based on the will of their people to choose their alliances, their friendships and the organizations they wish to join. that's just a basic set of principles. that's something each country should be free to decide for itself. that's the most important principle. >> we go to mr. mike mccall of texas. >> i recently went to russia and got the sense that mr. putin is going back to a cold war mentality. this is more of a philosophical question. do you believe russia is intend on reconstituting its empire? >> i think, as i said earlier, i don't really want to speculate about why rush is doing what it's doing. honestly we don't know. i think what we have to judge is simply what is russia doing. what we see russia doing is what has caused so much concern and that is intervention on the territory of another sovereign state through military source. >> my time is limited.

which they have done prior. i think we learned from history they invaded georgia and then they continued to occupy georgia. i think that's very instructive as to the ukraine experience. today, in fact, crimea just voted to join russia. it was announced today. and i'm concerned the same thing that happened in russia will now happen in -- that happened in georgia will happen in ukraine. and i don't know if these sanctions will stop that. that's my biggest concern. when one nation invades a sovereignty of another, definitions are important. we usually define that as an act of war. does this administration believe that the russian invasion of ukraine is an act of war? >> congressman, we've said very clearly that we know what we have seen which is military aggression, intervention in the affairs of a sovereign country, violation of legal commitments, violation of international law. that is what we see.

i'm not an international lawyer so i wouldn't want to get into the terminology. it's clear, also, russia continues to occupy territory of the republic of georgia, something we've been clear in condemning. it is also clear that their commitments that all countries have to each other to settle disputes peacefully. that's certainly not what we're seeing here. >> i think we should call it what it is. you said it's very clear it's a violation of international law. i believe it's also very clear that this is an act of war against another nation. when we look at nato, i think mr. putin feels very threatened by the european union and nato. poland called for an emergency meeting of nato to discuss concerns about this russian aggression. what are we doing to ensure that poland and our other nato allies are protected? >> one of the things we're doing is increasing our aviation

detachment deployment. we are also working to ensure that the baltic states have the support they need to defend their territory, that's why we've increased our commitments to the baltic air policing mission with additional planes and refueling. we're working in brussels at nato to address any other concerns that the allies have. as i said, we take these obligations extremely seriously and we will do our utmost to ensure the alliance stands together. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> if i could make a quick announcement. our strategy will be to recess -- i think our witnesses know how congress operates. we've got amendments up on the floor to the energy bill. there's about six of these amendments, two-minute votes. so we will recess until we get to the recommittal debate. that will give us time to come back and finish some of the questioning. with that, let's turn to karen bass. >> thank you, mr. chair. i believe my question is brief. it's for mr. singh.

on page three of your testimony you talk about the imf and what is needed is an economic adjustment program that eliminates unsustainable economic imbalances and poorly targeted government subsidies. i was wondering if you could be more specific as to what those subsidies are, what needs to be changed and also, is the imf support contingent on that. >> thank you, congresswoman. that's precisely how the imf works. its sis assistance is contingent upon reforms being made. the three core forms that i referenced, number one, there has been an unsustainable build up in physical spending over the years in ukraine. that needs to be addressed. number two, there are truly massive energy subsidies that have been a part -- >> subsidies to companies or to the population? >> to the population, to tariffs

paid for heating and gas and so forth. that's led to coop assumption of energy that's among the highest in the region. >> would you be concerned that some of the reforms might cause problems, dissent if subsidies are cut off? >> that's why our notion on the loan guarantee is to try to direct the proceeds of that issuance that we have in mind and direct those to ukrainian society so those reforms are easier to implement and they don't fall on those who can least afford to bear them. the third piece, apart from moving on the energy subsidy problem which i mention has led to overconsumption and reliance on russian gas, i should say. is on their exchange rate. it's overvalued, caused them to have a real problem in terms of exports. it's made their economy uncompetitive.

one last thing is, i should say it's very good news in terms of the political will that we're oeshing on the ground that we're already seeing movement on these reforms. the currency in ukraine has weakened quite a bit and become much more flexible. it's becoming much more driven by market forces. that's a condition of the imf and the leadership of ukraine has shown a willingness already to move in that direction. that's a positive sign. >> i know elections are supposed to be scheduled for may. do you think there's the leadership there with the current person that's in power just running for election? and that's to anybody and then thank you, mr. chair. >> congresswoman, the elections have been set for may for the presidential elections in ukraine. candidates have not yet been formally announced, nor has anyone formally submitted their candidacy. we're not sure. the current prime minister indicated he would not be a candidate and would be running the interim government. we do believe it's absolutely

critical there will be a fully free, fair election in ukraine to choose its new president. we'll go to mr. bill keating of massachusetts. would you like to have the last question before we recess? >> thank you, mr. chairman. a couple of quick questions. number one, nato secretary general rasmussen has said the alliance plans to intensify its cooperation with ukraine. can you give us a more detailed description in terms of nato's plans. if the ukrainian government were to request member ship action plan, would the administration consider that, possibly support it? that's question number one. the other one deals with imf reform. would that improve that to make sure our dollars are more effective live used and we don't have squandered money, important taxpayer money for the u.s. and money from our european allies.

will that provide more ability to maximize the use of that? those are the two questions. mr. singh can take the second. mr. rubin, if you want to take the first. >> certainly, congressman. the question of nato cooperation, ukraine has been a member of the partnership for peace for two decades. we have very extensive positive experience working together with ukraine on training, on improving the readiness, on all sorts of questions that relate to building a modern military, civilian military control. that is something that we certainly hope to continue and ukraine has a mission to nato. we have regular meetings of the nato ukraine council in which that can be discussed. as a matter of fact, we just held a session in light of current events at ukraine's request. we have a very strong partnership through the partnership for peace, through the nato ukraine council. we do want to continue to develop that with the new government and in the future with the new president.

