these revelations are really, really concerning. americans were counting on the president's claim that their family premiums would go down, not up, under a new health regime. americans who have lost their insurance and find themselves forced to enter the exchanges, the last thing they need is to worry about some felon stealing their identity. and to many americans, the administration still seems more interested in deflecting blame than taking responsibility for the real harm this law is causing. yesterday's hearing did little to dispel that notion. by now we've heard our friends on the left blame just about everyone and everything for the disaster they forced on our country. everyone and everything, of course, except themselves. they've tried to blame the same contractors they hired. they blame the republicans. they blame the tea party. i'm sure they've even tried to pin this on george w. bush. of course the administration

repeatedly tried to blame insurance companies too. here's what the "washington post" fact checker had to say about that. the administration's effort to pin the blame on the insurance companies is a classic case of misdirection. that's "the washington post." classic case of misdirection. they got three pinocchios for that whopper. unfortunately that doesn't seem to have deterred our friends on the other side from indulging in the blame game. within just the past week we've seen the white house lash out at the words of a cancer survivor and try to point a finger of blame at texans. and a few days ago -- get this one -- one of the president's closest political allies attacked the very kind of folks who are now losing their health coverage under obamacare. free riders he called them. free riders. you know the folks he's talking about. these aren't people who have done anything wrong. they're not freeloaders or free riders or anything else. they're our neighbors, our

constituents, and they're not looking for handouts from the government. in fact, these are folks who went out and spent their own hard-earned money -- not taxpayer money -- to purchase the kind of health and protection that best suits their families. and for this the president's allies attacked him? many just want the government to leave them alone. many just want to be able to keep the plans they like instead of only the plans the president likes. they want to keep the plans that they like, not the ones the president in effect picks for them. here's what a small business owner in north carolina said after his premiums shot up 400%. "i just wish i could have my insurance back." that's what he said. "i just wish i could have my insurance back." i just read about a constituent this morning who lost his insurance and is finding that policies on the exchange will be more than double his premium and increase his annual deductible.

that's partly because as a 31-year-old single male he will now be required to buy a policy with features he doesn't need such as pediatric dental care and maternity care. it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, he said. another constituent from caldwell county had this to say after learning of changes to her plan. my husband and i work hard, pay a lot of taxes and ask for little from the government. is it asking too much for the government to stay out of our health insurance? no, it's not asking too much. it's simply taking the president at his word for the promise he made over and over and over again. the promise that so many democrats here in washington made to their constituents but that we now know is simply not true. i understand that the white house is in a tight spot here. they did a poor job preparing the country for this law. they wasted time making promises

that simply couldn't pan out. and they chose to ignore the warnings from my party and experts across the country that these kind of things would indeed happen. well, this is the result, and people are getting hurt. premiums are rising. taxes are going up for millions in the middle class. folks are losing access to hospitals and doctors that they like. and at this point more americans have lost health coverage than have gained it. as i mentioned yesterday, more than 50 times -- 50 times as many kentuckians have lost private health coverage as have signed up for health plans on the state exchange. that's 280,000 folks we're talking about here in my state. 280,000 kentuckians who lost their insurance. in louisiana, we're talking about 280,000 in kentucky. and in louisiana we're talking about 80,000 folks. up in minnesota, 140,000 people. close to half a million in

georgia who lost their insurance. so it's way past time for our democratic friends to end the blame game. instead they need to start acknowledging the consequences of their law and actually do something about the mess that they created. if they're ready to do so, republicans are willing to help. let's work together to undo the harm of obamacare and start over with real bipartisan cost-saving reforms, reforms that will actually allow americans to keep the health plans that they like. that's the kind of reform americans really want. and if democrats are ready to work together with us, we can give them just that. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following my remarks the senate will resume consideration of s. 815, which is the employment nondiscrimination act. at 11:45 there will be two roll call votes, first on the toomey amendment and then a cloture

vote on the bill. if cloture is invoked there will be a third roll call vote on passage of the employment nondiscrimination act. mr. president, i am happy to join my friend in happy birthday wishes for billy graham. i haven't had the good fortune to meet this man, but i've read his book. i read a by ography of him. he's such a personality, i thought that was something i should do, and i did it. and i remember a lot of things about the book. the one thing i do remember is this. he's so scrupulous in making sure that there's never any question about his integrity, his moral integrity. i know we've had a lot of problems with people who are out preaching and don't turn out to be so good. but billy graham, among other things, would never meet a female in his office without the door being wide open so people

could see everything that was going on in that room. that's just an indication of the kind of person he is. so i join with my friend in congratulating billy graham in his 95th year. mr. president, the remarks of my friend, the republican leader, kind of remind me of a joke that's not very funny but it's a joke that makes the point here, i think. prison setting. these people run out of material for jokes. they are together all the time. the same joke day after day. so they decided what they would do is they would list the best jokes, 1 to 50. and rather than tell the joke over and over again they will just yell a number and people would laugh. well, that's what we have here,

mr. president. my republican colleagues, why don't they just -- let's number their one through 50 crit symms of obamacare -- criticisms of obamacare and then rather than coming and giving these speeches, just give us a number, and we would all -- because we've heard these things so many times -- we would poodl immediay laugh because they're jokes, too. it's too bad that the republican leader and many of his colleagues want to keep fighting an old fight. four years ago we passed the health reform bill, four years ago. the president signed it the supreme court upheld it. it is the law of the land. of course, we want to make it better, and certainly with what's going on with the rollout of the web site, we need to do that. i wish our republican colleagues would stop trying to scare people out of participating in this program. if they would stop moving last

year's fights and do the business of the american people, weewe'd all be better off. we can look back at when we have made big changes in legislation, mr. president. and we have made some big changes here in this body. those matters dealing with health care, for example. i wasn't here with medicare, but i remember how important it was because at the time that passed, i was the chairman of the board of trustees, an elected position, in nevada of the most extensive -- the biggest hospital district in nevada, lots of beds, lots of patients. so i remember the impact of medicare. but we also know that it didn't become popular overnight. there was a lot of criticism of it. most recently -- not nearly, not nearly as big as obamacare or medicare, but i was here when we passed under the leadership of president bush number 2 the

medicare drug benefit. now, a number of us didn't like that. we thought it didn't go far enough and should have been done differently. but it passed this body and became the law of the land. it was difficult to get that up and running. but, mr. president, we did not come to the for that and say, get rid of this bill. we believed, as imperfect as it was, it was the beginning of building support for doing something about health care in america. so i wish that my republican colleagues would do something constructive regarding health care. we've not heard one positive remark about what they would do to change what we have already done. so i think we would all be better off if that in fact were the case. mr. president, this legislation is working and it'll work even better when we get this web site deal worked out.

