this program does it out of massachusetts, another program we are bringing in. we are dealing with violent crime in the sense we have worked in the schools of elementary kids, teaching young people who, all they see is violence as a way to deal with conflict and teaching them another way to deal with conflict. we are trying to head it off in early stages. we are also dealing with a heavy with those repeat violent offenders. we have strict gun laws. we continue to work with our federal partners. almostar alone, we took 2000 illegal guns off the street. we cooperate with all levels of

government. texas is a border state. port, therere major is human and god -- and drug trafficking. we have to cooperate and coordinate very closely. lot of the opportunities we share thet, i'd criminal justice committee. there are federal grant opportunities for cities for various elements of security. >> also, as far as your city. >> we are working closely with federal prosecutors. it has shown to help reduce the violence for cities. i look to do more. the president called the mayor

-- wee a conversation know there will not be a lot of new money coming out of congress. to federalaccess resources or federal tools to help us fight crime? trafficking and access to the prosecution, not just prosecutors and, but also with drugsthat deals and guns, those of a tyson things we work on and talk about and collaborate on. >> the president brought the mayors and police chief out of 20 -- mayors, talk specifically about violence in cities and what the federal government could do to assist. >> providence, rhode island, here is jack, independent line. >> good morning.

i would like to speak to the two mayors on two separate issues and one more thing into the other. city of houston and their unemployment rate and plus, theof texas, state of texas, they do not have a state income tax. so prosperous,y but you look at states around here and they are in the red and they go broke. accounting background and i would like an honest answer on that issue. that is all i would like to say. >> i will give a couple answers about texas. we are a low tax state. chosen not to pay a lot of things that other states do

pay for. we are not a state where we expect much public assistance. that if you do not have resources, you may struggle. we have been blessed over the last few years by the boom in the oil and gas industry, texas.larly helpful to we aggressively competed to move manufacturing jobs into texas. we have worked to compete against states that do have an impact tax. we have a fairly high property tax. beenk of an income tax has an advantage. as a border state, we benefited from having a large workforce, many of whom are undocumented.

texas tends to have a fairly pragmatic attitude. to texas, ifgot they contribute to the economy and do not break local law, we welcome them to texas. we could debate tax policy all day long, but it is about overthinking and looking for ways you can have access in whatever city you live to grow the economy. the focus in maryland and baltimore. i mentioned manufacturing. , and thatconference really rings true in baltimore where the industry is thriving and growing. it is one of the top places in the country to start a tech

business. despite our taxes, different than texas. we have a lot of smart people in baltimore growing jobs and growing businesses. we will continue to use the assets we have to move baltimore forward. we are underfunding education and transportation. most of our state is in severe drought conditions and we have been underfunding water infrastructure, though we are making strides in that direction. it is about choosing what you want to pay for. we have chosen not to spend a lot of energy and money. host: how do you achieve that? guest: tough decisions.

i've had to raise taxes, lay off people. we do the tough things the folks across the street talk about but we have to do it because we have to have a balanced budget every year. >> i do not way tax -- raise taxes, but layoffs. certain things have to happen. the water and sewer have to function for public health. is on the after that table. .> we are joined by two mayors democrats line up next. hi. >> hello. commentlike to make a to mayor blake. as a longtime resident of baltimore city, i would like to commend and thank you for the excellent job you have been doing with snow removal in

keeping our cities if. thank you. >> thank you. host: both have issues and get called in your office. guest: there is no democrat or republican way to pick up trash or remove snow. that is what we bring to washington when we come and convene here for the leadership meeting. >> andrew is from the walkie. republican line. good morning. >> good morning. thank you for c-span. both mayors have mentioned water infrastructure. i wonder if they could expound upon them more. .e focus on these issues it is one of the issues that we focus on every aspect of the economy. i understand it will cost a lot of money.

talk about your role as an exporting city. an important part of creating jobs and making the economy grow. houston is of america's largest exporting port. it is the only port in the united states that does more business, the port of new orleans. that is mostly internal work. if you close your eyes and picture the united states, on the east and west coast, houston is the mega-city on the gulf of mexico. of entrylogical port for the united states. we talk about exports. a lot of it is manufactured

goods in and out of the united states. in terms of water attribute ite, i to texas and the fact we are in a july time. we have had conditions in the state. a bundle oflly has water. we are in a coastal plain but i and i have to worry about flooding not snow. aboutreas, it is learning how water conservation. in other areas, it is about replacing aging infrastructure. west, water will become the most precious asset we have peered larger and larger cities resourcesithout water to support them. i do not know how you support the water on the east coast.

>> the east coast, aging infrastructure. we have fights and are celebrating the 200th anniversary of the star-spangled banner. we have fights 80 years old and 100 years old. the funding for infrastructure repair is on the backs of our constituents. that is what brings up the affordability issue we are talking about. mintsare federal manage -- managements. guest: the caller made a good point. where will the money come from? if we are expecting our citizens who are trying to grow their way out of the recession, that they need to be able to afford it. point, enough is

enough. one thing i can say, i have been pleased with the willingness of the obama administration to work with us. this is on the back of ratepayers. how do we finance it? innovationthings is and how we fund these projects. , the private partnerships to be able to afford infrastructure improvements. with giving dealing the cities some autonomy. done in work is collaboration and cooperation with the epa and the federal government. i want to take a call but

does this play out in your individual city as far as what is done in washington with climate change? does but i do not know if washington figured out what it wants to do with climate change. the president recently assembled a panel of mayors and governors climate change and resiliency. without getting into what causes climate change, we know it changes over time. sea levels rise. those have impact on cultural -- coastal cities, and we have to figure out how we will adjust as communities. not been an issue we have been grappling with. air qualityrt with and making sure everything we are responsible for as far as contributing to the costs of

global warming, that we are doing our part. it has not been a big factor in baltimore. working with storm water and storm water runoff and what we can do to reduce the pollution in our waterways. >> i put a lot of political capital into infrastructure. infrastructure is the backbone of the city and the united dates. without an interstate highway system, we would not have the economy we have. we have infrastructure all across the united states and when you invest in infrastructure, you invest in something real and long-term. engaged in a massive >> all of today's program online. we're going to take you live next back to the republican

national committee meeting in washington and their panel looking at the rising stars of the gop. >> the first group of rising stars when we were last together. i am so honored to have the opportunity to be here together with our new group of rising stars and i'm honored to introduce them to our committee and the media and the world. when we are looking at what we're doing, we are not just talking to women, we are empowering women, we are training women. we are going around the country finding dynamic women that want to run for office like these women. and we're not just talking about it or talking to them. we're going out there and we are reaching them. we are training them. we are empowering them and working with them to make sure they understand fundraising,

media events, communications. whatever it may be that those individuals and these young women and more women around the country that share our principles and values, that they understand the importance of what we're going to do together. when we look at these individual, we know you are going to see them in the days ahead. these are the rising stars. this is our party's future. it is my honor to introduce the chairman of the committee. a great partner and somebody who does understand the importance of strong, principled empowered omen across the country. reince priebus. >> the rising stars program is something we started about a year ago. as part of our effort on top of highlighting different voices in our party, it's part of our more formal effort to have different people and train different people to start speaking for our