>> specifically, with the membership action plan, i can't see in the very near future i can see the need to address this issue frankly because our options are limited now. if ukraine is interested and wants to pursue this, will we entertain those discussions and be supportive? >> we've said from the beginning that countries need to be free to choose their memberships, their alliances, commitments to other countries, this is basic principle of sovereignty and, therefore, as a matter of basic principle, nato is an open alliance. i think in terms of what the people of ukraine want and what the government of ukraine wants will be up to them to decide will be very interested in having that conversation based on what they tell us. >> on imf quota reform. >> congressman, the answer is absolutely. this imf quota reform wouldn't require a single extra dollar of u.s. financing to the imf but

would preserve our lead role as the world's preeminent responder, the first responder to national crisis. it preserves our voice and influence at the institution that would be at the very center of the assistance in ukraine. by the way, it also increases the imf's flexibility to respond to the situation on the ground in the event of a node for bridge financing to a larger package. it should be a slam dunk. >> thank you. mr. deutsche, you a minute. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i just have -- i want to focus the discussion in a different way. in addition to targeting individuals responsible for undermining the democratic process and threatening the territorial integrity of ukraine, are you considering additional robust sanctions that would have a more significant impact on the russian regime? for example, will you look to impose sanctions, mr. singh, my question to you, will you look to impose sanctions discussed previously for those providing the funding and equipment necessary for the syrian regime

to kill and terrorize its own people? that it seems is a way to really strike at russia in a way that is significant and appropriate. >> congressman, let me just say, we have not listed specific individuals or entities today. this is broad authority that we'll use as appropriate given the situation on the ground. >> is it appropriate to impose sanctions on those individuals who -- in russia who are assists the assad regime in slaughtering its own people? >> congressman, i can only say this specific tool is designed to allow us to sanction those who are most directly involved in destabilizing ukraine, including the military intervention in crimea. it doesn't preclude further steps to be taken. i can't comment specifically on your question. >> it does not provide the opportunity. do you understand the opportunity to impose sanctions in a significant way that would impact the russian regime and the decisions they make by going after those who are responsible for aiding assad?

that's the question. >> i'll have to come back with a fuller response. >> we stand in recess. graphics and more about ukraine tomorrow from the heritage foundation. onwill discuss your opinions events in the region. 11:00 a.m. eastern on c-span two. analyst at the workings institution will discuss intervention in ukraine. you can watch it live on c-span two. >> darrell issa is drawing criticism from democrats for the way he ran a hearing on wednesday. officialirs -- irs

indulge her fifth amendment right and decline to testify. issa cut off the microphone of elijah cummings. we are better than that as a country. we are better than that as a committee. i have asked for a few minutes to ask -- [mike cut off] [indiscernible] i am the ranking member of this committee, and i want to ask a question. what are we hiding? what's the big deal? may i ask my question? may i state my statement? >> you are all free to leave. we have adjourned. but the gentleman may ask his question. >> thank you very much. mr. chairman, i have one procedural question, and it goes to trying to help you get the information, by the way, that you just asked. >> what is your question? >> no, let me say what i have to say. i have listened to you for the last 15 or 20 minutes. let me say what i have to say. mr. chairman, i have one procedural -- >> ms. lerner, you are released.

>> but first, i would like to use my time to make some brief points. for the past year, the central republican accusation in this investigation -- [mike cut off] >> we are adjourned. close it down. [indiscernible] >> before our -- [mike cut off] [indiscernible] >> thank you. [mike cut off] >> [indiscernible] >> shame! shame! >> ask your question. >> if you will sit down and allow me to ask question, i am a member of the congress of the united states of america! i am tired of this! >> well -- >> we have members over here each of who represent 700,000 people. you cannot have a one-sided investigation.

there is absolutely something wrong with that, and it is absolutely un-american. >> hear, hear. >> the hearing is adjourned. i gave you the opportunity to ask a question. >> i do have a question. >> he is taking the fifth, elijah. [indiscernible] [laughter] >> to discuss a republican staffing -- [indiscernible] although he provided a copy of [indiscernible] he refused my request to provide it to members of the committee. we have employees who have said the same thing, that the white house was not directed [indiscernible] at the time it was occurring.

[indiscernible] and none of the witnesses identified any political motivation. the inspector general told us the same thing. he found no evidence of any white house involvement or political motivation. instead, the very first line of the results section said it began with employees in cincinnati who "developed and used inappropriate criteria to deny applications of organizations with the words 'tea party' in their name." a manager explained that his employees were the ones who first came up with the inappropriate search terms in 2010. he denied any political motivation and he made his point by explaining that he is a

conservative republican. i released his entire transcript eight months ago, and the inspector general report found that ms. lerner did not discover use of these practices until 2011. when she learned about them, and i quote again from the report, she "immediately directed that the criteria be changed." a chief investigator reviewed emails from irs employees and again found no evidence of political motivation. over the past year, our committee has obtained hundreds of thousands of pages of documents and interviewed dozens of witnesses. the irs has spent more than $14 million responding to congressional investigations.

we have identified absolutely no evidence to support allegations of a political conspiracy against conservative groups. what we have identified is evidence of gross mismanagement. ms. lerner failed to discover that employees were using these search terms for a year. like the former irs commissioner, ms. lerner failed to inform congress about what she knew. i do have serious questions for ms. lerner, and i am very disappointed that i will not be able to ask them today. but i do not support the republican conclusion that she waived her constitutional rights nine months ago when she invoked the fifth amendment, and i do not believe a court would uphold that conclusion. now, the chairman is gone, but i would like to ask him procedural questions. as i said earlier, her attorney can proffer, and she loses nothing, nobody gains anything.

[indiscernible] at a meeting her attorney said i was asked if i would provide a proffer of testimony [indiscernible] i agreed to do that. but that did not happen. as i understand, accepting the proffer does not grant immunity to the witness. it does not bind the committee in any way. it allows the committee to obtain information without requiring the witness to waive their fifth amendment rights. i was not invited to the meeting last month with ms. lerner's attorney. but it seems to be the committee loses nothing by accepting this proffer and we may gain important information. the very question that the chairman just asked ms. lerner, those are the kinds of questions that could be answered in a

proffer. so i wanted to ask the chairman whether the committee would schedule time this week for all committee members to hear the proffer from ms. lerner's attorney. with that, i yield back. [indiscernible] >> mr. ranking member, i find it a supreme irony that the chairman of this committee would unilaterally decide an american citizen has waived her fifth amendment rights while actually exercising his fifth amendment right not to answer your question on behalf of the minority of this committee. [indiscernible] >> thank you very much.