there are people in nevada, there are people in new jersey, there are people in indiana, there are people all over america today who are benefiting as a result of what happened four years ago here in the senate and the house of representatives and the president signed it. mr. president, i am sure the presiding officer and other people that are listening to this speech, every one of them can identify someone who has -- has or had a preexisting disability. under the old law, if you were a woman, it was a preexisting disability. you could be charged differently because you were a woman. a child born with diabetes, an adult with diabetes, someone who had been in an automobile accident, someone who was, like my friend tony coelho, who served in the house -- i served with him, one of the leaders in

the house when i was there -- he wahad a preexisting disability. if you are under age 18 it doesn't matter if you have a preexisting difficulty. and at 1st of the year, you can be an adult and have a preexisting disability and get insurance. in many states we extended the preexisting disability exemption. the bush drug benefit. it was flawed, mr. president. what did we do in obamacare? we didn't try to get rid of it. we improved t the so-called doughnut hole? that doughnut hole is being filled, and millions of senior citizens in america during the last four years have received millions and millions of dollars

of benefits because their drugs are cheaper. i've talked on this floor before, and i'll say it again, searchlight, nevada, my home, there was a young man there that was in college. he was on his parents' insurance. and you could stay on there until you were 23 years old. he turned 23. within a matter of weeks, he started getting really sick. he had testicular cancer. his parents had no money. i had -- one of my friends is a neurologist. he did the surgery for free, but he had two other surgeries that weren't for free. his parents had no money. one was a retired janitor, one

worked in the post office in searchlight. they worked hard. many people didn't have the benefit of his parents, who s.a.t. sacrifice add great deal for their boy -- who sacrificed a great deal for their boy. today that doesn't work. no longer is that a problem, because you can stay on your parents' insurance for three more years. obamacare is a wonderful piece of legislation for america. let's make it better. stop carping about this. get over it. it's the law. it's the legacy of barack obama and always will be. let's get over this and stop the mischievous, misfortunate speeches out here every day about how bad it is. talk about the good things in this bill, and help us to make

it better. now, mr. president, this afternoon this senate will vote to advance the employment nondiscrimination abilit act, legislation that would protect all americans from workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation. vote on final passage will occur shortly after the caucus, and that actually will start before the caucus votes -- i mean, before the caucus adjourns. so we'll start voting at 1:45 this afternoon. i do hope and expect a bipartisan vote, a good one, to extend safeguards against workplace harassment and discrimination to every american. the time has come for congress to pass a federal law that ensures all citizens, regardless of where they live, can go to work not afraid of who they are. more than 80% of the american people feel that is already the law. they feel that is already the law. well, it isn't already the law,

that ibut that is what they fee. let's do what the american people think already exists. i appreciate very much chairman harkin, a devoted person for people who need help. if you want to watch c-span and you see it's closed-captioned. why is that? because tom harkin led a fight here in the senate for many years -- h he has a brother thas hearing-impaired. and because of this, he focused on this and now we have closed-captioning. we have all kinds of things dealing with the disabled because of tom harkin. the disabilities act, so important for our country, is now the law. so i appreciate chairman harki harkin's work on this legislation. it is a shame for iowa and the country that he's decided not to run for reelection. what a good man. but working also on this

legislation is jeff merkley from oregon. he ihe has devoted huge amounts of time this legislation. i admire and respect him so much. these two fine senators, is i respect and appreciate their leadership. i hope speaker boehner will reconsider his decision not to bring this up for a vote in the house of representatives. mr. president, this legislation would pass by a nice margin in the house, if the speaker would allow a vote on it. i can't understand what's going on in the house of representatives. legislation that the american people want is held up over there. the farm bill -- the farm bill, saving this country $23 billion ... they won't bring it up. the american people want this. there are reforms in that legislation that senator stabenow and others have worked so hard on doing at putting in

place for decades. it's in this bill. the house is holding this up. immigration reform, mr. president -- america wants immigration reform. they're going to get it. it's just too bad that it's being fought every step of the way by my friend, this speaker. comprehensive immigration reform is something that's needed in this body. it's needed in the house. we've already done it here. it should be the law of the land. and they're so focused on debt reduction, immigration reform saves $^1 trillion of debt. marketplace fairness to allow little strip mall operators, small businesses, to have the same benefits that others have. mr. president, it's unfair to the cement, mortar places that

they rent to not be competitive with the places on the internet that pay no sales tax. the house is holding that up. now they're holding this up. that's just part of the legislation that people around the nation support that the house is holding up. so i hope he'll reconsider his position. i will also file cloture on the nomination of heidi here's what the d.c. circuit chief judge patricia wall said of the caseload. "the d.c. court hears the more time-consuming, complex cases with impact on ordinary americans' lives.

phs unfortunate that republicans are filibustering another. georgetown law professor nina pill lard is the next victim of what the republicans are doing here. she graduated magna cum laude from yale law school. and a. tended harvard law school. for five years she litigated racial discrimination cases as an foreigner for the naacp. she served as deputy assistant attorney general and solicitor attorney general. support for her confirmation is bipartisan. two top officials from the bush era have supported her nomination. professor pillarrd is also codirector of the university of georgetown. she brings a wealth of knowledge to the job. she's argued nine cases before the supreme court and written briefs for 25 others. her arguments helped the

virginia military institute for women and beat back a constitutional challenge for the family medical leave act. she is qualified and dedicated, so it is truly a shame that republicans would filibuster this nomination for unrelated political reasons. the d.c. circuit is currently operating with only eight of its 11 seats. while senate republicans are blocking president obama's nominees to this court, they're happy to confirm judges to the d.c. circuit under both bushes. republicans have already blocked two exceedingly qualified nominees to the d.c. circuit. so i hope my republicans will not block another qualified nominee when we vote on cloture on this matter next week. this nominee zev's a fair >> libido reporting this evening that obama offered an apology today to those americans who have been told they are losing

their health insurance plans contrary to his promise that no one would be forced off a planned they wanted to keep. he said in an interview, "i am sorry they are finding themselves in the situation based on assurances they got for me. go the health care law is bound to come up in comments by texas governor rick perry. hosted by the polk county republican party, it is the governor's first major appearance in the state since the last presidential race. here is a preview. obama was fundraising in dallas yesterday for texas obama was- fundraising in dallas yesterday. -- you are writing the president comes to the state, texas being one of the chief sources of resistance to the health care law, what did the president accomplish yesterday? >> the primary goal seemed to be

fundraising, and he raised some large sum that we do not know the exact amount of money for the democratic senatorial campaign committee, which will go to states other than texas because so far texas democrats are not competitive. john cornyn is up for reelection, but the democrats are not making a run at him. that was a top goal for the president, but as far as pitching obamacare and the affordable care act, it makes sense for him in a lot of ways to go to a place like texas, behind a long number of uninsured americans, exceedingly high percentage of texans, roughly one in four who lack health care coverage. like texas place does that is where the uninsured americans are. it politically makes sense for him to go and take on governor rick perry directly.'s resistance to expanding medicaid

is one of the reasons -- it is a major obstacle to clearing the roles of uninsured texans. -- the rolls of uninsured texans. governor perry was not surprisingly unimpressed by the argument. he argues that the affordable care act is the wrong way to go. in particular, the kind of indicate expansion that president obama would like is not the right way to go for the state of texas. he and other republicans do not trust that the formula will stay intact. so they say whatever the promises coming out of washington are right now him it is going to end up being much more costly and could potential to bankrupt texas over time come as this dates share of the medicaid cost goes up. -- stateederal

combined program, and in the early years, the aca promises for reimbursement. republicans in texas did not trust that and point all the problems of the rollout of obamacare, and things like the fact that people are in fact losing their insurance when the president had promised countless times that they would not lose their interest, as evidence that you cannot trust what comes out of washington. and thee politics possible 2016 politics, rick perry adding to iowa this evening -- what is he hoping to accomplish? >> is probably hoping to come bush an outpouring of support and an uprising that says rick perry, we want you to run again. he ran fifth in the caucuses in 2012. it was really devastating. at one point he was just a shooting star, because he faded eventually, and in a fairly embarrassing way at the end.

