>> thank you. wow, thank you, everyone. what a great reception. i forgot my notes, so i will try to go by memory. i would like to say thank you for inviting me here. i just met a wonderful president that you have. please give her a hand. [applause] she is the one who ordinate it all of this. thank you for all her efforts.

i'm not the easiest person to nail down on events, but this was really important. he was able to persevere and get me here. was able to persevere and get me here. and thank you to the board of directors. it is an honor to be here and talk to you today about something that is incredibly important to me. that is our country will stop my parents immigrated from haiti -- this is our country. my parents immigrated from haiti.\ -- haiti. they had $10 in their pocket. many jobs torked try to makee ends meet. when things got tough, they tightened their belts and work even harder. the first day of college, i took my dad with me. he tends to be the fun parent. i took it with me and he was

really guideiddy. not sure if it was because i was a last child he was taking to college or if he thought, might my goodness, all my children, first generation graduates. he was incredibly incited and walked around as if he's going to school himself. at one point he looked at me and said, your mother and i did everything we could to get you here today. we have never taken a handout. you will not be a burden to society. you will give back. i wasaught me growing ouup not entitled to anything that i did not earn, work for, or pay for myself. [applause] my life was centered

around self reliance and filled with all the possibilities of living the american dream. what this remember country is based on an america that i know is based off of. it is based and grounded in patriots and pioneers. it is grounded in the beauty of our landscapes, the farmers who work them, and the artists who paint them. it is in the entrepreneurs, our heroic military, it is in our olympic athletes, and yes, in our children who look at the impossible and say, i can do that. most of all, let us not forget that we knowican is grounded on freedom. makes up our

country. it is interesting because you do not hear that from leaders very much. you do not hear the word freedom. your a lot of slogans like "hope and change." it is a great message because you can fill in the blanks. hope and change can mean anything. open change could work for me to -- hope and change can work for me to, but is not exactly the same message. the messaging that wins right now is not what can you do for your country, but what can government do for you? we have completely shifted. it is not a party shift. is a complete loss of feet shift and principal shift. shift and completely principal shift. my parents came from haiti

because government was too bake and the people were too small. peopletoo big and the were too small. but here people can invest their money in something that can work. --e markets [applause] when a man or a woman can put on a uniform and go to a foreign land and they sacrifice their lives, what are they doing it for? it is not hope and change. it is freedom. hopeno know that there is no without freedom. that is who we are.

that is the america that we know. what is next? we have a president that is elected a somewhat he says and or necessarily what he does else we would not be in such a mess right now, right? so what do we do? hang our hats and say, tit's over? trust me, i have wanted to do that at times, but i have children. i do not have the luxury to do that. what do we do? three things. first, make the choice to get into the fight and know why you're doing it. [applause] many times you run on slogans and that is fine. i'm not telling you to get rid of slogans. understand why you're getting into it.

ask yourself, if i can accomplish one thing while in office, what would that be? if i have to spend every single political capital that i have, what would i do? what would i do with that effort? ran on a slogan of building a beautiful city, fiscal discipline, and communication. when i asked myself what i really wanted to do, it would be to make sure our city was financially stable. i wanted to make sure that the children my -- the city my children were growing up in was a city that was financially stable. with the national debt and the state debt -- i do not want to put another burden on a local level. the best solutions are found at the local level. saratoga springs was

incorporated in 1997. we had two state rodads. everything was agriculture. we had our own self-sufficient systems. our city started to grow and grow. set a residential tax because we were living off of building permits. [laughter] you ask yourself, how is that sustainable? how does that work? guess what happened in 2000 and eigh8? you can participate. it is ok. housing market crashed. we went to no money coming into the city. we had to do something that was difficult.

we rolled up our sleeves and had to cut spending. let me tell you, it is interesting. i believe i live in one of the red states in the united states. he would not believe how many people who wanted to take my head off. it was insane. he rolled up hours needs and we got rid of as much of spending as possible. i was forced to ask myself three questions every time -- is it affordable? is it sustainable? is it my job? when you ask yourself those questions, it is funny how little you are required to do. right? so, we have to ask ourselves that question. $3.5 million short fall to a-- we were able to make sure that

safety was paid and utilities was paid and everything was sustainable. it had to be our job. right? imagine if you were able to do that in washington. [laughter] .t is not rocket science you live within your means. that is what my goal was. guess what? we are financially stable and we are doing well. the people who want to take my head off, they started running as volunteers. it worked out great. [applause] why you're getting into the fight. if you know what you're doing it, you can make a difference. two, messaging and the power of personal touch.

