well. thank you for your concerns about them. [laughter] laura are doing well. they have opened up the presidential library. place. great they continue to do their work. i'm proud of my brother. i love the fact that his favorite rating is 50%. higher than the current occupant of the white house. [applause] politics things go up and down, but over time people begin to make their assessments quietly in their own ways. i think history will continue to be kind about my brother.

the last thing about the bush family, i desperately wanted to have grandkids. it was an obsession of mine. and show offd come their pictures on their iphones. if you want to see the pictures you geto grandchildren, a sense of where that came from. 23 months. the joy of my life. we call her 41. [laughter] 3 weeks old, prescott walker bush, it makes everything in the right perspective. family matters the most in life. yours is a little bit bigger than mine.

nevertheless, family matters a lot. thank you for asking about the bushes. [applause] about the speak a lot last election in november. i will let you all suffer along with me in that regard. our rand isbecause tarnished with an ever changing america. we might believe that we represent the best hope for america, but unfortunately, that is not how most americans thought and what about casting their ballots. they were given a choice between two visions, one was conservative and familiar to all choice offeredr other things, a different vision. it offered what i believe is false promises of economic security in lieu of economic opportunity. the other choice won out. how could somebody convince a majority of millions of voters

that they are better off having their own economic decisions and healthcare and religious freedoms and financial choices and everything else in their lives managed by a bureaucracy and progressive elites? the answer is simple -- we do not make our case that well. they did. this is important. the path we are on today is a path of decline. that is far less than our potential. it is a path where the new normal is seven percent unemployment. where 48 million people are on food stamps and 10 million people are on disability . it is a path where millions of children are stuck in failing schools everyday. this is a future so bleak that journalnt wall street

story said, "america's risk- taking culture appears to be fading." it is not that we are seeing the decline of the american dream. we are seeing the decline of american dreamers. to my my goal is not just to focus on what we need to do to win elections. my goal is to talk about how we focus on winning back the future of this country. what is our challenge? the reason i was looking at a set of black and white pictures at the turn of the 20th century, amazing photos from the library of congress and the historical treasure. what is striking about that time is that america was a young nation. you could see in the photos that there was a photo that struck me of bathers in west palm beach. to purchase some of that empty l

and at the turn-of-the-century. our nation understood it would grow. growth was taken for granted. america at the very same dynamism that he's in hong kong in tel aviv -- that you see hong kong and tel aviv -- we welcome growth in all of its forms. we welcome new immigrants. we welcome new technologies. we explore our natural boundaries. we had some catching up to do. because we were behind, we did not have time to waste. just wait a few more years while the planners figured this out. we couldn't afford to wait one day. too much was at stake.

that sense of playing behind was one of our greatest and most important national characteristics. we had to be bold. we had to be willing to make mistakes. we had to think like the young nation that we were. my question to you tonight is this -- can we be a young country like that again? .t would be an emerging country if we can, i believe it would be precisely because of the ideas and the policies and the people represented in this room. i believe the conservative movement can restore america's health and help make it the oldest young nation on the face of the planet. idea, anrt with a core idea that i think we can all agree upon. an idea thathoice, does not happen by chance. economist might disagree. you might say that economic

activity and greater investment -- on one level, they are correct. but those don't just happen. they happen because we agreed to pursue them. recruitment policy so we can have more of it. growth is a choice. us to get used to 2% of gdp growth as the normal. they would prefer us to accept slower growth as the price for greater certainty. they prefer less experimentation and more regulations and less disruption and less dynamism. they want us to set up more guard rails against the risk and a sudden change. more speed bumps, if you will. so everything down to a nice and moderate pace so the central planners can figure it all out. shave off the tops of economic cycles and put more cushion for those dollars as well.

it gets much harder to pick up speed. when you are a freight of change, you become more complacent. you fear losing what you have. that is the attitude that comeils in this country especially in the white house. president obama has many gifts, but one thing he does not seem to understand is basic economics . he has this almost naïve view that america's economy is so strong that you can do anything to it and nothing bad will happen. you can nationalize health and undermine the banking sector there and raise taxes and fees and regulate with abandon. trillion dollar deficits annually. demonize small business owners and investors. in his world, it does not leave a mark. but it has left a mark.

we are still several million dollars -- we are still several million jobs short than where we were. 8 million americans who have simply given up on looking for work. we have an entire city that was once a great city teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. that city is detroit and more cities are behind it. we have had more than four years to see what barack obama knows about economics. all respect, with he is an utter and complete failure. that is why we need to adopt -- [applause] before we change our policies, we need to adopt the mentality and the approach of an emerging country. embrace of the unknown.