i'm sure he would love to run for president. he is testing the waters, as many of these candidates are, and i think he is hoping to make some connections with people, rekindle some connections, and see how it goes. >> he is the second prominent texan to be in iowa. you cover ted cruz in iowa a couple weeks ago? >> he was in iowa three times in the past months, and each time he was at very friendly audiences, krishan conservatives come up primarily. and even though the republican dinner he was at mostly andacted to party activists solid social conservatives and those are the folks to want to come out and see if a guy like ted cruz. they love him. they certainly do not hold him to blame for the government shutdown, unlike democrats and more moderate republicans. going touz is surely

be a contender within a segment of the iowa electorate. it is interesting to see oath perry and cruise -- to see both perry and cruz go after that because they play for the same people. they will fight for the same portion of the voters. >> to the health care politics, any indication rick kerry will address the comments of president obama yesterday in dallas? >> i would not be surprised. he is very proud of the fact that texas has been a bastion of resistance to obamacare. it is one of the states that had fought the law and court. he has refused to ask band medicaid -- he has refused to expand medicaid. not be surprised if he addresses it. he is certainly no fan of the president or obamacare. is a pure chief

for the dallas morning news. ask for joining us. >> thanks. >> texas governor perry will lead off our prime time tonight. live coverage on c-span. 2, at 8:00, power plants and carbon emissions. on c-span3, a hearing on the impact of budget cuts on national defense. earlier today, senate democrats held a briefing ahead of the passing of a bill making discrimination against gay and legal.dividuals the this is 25 minutes. >> who are we missing? do you want to reverse

-- ok, ready to start. go ahead. >> let the bells of freedom ring. this is a very exciting time to have this bipartisan vote to close debate, and after lunch we will be having the final vote. focusedte has clearly to end discrimination in the work pace. i think so much the leadership of senator reed -- i thank so much the leadership of senator sure that this happened. senator harkin, who guided the committee after several hearings and then a markup, for a terrific bipartisan team. brought so much in energy and momentum in coming to us from the house with her experience and her story. senator senator kirk as the chief

cosponsor who helped connect his colleagues. 2009-2010, the chief cosponsor continued working on this day in and day out. it is an incredible bipartisan group that says discrimination must end. i certainly must mention senator kennedy. he asked me to undertake leadership of this bill in 2009. , when we introduced it daysgust of 2009, just 20 before he passed away, he said " the promise of america will never be fulfilled as long as justice is denied to even one among us." very true words. it is from the declaration of independence to the constitution, to the battle over gender discrimination, race

discrimination, we have fought to capture the vision of equality and liberty and opportunity and fairness. we have taken a huge stride in that direction today. now i hope that the momentum will carry to the house. has mentionedr that he might not bring this up in the house. i call upon him to do so. his concern that perhaps other laws follow this, i can assure you that they are not. in 29 states, it is legal to discriminate against the lgbt community. his concern that there will be lawsuits -- he is concerned that it will reduce unemployment. that is unfounded. if any individual can rise to their full potential within the workplace, the entire company

thrives and that creates more jobs. for is a terrific day fairness and freedom. i am just honored to have been part of this tremendous coalition that has made this happen. thank you. >> thank you, jeff. that we would say not be year without jeff. he spearheaded this whole effort. thank himn, i want to for steering us through and being such a strong supporter of it. today is an historic day. think about it. in 1964, we passed the civil rights act. 1990, we passed the americans with disabilities act. some of us were there at the time. now we have sort of finished the trilogy. we have now said, no more discrimination on the basis of your sexual orientation or your gender identity. historic occasion in the united states senate.

i think it is also remarkable that we got strong bipartisan support. i do not know what the final vote is, but i think it will be 62 or 63. 64 votes. i am proud of the fact that our committee reported out. it is the first time we have reported out a nondiscrimination bill on sexual discrimination and gender identity. we did that in july. i want to thank the leadership team, especially senator reed -- for his making sure we had an opportunity to bring this to the floor. this leadership team made it possible for us to come here. i cannot tell you how much we thank you. i want to thank senator baldwin, one of the new members of the midi. i am sure glad she left the house and came to the senate.

she has been so instrumental in bringing this up. the ball is now passed to the house. the house of representatives now has this. well, will shortly have it. i am calling on speaker boehner to bring the bill to the floor. let the house vote on it. i am convinced if the house votes on this, it will pass the house and go to the president. so i am asking speaker boehner, do not stop it. america havele in been waiting for far too long to end this blatant discrimination against people because of their gender identity or sexual orientation. the words toquote remember when we passed the americans with disabilities act in 1990. the first president bush signed into law and said, "let the shameful walls of discrimination

come tumbling down." terms of people with disabilities and it is true today in terms of our lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender mothers and sisters in america. let the shameful walls of discrimination come down. speaker boehner, bring this bill to the floor. i want to say that what we have seen on the senate floor today and what we will see later this afternoon is such a restatement of basic american values, freedom, fairness, and opportunity. myself in thelike lgbt community, the opportunity to be judged in the workplace by your skills and qualifications, your loyalty and work ethic, is an important pronouncement for this nation.

i talked about the substantive impact of passing laws, but i also just want to reiterate the symbolic impact. when we say something is wrong and it should not be done, that sends a powerful message that prevents discrimination in the first place. a really tremendous milestone, a day i will never forget in my service in the senate. howso just want to add remarkable it has been to work with this really committed team of leaders in the u.s. senate everyday committed to freedom and fairness, equality and opportunity. house.ve served in the i am sure over there someplace, i just do not know where, there is this room. and it has in it the farm bill.

issues, a bigtion bill. it has marketplace fairness. and we can add to that this. the right time is going to come when we find out where it is an bring out all of the stuff that the american people support overwhelmingly. boehner, please do what is right for the american people. let's do this legislation. it is fair. this legislation is only about fairness. more than 80% of the american people already believe it is the law. so let's do it. >> i want to thank chairman harkin and jeff and tammy baldwin for the amazing achievement which we are seeing on the senate floor today. this is a big week for those of us from illinois.

it was just a day or two ago, two days ago, that the general assembly passed marriage equality, about to be signed into law. making it the 15th state in the nation that has reached this amazing, historic milestone. day for important illinois in the united states senate. republican senate and the democratic senator both cosponsored and supported this important legislation. was an historic victory and shows how quickly our country is moving forward. it was not that long ago when it was acceptable to refuse to hire people based on the color of their skin, their religion or their gender. time was striking that wrong with title 7. lawyers couldnd fire people simply because of their age. we put an end to age discrimination. as tom harkin, who can proudly say he was the author along with

bob dole, there was a time in this country when an employee could be passed over for a promotion simply because they were living with a disability. the americans with disabilities to that type of discrimination. speaker boehner has said that the current law already prevents this type of discrimination. for that reason, they will not consider this bill. i asked him to go home and take a look around his state of ohio. his home state of ohio is one of the 29 states which allow employers to discriminate based on sexual orientation. that, whenscionable given an opportunity to right one of the last remaining civil rights issues of our time, speaker boehner and those who follow his lead in the house of representatives are turning their backs. we have an opportunity to outlaw one of the last vestiges of discrimination in the workplace.

anyone who is a student of history knows that our history books are littered with those public figures who said we cannot end discrimination based on age, race, disability, gender. think about their place in history today. i will not recount the names. speaker boehner, think about the party you belong to. party of the united states of america came into being over the issue of slavery. ideals ofo embody the that republican party was none other than abraham lincoln, who literally gave his life for this country to end discrimination. he that proud republican tradition alive. do not stop this bill in the house of representatives. >> i would like to thank chairman martin, senator merkel and senator baldwin, who spearheaded this great passage today.

of course, senator kennedy is looking down from heaven and smiling. he hoped to give him more to smile about in the next few months. ope to give him more to smile about in the next few months. here is the problem here. speaker boehner has already said vote.l not give this a everyone talks about gridlock in washington. it rests with one man, speaker boehner. that is a problem. the problem is the house of representatives has become a legislative black hole. it is the broken cog in our governmental wheel. nearly every time the senate passes a bill, it is like we are banishing the issue to a faraway jail. speaker boehner is a prison warden. enda will not suffer the same fate. if the house of representatives does insist on going down this road, he will be sending their party straight to oblivion.