know every single one of us have an iphone am a ipad i'm a black area, you name it. blackberry, you na name it. we communicate through all of these rings. sometimes it can get us in trouble. the roomting across from a friend of mine who happens to be a director for the utah department of transportation. we were sitting in a boring meeting. i had to do whatever i could to get through this meeting. and forth andack apparently he was board also. at one point he told me to do something to shake up the meeting. tell this joke. it will be funny. me, and i text , dare

will. but i ended up texting, date me and i will. [laughter] heid not realize until looked at me from across the room with this look on his face like -- so i looked down and realized, no! i'm happily married. you will see the r's next to the t's on your phone. it is one of those things where i have to be careful. when it comes to understanding who you are and reaching people , people are tired. when you need to communicate with someone, that is not the best way to do it. how many of you have gotten a

holiday message ss, thank you for everything have done in our lives. love so and so. and you're trying to figure out if it is a rip message or if it is for you. age or if it iss just for you. i look for things that say, dear mia. but that is not what we do. there is a little girl that lives with her father in san diego. to father used to take her the san diego padres game. she loved baseball. her father took her to the game monday. -- one day. she was so animated that most people who sat around her watched her more than the game. she was yelling at the players and people in the audience. she was really into the game.

the game started going and people got rowdy and probably drinking too much. he brought her into a section that was empty. as soon as they sat down, there was a fly ball. in the and landed section she had just moved from. this young man was talking to this girl and really enjoyed talking to her, caught the ball. everyone can see this on the jumbotron. he walks down to where she is and gave her the ball. on the jumbotron, you can see this little girl blows him a kiss and everyone was into this. everyone thought it was this elitist thingsweetest thing. she had this young man sign the ball and she said, thank you.

this young girl has three kids now. she is an adult. on her mantle is this ball, signed by a young man that she did not know. andr really got to know doesn't know anything about his family are like, but he impacted her life somehow. that is it power of personal -- that is the power of personal touch. april 1 to know that you know their story and understand the story. even if you cannot exit, they want to know that you want to try to fix a prompt -- even if you cannot fix it, they want to know that you want to try to fix it. ulster the time, think about how our president got elected. -- think about how our president got elected.

not based on what he has done, but how he makes people feel. the power of personal touch. the next time you talk to someone, remember their story and retell the story. someone else will see them self in that story. , we have tot least instill confidence and inspire people. we face some serious, daunting problems in our country. the pundits of doom and gloom will tell you that everything is bought. the economy is broken beyond repair and people are powerless to improve their communities. is in declineion and our best days are behind us and not ahead of us. that is what they will tell you, that everything is over.

when you look at the constant drumbeat of the negative, you always ask, maybe they are right. even the most positive among us have a hard time waking up in the morning. how many of you felt depressed november 2? yeah, right? what do we do? that there tell you is cause for confidence. confidence in leaders that are out there trying. confidence that we can improve our communities. the economy and improve the nation for crying out loud, we are the united states of america we have never been a nation of fear. [applause] at the republican convention, i that every child who

looks at the seemingly impossible says, i can do that. as many of you have children or grandchildren to watch olympic athletes do the impossible and say, i can do that? my son watch the trampling of and and went outside trying to perform everything that they did and thought he could do it. that is what is great. we have to instill confidence. that is the confidence you have to instill that into the american people. confidence is not air against. true confidence -- confidence is not air againsarrogance. confidence is being ready for the task and having a solid plan and having the determination to persevere.

it is difficult. we have to do that all stop many people have told me after the campaign that this is not the end. it is just the end of the beginning. there is so much to do. i have confidence that we can fix our nation's problems. we can simple five the tax code and have a budget. we can keep the promises he made for seniors. we can keep the premises -- promises. that weake sure sacrifice a little so our children will have opportunities to do amazing things. every individual in this country should be able to walk confidently toward their goals, toward their dreams. i have confidence in the american people. as individuals and as a country, we will not cower in a corner.

we will not drudge forward decline. we will not go gently into that good night. we will stand up and stand out as examples of everything that is good and right in this nation. we needed to do that. [applause] , you areu here today my source of confidence. every time i go out and talk to people who are willing to get into the fight, i have a little bit more renewed energy. thank you for that. remember our story. it is a good story. have been tolds through those who have struggled and strived for better. we have to start our morning today. our stories have been

told in small steps in giant leaps, from a woman on a bus to a man with a dream, to the entrepreneurs and innovators of today. you know what that took? choice to get into the fight. messaging and touching people personally. it inspired confidence in us. all of the people who have done amazing things inspired confidence. that is the task we have to accomplish. if you will join me in this fight, i will not give up if you do not. we can add join me, our voices to this cause. we can make sure that america we know and love is america that our children will have for years to come. god bless you all. thank you for being here and having me. god bless this great country of

the united states of america. [applause] thank you. >> will you take some questions? >> sure. has agreed to take some questions. there are a couple of microphones. line up behind them. when you are recognized, state your name and tell us where you are from. fire away. i thought that was one right there. we will start over here. russ farmer from colorado. what is next for me?