>> in reaction to yesterday's events, the congressional black caucus is calling for congressman i had to be stripped of his chairmanship. marcia fudge also tried to introduce a resolution in the house to condemn representative myself. -- issa. mr. speaker, under rule 9 i give notice of my intention to offer a question of the privileges of the house. the form of the resolution is as follows. whereas on march 5, 2014, during a hearing before the house committee on oversight and government reform, committee chairman darryl e. issa gave a statement and then posed 10 questions to former internal revenue service official lois learner who stated she was invoking her fifth amendment right not to testify.

whereas the committee's ranking member, representative elijah e. cummings, had his turn for can hes. whereas chairman issa then quickly adjourned the hearing and refused to allow him to make any statement or ask any questions. whereas ranking member cummings protested immediately, stating, mr. chairman, you cannot run a committee like this. you just cannot do this. this is -- we are better than that. as a country we are better than that, as a committee. whereas then chairman issa returned and allowed ranking member cummings to begin his statement but had it became clear mr. issa didn't want to hear what member cummings said, turned off ranking member cummings' microphone, repeatedly signaled to and he the hearing with his hand across his neck. whereas ranking member cummings objected again stating, you cannot have a one-sided investigation.

there is absolutely something wrong with that. whereas chairman issa made a statement of his own and posed questions during the hearing but refused to allow other members of the committee and in particular the ranking member who had sought recognition to make statements under the five-minute rule, in violation of house rule 9. -- 11. whereas chairman issa instructed the microphones to be turned off and adjourned the hearing without a vote or a unanimous consent agreement in violation of rule 16, because he did not want to permit ranking member cummings to speak. whereas chairman issa's abusive behavior on march 5 is part of a continuing pattern in which he has routinely excluded members of the committee from investigative meetings and has routinely provided information to the press before sharing it with committee members. whereas chairman issa has violated clause 1 of rule 23 of the code of official conduct, which states, that a member,

delegate, resident commissioner, officer or employee of the house shall behave at all times in a man that are shall reflect credibly on the house. now, therefore be be it resolved, that the house of representatives strongly condemns the offensive and disrespectful manner in which chairman darrell issa conducted the hearing of the house committee on oversight and government reform on march 5, 2014, during which he turned off the microphones of the ranking member while he was speaking and adjourned the hearing without a vote or unanimous consent agreement. . the speaker pro tempore: under route 9, a resolution offered from the floor by a member other the majority leader or the minority leader is a question of the privileges of the house has immediate precedence only at a time dellingd by the chair within two legislative days after the resolution is properly noticed. pending that designation, the form of the resolution noticed by the gentlelady from ohio will appear in the record at this point. the chair will not at this point

determine whether the resolution constitutes a question of privilege. that determination will be made at the time when the democrats resolution was tabled in a partyline vote. house democrats talk to reporters. this half-hour reefing begins with congressman elijah cummings. >> good morning. the house rules say each member is supposed to get five minutes. chairman issa went on for 15 minutes, and when i sought recognition, he quickly adjourned the hearing, turn off my microphone, and refused to

allow me to make any statement or ask any questions. chairman issa cut off my microphone because he did not like what i had to say or what he thought i might say. chairman issa's actions undermine the integrity of our committee and prevent us from doing responsible and effective oversight. the irony of what chairman issa did is the question i wanted to ask was an attempt to help the committee's investigation. i question was an offer about ms. lerner's attorney to provide a proffer to the committee. i want that proffer. i wanted to hear what her attorney would have said, and i want that information. the congress is entitled to that information. it does not give her immunity and does not wind the committee.

it could have given us some of the information to chairman was asking about yesterday. he asked ms. lerner some 10 questions, and all of those could have been answered by a proffer from her attorney. we ended up not getting any information. so not only were chairman issa's actions an abusive of authority, they were counterproductive. republicans have abandoned responsible oversight by declining to take basic investigative steps for motive unnecessary political conflict. making false claims about the white house last year before the committee received any documents or interviewed any witnesses, chairman issa said on national

television this was a targeting of the president's political enemies during the election year. the problem is even inspector general russell george found no evidence of any white house involvement or political motivation. the committee has interviewed 38,000 employees who have said the same thing. there was no white house involvement or political motivation. an irs official in cincinnati, a self-identified conservative republican manager, told us the same thing. it is interesting that that gentleman has never been brought before the committee. it started with him. yet republicans remain fixated on falsely accusing the white house attorney and its political enemies in an attempt to reignite the partisan inquiry before the november elections. this is only one example of the

larger pattern of unsubstantiated claims in two weeks ago chairman issa claimed that former secretary of state hillary clinton told leon panetta to stand down after the attacks in benghazi. "the washington post" fact checker gave this four pinocchios. this past monday chairman issa went on national television and repeated these claims. the fact checker gave him four more pinocchios. i cannot keep up with all of his pinocchios. i understand house republicans have called it quits in terms of legislating any more this year. the result is that all they have left with our records and abusive investigation.

this is a waste of resources and does nothing for the american people. we need to raise the minimum wage. we need to enhance the earned income tax credit. we need to ensure our citizens get health care. we need to do the work that the american people sent us to washington to do. now it gives me a privilege to introduce the chairman of the ways and means -- the ranking member of the ways and means committee, mr. levin. >> let me try to place this in context. as you know, the ways and means committee has had jurisdiction over this matter.

from the beginning it was clear what the republicans were after. there was zero evidence of political motivation. we have had five hearings in ways and means. $14 million has been spent by irs. so with no evidence what is going on here, the political motivation is not that of anybody but the republicans. i remember the first hearing we had. the chairman said there was a culture of cover-up. there was zero evidence of this. what is happening here is the republicans are determined to keep this issue of the irs alive as part of their twin strategy attacking health care and essentially claiming without any foundation political motivation, trying to tie it to the white house.

what happened yesterday -- and i saw, elijah, the tape on it -- i find it hard to believe except the history of the chairman. what happened yesterday was this political strategy of the republicans -- and i want to say let one last thing. i have been told when asked by some of you of the speaker what he thought, he said that the chairman was in his rights or something like that. that cannot be the protocol of this institution. when i saw darrell issa in action yesterday, i thought back of all my years here, and i think he has brought this to an unbearable crescendo.

it has to stop. a privileged resolution was filed today. i hope it can be brought up, and i hope the republicans will decide there is some waters' edge to politics. next will be another gentleman from michigan, the ranking member from judiciary, mr. conyers. >> thank you. you are almost as nice and polite as elijah cummings himself. i appreciate that. i am here merely to point out on the committee that i have been on longer than anybody else, on the judiciary committee. it is beginning to show a little bit of partisanship.