they sat on a farm bill, and immigration bill, issue after issue. the house seems to be the place where bipartisan senate legislation goes to die. we get republican votes here in the senate. nine courageous votes today. >> 10. 10 courageous votes today. the number keeps going up. our count keeps going up. and it will continue to go up up. why can't the house do the same thing? they oppose bipartisan bills at their own peril and they alienate more voters every time they do it. they have alienated hispanics, young people, women, the lgbt community, the rural community. soon there will not be anybody left. thank senator murphy for his tremendous work

on this, taking over for senator kennedy and getting it passed. you showed your true blue determination and it is great to have you take this on and pull it through and to senator baldwin, for her passion and understanding and helping people understand the meaning of this legislation. i especially want to thank senator harkin, the chairman of the committee and has seen history in his own term. it has been his leadership, so many times over, reminding us what discrimination means and that our country is better than that. senator harkin, thank you to you. senator durbin invited the speaker to go to his home state to listen to what people are saying about what happens to them when they are discriminated against. i would welcome the speaker after he does that to come to the state of washington, where we have one of the strongest laws on the books to protect the members of the lgbt community from being discriminated against. i would advise him that he could

work for some -- he could look at some great companies in my state who are thriving because they respect lgbt members and bring them to their companies and employ them. companies like starbucks and amazon and microsoft and nordstrom. they will tell you that this law is a good law and one that should be for the entire country. >> did we win yet? [laughter] >> all of you extol the virtues of this though -- of this bill. employers withs fewer than 50 employees. presumably, many of the states that do not already have , it is thoseready employers in particular who may be in smaller towns and have the

types of employees that would benefit from this type of perfection. -- protection. corporations, it is not in their interest to be seen as discriminatory. aside from a moral victory, would this really accomplish anything for gay and lesbian transgender people? goingthe future, we are to hold the questions down to five minutes. [laughter] >> absolutely. it, she is a huge amount. in 29 states, the lgbt community can be discriminated against. in 33 states, the transgender community can be discriminated against. this sets a national standard of nondiscrimination. i think that that ethic, embodied throughout this ill and

will certainly have substantial influences even on the very small businesses that you are considering. i think this bill does make a huge difference and i hope the house will move quickly to put it on the floor. >> if the house does not act, would you urge the president to act unilaterally. >> i do not know what authority and power he has, but i am sure he has exercised his administrative authority on previous occasions when we have had legislative lockdown. that is what republicans in the house better come to realize. there is more than one way. they have got to stop stopping everything that comes along. >> one of the bills locked in the room in the house is immigration reform. pressure onenty of

him. not a day goes by that i do not say something about immigration. senator schumer has been working with people in the house who want to do a bill. there are ways of getting that done. willpe that is patience work. the reason it is so troubling me, i mentioned on the floor again today, they are obsessed with cutting spending even though we cut 2.6 trillion dollars. comprehensive immigration reform trillion. i am flabbergasted at why they are stopping everything the american people want. >> would you be in favor of

doing that? >> of course. i hope that we get the defense bill out of here. i feel comfortable that we can. that is part of what they want to do in congress. more power to them. i could care less. >> your thoughts after the areing and whether you thinking the white house might be open to a delay of the affordable care act? >> no. it was a meeting of 16 democratic senators. we met the president in the roosevelt room and the vice president for 2 hours. went through the current situation with the website, what is being done to improve it and make it better and what we face in the future in terms of some of the dynamics, the implementation of the affordable care act. everyone atclear to the table that we are going to

move forward, and get this website right, and give millions of americans a chance for affordable health insurance. there was no discussion about the funding, delaying, defunding,-- delaying, or destroying the affordable care act. >> may be to work out some bugs. >> we have got to be careful because we have health insurance policies being offered on the exchanges based on actuarial when theych suggest are going to go into effect and who is going to be part of the pool. delays could change that dramatically. we do not want to do that. i still think, with an abbreviated sign up period, starting november 30, god willing, there will be ample opportunity for people to sign up. a can do that today and they are , but i think the opportunity will get dramatically larger.

i did get my reports on that meeting. you have got to keep in mind that as every day goes by, the website gets better. around 70,000 per hour now. that is everyday. it will be 80,000 are our. -- per hour. every day, it is getting better. the wait times are getting less. no more glitches. they take the site down from 1:00-5:00 every night to upgrade it. by the end of the month, it will be wide open. a lot of people are thinking now that it is closed. that is not right. 70,000 per hour can get on and complete their application. mbercan also have a 1-800 nu you can call and have someone walk you through it. you can apply by paper if you want to. this thing is moving.

we do not have a hiatus. temporary glitch, temporary slowdown. it is now on and it will get better every day. more access, speedier, less mistakes. >> are you concerned? >> the enrollment numbers were discussed in general terms. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> senators went on to pass the bill. after the vote, president obama released a statement saying that today's victory is a tribute to all of those who fought for this progress ever since a similar bill was introduced after the stonewall riots.

that statement from president obama. also speaking about the enda carneyress secretary jay at the white house briefing. here is a portion of that now. >> the president believes it is absolutely the right thing to do to pass the employment nondiscrimination act and we will have a more formal reaction to the senate vote if that has happened while i have been on the podium. that is good news and we commend the senators for voting yes. we hope and insist that the house take up the legislation. to oppose this kind of announce that to you want to be left behind by history. necessity of making sure that every american has equal rights is fundamental to our

history and who we are. that is what this legislation represents. some of the objections i have heard from members in the house objections oft of opponents of other civil rights legislation have put forward. they were wrong then and they are wrong now. this is the right thing to do. it is the right thing to do because we are all equal. so the house should pass it. ascendant has and i congratulate the senate. thank you all. >> here is a look at our prime time schedule on the c-span networks, starting at 8:00 p.m. eastern. owner rick perry speaking at a gop fundraiser in iowa, his first major appearance in the state since the last presidential race. mitch mcconnell takes part in an epa obligate meeting on regulating carbon emissions. and the senate armed services committee holds a hearing on the

impact automatic budget cuts are having on national defense. here is a preview of that epa meeting with senator minority leader mcconnell. >> thank you very much for the opportunity to be here. i appreciate the chance to come here on behalf of my state. it is my understanding these sessions are intended together stakeholder input on what people think about future carbon regulation on existing power plants. i could not help but notice these sessions are scheduled only for states. does not haveoal a large presence like california and massachusetts. other regions are well aware that coal provides nearly 40% of our nation's electricity. as such, i ask all of you folks to hold a hearing in kentucky to hear the concerns of coal country. ofecided on behalf kentucky's coal miners and their

families that i would bring the concerns myself. if the epa will not listen to us, we will come to the epa. it is clear that the administration and your agency have declared a war on coal. for kentucky, this means a war on jobs and our state economy. the president has our right stated his intentions for the industry and this is what he had to say. "if somebody wants to build a coal power plant, they can. it is just that they will bankrupt them because they are going to be charged a huge sum for all of the greenhouse gas that is being emitted." from the direct quote president of the united states. one of the things president obama did when he took office was to push through a trade bill , to try to push it through, to try to bankrupt the coal industry. democratic party both houses of congress. they held a super majority in

the senate of 60 votes. they could pass anything they wanted to. the bill only narrowly passed the house and could never pass the senate. ultimately, it did not pass in the senate. that is how extreme this president's agenda is. her on greenhouse gas emissions. his own party that controlled both houses of congress said no. what this president could not he is nowd into law, trying to do it through bureaucracy. he is trying to fulfill the same mandates that were in his trade bill. before you do, you are going to hear from us. than 13,000 more people in kentucky and it is important to note that, at the beginning of this administration, it employed 18,000. we have gone from 18,000 down to 13,000.

