressman. >> senator, thank you very much. i also want to thank my co- chair, mary, who inspired all of us. she was sincere and interested in these issues from washington state, and then our entire group of 13 people worked very hard.

we are fully committed to our task. and i would just remind everyone that last month, the unemployment rate increase in 44 states in this country. in i believe that most of responsibility can be placed directly at the feet of our president, obama, because instead of leading with a policy to strengthen our economy, he instead has implemented a political agenda of picking winners and losers in the energy sector. now, our subcommittee on energy, agriculture, an environment i believe took the first steps this morning to reverse this administration's policy, and i believe we can stimulate the economy and create jobs. we adopt and all of the above

energy policy to meet the energy needs of this country. we rain in a run away epa that is placing great uncertainty in our energy sector, as well as other sectors. we eliminate programs where the government is the venture capitalist for risky projects, like solyndra. we insure policy is to provide abundant and affordable food supplies for the american people and for exports to feed others and reduce our trade deficit.

we balanced economic development and private property rights with long-term conservation goals and environmental protection, and i believe that our platform, as i said earlier, will stimulate the economy, make us energy independence, create jobs, continue the most productive agriculture sector in the world, balancing economic development for conservation for future generations, and in closing, i want to thank all of you for giving me the opportunity to be involved in this process, and once again, i think all of the committee members that work so hard. thank you. >> thank you, congressman. and now, we went to call on mary. she is a farmer in the great state of washington, so somebody misspeaks from experience.

>> thank you. i want to thank them for letting us participate. i want to thank joanie and mary for all of their great input, and they answered all of my questions, for which i had many. while there may be so many jobs, there are only some that made their main living. we are very grateful to this platform that gives us the opportunity to compete. finally, energy and agriculture are linked.

a consistent and abundant fuel supply to fuel the tractors that make it possible for 150,000 people to feed the entire world well. so we appreciate everything that has been offered in this platform because it gives us a new opportunity in a new century to prove how truly great liberty and freedom on private property can be, so thank you very much. >> thank you, mary. >> and what the drought that many of our farmers are experiencing, it highlights the need for good policy. we will go through the overall subsection by subsection, and is there anything before i take the first specific section?

all right, proceeding on page 8 and all of the above, the diversified energy policy to achieve energy independence any comments or amendments? next section. that section and is closed. next, we will go to line 35, in this section on: -- on coal, and there is an amendment, line one. barbara fenton. >> from rhode island. this is just to insert about the

safety in coal mines. if we read, it says we are developing a new state-of-the- art coal plants that will be a low-cost, environmentally responsible, and i feel adding safe for their workers because of the multiple coal mine accidents with the television events in the last couple of years. i feel very strongly when putting low-cost before that. thank you. >> is there a second? there is a second. discussion. >> may i make a suggestion? >> congressman? >> i want to thank carrefour making the amendment. and there was basically the same

if the thing, and if mrs. fenton would be willing to add his amendment, which simply adds the word "safe," because we hope they will be low cost, in varmints responsible, and we do want them to be safe, not only for workers but for management, vendors, everyone, so if she would be able to accept that word, i think all of us would be supportive of this. >> that is absolutely fine for me. i just did want to bring up the workers' rights issues. thank you. >> that would be a second-degree amendment? >> you recognize the second

amendment, and if there is a second, we will vote on that. this would supersede the first amendment? >> it would be the first amendment as amended, if amended. >> so there is egg sac it to the amendment of the amendment? there is a second. is there any discussion? >> from west virginia, i just wanted to speak about the coal mining importance to our state. there is safety as an issue. when there is a coal mining accident, it strikes to the heart of the community, and my grandfather was injured in an accident, so my family knows.

there can be active coal mining, and i would ask that everyone vote for this. there have been a lot of amendments. i would support it, as well. >> is there further discussion? yes? >> senator from new york who offered the amendment. i think my colleague from rhode island. my intention was to make it broader than just workers. these issues so eloquently stated by our colleague from west virginia. it is not just safety for the workers but others that can be affected by mining. thank you. >> thank you.

other comments, discussion? >> thank you very much. i am a little confused about the fact that the persons calls for state and the art coal-fired plants, and there is coal mining. i hope we separate those, because these are totally different. we all want a safe conditions for our workers. are we talking about coal mining, or are we talking about coal-fired plants? it is my understanding that this is coal-fired plants. are we saying that these are currently inherently not safe? now, if you want to argue coal mining, i would agree with that.