and one of the things that is disturbing to me is that we get bills that are clearly going nowhere, that the senate probably has a stack of bills from the house judiciary, the senate judiciary committee, in which they point out that they have no intention of taking them up. we keep sending them frequently tired old bills, limiting abortion rights, sometimes bashing immigrants, taking it easy on corporate polluters and other wrongdoers. and we are considering even today another anti-regulatory bill that will force agencies to prioritize speed over safety.

we are hoping that we can discontinue this democracy suspended business and urge our chairman to discontinue obstructing the legislative process and sometimes ignoring the priorities of the american people. thank you. >> it is great to be here with my colleagues to talk about the serious issues.

i think last fall during the 16-day government shutdown, you saw republicans suspend democracy in the entire house of representatives when they changed the rules in order to continue shutting down the government. what we saw yesterday was democracy being suspended in committees of the house of representatives. it was an incredible abuse of process, trying to shut down the ability of mr. cummings to make his statement, and we hope that we are not going to see a continuation of this throughout the house of representatives. it is unfortunate because as result of the antics and abuse we saw from mr. issa, we are not able to focus on the things the american people want to be focused on. we were focused yesterday in the budget committee, trying to talk about the proposals the

president has put forward to create more jobs in the country, to expand opportunities to more people in the country, and yet on the floor of the house we were voting for the 50th time to end the affordable care act and in the oversight and government affairs committee we saw an effort to shut down democracy in order to try to protect his failing narrative that republicans have about this political conspiracy coming out of the white house. they have not a shred of evidence. they're getting frustrated. instead of owning up to that failure, they are lashing out and engaging in abusive processes. the last thing i want to say is with respect to the irs issues, what republicans are deadly afraid of is that the public will find out who is spending the millions and millions of dollars to try to influence elections around the country, what interests are trying to buy a congress that will help adopt

policies to support those special interests. that goes to the core of the issue. this is not as republicans would have you believe about first amendment rights, the right to engage in political process. people can spend as much money in elections today as they want, period. the question is whether the public has a right to know who is financing those campaigns. and for some reason republicans are really afraid of letting the public know who is trying to spend gobs and gobs of money to influence these elections. that is their core concern, and, again, as eight of the nine supreme court justices have said, transparency is important to accountability, and accountability is fundamental to our democracy. you see republicans simply trying to shut down and distant -- and suspend democracy in the house, and it is a sad day for the congress, and i now am pleased to introduce the

terrific ranking member of the rules committee, louise slaughter. >> good morning. i am delighted to be here with my friends this morning. we have reached a boiling point. i want to say to you, because none of you are interested in what we are doing up here, that this is really an important piece of work. what is happened in this place week after week in the house is nothing short of legislative malpractice. the congress of the united states used to be the gold standard of legislatures. we were doing what we were doing to make this the most incredible country on earth. now what are we doing? i want to give you numbers. i want to be brief. what happened yesterday to ranking member cummings -- this is the first time that the

ranking members of gotten together to complain -- was so outrageous, demeaning, so awful in every respect that we just absolutely have reached the boiling point. if you pay any attention to rules, a powerful committee, i have been telling you for years here, that every week we are here the estimated cost of running the house of representatives in one week is $24 million. ok? the first 33 times that we voted to kill the health care bill, it took 80 hours of legislative work and cost about $48 million. it has gone way beyond that now. what happened, you heard about the irs, was all the money that they have spent for nothing. because we do not do legislation that is intended to ever become law in this land, and i think

secretly many of them are glad for that, because we come here, 435 of us are brought here every week to do what basically amounts to a press release. please pay some attention. the public needs to know. if you have a house of representatives that talks about nothing but cost, nothing but spending, it would take away food stamps, that thinks it is immoral to help with an employment insurance, but is throwing away money on useless legislative processes that go nowhere, and they have wanted to. now, last election, 1.4 million more people voted democrat than for republicans in the house. half the population of the united states, their representatives, are not going to have amendments.

whatever they may want on the bill is not going to be considered. you call that democracy? please think about what is happening here. we are going to come back next week and we are going to try again to humiliate the president of the united states, to try to insinuate that the man is a law breaker. we have sunk to such a low when it comes to legislation. yesterday, and i want everyone of you to have a piece of it, we put in the record, 50 pieces of legislation crying out for attention. what we do the same thing over and over and over again. it has gotten to the point where we can stay home and somebody can just go in a room and put repeat on the record player and

have it all over again. it is full of sound and fury meaning nothing. and they want it that way. for goodness' sake, every week it is let's destroy the epa. all regulation is bad, they say. all of the things we have worked for all these years so you can breathe clean air, eat safe food, all that means absolutely nothing. that is why we are here today. we have got to get the public aroused so the public knows what is happening here. nothing. nothing. for reasons i cannot understand, all of you are so brilliant and i greet you every day. i do not take my eyes off the news.

i watch what you guys are doing all the time. you never say a word about it. you never say a thing. you may say, most unproductive congress in history, and then you go off in another direction. think about the money that is wasted here to make a political statement. it is costing us not just in terms of infrastructure, education, health care, but what is causing to our -- costing to our self-respect. i am so happy to be here today. i feel liberated today. we need everybody to know what is going on. we are doing our part and we all show up. we go through the motions. abraham lincoln cost added -- 's adage can be

proved again. you can. the people all the time. big strong press helps us against that. >> this is not about whether chairman i found that issa disrespect video. some people believe that you should have been apologizing to him. i see much of this as a distraction. if i apologize, it is for the fact that chairman i thought -- chairman issa could've gotten a roffer and he failed

to do so. i apologize for me not addressing the issues that they wanted us to address. mortgage lenders who have admitted that they have failed the american people. which have ast of shortage of life-saving drugs. we have had 25 hearings on the affordable care act. get caught upto in that. this is not the first time that downman issa has shut mike -- microphones down. my point is that we have to have a quorum in these committees. you cannot set out the minority party. what happened yesterday was that

they wanted to hold a hearing they wanted to set it down before the democrats could have one syllable. there is something wrong with that picture. i would hope that speaker boehner would not want that kind of situation. i cannot even imagine one of my colleagues if they were chairpersons, to deny or shut down a microphone. i cannot imagine it. un-american. it is unfair. that weed chairman issa are elected by 700,000 people. they deserve a voice. chairman issathat had been negotiating for ms. lerner.