we have a depression. not a recession, a depression. there arecoal job, three or four additional jobs. so this administration has declared a war on coal. 90% of our electricity comes from coal electricity generation. it is one of the great ways we have been able to attract new industry to the commonwealth. we are here to remind you that coal keeps the lights on for kentucky and for the nation. i want to introduce you to a man who will speak for kentucky coal miners today. ,s a fifth-generation coal man he understands the central role coal plays in kentucky's industry and our economy, our history and our future. his great-grandfather was a coal miner in ireland. his father managed large coal mines in kentucky. today, brian is the president of

service at the gainsborough coal service company. he knows kentucky coal miners work 18-hour days to bring affordable energy to the state and the country. he knows because he works just as hard himself. >> a portion of his remarks were earlier today at a meeting held by the epa. you can see his entire comments tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span 2. or watch at -- watch online anytime at c-span.org. he grew up in a poor family of all sons. she was from a family of all daughters. she attended a finishing school and we have her report card from this school in denver, colorado. english, got a b in she actually got a c-in european in european c-

history. who knew that she would be so well traveled and have an impact on european history? charm showing the army and navy game scores when ike was coach. as a military wife, she took great pride in creating a home for ike in each of the places they lived during their marriage. s. c-span.org/firstladie our series continues live monday as we look at first lady jacqueline kennedy. >> earlier today, former new hampshire senator judd gregg spoke at the national press of on why he feel there is a need for a free economy that is properly regulated. this is one hour.

>> good afternoon and welcome to the national press club. my name is angela keane. i am reporter for bloomberg news. we are the world's leading professional organization for journalists committed to our profession's future by hosting events such as this while fostering a free press worldwide. for more information, please visit our website at www. press.org. to donate, please visit press.org\institute. i would like to welcome our speaker. our head table includes guests of our speaker as well as working journalists who are club members. if you hear applause from the audience, i would note that members of the general public are also attending. it is not necessarily evidence of a lack of journalistic objectivity.

i would also like to look at our c-span and public radio audiences. you can follow the action today on twitter using #npclunch. after the speech concludes, i will have question and answer period. trying -- time to introduce our guests. mike am a senior editor. james, washington editor of barron's magazine. mark, staff writer at crane's investment news. michael lindenberg or, washington correspondent for the dallas morning news. chiefwashington bureau for crain's chicago business. chet, ceo of global private group for james financial. allison fitzgerald, finance and investigative reporter at the

center for public integrity and the chairwoman of the national press club speakers committee. kashang over our speaker, , a u.s. economy and treasury reporter for you -- bloomberg news. journalist ande vice chair of the national press club freelance committee. cheyenne hopkins, reporter for bloomberg news covering banking legislation. [applause] our guest today is a longtime member of the republican establishment in washington, a former leader on capitol hill and a respected voice in the movement to rein in federal spending and reduce the u.s. debt. it came as a surprise earlier this fall when former u.s. senator judd gregg began a commentary in the hill newspaper with these words, most americans these days are simply ignoring

republicans and they should. [laughter] the strategynting of some in his own party to threaten the government shutdown and default on the u.s. debt in their effort to kill president obama's health care reform law. he later called the 16 day government shutdown a "tactical fiasco." judd gregg came to washington for the first time in 1981 representing new hampshire in the u.s. house for nine years. he then went back to the granite state and as governor, he was champion of environmental conservation and helped preserve more than 337,000 acres of sensitive land. in theour years statehouse house, he returned to washington to become the first -- to begin the first of three terms in the u.s. senate. his political career was marked by contradictions. he was known to be a staunch fiscal conservative yet he didn't hesitate to work with democrats in congress and in the white house to push policies he

believed in. during the financial panic in 2008, senator gregg was the top republican negotiator for a program which set aside $700 million to bailout wall street and commercial banks. withdrewhs later, he his name from consideration to become president obama's first commerce secretary saying he was opposed to the president -- economic stimulus plan. inator gregg left the senate 2010 and joined with alan simpson and michael bloomberg to become a leader of a bipartisan group called six the debt. the group is urging elected officials to cut the federal deficit. regg former senator, g hasn't been shy about criticizing democrats and republicans alike. his columns have touched on everything from tax policy to immigration to health care. asay, senator gregg is here ceo of the securities industry

and financial markets association. they represent the interests of the investment industry. its members include the securities arms of jpmorgan, citigroup and fidelity. senator gregg is here today to discuss an initiative to ensure investor interest are protected. please help me get a warm national press called welcome to judd gregg. [applause] >> thank you very much, angela. thank you for the opportunity to have this for him. it is very much appreciated by myself and folks elsewhere. it is a pleasure to be joined here by the team and family and our chairman and by our president. to have a chance to talk to you

today. kathy says i should begin by telling you one of our new hampshire stories. i hesitate to do this in washington because the punchlines are very subtle. [laughter] i noticed that we have these flags here that our new hampshire flags. i hope nobody has bitten into the flag. that would be a violation of protocol. ken is from texas. he was a congressman of texas, an excellent member of congress and categories distinguished career. ken i am reminded of a story from our town in new hampshire. we lived in greenfield which is a town of 600 people. it was a beautiful town up in the foothills. in the fall, a lot of people used to drive through the town. down the road from us was a fellow named oscar. he was in his late 70's. he was still a farmer.

he was working on his fences monday and this huge black suv pulls up with texas writes. this fellow gets out and he has this huge hat, big cowboy hat. he walks up to oscar who isn't as big and says, sir, this your farm? yep, oscar says. he says, you lived here all your life? wax oscar says, not yet. [applause] he says, how big is your farm? oscar says, that is a big question. he says, if you go down the road here, you will see a birch tree. go up that little ridge there and you will find a stone wall. the lacrosse that stonewall to a bunch of trees and come down there and come up here, that is my farm.

>> he says, well i am from texas. i can get in my car and drive all day and only be halfway across my farm. yep, used to have a car like that myself. [laughter] [applause] plus -- them the press? i will tell one more story. that way i will use up all your questioning time. mildred perkins in austin had lived in town all her life. gone to a church social and made a pie that mildred thought was a recipe. they didn't speak to each other for like 40 years. mildred dies.

ethel goes down to the town store and oscar is down there , did you says, ethel hear that mildred died? yep, her that. , are you going to go to mildred's funeral? no, she is not coming to mine and i am not going to hers. [laughter] i can go all day like this. i did want to talk today about the role of financial markets. specifically, our role in helping americans succeed in main street. we take this very seriously as an industry. i think to understand where we are, you need to actually go back to the last century. a lot has carried into the second decade of this century

because life is a continuum. two things were clearly decided in the last century, the first out overdemocracy wins to telik arianism. democracy defeated fascism. century,d of the last most of the western world was democratic. people moved to democracy as a way to govern. the second thing that was decided was that free markets create a great deal more prosperity for the people than collectivist markets. as a result, free markets have become the way of the western world. positioneduniquely as the representative of democracy being the world's oldest democracy after switzerland. the financial markets pay a critical role in the success of

those financial markets. uniquely byas made joseph shaler who is an economist at yale who recently prize forbel economics. , theid this in his book essential challenge for leaders to contemplate in coming to terms with the future of finance is to understand that it can be used to help broaden the prosperity across an increasingly wide range of social classes. imagine the development of a new laboratory, the funding of a new medical research center. the building of a new university or the construction of a new subway system. structureovides the to these and other enterprises that institutions throughout society.