party, both regally and nationally. that we show america that we have a party that looks like america. we try to find people across the country that can help us achieve that goal, that want to step up to the plate and lead this country. that's what this program is all about and we're proud of where we're at. i want to quickly introduce the folks you see up here and just give you a little bit of background about each of them. first of all, to my right, to your left, chelsea henry serves as senior advisor to the chief financial officer of the state of florida. in 201 at the republican national convention she was highlighted in national journal, mfv among others. e was a speaker at cpac 2013 and recognized as one of bet's

ten republicans to watch. she's a entrepreneur and says she is a perpetual optimist when it comes to the grand old party. that's good, you need to be. she holds a j.d. from florida coastal school of law and under granl watt degree from the university of florida. please welcome chelsea henry. [applause] . and the right of chelsea maybe appropriate, allison howard is a conservative activist who speaks on prolife and profamily issues. she has appeared on radio and tv utlets across the country. she currently serves as communication direction or the or concerned women for america and speaks around the country.

please welcome allison howard. [applause] . > to your right, i avoided the left, to your right alex smith is national chair for the republican national committee making her the first female elected as national cr chairman in its 120 year history. [applause] >> she's a native of pennsylvania and a graduate of the catholic university of america. she formally served as national co-chairman during the 2012 cycle and as chapter leader for the catholic university college republicans. she's a student at university school of law. welcome chairman alex smith. [applause] >> and next to her is kimberly. she represents arizona's 20th

legislative district in the senate sand the firstation american woman in the -- first asian woman in the legislature. she worked for state treasure dean martin. she also served as a member of governor schwartz schwarzenegger's can net. she and her husband are small business owners. please welcome kimberly. [applause] . and the best for last we have monica young blood. she's on the board of the rslc future majority project and was named one of gold pack's 2013 emerging leaders. she's a native of mexico and raised by a single mother. at age 19 she became a single

mother but she was determined to tend cycle of poverty so she set out to give her daughter a better life. monica now runs a successful real estate business and works as a marketing consultant. she and her husband chris have two children. please welcome our new r.n.c. rising stars. [applause] we're going to have an opportunity for all of you to get up and ask questions at the mic. i'm going to ask each of our participants two questions. we'll try to move quickly and then open up the mic. first question is to chelsea s. you said you were the first republican in your family. the first question is why and what about the republican party appealed to you? >> thank you mr. chairman. i'm chelsea henry, born and raised in jacksonville, florida. my mother had me when she was 16

years old. for the first few years of my life we were on welfare. i learned at a very early age the value of a dollar. i learned how to live on a budget. i learned the phrase delayed gratification and what that means. when there was something we wanted, we saved and planned for it. when i think about conservatism and what we stand for, what we all believe in, it's less taxes, it's smaller government. and those things resonate with me because i understand with my mom being a single parent for a decade of my life that every dollar in her paycheck counted. i understand what it means to go to the grocery store and you want frosted flakes yet you have to get the generic brand because those 80 cents matter. i understand how it impacts

lives. i'm about economic prosperity for all. i'm about a hand up and not a handout. that is what resonates with me. it's because those values of what we all believe in are the values i believe in and how i was raised. first republican in my family. no one nells my family shared the republican message. but because of the sacrifices my mother lived i understand what it means to be a conservative. since i've been involved the past few years, my mom is now a republican so the message works. >> how can the party better connect with independent women and our conservative principles? >> thank you for having me and thank you for being here and bearing the terrible weather. i think right now there is an opportunity to reach out to women on issues that really

matter to them. women make the majority of economic decisions in their households and are making a majority of the healthcare decisions as well. for me, i think it's most important for conserve toifs talk to women as the smart, intelligent purpose driven women that they are. we care about so much more than the left presents to us. and pandering to us for a vote is so easy to see and women in this room all know that. if we can come around the message of upward mobility and talk about what limited government does for women, talk about what situations they are best in economically, social lirks psychologically then there is a neat way that we can message to women, reach out to them and tell them they can do better than this administration has brought to them right now. i think we're doing that. i think it's a way forward. things like this when you are

showing up and you care and are concerned about so much is really important. >> thank you. alex, why is it important for republican candidates to engage with young voters but most importantly what do you think some misconceptions are that we tend to have about voters in college? >> thank you so much for this tremendous honor. these are two of the strongest youth allies that we have in the conservative movement so i thank them for their support of college republicans. i go around busting youth myths all day. a couple of them are that the youth vote was an obama phenomenon. that younger voters turned out for the president because he was not cool and they are not going to turn out again. the youth group has grown 1% per president. it started out 2,000 went up to

19% in 201. let's not give the president credit for a trend that started under president bush. the youth vote is only growing. it's growing as a percentage of our electorate. another one is younger voters will get more conservative as they get older. we saw the age demographic 30-34 it was only demographic to improve for the president in 20 16789 voters are not growing up and getting more conservative. they are not buying a home and becoming parents because they can't afford it. again, just being sensitive to that as a political party. once a younger voter votes with a national political party twice in a presidential election, they are likely to vote that way for the rest of their life so we need to cap tour them now. these are two rounds of votes to president obama so we need to be sensitive to that. the biggest myth is that younger

voters are liberal. they are not. there was some research that found that younger voters agree with us on size and scope of government. what they don't do is connect these fundamental values about spending and the size of government to the republican party brand. that's where we need to bridge that gap. [applause] >> you are the first asian american woman elected in the arizona legislate tour and one of just a few in the entire country. what can the party do better to engage with asian voters across the country. >> there are 15 million asians in this country and growing. asian immigrants are the fastest growing ethnic group in the united states. what we are doing here on this stage today with our rising stars is the best start that we can do which is reach out to the various communities and speak out about the great work that

asian american republicans are doing from community to community across this country. what is exciting is that when we look at asian americans, they are highly educated. they are higher wage earners. and for the most part they own their own businesses. so that message, those principles of our party should resonate naturally with the asian american population. what we need to do is go out into the communities, to be able to show case people like myself who are in those legislative seats to say this is what this person is doing and they are standing for the very same values that you hold dear in your families. what is interesting in 2008 when i was a delegate at the national convention in st. paul, i looked at the thousands of people around me on that floor and there was no one that looked like me. and that was very telling because when you look at a brand or look at a group, the person

will wonder do i fit in and it's a natural response. so what they need to see in our party is they can fit in and when they are part of our group we will embrace them and we have so much to do for them. part of your strategic initiative is to be able to show case that great work. we have so many opportunities before us. these are people that we can bring back to our party. they voted higher in the george bush administration and then they left during the obama run in 2012. i believe this is the time we can bring them back in 2016. >> thank you kimberly. monica, you talked about the fact you were raised by a single mom and you wanted to end this cycle of poverty. where do you see the republican party fitting in in that fight? >> thank you for having me. it's an honor to be here.