he did not included in that process. aere were some efforts to do proffer. but for some reason chairman issa shut that down. i wanted to get to the point of getting a proper proffer from the attorney. and the attorney would've said, she does not need to answer the question. he set me down because he did not want to hear what i was saying or what he thought i would say. that is un-american. i'm sorry. >> you mentioned that thatlicans are planning they favor the president is abusing his authority. >> here is what happened. we get these old bills. they write amenities may bring down here.

an awful lot of them have no process. we are called in for an emergency meeting. it is simply part of the message they are trying to get to their base. that, the're doing infrastructure in this country is falling apart. that is what they will do. they will bring back the old bills. there is a constant her reading of the president. haranguing of the president. it is just part of the denigration of the presidency. ofdoes on all a great deal harm. there is a charade that goes on here. that the defendant. >> mr. cummings -- that does the same thing. mr. cummings, there was a

meeting with the republicans on the committee. did he talk to you at all about that? ,f he goes ahead to do that what will the response be? >> let me go back to what this gentleman said. one of the things that came up yesterday that we found out while they were asking the questions without apparently there have been negotiations and sheet, -- she, issa , and her attorney. they had asked for a postponement. it sounded like she was willing to come forth in a week. for some reason, chairman issa would not grant that. if you read what she might say? i am not sure -- is he afraid of what she might say? i am not sure.

keep in mind that her attorney said that she would plead the fifth. she came in, she made a statement, and she asserted the fifth. because she made that statement, they claimed that she had waived her right. our experts have told us that she did not leave her right. - waive her right. i will stand up for the constitution. i think when somebody's attorney has told them and when they have said it, it shows unintended to do it. necessarily be in that situation when it comes to people's writes. -- rights. >> your senior irs official is taking the fifth amendment. >> i do want to hear what she has to say.

>> it is not like she is being cooperative. >> you are fighting over pleading the fifth. i know. when it comes to the constitution, we all have a right for self-incrimination. period. all the certainty proper form. can assert that in the proper forum. you may argue with that. time, and i have said to my committee, i read that the constitution. -- respect the constitution. without the constitution, i would not a standing here. >> can you talk more about the response to this? there was a resolution or something that was filed.

quite a privilege resolution was filed the of the egregious violation of the house rules and the visa process by chairman issa. if we're going to function as we should in a democracy, people have to abide by the rules. the rules are designed to ensure democratic office. -- process. rules,u violate those you are walking out on democracy. that is what happened. to make sure we keep the normal conduct in the house of representatives, in order to protect the democratic rock it is-- process, important to hold people accountable when they violate the. -- rules. out that there are some republican members of the

house who think that the president sees authority when he authority when he was sworn in. they have never accepted that you resident of the united they. -- united states. this is supposed to be a democratic institution. there is a majority, but they have to play by the rules in order to contact -- protect democracy. >> have you in chairman issa spoken? i have not talked to him. the number of republican members who have come up to me and said, don't tell him, but i apologize. you should not have been treated that way. a number of the republicans on our committee. thank you.

>> at his weekly briefing, house speaker john boehner defendant congressman issa's actions. >> the hearing was a continuation of a previous hearing. the issue is our efforts to get the truth of the abuse by the irs of groups around the country that some in the administration do not agree with. from what i understand, mr. issa was within his rights to enjoin the hearing when he did. adjourned the hearing when he said. >> is there a discussion about going to the courts to challenge what he has done? >> one of the bills that will be up next week make it clear that we do have standing to stop the executive branch from what we believe is overreaching.

they were abusing their power. >> do you believe chairman issa is serving the purpose of house republicans with this kind of behavior? we are talking about his behavior. >> i believe he was within his rights to do what he did. what you think of the house action on ukraine and what it will accomplish? the packageok at that we will close today, i expect -- that we will post today, i expect that we will see some action. we are continuing to work on a package of sanctions with our counterparts in the senate and in the white house. we will try to get the president's tools that he can deploy to strengthen his hand.

>> do you think anything the congress is likely to do will convince the president to do anything else? >> we can work with the administration and strengthen their hand and deal with a difficult situation. >> we are talking about jobs. makes you optimistic about the ability to compliment anything in a bipartisan fashion? >> if you look at the fact that we came together on a budget agreement. we raise the debt limit. we are working together. you can look at the bill that is in congress. we will do a highway bill. we tend to focus on the things that we disagree with. 80%-90% of what the congress does is done in a bipartisan fashion. what do you think of the

military sexual assault bill? house and senate have both acted on this issue. i think that the agreement that was struck in the house in the defense authorization bill strike the correct balance. thisnot see any reason at point for any further action to be taken. >> can you believe the easy city council voted to decriminalize marijuana? should congress use its authority to block that from becoming law? issue.re looking at this we will be further report. >> republicans have long talked about reform and tax reform. would give you a lot more leverage to act on that. what is a bigger priority? tax reform or entitlement

reform? that is like asking me if i like chocolate ice cream or vanilla ice cream. listen, i like ice cream. i want both of them. if we are going to begin to solve the problems that we have here in our country, we cannot spend money that we do not have. we have a tax collection system. it is so complicated that everyone has to go to a tax preparer to do their tax returns. real tax reform would grow our economy and grow wages. we have to do both of these things. >> there is a special election going on next tuesday. i was just down there and some of the voters are saying that the republican candidate has a message to repeal obamacare and it is a mistake. you lose it that special election, will that change the republican strategy on obamacare?

>> no, not at all. thanks. >> you said that darrell issa was -- do you approve of the way he acted? are you prepared to replace a master? >> he has done an effective job as chairman and i support him. >> republicans have been talking about help president obama is unwilling to make tough choices. but in a couple of recent instances involving this military co-op issue and flood insurance, republicans have backtracked on reforms as they lead in passing. conservatives are criticizing you for ducking those tough choices. >> listen, the flood insurance bill, in my view, is being implemented in a way contrary to the law.

and i think what the house passed and what i expected the anate to pass makes it workable law as opposed to what i believe was becoming very unworkable. when it comes to civilian and military retiree issues, there is a big issue. it has to be dealt with. there is a commission looking at all of the military pay and retiree issues. i think it is wise for us to wait for the report from the commission before we take further action. thanks. >> house oversight committee chairman darrell issa apologized this in evening. he is quoted as saying --

tonight on c-span, part of today's conservative political action conference. ouncesent obama an sanctions against russia. darrellemocrats condemn issa for his actions at yesterday's irs hearing. on the next "washington journal," a talk with david keene about the conservative movement at the seatac -- at the cpac conference. "washington journal" begins live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> we do not have a criminal investigation role and we have a vast and roles metal, one of the

-- a vast enforcement role. don't have the criminal authority. we have the power with the approval of our commission to bring civil fraud actions, and negligence actions against those federalated the securities law. so we can't send anybody to jail but we can assess civil penalties. our level of penalties isn't as high as we like it to be and there's legislation encouraged to give us an ability to assess higher penalties. we can require those who commit wrongdoing to disgorge their ill-gotten gains, the profits that they make from their wrongdoing. and we have the power to bar somebody from the securities industry so that they can't basically live another day to defraud again. >> securities and exchange commission chairman mary jo white sunday night at 8:00 on c-span's " q&a."