if you are talking about the others, i do not think i would agree with that. i am a little confused with where we are going. >> do either one of you want to respond to that? >> the purpose of my amendment was not related to a coal-fired plants. >> yes, mine was the same intention. if we could add the coal mining in to the statement, i am not sure. i feel very strongly about adding the safety into this. >> the man you just spoke is correct. this applies only to state of the art new coal-fired plants, and this could be new

technology, and there is nothing that really refers to coal mining, per se, although we are very much aware of the safety issues with the government already. at this amendment reads, by mr. cahill and ms. fenton, this is the way it would read. they would be coal-fired plants that would be low cost, environmentally responsible, safe, and each patient, and that is what it says. so i yield back my time. >> it does appear that it clearly it applies to the plant as currently amended. >> mr. chairman, from

pennsylvania. starting from line 7, they say they will encourage increased development in all regions of the nation's resources, and perhaps somewhere along that line, we could insert the word "safe," and that would meet the goal of the original, i think, two amendment makers. >> it seems that would address the concerns. maybe we should leave this section open and move on and let mr. cahill and ms. fenton work that out, and we can come back, if that is satisfactory. whether we can move on or there is something else we can do. we will leave the section open

and move on. all right, the next section is oil and natural gas. is there a discussion for this section? actually, i have one amendment. it is your amendment, so i do not mean to double up on you. i can go forward and address this. are you ready to address it? all right. >> from rhode island, the great ocean state. at the end of the paragraph, i understand the importance of for jobs, butswr they are very much aware of the environmental impact. and this is how it devastated the gulf coast for so long.

while i have talked to other colleagues, we know that sometimes short cut happen. sometimes in the economic thrift, to say the least, sometimes things go a little bit unchecked. and if we are going to open a precious national resources, i feel very strongly that we have to put some wording in there that holds to a very high ethical standard and encourage them to spend the extra money if they need to to avoid certain wildlife areas or to minimize the impact at all cost or at reasonable cost, anyway, so we truly addressing environmental concerns. and this is learning from recent tragic environmental disasters in minimizing any of my middle impacts by encouraging them to take steps necessary to do so

even if more expensive. thank you. >> further discussion, and i do believe there is a second-degree amendment. is there a set it to the amendment? is that a second or a comment? is there a second to the amendment? >> mr. chairman, could i just ask -- >> senator. >> i think the delegate from rhode island is doing us a service in raising the importance of sustaining high environmental issues. i was going to ask whether this was in the form of a substantive amendment. can i offer my and as an independent amendment then? >> is there a second to the proposed amendment?

hearing a second, senator? >> i have distributed the amendment, and i think there was an omission in the subcommittee. i think a point that we ought to add to make clear that we are going to do this exploration and using the highest environmental standards, it is certainly worth saying, and it sounded to me that this was adding more. this causes exploration to just seize up, because they cannot invest money if they do not know with -- if and when they are going to clear the regulatory burdens. and i say we operate to the highest standards, not always, but they should be.

i thought of an amendment simply saying that this is going to occur, using the high environmental and safety standards that are in the law, and that would be an appropriate amendment to offer, so i am offering the amendment. >> all right, the amendment has been offered by the senator. is there a second? discussion? from alaska. >> mr. chairman, as a former deputy assistant secretary for wildlife and parks and one of the staffers involved in writing legislation that created the coastal zone area in anwr, and also serving, i can tell me without question, the environmental regulations of the state of alaska supersede those of the epa and are stricter than those of the epa and have

been in force throughout the slope. >> is there further discussion? state and name. >> i am from arizona. and i agree with the senator and also your opinion. for information, my brother-in- law is the president of a pipeline, which is a keystone pipeline, and he is astounded our present will not support the keystone pipeline when we have thousands of jobs and open up energy and be more energy independent. we have the resources here in our country as well as in the neighboring friendly country of canada. i agree with the senator, and i just want to support that statement. >> like your brother, i am astounded, too. i agree. >> i said to be patient and

wait because mitt romney will be elected in november. we will open up the pipeline. >> we will get it one way or another. miss? >> april, from the virgin islands. the oil refinery closed in st. croix in june because of the extraordinary epa finds and the highest standards that they had for the environment. due to that closing, 2000 people are out of jobs. we are facing over 50 cents per kilowatt hour, and that is supposed to go up over 20%. schools have closed. and several different industries that have looked at closing,

because of the highest regulations and environmental concerns, so i think we should have fair and equal attention to this, but i am a little bit worried about the consequences that some of this language would overarch the whole industry. >> jorge? >> from puerto rico. i am in line with the is. this would add a sentence at the end of line 23 that would do all of this in a way that is compliant with the environmental, health, and other regulations.