growing up my mom was always a republican. i remember her crying when president reagan got re-elected and i didn't understand at the time. as i've grown up, although i didn't agree with her when i was younger, i understand the republican party to be the party f self-reliance, of personal responsibility, of opportunity for all no matter the color of your skin, no matter where you are from, what side of the tracks you are on. i resonate with republican party because i want to determine my worth and i want to determine my success. and one thing that my mom -- when i became a young mom which i was rebellious and didn't want to listen to my mom. she told me monica no one will ever care more than you do about your success, no government entity or entitlement program

will care more about your success than you. looking back at my community, i see that unfortunately a lot of people depend and get caught up in this cycle of dependency and never reach the success they may have dreamed of as a young person. >> chelsea, you talked about growing up on welfare and with government assistance and going through some similar issues. blessings, less sons did that cause you to learn from going through something like that? >> many lessons mr. chairman. and so one lesson i can say is how conservative principles work. and i say that and mean that from the bottom of my heart which is why i'm so passionate about being a republican because again every dollar counted when i grew up, you know.

when it was dinner time and we had a long day -- my mom had a long day at work, it was do i get two or three items off of the dollar menu today and that was my biggest decision of the day. those lessons have continued with me and it has allowed me to want to continue to give back and be a public servant. in 2010 i had the opportunity to run for a local seat there in jacksonville. i was elected and became the youngest female elected in my city's history. it was a big deal because for people in my neighborhood they had never known anybody on the ballot. so when they went into the ballot box they were able to check a name of somebody they knew. somebody they can call on facebook and get a response to. when i think about the lessons, most importantly it's to give back. it's to share our message because it works. we talk about war on poverty.

the answer is the conservative message. it works. [applause]use -- . >> allison you work a whole lot on campuses across the country. what kind of lessons and what can we do better to engage and what is working on your end on college campuses? >> chelsea, that was an amazing answer and i enjoy hearing everybody's stories. one of the most important things we are doing is sharing our story. just like everything they said, if you walk into some place and ou don't recognize anyone that talks like you or thinks like you, you don't think you fit n. we've been working for young women american chapt terse that are college chapt terse of conservative young women that get together each week and some

of them are like a prayer group with action items. they get together and pray for the country and tell each other what is going on. people in college are in a bubble of sorts. to be informing them is what we are here to do and that's what leaders are doing everywhere to get together. a lot of them are doing thing on college campuses that you'd be really proud of. the left will tell you they only care about same sex marriage and abortion. that is not true. we have young men and women out there that are going and combating sex trafficking, that are serving the homeless. that are getting into the communities just like everyone here outlined and like the and the trying to do conservatives are trying to do. it explains why conservative principles work, to elevate yourself in a position you want to be at.

as women we have unique positions, as the best talkers to communicate that we're talking all the time. what we get to do as young people especially is talk and use the platforms we have in front of us, whether that be social media, facebook, twitter, instagram, don't complain about what the p.t.a. is doing if you're not willing to go and be a part of it. i can't talk about that if i'm not willing to serve my community. college campuses we are getting young leaders pulling them in and saying it's cool to be conservative. and they are starting to see that. if we can community that to them there, is a place for them here. student loans, getting a job, what does that look like? it's hard right now for our young people. if we can take this unique opportunity that they are seeing

what big government does to their opportunities when they graduate and what their paycheck looks like if they get their first job, then conservatives will r going to have a group of young people that will fight with passion to protect that paycheck and these principles. >> alex, someone is running for president and they come to you and they say i want to win over college students, tell me how i can get it done. what would you tell them? >> the answer is a simple one and one of the things we found out in our research was to go where younger voters are and give them something to share. that means channels and messages matter. channels online, going where young voters are. going to pandora. them in e talking to mail, you are not reaching them. they are online. they are consuming content

online and that's where we need to cap tour them. by channels, i also mean the campus. i say to candidates when we speak about best practices and tactics, if you are too afraid to go to a campus because the environmental club is going to protest you or something, you are leaving the weight of our work as a party on the shoulders of 18-year-old college republicans who have to carry it alone. so candidates must go to campus. they must engage with younger voters where they are. and the messaging matters too. i'll give you an example. in our research we found the term big government was a nebulous one with younger voters. they didn't understand what we meant. we said how do you feel about a candidate who proposes to fight big government? they were like the windows are too big, what are you talking

about. for young voters big isn't scary. big is getting a million followers on twitter and being able to send a message to them in an instant. what is scary is an intruszkowskiive government. it's about the language we use to describe this. f we talk about reducing spending. the things we mean when we say big government. we just say them differently to younger voters in a language that is relevant to them. what matters is just talking to younger voters. it's just a basic tenant of human interaction. if someone isn't talking to you, they don't think you care about them much. we need to talk to younger voters. >> have you effectively used the prolife message to resonate with voters. you want to talk about that a

little bit? >> i have the opportunity in the senate to sponsor a lot of bills, i do education policies, and tort reform. the prolife legislation that i sponsor and i see passed in both of our houses, that is the legislation that is the most meaningful. that is the legislation that tugs at my heart strings. as a woman and a new mother of a four month old, i can relate to the issues about women and how it affects their individual lives and really about the health and safety of women when we are talking about these practices and ensuring that someone out there is standing for those little tiny babies that can't speak for themselves. those are the things that we share, that i share when i go out into my community and i knock on the doors and i talk to these moms and families, they are the ones that are often making the decision for their household about who to vote for

in the next election. as a woman, i really feel that we have to share that story. i often go back to, i was the sponsor of the ultrasound legislation in arizona that allows a woman who is getting ready to have an abortion to see the ultrasound image before she moves forward with that decision. i sponsored the bill that the u.s. supreme court just rejected. there was a nurse that testified on the bill and she said when she turned that monitor to this young teenage cup that will came in for an abortion, the young teenage boy put his hand over his mouth and said that's our baby. and they ended up, that young couple turned around and walked out of that clinic and they kept that precious child. those are the stories that matter and those are the stories that i hope to continue to share. because once they hear the significant gains that we have made in arizona with the passage

of many of the prolife bills, we have decreased oh aborgses 7% year over year. that's about 1,000 babies that have been saved. we have more work to do but this is a start and i'm proud to be a part of it. >> thank you kimberly. and the last question before we open up the mics goes to monica. we towled she's from new mexico. she's been successful running for office. heavily hispanic community. what do you think the secret is for winning over hispanic vote sners >> in new mexico we are very much hispanic population. we concentrate on talking about issues, reminding people of the american dreefment it's never depicted in movies as an entitlement program. it's always achieving your goals and reaching that. governor martinez has done a

great job being relateable to hispanics and to people that live in new mexico, letting them know we are important. we don't talk about party a lot of the time. we talk about issues, we talk about conservative issues across the state because we need them to vote for us and it's worked. we just elected mayor berry to his second term which had never been done before. and we will re-elect governor martinez because people in new mexico know that she is and feel like they can relate to her. the s my advice across nation as far as bringing hispanics in is understanding their issues, not asking them to change their party but focus on the issues that affect their families. >> what do you think about our rising stars? pretty bright, right?