i'm keeping my options open. we have an exploratory committee and we will see if we can get things going again. as i said before, i will not give up if you do not give up. i cannot do this on my own. meet as many people behind us as possible. we need to make sure that we have this message of individual liberty and freedom and we are able to make sure that we get out and we inspire people, inspire everyone. i was able to go to the university of chicago the other day. the students there that tough things come through service.

even though they are hard, in the end they are worth it. told them i refuse to sit in this mold that society wants me to sit into. [applause] imagine if martin luther king decided to sit back and do what society told him to do. if you decided, they know where are our battle so different today than they were then? are they so different when we passed an amendment back then? they are very similar circumstances. i will not give up.

that is the answer to your question. we will continue to fight. we will be out there one way or another. >> one criteria when analyzing your budget was asking the question, is it our job to do this dat? i would love to know plus some of the things you look at but said that was the people's job, not the governments job. in the federal government, i want you to only what are some things that are questioned the same way. >> a great example, two years ago some residents came to me and said, we need a library. lehigh has a library, egomaniacal library. libraries are all expenditures and no revenue. i have children, a library is

appealing to me. i want them to be able to go and find a place where they can read. you have to ask yourself that question. is it affordable, sustainable, is it my job? is it what was elected to do? is it the proper role? , here is what we are going to do. i will do everything i can to help you with a library. if it is truly an essential service, you can do it. resident said, all right. we will go out and do everything we can. they collected looks -- books, qaall books. what they didn't use they repaired and resold. i got private businesses to come in and sponsor the library. the bank of america sponsored the children's library. we were just building a library. we were building a community. people started getting together for the same cause area on everybody was

therefore the library. the library was making a lot of money. we had a movie night. a full-blown library and it is not on the backs of the taxpayers. [applause] and what is interesting, i was there just the other day. my children volunteered to do -- part of the literacy program. a little boy dropped some gum on the carpet and 20 mothers got up and said, you pick that up. i have to fund raise to replace the carpet. [laughter] it is interesting that when we work hard and own something, we really put our time and effort area did it is interesting how much people really take care of what they have worked hard work. -- hard for. [applause] you did ask me one more. what can federal government? it is written right there in the constitution. i don't know what else to say. it is clear.

that, weust followed would be ok. [applause] welcome to god's country. i'm class of 2013. i would be curious to hear your thoughts on the unique role of women in leadership. >>oh. not ew, but, ooh. [laughter] it is interesting. i believe what may be a better candidate is that i did not need this job. sitting righta here, i have to give him a hand. he finances everything i do fear. -- i do here. [applause] i would not be able to do what i do if it weren't for that great man we have over there, he feels

like through me he is sacrificing also and doing his service. to offer. a lot i mean, gosh. for many years, laminating apples to popsicle sticks. people in the department of education that make over $100,000 while our teachers are making pennies. we go to the doctors office with our kids, we realize that every time we go grocery shopping, less is coming home and the prices are going up. for women to be able to offer. just to let you know, i am not one that always stands on the podium and says i am woman, hear me roar. i consider myself a wife, a mother, a concerned citizen, and american. i think we need to make sure we

are not allowing anyone to divide us as people. this whole war on women is absolutely ridiculous. [applause] i need as many people to get involved as possible. that is including moms that want to make sure that their children have an opportunity of reaching their goals. so, thank you. over here. >> bill marshall. on the subject of messaging with a personal touch, when we saw president obama attack the second amendment, he surrounded himself with children. why don't our congressional leaders take a page from that book, when they are discussing the budget and the budget deficit, and the national debt, surround themselves with have justnd say, you mortgaged the future in each of these taxpaying children is going to inherit $380,000 of debt. >> i have so much to say about that. [laughter]