if finance succeeds for all of us, it will help build a good society. we are not sure it will succeed. there are issues which make it a challenge and in fact, interestingly enough, it was adam smith over 200 years ago developed the concept of free market society. he said, i am paraphrasing here, he said great nations are not improper state -- impoverished by their people. they are impoverished either governments acting badly. -- i replacedrm it with badly. basically, it means governments acting inappropriately. friedman said it another way. he said if you put the federal government in charge of the

sahara desert, there would be a shortage of sand in five years. [laughter] the simple fact is that there are forces which negatively impact the economy. i would like to mention three of them that i think are really of concern today. the first is our federal debt and deficit. countryly cannot run a if you run up a deficit and a debt which you can't sustain. we have double tower debt in the last five years. we will triple it by 2020. we are on a pathway which puts us in a debt situation where our othero gdp will equal nations who have at extraordinary problems such as greece, italy, ireland, iceland, france. we have the advantage of being

the world's strongest economy and the world's currency and therefore we have more running room. but the simple fact is that if we continue on our present and, at some point, there is going to be a challenge to our currency. it is viability. when that challenge occurs, it will lead to either significant inflation or some other financial event which will inevitably lead to a diminish in thediminishing standard of living of the american people. hopefully we will see our congress come together to try to do something over the next few months. the second issue that we have which is a concern in my opinion, the piling on of federal regulations. we in the financial markets business totally support

appropriate regulatory activity, embrace it, want to work with regulatory agencies to construct regulatory activity. we're getting a few more regulations than anybody expected. every 2.8 days, new regulations come out in the financial markets. received 15 million words on dodd frank. that represents 22 volumes of war and peace. we are only 39% of the way through dodd frank so we have another 20 million words to come. -- excess isaccess driven in large part by regulators. they want to take risk out of your life. we are basically going to be in

charge of your life as regulations. inis a bureaucratic excess many ways. that an no question appropriate regulation is needed in a market economy. but at some point, if you go too far, you end up straining that economy because the energy instead of creating economic activity goes to responding to the issues raised by the regulators. area is what i call sort of a galloping populism which we have seen. again, at its core are folks who don't believe in market economies, free market economies especially. it is a belief that doesn't trust the ability of individuals to make decisions on their own.

rather it says that a collective group of folks should do it in the name of a better society. it has become reflected in statements like those made by michael moore, who i am sure would not turn down the title of spokesman for the progressive left. i think you probably would be attracted to the title. he said, i don't own a single share of stock. he has made this statement outside the new york stock exchange during some sort of it -- some sort of an event there. i have never owned a single share of stock. i don't support this, pointing at the new york stock exchange, this rigged casino. i don't know why anybody would put their hard-earned money into this, the new york stock exchange. i would refer those folks to

twitter. companyhe twitter issued, i think it was 70 million shares of stock. in the interest of purchasing the stock was extraordinary. so extraordinary that the value of that stock went up dramatically from its original issue. what does that reflect? that reflects the core element of a free-market society. people want to have the right to go out and participate with other people who are trying to create economic activity in businesses which they deem they feel would be successful. that is the way this economy works. to protect that -- to reject that is a mistake. a reject that also reflects

certain discomfort that you see among populism with the concept of free markets. i think milton friedman got this right. , areat economist, he said major source of the objection to a free economy is precise and it gives people what they want. instead of what a particular group thinks they ought to want, underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself . who is harmed by that? harmed by a to be government that is not fiscally responsible? by people just going way too far in the area of dampening attempt totivity to address risks? or by a galloping populism that

rejects free-market as a concept? what i have to tell you, it is not going to be the folks on wall street. it is going to be the folks on main street. it is main street where the jobs aren't created or the opportunity doesn't exist if you don't have a vibrant economic engine driving this country. if you have these retarding event. that is why it is our intention in a financial markets industry to make the case for a free- market economy that is properly regulated, that has as its most basic elements individual initiatives, supported by readily available capital and reasonably priced credit. to promote the importance of the role of a vibrant capital market thea financial system in everyday lives of americans and

their ability to pass on to their children a more prosperous life. to essentially reconnect with the american people by reinforcing the fact that the financial markets' biggest -- financial market's help thepose is to american people succeed. we intend to do this by basically concentrating on four major areas. primarily anll be attempt to make it clear to folks in a very personal way how important it is to their day-to- day life that the financial markets participate in our economy in an aggressive and positive way. the job they go to probably is a function of somebody having invested capital in a business. when a person sends their kids

to school, it is probably being supported by market activities which allow a loan to be made. goes to anon emergency room, that emergency room was probably built with bonds that came from the financial market. markety in the financial took a risk on building that hospital by supporting it with bonds. when you drive down a good road or even a bad road, it was probably built by bonds where somebody took a risk in order to create that. last year, in the last five years, business has accessed over $6.3 trillion in capital through the financial markets. bonds have been issued which have built 8 million miles of road, 1.5 million bridges and 500,000 miles of water pipes all to the benefit of making a stronger and more prosperous

society. over 3.3 million people have received small business loans billion ofg $178 investment. these are real folks like carmine and marcus who started in their garage a food distribution business. working with their financial advisor, they were able to expand that into a major business in southern california. jill brown, when her husband advisors helped why her to get back on her feet. she began a small business of home furnishings which she built into the brown home goods stores in houston, texas. jobs. that created stories about real people whose lives were improved by investments made.

we have done a lot of great things as a capital market. we even brought back the twinkie. [laughter] i guess the twinkie never went anywhere because it is not biodegradable but as a practical matter, had it gone somewhere, we brought it back. the second thing we are going to concentrate on is the lessons we have learned. we know that too big to fail should not exist. as an industry, we are committed to ending it. we have done this through basically having living wills, by having stress tests, by having resolution authority. furthermore, the capital of the banking industry and the investment industry has been increased dramatically in the last five years to over $800 billion. that gives it much more safe and soundness.

even the taxpayers have benefited a fair amount on the financial industry's success. all the money that was paid out to the financial side of the ander has been paid back there is a $20 billion profit for taxpayers that can be used for other things. going forward, we intend to work for strong and effective regulations that will create transparency and make for a safer and sounder system. the third thing we are going to focus on is education. we believe firmly that will a.k.a. -- a well-educated population is going to be a population which can more effectively succeed and prosper. we are going to talk about the importance of capitalism, market, entrepreneurship, profit. we're going to talk about financial literacy and how people should invest and how

they can invest to make and prepare for their future. how they can deal with their retirement savings or their investments coming through their pension funds. in a way that communicates and touches folks in their day-to- day lives. we are not going to do this in washington or from new york. do it with the local rotary , the local boys and girls club of the school systems. one, talk one on about the importance of the financial industry in the day- to-day lives of the people. we work with them to try to help them succeed. that is the most important initiative. we put our customers first. our commitment to protect our customers right to choice, our commitment to protect our savings whether

they their -- they are being used for investment or retirement. in that role and is part of that effort, a lot of energy has been put into this. we have created a document called, our partnership with you. this is a statement of rights that our customers have and should have. this was not written up by one or two folks sitting down one afternoon. john and his group worked with hundreds, actually thousands of members of the industry to try to make this work, come together with this partnership with people who were committed and bought into it in a way that made it clear that we do put our customers first. let me read a few of the points in this. i have to put on my glasses to do this assuming i brought them.

ok, i am all set. i buy these at reagan airport, by the way. it is the best place to buy your glasses. 12 for five dollars. [laughter] let me just read from this. have to betor, you committed to providing educational resources to better understand the products and services you are investing in and how they work to help you achieve your objectives. it is about the consumer. our industry continues to embrace the implementation of high standards for interacting with our individual clients including putting the client' best interest first one we provide personalized investment advice. our customers have the right to

work with an investment professional of their choosing who will help them clarify their investment goals and help them achieve their stated objectives. they have the right to receive personalized investors advice. conflict ofed of interest, to receive reliable information from their financial assistant and to be present -- presented with reasonable investment alternatives. they have the right to receive clear and accurate descriptions of other transactions. informed a right to be of the fees associated with their accounts, to be clearly informed about the risks associated with individual investments, to receive accurate and timely periodic statements clear discretions of policies and practices.