>> if i could say something, we saw the rising stars have done great work for us before. i'm very proud that our communications department and our committee if you look at this stage, we sent five dynamic as you've seen extraordinary women. thank you. very proud of you. hank you for all you do. > questions? >> i live in the middle of the state where we have no major industry, so we are all agriculture. so immigration reform is huge for us.

how do you as women address this? because i know we can tiptoe around issues and we can talk issues without saying we're republicans or necessarily we hit on prolife or we sort of tiptoe around some of the dangers what some people consider as dangerous subjects. how do you address when people ask your stance on immigration reform? >> why don't we start with allison and move this way? >> we don't take a position on immigration so i might not be the best to talk to on this panel. i think an easy way for us to address it is to protect the borders and enforce the law. he rnc has just said we need immigration reform to make better gains in that community. it's something a lot of women are dealing with.

it's a growing conversation. >> i think being a lot of times immigration reform is directed to latinos and latinos across our country. at a state level, you have to understand we depend on the feg -- federal government to do their job. need to embrace immigration reform. the senate took a step in the right direction and we are waiting to see how it plays out in the house. i think at the state level, we have to look to the federal government for guidance on this issue and really just embrace that it needs to be done and be ome pass gnat in doing that.

-- compassionate. said. ree with what they we have to embrace immigration reform. i think there needs to be a solution and the conversation needs to continue. >> anyone snells >> i come from arizona, the state of 1070 so i have a few things to say about immigration reform. absolutely, we need to wrap our arms carefully, diligently around comprehensive immigration reform. we cannot delay. coming from a southwestern border state, we see it every day. so the first and foremost thing i would encourage for the developers of whatever plan we will soon see is please listen to the border states, hear us out. we need to share the issues that we deal with day in and day out. the businesses, the families, all of them are affected daily

by the immigration, those who are coming undocumented across our lines. and so this is a conversation we have got to wrap our arms around. it's not easy. it's going to take some time. but as republicans i think the messaging we should have is that we are for every community. and we stand for what they want so we need to bring everyone to the table and do that successfully. >> so i represent college republicans. we don't take a formal stance on issues but this is an issue we studied carefully in our research. if voting started at age 30 governor romney would be president today. a growing number of that youth vote is young hispanics so this was an issue we studied carefully. we found the language of compassion could go a long way starting a dialogue with younger

voters, choosing carefully the words we choose and explaining our positions. >> i'd like for each one to comment on what governor hulk by said at lunch today -- huckabee said at lunch today. he suggested that maybe we have a war for women and we take the offensive because we have great rising stars like we have today. >> why don't we start with alex, this war on women rhetoric, opinions on that. >> when we study the youth vote and look at the composition of a younger single female voters are a huge part of it. they have unique needs as a demographic. for example, more women are entering into higher education and post graduate degrees than men at this point.

what does that mean? it means that college afertability becomes a big issue. students loans come to the forefront. getting a job after graduation. women are not monolithic voters or centered around just a few issues. younger female voters are especially concerned about the state of the economy and in terms of creating a future for themselves and their families. >> the phrase war on swim really just a liberal democratic tactic they use in the media that cannot be proven because here we are. we are examples of women in this country. [applause] we are conservatives and we stand for families. they cannot ever define when they use that phrase what that really means because we are real examples that live day-to-day and we stand for conservative values. we stand for business out of our

homes and business. obama care will be telling. they will see all the women across the country will see that government intrusion in the lives of our families will be enough and we will see that turn around soon enough. unfortunately we will have to work towards getting that message out that we have real examples and we are just the start on this stage. >> thank you. monica. >> i agree. i think the war on women is a tag line that just got picked up in the media and unfortunately i myself was accused of a war on women and i'm a woman and i have a daughter and i really was very confused by the concept. but again, it was a tag line that caught. i think it was a reckless tag line because you look across the world and there are women truly suffering through a war on women. and we used it and threw it around our media did and it made it into a conservative or

democratic issue where it shouldn't have been. >> when i heard war on women, i would just think to myself what war on women. you have five amazing young women up here who are contributing to their communities, contributing to their state, contributing to the party, so what this is about is just a normal political rhetoric. but what we show here today and what you've done mr. chairman is shown we are for women, we are for women being in leadership. i think about governor martinez, governor haley. let's highlight the fact they are in office. [applause] we have two representatives with us here today. that's the war for women. we are showing them we don't have to use the word war. it's about what do our results

show. >> i think that's a good question and really relevant. so the war on women, speaking to that is the left attempt to narrow women down to one issue voters. that is not true. on both sides women look at a broad spectrum of issues, fiscal, economic and social. but the war for women is an attempt for women's vote. it's a huge voting block and we should be honored so much that people are trying to figure out what we care about enough to speak to us. conservatives have an opportunity speak to women about the broad spectrum of issues, not just one. because the question is in this country right now what are you willing to pay for? the president's health care law has put that before us. what are you willing to pay for. and for many of us, for many families i'm not willing to pay

for someone else's anything because it's tight. especially something i might morally disagree with and religiously disagree with. the war on women is little sisters of the poor. that group of catholic nuns who was forced to sue the administration because they were being asked to fund something they disagree with. and this administration is forcing catholic nuns to play for birth control when they've taken a vow of chastity should enrage us as men and women protect or thes of life. if we can take that back on our terms and explain we are the party of passion and restoring dignity, i think we're doing that. it doesn't look like politics and policy. it looks like demanding dignity and honesty in the media, demanding dignity and honesty in

the music your children are listening to and demanding honesty and authenticity in those speaking to women. we are not monolithic. we care about so many issues. the conservative party is the one willing to talk to women about those issues. >> i'm national committee woman from connecticut and i'm a member of the resolutions committee. yesterday we passed a resolution , it was initially entitled the war on women, we changed it, i can't remember to what. wever, we are focused mostly on life issue. in my experience, there is not much talk among women about the glass ceiling. it goes beyond that. it always comes down to the life

issue. now i noticed yesterday at the rally there were many young people in support of life which is quite a change. last night new polls came out, i think it was a fox news poll but were americans polled . olife, 45 pro-choice and what we emphasized in the resolution yesterday were the statistics on how many people support parental notification. . ybe a 24 hour waiting period what do you call that test you have? so in my experience, effort we address issues on women, it

always comes down to the choice issue. shar ron you came to a luncheon in connecticut last summer. what did the ladies talk about? life issue. so hopefully the entire membership will pass that resolution tomorrow. thank you. >> bill. >> thank you for bringing forth such wonderful rising stars this time and before. we understand how important it is for to us get the youth vote and female vote if we are going to win. how important is it to have a youthful person or female on the ticket in 2016 and do you see one being more important than the other? >> i like the juxta position female or youthful. i think it's important people see someone they believe in something they believe n.