>> the conservative clinical action conference is one of the largest annual meetings of u.s. conservatives. it features several days of meetings, discussions, and speeches from key figures from the conservative movement. day one of this years cpac includes speeches by cosman paul ryan, governor chris christie, but governor bobby jindal, and real estate mogul donald trump. this part of the conference starts with texas senator ted cruz. >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome market ross, president of regency publishing. ♪ >> good morning once again to cpac 2014, the largest conference of conservative activists in the country, in the

world. it is wonderful to see you all here this morning. i am margy ross. i am president and publisher of regnery publishing. we are the premier publisher of conservative books. we have been publishing great conservative books for over 65 years. we publish many of the speakers and thought leaders that you will hear today and see up on this stage over the course of the next three days. if you have attended cpac in the past, you know that the speakers ,ou will hear from will shock delight, a maze, inform, incense, and inspire you. start offtter way to this conference than with the man who has provoked every one of those emotions in just his first year in washington. senator ted cruz. [cheers and applause]

born in canada of a cuban father and an american mother, raised in the great state of texas -- [cheers] educated at two the premier universities in the country. cruz clerked for -- and then work in the justice department for president george bush. then elected to the united states senate in 2012. that ted cruz didn't know how things get done here in washington, d.c. and the media calls ted cruz the most hated man in washington. and that is a pretty competitive list to be at the top of. but conservatives, we describe him somewhat differently.

fearless, principled, relentless, a patriot. both sides agree on one thing. business as usual ended when ted cruz came to washington. [applause] and that gives us hope for the future. so please join me in welcoming the honorable senator from texas ted cruz. [applause] ♪ >> good morning. god bless cpac.

i do have to start with a bit of bad news this morning. i'm sorry to tell you that by virtue of your being here today and tomorrow morning each and everyone of you will be audited by the irs. [laughter] so i appreciate the courage of your convictions. yesterday, lois lerner went before congress and yet again pleaded the fifth. of course, president obama told bill o'reilly during the super bowl there is not a smidgen of corruption with the irs. it reminded me of one of my favorite movies. you keep on using that word. i do not think it means what you think it means. [laughter] somehow my understanding of smidgen was a little different than his. i want to thank you all for being here. you are here today at cpac

because you understand the stakes in this country have never been higher. you are here because you understand our country is at a crisis point. we are at the edge of a cliff. liberty is under assault. and what i want to talk to you all about this morning is how we win. there are a lot of d.c. consultants who say there is a choice for republicans to make. we can either choose to keep our head down, to not rock the boat, or we stand for anything can stand for principles carried and they say, if you stand for principles, you lose elections. the smart way, the washington way is don't stand against obamacare. don't stand against the debt ceiling. don't stand against nothing. i want to tell you something. that is a false dichotomy. [applause]

you want to lose elections? stand for nothing. alas for congressional the four, we of follow that strategy. we put our head down and stood for nothing and we got walloped. the one election that was a tremendous election was 2010 when republicans drew a line in the sand. we said we stand unequivocally against obamacare, against bankrupting the country and we historic tidal wave of an election. and then of course all of us remember president goal -- and president mccain and president romney. those are good men. they are decent men. but when you don't stand and dry clear this action -- clear distinction, when you don't stand for principles, democrats celebrate.

and will stand here today let's take for example young people. there are young people here today? [cheers and applause] way. a note, by the everybody should be cheering at that. everyone is young at heart. if you are at cpac, by definition, you are a young person because you are the future of america. [applause] but i want to give you an example of how we win young people and that is an example of how we win elections across the board. i am going to suggest a radical agenda to you. hope and change. [laughter] yearsok at the last five and president obama's hope has diminished across the world. the people of ukraine has seen russian tanks move into their

sovereign tanked as the nation of israel has been left without its friend of -- friend and ally, the united states of america. with the lowest force participation since 1978. millions have lost hope because the american dream is harder and harder for anyone to achieve. and i have to tell you, change -- real change -- is changing the corrupt and broken system that is here in washington, d.c. [applause] how do you win young people? who are the two republicans in modern times who have most energized young people? ronald reagan and ron paul. so apparently the key is being named ronald. [laughter] but if you think of it, neither one of them were young, rugged, james dean, "rebel without a

cause." they were septuagenarians. yet what did they do? they stood for principle. they tainted a bold and inspiring vision for mecca for how all of us can be better and young people came out by the millions and said that is the vision i want to be behind. if you were to sit down to try to hammeran agenda the living daylights out of young people, you couldn't do better than the obama economic agenda. under president obama, we have had five years of the great stagnation. growth, which means one generation after another coming out of school can't find jobs. are know economists referring to this generation as a lost generation. tooacare, the grid is way describe it is the rate wealth

transfer. who the heck do you think is going to pay for that? the obama agenda has been horrible for young people. yet how many republicans said that? does anyone remember the last election anyone going and making the case to young people about their is a better way, a brighter future? how do we win? how do we inspire young people? number one, we tell the truth. [applause] this president seems to have a little problem with that. last fall, jay leno said so president obama called me. he said, jay, if you like your job, you can keep it. [laughter] he followed that up a couple of weeks later. he said so the holidays are coming up.