>> senator? >> i am sorry, mr. chairman. i did not read my amendment on the assumption it had been distributed. this is for the highest environmental and safety standards. basically, the same thing. this is perhaps in a way where it is more comfortable for the previous delegate, so we are happy to yield to the amendment. >> senator, we would need that in writing, if you would like to work that out. we might step over the section and come back. is that acceptable? >> is not acceptable to you since it has been distributed? >> we have not seen it. >> senator, it is that the

proposal concerns some of the issues that have been raised. if you will work that out, i think that will be helpful. >> i am happy to withdraw it for a short time if you want. >> we will proceed and allow you to work that out. i was on the north slope of alaska, and the standards there, they take great care to do it. senator barton? >> if there is one thing that i can do to we write the language. administrative law us, the epa is part of federal law. regulatory or administrative. >> jorge, did you pick up the

last comment? >> if i understood it, the way it is complying with applicable environmental health and safety law and regulations, that is typically be weighed in a short and succinct way, if it is alaskan state regulations or laws, it is only that, the epa has no jurisdiction, and we are not saying anything beyond what would be required based on the state of a lot in alaska in this case, when we are talking about and war. -- about anwr. >> the epa is coming after this through regulations, and this would be as they were trying to make it applicable. again, it is the exclusion of

the policy through the administrative and regulatory law. it is applicable, but it is an expansive. >> david, jorge, can i ask you to get together so we can proceed? >> if i think you get together with sam, i think you can get something. we will proceed to the nuclear energy session. we are on page two, line 29. nuclear energy. all right, no amendments. this section will be closed. and then on renewable energy at the top of page three, line one. any comments? the amendments?

>> no amendments. >> hearing none, that section is closed, and we will proceed to the failure of the current administration, still on page 3. any comments or amendments? all right, that section is closed. moving on to agriculture, line 23, agriculture. comments, amendments? all right, we will close that section. proceeding to line 35, economic uncertainty. comments, amendments? we will close that section. line six, farm programs.

comments or amendments? ok. we will close that section and proceed to environment. line 34. page four, line 34, environment. hearing no comments or amendments, we will consider that closed and proceed to page 5. line eight. the republican party committed to conservation. is the republican party committed to conservation? any comments private stewardship

of the environment. comments or amendments? comments? >> we are torn between who is going to present this. >> can you pull the microphone closer? >> we need your name and your state, please. >> donna. >> donna from oregon. we are in the process of writing this out. making a bit of a change. in page five, 30, after harvesting -- wait a minute. after forestry, private ownership, i think we should also add that timber is a renewable resource which provides jobs to thousands of americans and that efforts should be made to make land available for harvesting and

then, however, that we recognize the enduring truth that people best protect what they own. >> do you have that in writing? >> i am writing it now. i have it scratched. >> the group is going very quickly, so we went to keep things going, and we will leave this section open. >> we will leave this section open. we have one subsection left. >> mr. chairman, mary. >> ok, mary? >> there is a section that states that the service should be charged to use the resources to the best economic potential for the nation. >> would you identify where that is, one more time? >> it is page four, and line 20.

and it states, "the forest service should be charged to use the resources to the best economic potential for the nation." ok. >> all right, we will leave that section open. we are on the final section, reining in the epa. any comment? we will close that section. which sections? do we have them distributed? >> yes. >> ok, let's go to the section on coal, one, 36. the amendment i think was -- >> the amendment is being distributed right now. i am sorry. i was told -- page two, eight.

ms. fenton be presenting. >> initially, working on part of the section that addressed plans, and we wanted to shift this to part of the section that addressed mining, so that is the amendment that is being handed out to you right now. >> i apologize. i am just waiting for my own copy. >> who is presenting the amendment? >> mr. cahill and i decided i would. >> it will be presented by ms. fentopn. -- fenton. >> ms. fenton, you be presenting it? >> i do not have a copy yet. ok, after discussion, we felt that online at eighth, it was better suited so that it will

and that reading that it will encourage the increase at 6 development in all regions of the nation's coal resources, the jobs it produces, and the affordable, reliable energy that it provides for america. thank you. >> so the addition is the word "safe," that is coming in where? >> in between increased and development. >> ok, "safe development." do we have a second? >> i will set in. >> discussion? ok, all in favor of the amendment, please say aye. the ayes have it. were there other amendments in the coal said shin? >> no, sir. >> ok, we will consider the coal

section closed. was it oil and gas? >> i believe, jorge, have turned in your amendments? >> yes, sir. >> and, donna, i believe you are working on yours. >> are there any at this point? jorge, do you want to start to explain yours? i am not sure which amendment will be back first. probably yours. we will make sure we get it out to everybody. >> it regards page two of the document, 23. at the end of that existing sentence, where it ends, "allowing for more oil and natural-gas exploration on federal meat controlled land," period, and we are proposing the

amendment as follows, adding a sentence after that that says we support the stability in accordance with applicable environmental, health and safety regulations, period. >> ok, it has been moved and all right, let me ask why we aren't getting it if there is other comment. -- while we are getting if there is other comment. >> seconded. did you have further comment? does everybody have the amendment? >> a few copies right now. >>if in some reason this is not the case, when it is. >> i think adding this assumes that we are not doing it by the

high standards. >> the assumption is wrong. >> senator? >> thank you, mr. chairman. i agreed to the amendment. i would dispute the interpretation. i think we are all for that. i think we are all for that.