whether that's a male or female people understand this is the person that truns country and deals with international affairs. people are looking for someone that speaks up for what they believe in at the end of the day. >> i agree. youthful woman. why not put them together? it's about someone they can relate to, that they can trust and that they can believe in. >> i think it's about being relateable and i think we still on policy we still need to talk about policy. being relateable is important to young people and as women i think too. >> i absolutely agree that if we are going to be politically strategic in the 2016 elections and if hillary clinton is one of their candidates then we need to consider a woman on our ticket. it's easy to do because there

are a lot of leaders you can choose from. what will be very important is to really place that female element. because when we were talking about the importance of showing our party as a compassionate one, that's what a woman can do on that ticket. >> when we talk about the youth vote, we are talking about young female voters and young hispanic voters. those are huge subsets of the youth voters. in terms of having someone that will be attract toif both young people and females, we are really talking about one in the same when we talk about the demographic. authenticity is tremendously important, just being who you are. if you are not talking to younger voters about that true self-, about your position, explaining to them, showing up on their campus and running a thoughtful media strategy and advertising to them online, they

are not going to be able to see that. the candidate who goes to where younger voters are is going to be the candidate that succeeds. >> real and authentic is key. with the communication we have now in this country and among young voters, all of us now, real and close has to be the case in order to make a connection. last question to jason, go ahead. >> thank you mr. chairman. this goes to monica and kimberly. i'm first generation american. my family is from the island of gentleman make cafment those who come from the island are very conservative and don't identify with the right party. my question is how were you able to remove the d and r and connect to people on a one-on-one basis and if there was one particular irkse what was that issue to help your message connect?

>> for me, it was really talking about the american dream and prosperity. we talked about the housing bubble. i talked about we saw a lot of foreclosures in our state and when you talk to people about how people walk away from their the life issue is another issue and conservative democrats in our state will relate on that. the americanack to dream and freedom to prosper, that's really where we identify with one another. i don't ask anybody to change their party. i asked them to think about things i stand for and vote for me if they agree. i would also share a story up ay father opened business.

they came with nothing to this country, but they were brave men that were for their families and they did this for their future. when i share that story, it really does resonate. i will talk to a local restaurant owner and they will find out i'm republican and asian and they don't understand i'm a strange animal. i will say we have a lot in common. we own businesses and i ask them if you want that hard-earned money you worked so hard for every single day, do you want the government to take that out of your pocket or do you want to be able to keep it and use it the way you want to use it? that's a small principle that having this conversation one by one, to put a personal element on that, they understand and we can bring them over one by one that way. with clearly hit a homerun our rising stars here in washington dc. [applause]

you to everyone appear. we are going to work with our rising stars throughout the year and as i said earlier, the plan here is to show america what we have done, what success has been out there in our party. we have had a lot of success. sometimes i think our party is lousy a ragging on it and we have to do a better job. this program is part of that effort to bring new faces and voices across the country to speak for the republican party. thank you all for being here and we have a lot more advanced humming today and tomorrow. god bless you will stop thank you. [applause]

>> murray a shriver released a report last week finding that one third of women are living your the rink of poverty. she spoke at the museum in washington dc. we'll show you our remarks in their entirety tonight on c- span. here, she speaks about some of the reports findings. what united both of these teams and what united everybody who wrote in this report and who has been working what i call on the front lines of humanity is the belief that these women given the chance could not only lift themselves above lived their entire family. putting women at the center of the economy is not just good for women, it's good for men, good for boys and girls and good for the country. that's the mission of this report, to change the old stereotypes and put a new face to this issue and talk about it

understandple could and see themselves. what we have seen and heard with andcoverage on television with thanks and appreciation to beyoncé who has pushed this report out into spheres i did not even know existed, and so many other people, what we have heard in all of the responses to nbc -- this is my story will stop my story is not about the glass ceiling or the c suite, it's about the foundation and how do i shore it up? it's a story not against men but including men. for women in particular, the incredible struggles that they faced to be breadwinners and caretakers and caregivers. daughters and citizens and workers. >> hard one of this discussion

on the shriver report about the economic status of women tears tonight at 9:00 eastern on c- span. housethose speaking, speaker nancy pelosi. again, that is tonight at 9:00. >> it i feel prepared? i did. first of all, i wasn't elected. it didn't make that much difference. notice the difference between being the vice president's wife and the president's wife is huge because the vice president's wife can say anything and nobody cares. as minute you say one thing presidents wife, you make the news. that was the lesson i had to learn pretty quickly. >> watch our program on first lady barbara bush and -- at our website. or see it saturday. our series continues with first lady hillary clinton.

vice resident biden today spoke to the group families usa and criticize congressional republicans for holding war than 40 votes to try to repeal or replace the affordable care act, saying we are not going back. first, we will hear from the executive director of families usa. [applause] told you this was a tough crowd. president, friends, colleagues, welcome to health action 2014. [applause] conference andur

in deed the theme for our work ahead is making the promise real. month, for the first time in our nations of the land isw that health care is a right, not just a privilege. [applause] for people who are sick or have a chronic condition or disability, health coverage is now available as it is for everyone who is helping. modest incomeith who cannot afford health care, help is on the way. these legislative changes are enormous. they are truly historic.

deeply grateful, mr. vice president, for the effective bidenrship of the obama- administration that made this possible. [applause] room and so this many of our colleagues who are not here today are proud that we were foot soldiers in this historic effort. any major legislative accomplishment, however, there remains much to do. to take this historic legislation and make it a living reality for all americans. of a kindred movement we celebrated earlier must keep on keeping on.

to remind us why this work is so important, please welcome cathy stokes, who will tell her own story about why the affordable care act is so meaningful to her and will introduce the vice president. [applause] >> hi, everyone. my name is cathy stokes and when , i could my adult life not have imagined one day i would own my own business, that i would be a mom, let alone a single mom to twins, and i could have never imagined i would be standing here before you this morning is a breast cancer survivor. this is my obamacare success story. made the jump into

self-employment to start my own communication consulting business. it was scary, but i was able to get health coverage through her and we thought it was as good a time as any to make a leap. i was a big fan until my marriage ended at the end of 2010. i tried to get health insurance in the private marketplace that i was denied due soon -- due to some minor pre-existing conditions. however, i was eligible for cobra benefits from my ex- husband's job, so i knew i would have covered for three years. 2012.orward to i found a lump on my breast in late august. many tests later, i was dumbfounded to hear my diagnosis. i had breast cancer and it was aggressive. what followed was a whirlwind --

a double mastectomy at the end of 2012, 5 months of chemotherapy, and a years worth of antibody infusions starting in january on the 2013. andst my appetite, my hair, at times, my will to keep going. anytime i've faltered, my twins were there to give me the push i day,d to get to that next to get through that next phase of treatment. in july, i had breast reconstruction surgery and a few months later, i learned the antibody infusion i had been getting cause heart damage will stop the good news is the damage is reversible, but it requires regular visits to a cardiologist and two different heart medications. this was not a good time for me to lose my cobra coverage, but i did on december 31, 2013.