, iare playing this game realized this in our campaign, also. we are playing this game where we are like, playing by the rules. we are the only ones playing by the rules. [applause] in our heads we think, that is kind of cheesy, i would we use our children even though we are doing everything we can to protect them? -- i woke up one morning and all over the news was plastered, mia doesn't like autistic kids. got up and went to an autistic kid schools and said, she will eliminate funding for the students. that is what i mean by, they will win at all costs. be smart. when it comes to personal messaging, yes. i do believe that we have to do what we can to reach people here. maybe that doesn't mean we have -- does mean we bring children

into it. they are the only ones who don't vote and they'll all suffer the most. we have to be able to speak up for them. as long as we are not doing anything that i believe puts themat risk, or exposing in inappropriate ways, i think that we do need to make sure we paint a clear picture of who we are affecting here. if you don't care about yourself, care about these kids. i agree with you. but we have to make sure that whatever we do, our principles stay intact. and that we are able to sleep at night. [applause] >> thank you for taking my question. i am from africa. to be one of the participants of this. my question is this.

the greatest lesson i have learned from the station -- this nation, is one thing, that this nation is built upon one big pillar. and that is, in god we trust. [applause] what do you think about that geck? and where is that pillar now in this nation? >> thank you. you are absolutely right. i believe the majority of the american people are god-fearing. i know that i have a moral compass that is based on my what id -- faith and believe in. i do have to really understand my print titles.

the other thing that makes this country great is that you can come here and worship we want to worship and how you want to worship and make sure that we allow people to make decisions. the greatest confusion that people have that i believe has been clouded over is that, we fromot supposed to be free consequences. we are not supposed to be free from failure. that means whether you choose to believe in a god or choose to make choices, whatever your choices are, you have to be able to read the benefits or suffer the consequences. where i want to make sure that i am able to practice my face, i want to make sure that other individuals can practice their faith. i do believe in a god. a i have my him face and i want to sure that i preserve the opportunity to teach my children in my home when i want them to learn and not have somebody else teach my is.dren whatever it

understand this, when you get federal government to do one thing, they have the power to do the exact opposite, also. that is why my principles always stay the same. individual choice and liberty, reap the benefits, suffer the consequences. [applause] you talk a lot about children and your mother and son who have been involved in pta and obviously mayor of a community. had just become president of a nonprofit that focuses on educating kids about the u.s. constitution. getting right in the schools, getting the document in the schools, getting them involved in that process because the learning does not just start with lpr, extract kids. -- it starts with kids. start and fifth grade, fourth grade, things like global warming and such.

about our founding documents and what it means to be an american at a young age. >> there are a lot of questions in there. [laughter] let me see if i can answer what i think you're asking me. ofernment takeover education, land, healthcare, regulation, businesses, is very real. as much as you say, they are starting really early, i want you to know, i live in a red state. i children are coming home with articles -- there is one article to my child came home with talking about the president's jobs plan. good jobs it said, plan, the right plan for today. -- pretty much, it had

an opinion. this is why, when i say limited it doesn't mean that you eliminate everything. that is not what it means. it means that everything is applied at the appropriate levels. of thecation applied most local level is the most effective and the best solution that we can have. [applause] when it comes to teaching our youth, we have got to make sure that federal government is not educating our children. that we are educating our children. [applause] that is how we are going to start. if we allow them to educate our children, what next? with ideas andup thoughts that weren't necessarily ours. >> thank you for coming. 2002. graduate of lpr in

i work for americans for prosperity. one of the questions i have for you is, in 2008, 56% of the women in america voted for the current guy. in 2012, 55% of the current registered women in america voted for the current guy. what do you suggest in regards to, how do we educate women in america that the policies of the last are really not helping us but hurting us? all messaging. it is all messaging. somehow we have become the non- ,ompassionate, really hard strict, i don't even know what to say, warmongering party. somehow. the way they were able to do that is by messaging correctly. they made people vote with their hearts before they voted with their heads. we are trying to reach weevils

heads first. -- people's heads first. we are losing. we have to make sure when we get out and talk about people stories. i have heard so many stories about moms and about healthcare and different things that actually fit our message. we have to start telling those stories. how many times -- who remembers joe the plumber? joe the plumber has a name, a face, a voice. our numbers do not have a name. they don't have a face, they don't have a voice. what we need to do is start taking individual stories and start telling those stories. does that make sense gecko it is all about messaging. to get people here, they will make the decision there. >> thank you, you motivate all of us. >> thank you. .> thank you for coming out i am a graduate of the class of 2010.

in they funny last name soviet union. your story really resonated with me. i appreciate the immigrant parents. help one day my daughter stands on stage and is able to talk about how her parents taught her the value of hard work and dedication. my question to you is this, as conservatives, we can't offer outcomes. only opportunities. the flipside of opportunities and failure. -- is failure. our competition is offering outcomes. we promise you a safe, risk-free world. we can't. we can give you the possibility of your dreams. we can deliver them for you. how do we message that and make it appealing? >> there is the rub red hair. -- rub right there. one of the things we need to do is get back to the core beliefs.