thanksgiving. you know the first thanksgiving the tillman said to the indians, if you like your land, you can keep it. we need to tell the truth. is washington is corrupt. [applause] there is a corrupt and interlocking system of lobbyists consultants that are suckling off washington. you are in the richest counties in the country right now as more and more people are making great wealth in washington and wall street prospers and main street suffer. young people suffer. hispanics suffer. african-americans suffer. single moms suffer. the american dream suffers. how do we win elections? in the contrast between corrupt

washington and the mecca people, we stand with the american people. [applause] we stand with a straightforward and bold positive agenda to inspire the young, to inspire women, to inspire hispanics, to inspire everybody. number one, defend the constitution. [applause] all of this. defend they first amendment, the right to a free speech, the right to a free press. for all of our friends in the media, free press means not having government monitors sitting in your newsroom. [applause] the right to freedom of religion and that means, among other things, not having the irs asked citizens tell me the content of your prayers. [applause] we need to stand for the second

amendment right to keep and bear arms. [cheers and applause] we need to stand for the fourth and fifth amendment right to privacy of every american. have any of you all have your cell phones? i am going to ask you to please leave them on. presidentmake sure obama hears everything i have to say this morning. [laughter] number two, we need to abolish the irs. [cheers and applause] we need to adopt a simple flat tax that is fair that every american can fill out his taxes on a postcard. [applause] number three, we need to expand

energy in this country and create high-paying jobs all over america. [applause] president obama talks about a $10 minimum wage. the real minimum wage with the lowest labor force participation since 1978 under obama is zero eure for the millions who have lost their jobs in the failed obama economy. you know north dakota, the oil fields, the average wage is $45 and $.90 an hour. -- 45 $.90 an hour. number four, we need to expand school choice. every child deserves an opportunity to have an excellent education regardless of your

raise, your class, your creed, where you come from -- every child deserves a fair chance at the american dream. >> bravo! [applause] five, we need to repeal dodd-frank. [applause] that you don'tll have to read any further than the title to know nothing good can come of it. [laughter] six, we need to audit the federal reserve. [cheers and applause] unaccountable power in washington debasing our currency , driving up the cost of food and gas and the basic stuffs of life is hurting americans who are struggling across this country. and i will tell you what else is

-- else is doing. it is fueling the abuse of power by petro tyrants like to in -- like putin. [applause] number seven, we need to pass a strong balanced-budget amendment. [applause] stop bankrupting our country. right now, our kids and grandkids are inheriting a country where the national debt is larger than the size of our entire economy. let me speak redneck to everyone in the room they didn't applaud when i said are there any young people here. what we're doing to our kids and grandkids is morally wrong. e is an outrage. if we keep on this road, they will spend their entire lives working not to meet the needs of the future, not to meet the needs of their priorities, but instead just working to pay off the debts that the deadbeat

parents and grandparents stuck them with. [applause] and our parents didn't do that to us. their parents didn't do that to them. and the reason we are here today is we are not going to do it to the next generation. we are going to turn this around. [applause] number eight, we need to repeal every single word of obamacare. [cheers and applause] when millions of americans stood up last fall and said stop this train wreck, this disaster that is obamacare am a that is hurting millions of people, the

democrats said, the mainstream media said, although i repeat myself -- [laughter] they said this is hopeless. don't you understand? just move on. just accept it. you can't do anything to stop this. >> yes we can! >> yes we can. [applause] along with hope and change, that is pretty good. [laughter] nine, we need to stop the lawlessness. [applause] this president of the united states is the first president we have ever had who thinks he can choose which laws to enforce and which laws to ignore. he announces just about every day one change after another after another in obamacare. it is utterly lawless.

it is inconsistent with our constitution and it ought to trouble everyone. republicans, democrats, independents, libertarians. let me tell you something. if you have a president who is picking and choosing which laws to follow and which laws to ignore, you no longer have a president. [applause] and number 10, we need to end the corruption. [applause] we need to eliminate corporate welfare and crony capitalists. [applause] if you come to washington and serve in congress, there should be a lifetime ban on lobbying. [applause] pass a strong constitutional amendment that puts into law term limits.

[cheers and applause] now there are lots of voices in washington that will say, no, no, no, this is to bold. the irs. stand against that's extreme. you can say repeal obamacare. that is really a bit much. let's just modify it. you can't not bankrupt the country. let's just slow it down a little bit. a friend of mine suggested a boppers figure -- a bumper sticker slogan. republicans, we weigh less. [laughter] you win elections by standing for principle and inspiring people that there is a better tomorrow. [applause] these solutions will not come from washington. but i will tell you where they will come from and that is the american people. so let me tell everyone of you

that took at your cell phones before, let me ask you, if you want to join in the army because we are trying to mobilize the people across this country. text the word growth to the number 33733 can let me give you that again. to thee word growth number 33733. because what we are trying to do to turn this country around his mobilize and energize american people all over this country and tweet, if you're on twitter, tweet the hashtag #makedc listen. i'm going to tell you, in conclusion, i have never been more inspired than i am right now. not inspired by washington. i am not inspired by the corruption. i am not inspired by the mendacity in the white house. i'm inspired because all across this country, the american people are waking up. mole crosses country people are waking up and saying what we are doing or not working.

we need to turn this country around here and we did it in 1980 with a grassroots movement that became the reagan revolution. let me tell you, the same thing is happening all over today. [applause] i am inspired. i am honored to stand with you today because together, if the american people continue to rise up, to speak out, to speak the truth, we will get back to the free market principles. we will get back to the constitutional liberties that have made america the greatest nation in the history of the world. we will bring back morning in america. that's why we're here. and that is the future for the young and everybody else in this country. thank you and god bless you. [cheers and applause] ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the honorable pat

toomey, u.s. senator from pennsylvania. >> it is just terrific to be greatt cpac and what a job ted cruz just did. isn't he an inspiration? [applause] ted as aat to have senator and a member of the steering committee. it is great to see the enthusiasm and passion that is always around and is a part of cpac. thank you so much. i am excited about seeing some a young people. so mitch -- so much dedication to the and suppose we have. of course, i have to work every day in a senate that is controlled by the democrats so i need all the aspiration i can get. i appreciate that. i had only little inspiration

yesterday. the fact is conservatives won a big victory on the center for yesterday and that doesn't happen very often. [applause] i want to just tell you the story quickly because it is an important story. but to do that, i need to get to the beginning. is beginning of the story 3:51 a.m. on december 9, 1981. at that moment, a 25-year-old police officer pulled over a car that was driving the wrong way on a one-way street with its lights off. the driver got out of the car and immediately began to attack officer faulkner. saw the driver's brother who was standing across , crossed the street and shoot officer faulkner in the back. and while danny felt better lay on his back an arm, helpless, wounded, defenseless, he pumped

three more bullets into him and one in his face that killed him. there were three other witnesses that heard him brag about the fact that he had shot daniel faulkner and wished that he would die. trial, when daniel faulkner's bloodstained shirt was displayed to the jury, he turned and smirked at danny faulkner story four-year-old widow maureen. so it was no surprise when a pennsylvania jury took just three hours to convict him. , after twot day hours of deliberation, they sentenced him to death. instead of allowing daniel faulkner's young widow to grieve in peace, a group of local opportunists decided to use this case to further their own radical agenda. they started fabricating claims of racism.