but because of obamacare, i'm happy to say my new coverage began the very next day on january 1, 2014. [applause] with obamacare, insurers could not deny me because of my breast cancer or the temporary heart condition have. my premium is affordable because i was able to get a tax credit. dollarght thousand antibody infusion i got was covered in full by my health insurance. [applause] i am asked lewdly thrilled to am absolutely thrilled that my last infusion is tomorrow. [applause] getthe port that i where to

the infusions through is going to be removed next week. odyssey is nearly over. but without obamacare, 2014 would have been a disaster. no insurance company would have taken me on, but with obamacare, i started the new year with great hope. i am a obamacare success story. i'm my own success story also. thank you. [applause] now, ladies and gentlemen, the vice president of the united states. [applause] >> thank you very much.

what an inspiring story. even with the affordable care act, it is a rough road. with totally adequate health care coverage, it's a rough road. your courage is amazing and you are an inspiration. i hope women who are all covered get a chance to hear your story because i'm going to repeat this again. one of the things ron and i believe, and we've been doing that it'sg time is

not just about physical coverage, it's about peace of mind. being able to turn to your twins and say it's going to be ok. when ron smoak -- when ron spoke, i was reminded of something i haven't heard in close to 40 years. ron has been in this fight for as long as i can remember. at an to be able to say ,uditorium in washington dc health care is a right and not a privilege. it's amazing for you and me. that used to be the fight.

i have a right to public education. they had a right to be safe in the streets. somehow, our opposition thought this health care thing is not a basic human right. carried the fight like you personally have. this organization were outside the organization. [applause] obviously, the founders carried the fight. but you been up in the trenches. i got elected to the senate when i was 29 years old. i come from a state that has a and althoughations everybody calls them blue now, it's fairly red.

i remember what i would do every year is i would go to all the major constituencies, i would go meet with the chamber of commerce, the afl-cio, united auto workers, the naacp, at the beginning of the year i met with two of the largest companies, the ceos and the boards. i would listen to what their concerns were for the coming year across the board will stop business, labor, activist roots, etc.. i was in the boardroom of one of the major corporations and everyone was being very nice except the ceo. he was upset with me. i had forgotten about this and i was sitting to his right and i finally said because he was being close to rude, i said what is your problem?

i know it doesn't sound like me. pliable.ys been very i said what's your problem? youhat if i'm not mistaken, invited me here. i didn't ask to come here. what's the problem? in a burst of honesty, he said all you are going to do is go down there to washington and work with teddy kennedy to try to get health care done, a socialist program. i thought of that -- i had an in close to 40 years. but because of you and your we don't argue about whether it's a right anymore. even republicans don't use it in the retrograde -- and their rhetoric.

i just want to personally thank you. you were there -- you've been there. you owe this guy around of applause. [applause] folks, i came for three reasons. one, i wanted to. two, the president wanted me to. seriously. checked, you're going, even though there's a national security meeting right now. three, on behalf of the president and me, just to say thank you. thank you, thank you, thank you. you have been the ones that demanded a fair shake for millions of families.

find premiums have gone .p saidere the voices that it's not ok for someone like kathy who worked her whole life, for bills onan aid time and raise her family to be left without insurance at the moment that's nearly life-and- death. you have been working for decades -- some of you are young foro improve health care tens of millions of americans. , ituse of your leadership was included in the affordable care act. you fought for programs that help bring lower co-pays for medical and fisheries.

we were talking on the way in, when new dean rich wanted medicare to wither on the vine and medicaid to be blocked granted, you were there because it would result in kicking millions of pregnant men and women -- millions of pregnant women and people in nursing homes because they had no one else, they were alone, kicking them off of coverage. teddy and you welcomed then senator obama here in 2007 where he pledged his commitment to make health reform a reality and he did. he did. [applause]

he deserves all the credit. i was with him every minute through this or fight. at least half a dozen times when he could have compromised. what he would say every time is joe, if we let this go, it will be another enraged and -- another generation before 24 million young people, mostly of color, poor, will ever get the kind of coverage they need. i think everyone of you around this room, whether you were sometime in your life only ensured or had no insurance at all, you have a story of your own. those of you who were fully covered might remember what the

you had at like it catastrophic illness befall you. i was hospitalized for seven months and not given a good shot at living. and iite an even shot spent 60 days in icu for my aneurysms. i can tell you what i remember, like a lot of you, but one thought i had even though my bills exceeded well over half $1 million, i had insurance. but what would have happened to my family had i not made it and i had not had it? gentlemen, speaking of why i sog chunk strongly believe it is a right

is ease of mind. peace of mind. mark my words, i spent a lot of time with our scientists and the all of these nobel laureates about the future and medical breakthroughs that are coming will stop you are going to find, i'm a lawyer, not a doctor, but i bet you are going to find by the time you're my age that they discover stress plays an incredibly dominant role in your health care, in your health, and your immune system. don't underestimate the peace of .ind the fact is in addition to worrying if you have a you alsohic event,

find comedy times have you thought to yourself when you all the peopleng you met who didn't have insurance, how many people do whoknow of personally literally went and grabbed -- who literally went bankrupt because of their medical bills? it's the single greatest reason for bankruptcy. that means they lost their homes in many cases. all of their savings, if they had any. in they of you thought last 10 years, there but for the ?race of god i assume that's what motivated all of you in this room. interest lot of public

questions out there and people get engaged in the intellectual excitement about it and it i suspect thatop is what made you determined to make the system change, the horror stories you've heard and witnessed would not continue. did, unlike most groups, you went out in the field and knocked on doors, you changed people's minds. unabashedly that every american has a right, a god-given right to have adequate health care coverage. and in the process, you help pass the most consequential health-care bill in american history. something presidents from teddy -- franklin frank roosevelt to john kennedy to richard nixon tried to do.

i guess it's because they didn't have you, it didn't get done. --re is an old expression the greatest gift god gave mankind was the ability to forget. but right now, it's important to remember. it's important to remember what it was like before the affordable health care act. we've already sort of dismissed it like it's done. a lot of americans were in pretty good shape, particularly those who work for large companies that still provide decent health care plans as part of the conversation. wereven there, there hidden costs and hidden vulnerabilities. even these families were paying higher premiums because hospitals were necessarily passing on $40 billion of losses they incurred every year for having to treat uninsured people or underinsured people. just to put this in perspective,

the average cost of one visit to an emergency room, which is by the way the only recourse for poor moms and dads and their kids have something wrong with them will stop even if it is something minor. they have no doctor to call. what do they do? they go to the emergency room. as a public defender, as a lawyer, that's where they go. that's their dock. average cost is $1200 a visit. $1200. that adds up. tens of ilion's of dollars. there was an article recently saying even people covered by medicaid are still going to the emergency room as if that is something weird. the truth is many of these

people never knew a doctor other than the emergency room. they don't know how to manage the system which covers them. emergency people or rooms for are where people go when they don't have insurance. called good plans days annual limits so you really needed it. an extended alzheimer's treatment for breast cancer. surgery,treatment for they were not covered will stop those who were self-employed war in small businesses and they did not fare nearly as well. they did not have the clout to negotiate a good deal with insurance companies. they did not have a negotiating power.