it is all part of a great untapped opportunity if they choose to explore. make theld we do to choice of economic growth in our country? patriotic energy policy based on u.s. innovation and north american resources. shifting immigration policy to an economic strategy to create and sustain economic growth. heard, a radical transformation so that all children are given the chance to succeed to be able to gain the power of knowledge to access the first rung of the economic ladder. fourth, we need to restore loving and committed family life as organizing principle of the institution in american life. >[applause] most energy, we are the energy resource country in the world.

of'sve over 100 years supplies of gas. billions of barrels. we are the source of innovation in the world. the most transformative innovations is the internet was commercialized is the combination of to existing innovations that have around for a while and horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracking. we should be celebrating this have.enal -- and we are choosing not to grow. saying in theare debate, that is for other people and not for us. in parts of new york, there is a huge opportunity exists for the -- ore ration of economic

the communities young people grew up in our diminishing day by day as liberals decide that american innovation in this area is too scary. it creates too many opportunities to get my break the idea that somehow government is the solution to our problems. what should we do? approved --ama needs to approve the xl pipeline for crying out loud. [applause] this is the biggest no-brainer that exist. we should have rational regulation for fracking to make sure it is done responsibly, but do not paralyze it. i do not think that damon should be the president of environment protection. we need to create that thousands of jobs and billions of

investment in our own country. open up federal lands and waters for drilling. there has been a significant decline in the obama years. getting oil from parts of the world that are unstable and could hate us or do hate us is a better strategy than developing -- wen resources and should help mexico with the modernization of its oil sector. the objective should be energy secure with north american resources and american technology driving that change. we should let the market forces decide where to invest. governmentrt to venture capital because it is clearly an oxymoron. it does not work. [applause] a real energy strategy would give us 1% additional real growth in our economy.

it would create a burst of optimism that would get us right on track. there are other things we need to do. united states has a huge economic advantage over any other country in this world. not as af immigration political issue, but economic issue. demography is destiny. an aging population with fewer workers mean slower growth. it means a growing burden on young workers. the slow-growing developing countries have all decades of low fertility rates. , russia, and now china feeling the devastating impacts of its one child policy. our fertility rate has dropped dramatically in the last few years. it stands at 1.8. that is below break even. despite heroic efforts to have nine kids -- [laughter]

eileen, it is clear you have done your part. no question about it. i'm told numbers of grandkids. -- untold number of grandkids. i have a family experience in this regard. wife comes from mexico. she is an american by choice. law istiful daughter-in- from canada. immigration is part of our heritage. everyone has an immigrant expense they can share. immigrants are the economic engine of vitality. they make things happen. andeed to make more things have more people focused on making things happen. as the number of businesses created by native americans

declines, the businesses among immigrants has soared to 50%. in 1999, american scientists were granted 90,000 patents compared to 70,000 patents from sciences from other countries. 10 years later, more patents granted by foreign scientists that americans. what do we need to do? how do we get out of the political realm and make it a high growth come economic strategy creates opportunities for all of us? -- except do except the fact that our immigration system is broken. it does not work. [applause] we are not enforcing the laws. we group -- we are creating mistrust. --n not taking advantage we're not taking vantage of citizens that that wait in limbo. that makes it ethical for employers to get the talent that they need and it turns many

ambitious people into lawbreakers. immigration policy must be grounded in the role of law. [applause] we need to continue to improve our border security and track down that thousands of people who overstay their visas. 40% of the people here illegally came through legal visas. a great country should be able to figure out who those people are and politely ask them to leave when their visas expire. getting here and staying here illegally should be much harder --h greater costs than today, there is no legal immigration for a great number of people. we need to have a comprehensive approach. noter security itself will solve the problem unless we make a path to legal status for those that we want to calm. -- come.

it should be narrowed to reuniting family. has about 75% of its immigrants covering economic purposes. we are the only country that has this broad definition of family. we ought to be strategic about this as canada has and others have to create economic activity. work-based abuses should be increased based on needs. should besed visas increased based on needs. program forstworker seasonal industries and many of -- it isustries crucial. for people who come in legally,

cap to legal status should happen by paying a fine and learning english and understanding our own history. no welfare payments during the time of their waiting for their permanent legal status. no breaking of the laws. this is the path to a better place. [applause] alonetwo policy areas done right would create a significantly higher growth rate for our country over the long haul. in order to sustain that we have to assure that the god-given ability of every child is fulfilled. today in america, that is not the case. we spend more per student than any other country in the world other than luxenberg. i was told that norway is ahead of us.