they have the right to be treated a fair and ethical way at all times. and to receive competent and courteous advice at reasonable prices. and to choose products that are suitable for their investment goals in line with their test -- stated risks. to be able to move their accounts if they wish to do so and to receive proper responses from their assistant in the investment community. and to have clearly defined processes to resolving any issues that may arise. this is a commitment we are making to our customers because we put our customers first. joseph again makes the point that the better a line a society's financial institutions ideals, its goals and the stronger and more successful

that society will be. fail, financesms has the power to subvert such goals. as it did in the subprime mortgage market of the past eight. -- if it isioning optioning properly it has the potential to promote great levels of prosperity. this is the direction we are going to go. we are going to align our efforts with the purposes of the people who we serve and of a good society. we know that main street is the engine of the american economy. it is the financial markets and the resources they bring to main street that is the fuel of the engine. advantage, american that people who are willing to

go out and take a risk and put their sweat equity into pursuing their dreams are able to find other people who are willing to support them with capital and .redit at a reasonable price we have this advantage as a nation and we as an industry are totally committed to it. the financial industry is going to work to be an extraordinarily force for positive helping our customers pursue their dreams. we are going to work to make sure that we can help americans succeed and main street prosper. thank you very much. [applause]

>> thank you. consumers,y should individual consumers trust the industry for advice on their protection? first it should go meet their advisor. people who came up through the system -- get to know them. get comfortable with them so that they develop a rapport. the advisor is there to be there assistant much like you would go to a doctor or dentist. your financial advisor is there to help you out in a area where you don't have the expertise. that is the opportunity that exists for a person to go to someone who was a trooper rational -- true professional who is committed to be on the side of the customer when the customer has questions about how to invest their money and save for their retirement. >> were there any consumer

advocate that helped design the program? >> yes, we had a lot of consumer input on this proposal. -- basically rely on our customers to tell us what they want as we develop this proposal. >> as part of the effort, do you have any plans to make it any more of a consumer organization? do you plan to do any consumer facing work as an association? >> actually, it is our members that do that. it really should be our members. we are very sensitive to any issues that are raised and if anybody wants to call me up, they can call me. as a practical matter, if a consumer has an issue that deals with how they should invest or whether investments are being handled properly, the first opportunity is to talk to their financial advisor.

>> you talked about there being what you consider too much regulation of the financial services industry. we all lived through 2008. at that time, there was a concern that there was too much regulation back then. what is the right answer if we saw the failures of banks and mortgages than with that level of regulation? why should there be less now? >> we are not talking about less. we are talking about rational. regulation that accomplishes the purpose. first, find the purpose than try to accomplish it through regulation. we embrace the idea of a strong regulatory environment. it is important for transparency, integrity, having confidence in the system. there are a variety of regulations which are more than confusing and some, in our opinion are counterproductive to

the basic goals of what the regulation was going to pursue. i think that we are in an atmosphere where so much energy is playing -- being put into responding to the regulatory regime that resources that should be going out to help the person who has got the idea that they are trying to succeed in are not being used there. they are being used in response to the regulatory regime. we will get through this, obviously, as a government. as we move towards resolving all the issues raised, we just have to be sensitive that we don't swing so far that we undermine the basic strength of the american economy which is that it is a free market where people do take risks in order for it to succeed and where you basically want the financial sector to be properly regulated.

without overwhelming the ability of the financial sector to be an aggressive player in promoting opportunities for prosperity. >> pointing the finger in a different direction, this questioner asks how protection can be advanced while investors themselves continually ask for high risk high return investments? i am not speaking -- i don't think it is our job to tell people what risks they take and what risks they don't take. the financial industry as a whole must participate in the efforts of the government and regulators to make sure that systemic risks are muted to the fullest extent possible. individuals in our society invest. when they invest, they take risk. if somebody wants to invest any

more risky way to get a higher return, that is their right. if they want to invest in a more conservative way to protect their resources and not have any downside, that is their right to the. that is an individual choice. youack to regulations, can give us some specifics of regulations that you think have gone too far and what are you looking to change precisely? >> the original proposals on the issue would have forced out of ae business of giving advice lot of the industry. the loser in that would have been the consumer because the good -- -- especially the consumer who doesn't have a huge 401k. they would have found themselves not being able to use advisors in order to determine how they wanted to invest their

retirement funds. that is counterproductive. that would have undermined and itymed a lot of folks' abil to get ready for retirement. that would be an example of one area where we think regulation simply was misdirected. it would have produced the opposite result of what we expected and what we would want as a society. >> are you supportive of a house bill to delay the labor department rule? >> that is the proper approach. thatfrank made it clear the sec should take responsibility in this area of establishing rule. we as an industry support the .ongress -- concept it should be put onward by the sec. the role here should be secondary to the sec moving forward.

the sec has primary responsibility. >> what is the relationship of financial advisors to the consumer? relationships have also to legal implications which would limit in many ways the ability of people to give advice in a constructive way or maybe even not allow it at all. it depends on how the term is interpreted under the advice being given. fiduciarye, the dol language would have barred people from giving effective advice to folks who wanted to use it who had smaller accounts. we have another situation like this in the area of municipal ares where advisors subjected to fiduciary role that bars them from giving the types

of advice that the community might want or the bond issuer might want. they will find themselves unable to give the advice which would allow that issuer the most opportunity to get the return they want and pursue the course they want because of the limitations that are arbitrarily in the fiduciary language. blogger opined that the derivatives business is dead due to increasing regulation. do you think that is an overstatement or are derivatives disproportionately overburdened by regulations now? >> i don't agree with that statement. there is still a very vibrant derivatives market. what you're seeing is the derivatives market moving to much more clarity, transparency. an openving more into

arena and that is the way it should evolve. there are some derivatives that don't lend themselves to that type of approach but as a practical matter, i think the derivatives market is adjusting to the new regulations. we weren't all that comfortable with some of them but the adjustments occurred. >> you used the example of the twitter ipo as a way of illustrating the benefits of a free market. of course, most of us individuals couldn't buy the twitter stock at the ipo price. how do you reconcile that disparity? >> you will have to ask the folks at twitter. they were the ones who chose the amount of the stock they were going to put out. it was a very narrow amount of stock they decided to issue compared to the value of the company. that was a legitimate business decision. they did not want to put the entire company into the marketplace and we can understand why.

however, if you want to buy twitter stock, you can go right now and buy some twitter stock. the price will be a lot higher than what the offering originally was but that is called a market economy. >> you talked about capitalization of banks. alan greenspan was here last night and talked about this topic of banks needing more capitalization. do you think progress so far is enough? >> i think you need to turn to this question constantly. the regulators who were on the issue of the proper capital is a very legitimate question. if you require too much capital, you contract economic activity because money that is being used for capital can't be put out to investment or lending. there is no question, the issue of capital is at the core of a

sound banking system. it should be constantly looked at. there has been huge progress on the issue of capital. the american banking system especially is very well capitalized relative to the rest of the world. you talked about the importance of confidence in our public markets. this questioner says, the growing threat of cyber attacks could undermine the confidence. is there a role for the financial industry to address cyber security and information privacy? >> that is a great question. we consider this one of the truly big issues that we confront as an industry. chet's firm spends a tremendous amount of time on this. cyber attacks can be for the purposes of gaining proprietary information which can be used in criminal activity or it can be for the purpose of shutting down the industry. disrupting the commerce of the country. the industry fully recognizes the seriousness of this and is

moving in all sorts of fronts to try to address it. let me tell you about one. basically, we set up what amounted -- we have done it of a now, a test case variety of attacks on the investment community and on the exchanges. it was called quantum gone 1. it was a very intensive exercise. it involved a tremendous number of business entities and banks and investment houses. it involved the entire relevant part of the federal government including the treasury and homeland security, the fed and other agencies. the attacks were structured by independent groups which we hired to figure out what would be the most vulnerable places

and where the attacks would come from without us knowing about them. basically, a process of replicating what might happen in an attack. we learned a great deal from this. the quantum dawn exercise occurred last july. we expect to do it again. s held up fairly well. accountableonably with the fact that the industry is doing a good job at trying to get ready for this type of a threat which we consider to be extraordinary. >> is there anything you think regulators should do on the cybersecurity front? >> i think congress should do something. congress has a responsibility to come up with decent cyber language which creates a proper sharing of information across agencies. this was a problem when i was there. we spent a fair amount of time on this.