so what happens? when you represent a company people, i'm 300,000 only going to pay three quarters of a penny per aspirin. if you don't want my business, i will go somewhere else. go as an individual and say i'm not going to pay a penny, no bargaining power. it's still a marketplace. nopresent -- there's negotiating power. there was no negotiating power. the same plan covering your employees is considerably more important -- more expensive than the same plan covering a large business. market has been the

individual insurance market. when they tried to buy coverage, there is either -- it's either difficult or virtually impossible to find an affordable 129 millionop people have pre-existing conditions in the united states. many were covered either company's health care plan or were covered before when they did not have a pre-existing condition. did you see in the manifestation of this great recession? as companies downsize and went as employment dropped off like a rock off a cliff, what happened? all of the sudden, people who were covered before had acquired a pre-existing condition, they are out on their own in the individual market. you know i could give you at least 15 stories of people i

know or have come to know who were devastated. even people with real income not being able to afford a plan. way, until we came along, pregnancy and domestic abuse were listed as tree existing conditions. you help us change all that. women can't be discriminated against a more. as much asbe charged 150% more than a man getting the same coverage in the same plan. prior to the aca, 20% of those able to purchase individual health insurance were not able to purchase a plan to purchase prescription drugs. many plans don't cover maternity care or mental health coverage.

i have been doing this for a long time and i can tell you, i'm sure you experience the same thing, how many of my friends in college have climbed into bed at night, turned and looked at their spouse and stared at the ceiling, literally stared at the ceiling thinking my god what happens if my wife gets us cancer? what happens if i have a heart attack? what happens if my son or daughter gets gravely ill? thiswe be able to sleep in bed? a month from our two months that's not a scare tactic, that's how real people had to think about it.

part of our objective is not to make sure we have adequate health care, but to give people peace of mind. be able tor dad to turn around and say with confidence, i know it's going to be ok. just to be able to say with certainty, it's going to be ok. so many parents, so many families up to now have not been able to turn to their families and say it's going to be ok. these people, our people, the people we grew up with, these people needed a voice and you've been that voice. and you still are. i don't think it's exaggeration to say because of your voices, these people are in much better

shape because of the affordable care act. caseot only maybe generally, you organized and got ,eople out and organize rallies you helped republican governors in places like arizona, iowa and others to take advantage of the medicaid expansion program. that's a big deal. [applause] you arm the state organizations with facts to counter the noise. you collected 20,000 stories about realizing that them to the media. you change the conversation and i'm here to say thank you, thank you, thank you. [applause] if republican governors in the state legislatures in the states of texas, florida, north

carolina and others would act responsibly, we could immediately recover -- we could immediately cover another 5 million people with the stroke of a pen. [applause] three years ago, a man has more character in his little finger than most people haven't whole body spoke this conference. his name was senator barack obama. he says change does not come from the top down, comes from the bottom up and you guys activated the country will stop you did activate the country and passed, but we still have along way to go. start, butto a rocky enrollment is up. 2.2 million americans have selected private plans and i it's you're going to see much higher than that and they stun the data released

yesterday, more than 6.3 million americans were determined eligible for medicaid in the past three months. to be honest, not all of these folks are new to the medicaid program because some identified before the passage of the act. asked them to disaggregate how many would not have been covered but we don't have the ability to do that. they all have the peace of mind that comes with high-quality health insurance. states have some not taken the opportunity to expand medicaid even though the federal payment at the front end is 100% will stop the states that haven't acted, 5 million more would have access to affordable coverage. as surprising as that would they still haven't given up on the message.

the disastrous effort of cutting down -- of shutting down the federal government, they didn't get the message. confident they are not going to get the message i'm about to deliver to you. but here is the message -- we will not go back. we will not go back. america has turned the page. we will not go back to the days when mental health was not covered or when women could pay the same for a man with the same coverage. dayill not go back to the when patients lied in a hospital bed fighting for their lives and are told sorry, your coverage is over, we cannot cover you anymore. not go back.

america will not go back. by saying once again, thank you for what you have done. thank you for continuing to do what we need you to do. as my grandfather said, keep the faith. some red the faith. god love you all. may god bless and protect our troops. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, mr. vice president. we will have a brief intermission.

,> former arkansas governor mike huckabee, some boat to the republican national committee winter meeting today. here's part of that speech. but i think it's time republicans no longer accept listening to the democrats talk about a war on women. the republicans don't have a war on women. they have war for women. for them to be empowered to be something other than victims of gender, women are outraged democrats think women are areing more that they helpless creatures whose only goal in life is to have the government provide for them birth-control medication. capable of doing anything anyone else can do. our party stands for the recognition of the it the quality of women and capacity of women.

them, that'swar on a war for them. if the democrats want to insult the woman of america by making them believe they are helpless inhout uncle sugar coming and providing a prescription each month for birth control because they cannot control their libido or reproductive system without the help of the government, then so be it. let us take that discussion all women arerica because far more than the democrats have played them to be and women need to stand up enough of that nonsense. time we lead that discussion. >> after mike huckabee's speech, a reporter asked white house press secretary jay carney about those remarks. >> not that long ago at the rnc winter meeting, mike huckabee said the democrats message to women is they are helpless without uncle sugar coming in

and providing for them a prescription for birth control because they cannot control their libido or their reproductive system without the help of the government. is that the residents message? >> i haven't seen that, but whoever said it, it sounds offensive to me and to women. unfortunately, many americans -- some because of their poverty , and some because of their color -- and all too many, .ecause of both our task is to help them replace despair with opportunity. this administration today, here and now declares unconditional war on poverty in america.

>> looking back at five decades of notable state of the unit to dresses from lbj to george w. bush, sunday at 3:00 eastern. that is all leading up to president barack obama's 2014 state of the union address live emma tuesday on c-span, c-span radio and c-span. work. >> massachusetts law requires protesters at abortion clinics tuesday 35 feet away from the clinic's entrance all stop some of those antiabortion activists sued, saying the law violates their first amendment right to engage in what they called pro- life counseling. upheld thert constitutionality of the 35 foot upper zone. the supreme court oral argument was one hour.

>> may it please the court. we have held that public sidewalks are natural and public place for citizens to exchange information and ideas. the court has held that public sidewalks hold a special place in first amendment analysis. this law makes it a crime to enter into public sidewalks, even for the purpose of peaceful conversation or leafleting. the law applies to abortion clinics throughout the state regardless of the circumstances. massachusetts asked this court to uphold that statute under the time place and manner test, but the law fails each aspect of that test. the law is not narrowly tailored to those interests for three reasons. first, it applies regardless of

whether there is any threat of obstruction for congestion at all. even when the sidewalks are empty and open. mrs. mccullen does her counseling on tuesdays and wednesdays. she testified she is sometimes alone when she does the counseling. nancy clark testified that 90% of the time, she is alone. the statue that makes it illegal for them to engage in peaceful and consensual conversation on a public sidewalk for fear of obstruction and congestion is not narrowly tailored. >> there is a considerable history of disturbances and blocking the entrance.