is that we spend a ton of money for students and we have 40% of our kids challenge or career ready. rateigh school graduation is about 80%. that means him and gets a piece of paper, but when they go to a college or community college, certainly they are not career ready. this is that tragedy of complacency in our country. we operate with a structure that looks similar to what look like what hundred years ago. 13,000 plus public monopolies driven by the economic interest of adults and being the model for our kids. and agriculture calendar for the times that kids go to school and we expect in 2013 we will get the kind of results that we need. we do not need reform. we need transformation.

to challengeourage every basic assumption of how this works. we started on this journey by raising standards and grading schools and eliminating social promotion and embracing every possible school choice program that the legislation would allow us to have. we can focus on early childhood literacy. turning the system upside down, we went from the bottom of the -- we went from -- to 6 out of 50. removed the needle. -- we moved the needle. math scores have seen dramatic improvement. but youmove the needle,

need the courage to make something work. [applause] the next big challenge is higher standards. in 1998 as a candidate, i sat behind a young man who is studying for the high school graduation test at that time. it was in eighth grade level aptitude. eighth-grade level. this kid was struggling. a baseball game starts at 3:00 p.m. ds at 4:30 how long did the game go? he could not answer the question. [laughter] is always a wise guy in the crowd. this simple fact is this guy couldn't answer it. the sad fact is that thousands and thousands of kids in our country today through mediocrity and lowering standards and

having excuses and saying it is not fair to have high standards for all kids because we are told over and over again and that result is that a 16-year-old kid not answer that question. how can he get a job? how can you expect them to be career or college ready? this is what is happening in new york and florida. we need to light up the scoreboard to challenge every basic assumption to move our system. high expectations for every kids. [applause] if we don't do this, we changed we are as a nation. you pursue those other dreams with a vengeance, you can do anything you want to be. if we skew the way the failure -- a kidion system

could have a dream, but they don't have the tools to pursue those dreams, we create two americas. one that is stuck permanently in poverty and the other that might live above all of us and quite well. we need to challenge the system to make sure that there is upward social mobility again in our country. [applause] secure a way to sustainable high growth and emerging nation kind of country, families matter. do not ignore the fact that our founders when they created this assumedle country, they we would be a self-governing people. they assumed we could turn ourselves and the best means of governing ourselves was to have a committed family life that

loves children with all their hearts and soul. there is an effort in the adult success to ensure that their children gain the power of knowledge and gain the virtues that allow them to be successful in life. that concept has been eroded dramatically. there is now this time in political correctness where we cannot even talk about it. 42% of all babies brought into will be brought into a world out of wedlock. there is a dad somewhere, not the husband of the mom that is not living in the family and committed as all debt should be -- and not committed as all dads should be. no country has been successful and that kind of environment that i am aware of.

there should be stability and passion and love and respect. i will not get into the specific but let me say that if we expect as that liberals and progressives suggest, whenever you hear the problems of family life like this, the default for the liberals and progressives are another government program. another set of rules and regulations. hiring of people who have higher incomes. we need to look ourselves in the isror as a country and say, this the most powerful entity in life? you came to this dinner is living proof of that. the single most powerful institution in america for success are committed families. that should be at the bedrock of who we are. [applause]

now that i am a grandfather, and understand expression man plans and god laughs. i'm starting to get the joke. i do see things not in great, but in black and white much more than i used to. not about the little things, but the big innings. the big thing is america's future. will it go down the path of expectations with fewer opportunities? that is what politics is about in the next election cycle. there can be no middle ground on this issue. america is the sum total of the choices that all of us citizens make. with every issue i discussed -- energy, immigration, family -- i

have a bias choosing what america could look like five years from now, 10 years and now, 20 years are now, or even 100 years are now. emerging market should think. that is how we should think. president obama is not making good choices. immigration he has not led. on foreign policy, it does not lead, even from behind. thankfully, we can reverse the bad choices as easily as the good ones. that is the work of the conservative party. there's a vision that welcomes economic growth and freedom in all of its forms. a vision that sees potential in every life and all new visions.

a vision that america was once vibrant and optimistic and ready to grow. it can be that way again. america's best days are ahead of it. -- that is visit and a vision that we will choose with your help. that can be a reality. thank you. god bless you all. god bless the conservative party of new york. [applause] >> tonight, the house oversight committee debates whether irs official lois lerner waived her fifth amendment rights at a hearing in may. immigration policy in the house. later, rand paul campaigns in

south carolina. >> the house oversight committee today voted along party lines to pass a resolution saying that irs official lois lerner waived her right to remain silent. ms. lerner was in charge of the irs tax exempt organization office and is now on administrative leave. >> the committee will come to order. the committee meets today to consider a resolution to determine whether lois lerner waived her fifth amendment privilege against self- incrimination when she made a voluntary opening statement during the committee's hearing that began on may 22, 2013. the clerk will designate the resolution. >> the resolution on the committee on oversight and