those were the good old days. that is the way it should be today. just kidding. [laughter] it is hard. we all know it needs to occur and we need proper sharing and congress has had a couple of good bills that made it all the way through. we need to get something done. >> that is a good segue into the political questions. you have called senator ted cruz incredibly self-destructive. what can and should the gop leadership due to limit his influence given that he has a powerful base of supporters outside the senate? >> i am not speaking here as a ceo but as a republican. a former republican office holder from new hampshire.

you can't do anything about a member of the senate's right to say things and you shouldn't be able to. someone used to describe the senate as a task force moving around the halls of congress. everybody is their own power center. cruz has decided to pursue these issues but unfortunately, the manner in which he pursues them, especially the attempt to shut make the condition of opening the government and passing the debt ceiling conditional on full repeal of obamacare and the affordable care act, it had no chance. it had no chance from the beginning. there was never an opportunity that was going to lead to governance. what the american people want and what the republican party has to do is govern. it has to participate in the governance of this country. it has to work across the aisles andolve our deficit problem

move forward as a nation that is actually addressing the issues that are critical to the everyday lives of americans. you can stand in the corner and shout out phrases. you have to be willing to come up with ideas that can go across the aisle and work. it doesn't mean you have to give up your philosophy in any way or your commitment to your basic goals. there are a lot of places where you can cross the aisle and still maintain your basic philosophies. there are a lot of good folks on the other side of the aisle. they are willing to try to govern. that is where i think the republican party needs to do something that reestablishes its credibility with the american people. as should the president. >> will you support moderate republican candidates in 2014 primaries if they find themselves running against tea party backed candidates? >> i don't think we are going to get involved in that issue.

>> why not? [laughter] >> i just don't think that is a role for us. we are going to support people who support the free market, who understand the importance of the financial markets to improving the lifestyle of americans in their everyday life. we will be there to help americans have a more prosperous lifestyle. does the u.s. deserve to have a lower debt rating now that many members of congress have shown themselves willing to default? >> of course not. we are -- we are not a government that moves linearly. we moved all over the place. we are not a parliamentary system. government can't do whatever it wants.

governmentdisonian built off of checks and balances. both parties have to be consulted to move forward and there has to be some consensus in almost all major issues addressed in a bipartisan way. it takes a much longer time to accomplish that than if you're running a parliamentary system. what i think the more sophisticated rating agencies see is that we are making progress on this road. there has been progress made on the issue of getting the deficit and debt under control. agreement was a $900 billion down payment on the discretionary side. was a $600cliff billion down payment on the tax side. now we have the sequester in place which is technically a $1.2 trillion payment on the discretionary side. not the right way to approach it but that is a mechanism to return to the table and reach an

agreement on the entitlement accounts is where the real problems are. the process is going on now with the budget committee negotiations chaired by senator myrurray and congressman ryan. it is an opportunity to move the ball further down the field. i think most rating agencies are sophisticated enough to understand that this isn't going to happen overnight but that there is progress and we are hopefully moving in the right direction. you talk about the importance of both sides of the aisle working together. you are here speaking to us today as a ceo and not as a commerce secretary. why did you turn down that invitation from president obama? >> i have explained this before. kathy and i thought about it a lot. i like president obama. he was a friend in the senate, not a close friend that somebody with.t with -- dealt

when he was elected president, like all americans, i thought it was a great statement. i wanted to try to be helpful. when he asked me if i would be willing to serve in his cabinet, i was caught up in the moment and was very appreciative. andy and i talked about it i should have realized this immediately but i didn't. policyosophy on fiscal was a long way from the president's philosophy. the number one job of a member of the cabinet is to be 100% with the president. it would have been very difficult for me to do that and maintain my values on fiscal policy. i should have recognized it earlier and i didn't. i have always regretted that. i will say this, he was

extraordinarily gracious in the way he handled it. i have always appreciated that fact. emanuel was also gracious. he was the chief of staff at the time. i was very appreciative of that. how do you see the differences in the republican party playing out? will things get better -- will they get worse before they get better? speaking here as ceo, ok? playing out ist this, i think that this country is built on the two-party system. the two-party system is critical to our success as a nation. we are 330 million people. you can't govern a nation of this size and complexity unless you have a process -- what we in new hampshire call sugaring off.

exercise step in that in politics is gathering people under the big tents of the parties. a multiparty system would be destructive to our nation because everybody would go to our own corner. the two-party system forces of very large philosophical beliefs under one tent. we have different philosophies but the folks under those tents also have lots of similarities. it is a process of building into an agreement. ishink the republican party the right force for good governance in this country on the issue of fiscal responsibility and i think we have to get back to those themes that have always been at the center of our policies which is that we believe this country must live within its means and that we have to have a nation which cares for those who are less fortunate, but in the

process we also have to recognize that we can't have a nation that lives beyond its means for an extended period of time. will be a our party very strong voice as we go forward. >> treasury secretary lew previously said we would solve too big to fail by this year. is it solve? if not, how can it be solved? >> great progress has been made on that. capital which is the core of safety and soundness is up by almost 100%. the living wills. we have the restitution authority. we have the stress test. all of this works together in tandem to basically lead towards making sure that we never have a situation like 2008. there are other things that may still be thought of that can be done.

weeks possibly to the capital structure. as a practical matter, i think we are well on the road to as i think we to, should, the concept of too big to fail. >> we are almost out of time. before the last question, a couple of housekeeping matters to take care of. i would like to remind you about our upcoming speakers. the presidenthave and ceo of the charles schwab corporation. he will discuss 401(k) plans. on november 18, we have gloria, a feminist activist and founder of a magazine. presentwould like to our guest with the traditional national press club coffee mug. >> thank you. [applause] >> one last question. here at the national press club we have the tradition of the last question being lighthearted. we don't usually have the speaker asked it of themselves.

senator gregg has asked himself the question. he wants to know who won the world series? >> nobody knows? [laughter] the red sox won the world series. go sox. [laughter] [applause] >> thank you for coming today. i would also like to thank the national press club staff including our journalism institute and broadcast center for outing organized today's event. you can find more information about the national press club on our website and if you would like a copy of today's program, you can find it there at well at ww.press.org. thank you. we are a joint. -- we are a joint. -- we are adjourned.

>> at that time, in the early 1960's and 850's, there was probably a much less balanced political climate here. .erhaps a great deal a publicationing in one of the two papers, i forget which one. somebody had bought a full-page ad the day before president with president kennedy's picture on it and said, wanted for treason. , who came specter down here six months after the , after it was over with, he came out in the hall and -- he was quizzing me about the entrance went. i initially thought it was an entrance went. he said, we have people who will testify a saw him shot from the

overpass. we do not believe they are credible witnesses and i don't want you saying anything about it. >> marking the 50th anniversary kennedy'st assassination, eyewitness accounts from the doctors who treated president kennedy and lee harvey oswald. are liven c-span, we in des moines. road to the white house 2016 coverage. embassy suites in des moines as they are moving into the room waiting to hear from texas hisrnor rick perry and first appearance in the state since the 2012 campaign. he will be speaking at this republican party fundraiser and is set to speak out about 8:40 p.m. eastern. eventl start when the gets underway which should be soon. this is happening