in other words, how can somebody be independent and free when they are completely dependent on a federal government? when i start talking about certain things like this on the road, i talk about, we are fighting the same battles we fought during the 13th amendment. instead of being enslaved by a plantation owner, now all americans are becoming enslaved by the federal government. what is happening is that, if you cannot provide for yourself, if you're not able to make decisions for yourself, you will never be able to reach your potential or opportunity. the policies that we create today take everyone and bring them to the lowest common denominator. when free markets and freedom does the opposite. it takes everyone from the lowest denominator and brings , it is one of those things that i believe is very difficult. again, i will go back and talk

about individual stories. the reason why my story resonates, because it is real. people like you can see yourself in my story. when i talk about other people and their stories, someone out there can see themselves in that story. , iyou want your children always say, if you want them to have a better life than you have had, you have got to be able to make mistakes. you have got to be up to fail. my father failed many times. but he got back up. through that, i am learning. this is not about freedom from failure. it is about having the opportunity to reach your full potential. buts a difficult message, we have got to get out and talk about individuals and their problems. and how they can make their lives better. >> thank you. >> thank you. [applause] , lpr class ofl

2009. i am a business person here in colorado. i had the privilege of spending on most a decade overseas, starting businesses in developing countries. you have a unique background and perspective on the following -- what is our role as a country in , other other countries people, who we a lot of money , anddevelopmental aid sometimes one wonders where our principles are in that. what is your perspective yucca >> that's really interesting. ,uring the earthquake in haiti i still have family members there. i am glad this is the last question. i wanted to say something about that. during that time, i was getting messages through family members of the situation down there. i want you to know that i know more people in the state of utah that went to haiti to help and i know people in haiti.

here is the thing. we as americans have given more voluntarily than any other country. do i believe we have an opportunity to care for those who cannot care for themselves? yes. should, ife that we we have the resources, to help our neighbors who are suffering, should we do that? yes, i did. but the day that we decide that we need federal government to force us to do that is the day that we decide to decline as a society. a day we decided to be less american. [applause] that is not who we are. in my city, we dealt with a , andthat burned 6000 acres then a flood red after that. we had 22 t homes devastated. i could show you pictures.

water from the bottom up. asking uswas questions. are you going to call fema, what are you going to do? if there was ever a day when i just wanted to throw my hands up and say, it hundred $30 a month is just not worth it. dollars a month was just not worth it. myt would have been it. husband was in the basement shoveling, so is everybody else. the next morning after the andd i got up, went over 5000 people showed up to much shoveling mud out of basement. when they asked me that question, what are you going to do? is fema going to come help yucca i said, we are going to have this cleaned up before washington realizes we are on the map. [applause] , weugh volunteer efforts

were able to clean up the basement in three days. our ownable, through efforts, fundraising help people repair. hard work, education, thrift, savings will take us far beyond what any government program can ever promise. volunteer work. we are.who that is what we need to remind people how we are going to get back on our feet. thank you so much. i really appreciate it. , don'tthere, work hard leave me out there alone. [laughter] [applause] thank you.

>> next, the judge advocate general of the army talks about the legal issues facing the military. after that, a discussion about how editorial artiness betrayed the effort to pass the universal health care law. the effort to pass universal health care law. then, addresses by president obama and representative terry. on the next "washington journal" columnist stan colander and peter were easy -- morici talk about the prospects of reaching a 2012 budget agreement. that is live at 7:00 eastern on c-span. >> monday night on "first ladies." anna harrison, whose husband died after one month in office, and the woman who becomes first lady when john tyler since the

presidency. and julia tyler, who becomes the president second wife. >> j i think of as the madonna of first ladies. she looked publicity. -- loved publicity. she posed as a model when that was frowned upon. the rows ofn as long island. was bewitching. she certainly bewitched 57-year- old john tyler. she loved being first lady. she had the job for less than a year. whoit was julie tyler ordered the marine band to play helped him achieve whenever the president appears. it was also her who greeted her guests, sitting on a throne on a raised platform with purple plumes in her hair. moret as if she was the

queenly role that martha washington had deliberately rejected. >> we will include questions and comments about these three first ladies by phone, facebook, and twitter. monday night at 9:00 eastern on c-span and c-span three, c-span radio, and c-span.org. >> now the judge advocate general of the army, lieutenant general david chipman talks about legal issues facing the .ilitary, from furman university in greenville, south carolina, this is just under one hour. [applause] >> one of the hallmarks of the american democratic experiment and one of the hallmarks of our constitutional tradition is that, for centuries, as a republic, we have debated in our public policy and in our law fundamental questions that go to the core of our values and our american identity.