it doesn't know in advance to our the well behaved people and who are the people who want behaved well. after the disturbance occurs, it is too late. the state is trying to say, we want to make sure that the entrance is not blocked, and the only word can do that is to have a rule that applies to everyone. we can't screen people to know who will be well behaved and who will be disruptive. >> this state is wrong about that fact for many reasons. there are many tools that the state has or could enact that would deal with that concern. if i may backup, there are two interests that the state asserts when it makes that argument. they say that they are actual bad actors. who have deliberately blocked the door and interfered with

access. there are also some circumstances where there are enough people on the sidewalks that even lawful, consensual composition might accidentally block the door. there are tools to deal with both of those circumstances. section e of the statute makes it illegal to impede, block, obstruct, or even hinder somebody's access. that section of the statute is not challenged here. >> i should ask this of the other side. do you know when was the last of time that massachusetts prosecuted somebody for obstructing entrance to an abortion clinic? >> i believe the last site in the record -- as of 1997, there was a decision a previous case against people who would been adjudicated to have broken

rules. they have never brought up case under the federal face law which has been in existence for 20 years. >> there have been laws against obstruction for this period. and you say only once in 1997, that was the last time? >> not a face prosecution. >> you are not taking the position that 1997 was the last time the entrance was obstructed? the police were called to open access to a clinic? are you taking that position was the last time was 1997? >> i couldn't say that it happened -- that i know. i know there was testimony that claimed it happened. my argument is the state has tools to deal with that. >> the state says, of that particular tool, it is a hard thing to prosecute.

you had to show intent. there's a lot of obstruction and interference that goes on naturally just because there are a lot of people. that is an insufficient tool is what the state argues. >> the state is claiming there are the deliberate bad actors blocking the door. if the police say, get out of the doorway, either they move or they don't, in which case the intent is clear. they have prosecuted 45 cases and gotten 70 convictions. >> sometimes there are bad actors. more often, it is a function of lots of people. your clients and all of them want to be as close as possible to the site. that naturally leads to and interference with normal access. >> that is the second part of the state's argument.

i don't think it is narrowly tailored to that concern. the law applies -- the evidence is that the crowd happened at essentially one clinic, one-day, one time. there are video cameras rolling and police officers present. there is no reason the police cannot say, move out of the doorway. >> does the record show how many clinics are covered? >> i believe there are 11 or 12 clinics. >> how far do you want to go in your concession? imagine the state has two groups of people. one group feels with the other is doing is wrong. the second group feels we want to do it. everyone is in a fragile state of mind. one group wants to shout as loud as it can at the other, please, do not do it.

the other says, please, leave me alone. does the state have the right in your opinion to say it is tough to referee this. so we will have a 35 foot boundary? you want to the evidence does not us to fight? >> i don't mean to concede it. a solution that is done with painted lines. >> now you are into the details. i want to know about the principal. we can think of many situations irrespective of subject matter, where there is a need for refereeing.

i just want to know if the concept is ok with you or not. >> generally speaking, no. >> so protesters like we had at the snyder case. they can go up to the public sidewalk outside the church and put up the signs that they did and about the leaflets that they did, talking about that veteran in ways that they did? that is ok? >> a couple points. >> there was no evidence there that they were disruptive. they were just expressing their first amendment rights. that is the potential for disruption because of the sentiments. >> agreed. a statute that works like this that would make it illegal to engage in peaceful conversation

on sidewalks near a church or funeral, i think clearly is not permitted by the first amendment. >> in schneider, they could still be heard? >> i think -- perhaps for part of the funeral possession. >> you see why i'm trying to narrow it. i thought it was pretty important that the demonstrators were behind a hill somewhere. the police restricted where they could go. many states have enacted similar laws. i thought that was important. maybe it would have come out differently, and you could argue that. i am trying to narrow it. to what extent do i have to look at this particular set of facts, in which case we are into the hearings, and to what extent is

there a matter principle. any help you can give me is appreciated. >> the matter of principle is that a lot that makes it illegal to engage in consensual, quiet conversation on a public sidewalk -- an act that makes that a criminal act for which he can go to prison is not permissible under the first amendment. the federal military funeral protest law is drawn for acts that disrupt the peace and disorder of the funeral. >> are you saying you cannot do an act that says, it is too hard to figure out what is not disruptive. we will just say, 25 feet. or 25 feet around any facility. that is never permissible? >> generally speaking, i think

any law like that runs into a big first amendment problem. the past first amendment decisions have said that precision regulation is required. there isn't nearly as much distortion of the marketplace of ideas as happens when you did what massachusetts did here. >> i was intrigued by one of the example that you gave in your brief. you said slaughterhouses. let's say that there are animal- rights activists who try to interfere with access in and out of slaughterhouses. state passes a regulation that says there's a ton of interference, it is preventing the operation of these facilities, employees cannot get in or suppliers, suppliers -- slaughterhouses are leaving the state, so we will set up a zone. 30 feet.

it is hard to enforce anything else. let's call it 30 feet. it is hard to enforce anything else. my reaction is what is wrong with that? just have everybody take a step back. >> what is wrong with that is a couple things. this court's decisions require precision of regulation. an injunction against groups and individuals who have interfered with access, keeping them back, i think that is permissible. it is the generally applicable statute that is tied to just one particular often protested event that gives the state enormous power. >> one of the examples here in the amicus briefs is a state law that creates a buffer zone

around every fraternal lodge. what would you say about that? >> it is difficult to imagine the government interest. i don't know the particulars of the law and what it restricts. if it restricts peaceful conversation on public sidewalks, i would say that should not be permissible under the first amendment. generally speaking, the idea of the government picking one particular item and saying, around this, the character of the public forum changes from a place where people can have peaceful conversations to a place we will imprison them for doing that, that is a dramatic restrict the first amendment rights. if there is a particular group or individual, you can get in injunction against that behavior. but the state cannot say, even peaceful discussion and leafleting >> but go back to the slaughterhouse case. there might be people who say it is important to talk to the employees.

and tell them why they should get different jobs. there are some people who think signs and chants are great, but you there are others who want to make one-to-one contact. you say we have to let whatever interference goes on, even if there is a record of real obstruction, of real interference of the facility, in order to allow that to happen -- i think that is pretty hard. >> i'm not saying it has to let it go on. i'm saying it has better tools than illuminating the peaceful, consensual conversation. >> suppose it were given that those laws do not work. could there then be a consideration of a buffer zone? the laws simply do not work.

>> if the laws simply do not work, i think the government could make a case that it has a compelling interest and this is the least restrictive means of doing it. >> that was a better way of getting out what i was talking about. let's assume that the colorado case's right. this particular restriction is more restrictive than colorado in two important respects. the reason that they did that is they had hearings in massachusetts, and they discover that the colorado law didn't really work.

what are we supposed to do? are we supposed to know -- now -- as long as the hearings are legitimate and have good explanations on whether the zone is eight feet and consensual or 35 feet and different amounts of sidewalk, when does it become up to them? we are not legislators. we don't know the situation in massachusetts. how can we do more than that? >> on this detail, what i think the court should look for, the state said they did not even convict a single person of one unconventional -- >> we all understand that. it is one thing to try to prove an intent, particular when people are in good faith. it is another thing to actually stop the congestion and protect the inte o