they spread lies about the trial and the evidence. they organize rallies and that amazingly and perversely started to portray him as though he were the victim. the murderer, jamaal, became a cause célèbre, complete with the predictable ,doring hollywood celebrities free mumia t-shirts and posters on college campuses. he had his own hbo special. they even named a street after him in paris. this was an international .ampaign to lionize it was based on hatred for america, contempt for our criminal justice system, and the goal is to indict america as a hopelessly racist country with a hopelessly racist and unfair terminal just system for which the solution was to release an unrepentant cop killer.

in 2009, 27 years after danny faulkner was killed, the naacp legal defense fund decided to join this political campaign, this outrageous campaign. the director of litigation at the naacp's legal defense fund for,e time was responsible he supervised the entire legal staff at the legal defense fund. and what did they do in this case? they joined this outrageous mockery. two the lvf lawyers in may of 2011 traveled to france to participate in a rally for mumia i would job. whenaid she was overjoyed his death sentence was suspended lawyerthe other ldf described him as "one of the

people who are in is sent but will be put to death in america." at another event in new york in the same year, another one of these lawyers gushed it is absolutely my honor to represent him. and she went on to say there's no question in my mind, there is no question in the mind of anyone at the legal defense fund that the justice system has completely and utterly failed mumia abu-jamal. and that failure has everything to do with race. ladies and gentlemen, i agree that the justice system had failed. but it has dale -- but it has failed danny fortner and his family. [applause] imagine my shock, imagine the shock of danny faulkner's family when president obama nominated to bew of the goal of --

-- i could not let that stand without a fight. i knew that the odds of defeating his nomination on the senate floor were not very good. presidents usually get their nominees confirmed. democrats control the senate. and as you all know, in an outrageous paragraph, they unilaterally change the rules so that now senate democrats can confirm presidential nominees with just a simple majority vote without needing a single republican vote. so i knew that it wouldn't be enough to hold all the republicans in opposition to this very poor choice. we would need at least six democrats to come along with us. the odds were good. but sometimes you have to fight the fight, even when the odds aren't good. [applause] so i went to work. i did floor speeches, radio and tv interviews, press

conferences. i appreciate the traffic help from the philadelphia fop. many conversations with my senate colleagues. i was trying to persuade them. we can't let this happen. yesterday morning, the morning of the vote, i didn't know if we had the votes to defeat this nominee. but as i was preparing my closing argument for the senate, something very interesting happened during the door to the senate chamber opened and in walked vice president joe biden. that was the best news i had had in a while. [laughter] and that is not my usual reaction. [laughter] but it was clear they didn't know whether they have the votes. and they thought they might just need vice president biden in the presiding officer's chair for a tiebreaker. so they called the votes and i stood nervously in the well consulting with my colleagues, making sure we had the votes we thought we had. and as the votes came in yesterday morning, we held every single republican and we picked

up seven democrats. [applause] and we defeated the nomination. every defendant doesn't fact deserve a competent attorney in his trial. it is not about the idea that somehow a person, a lawyer should be condemned for the clients -- for the crimes of his client. this was always about the principal that no one should be able to make a mockery of our criminal justice system, fan the flames of racial strife in america, join a dishonest international anti-american campaign, along the way drag the family of a fallen police officer through three decades of health and then be confirmed to a high post in the justice department.

[applause] so why am i telling the story? it is not just to celebrate a conservative victory but that's ok. once in a while, we need to do that. i think it demonstrates that when we done -- when we stand up and we fight and we fight on principle, we can actually win. sometimes even in washington, d.c. and this is what republicans need to do. it is what republicans need to do across the country. it is what caught that's what republicans need to do in congress. we need to stand up to a president who thinks that the laws of america do not apply to him. [applause] up to senatornd reid who thinks he can marginalize republicans and the millions of americans who voted for us in the united states senate. [applause] and let's face it, we are not

always going to win these fights. especially not when the democrats control the senate and barack obama is in the white house. but we can win some of these fights. and if we demonstrate the ability to carry on the fight, the willingness to have the will, and the fact that we face those fights on conservative american principles, then the american people will trust us to govern and they will give us a chance to take this country back. thank you very much for being here. thanks for all that you do for our country. [applause] ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome guide benson, senior political editor at politico.com. i need to begin this morning with a public service announcement for the young women in the audience here at cpac.

thatite of media reports he is about to be back on the market for the first time in years, we urge you to stay away from congressman alan grayson. [laughter] charms are no doubt difficult to resist. but it really is for the best. and for your own safety. [laughter] allegedly. on a related note, i heard a rumor that grayson is just one ugly outburst away from automatically qualifying for his very own weekend show on msnbc. and i am not even talking about "lockup." working title, "50 shades of grey seven." quite friendly, i am not sure if there are tens of viewers prepared for that. rumorurce of this whole was harry reid so it is probably complete bs. are you guys lightly fired up by senator cruz? [applause] very good.

has livedeaker, through an eventful five years. he was the republican's point man in exposing the faulty math and bogus promises of obamacare, a left-wing attack ad depicted him literally wheeling an elderly woman off of a cliff. that was punishment for the city ad -- the sin of advancing obamacare.ute and perhaps most challenging, he debated a deranged person for 90 minutes on national television in front of 51 million americans and somehow managed to emerge with his dignity intact. [laughter] asset, aindispensable policy innovator, and a solutions-oriented walk with

"dreamy blue eyes." please join me in welcoming paul ryan of wisconsin. [cheers and applause] ♪ >> thanks, folks. how are you doing? great to see you. good morning. guy, thanks. what can i say about that introduction? well, it is the most recent introduction i have received. when i was asked to receipt -- to speak this year, he said, paul, i would like to save the root -- save the best for last. so you are on thursday morning. [laughter] all i can say is it is great to be back. thanks a lot, everybody. i appreciate it. didn't go12 election exactly as we had planned.

[laughter] last year, i've got to tell you, it was pretty tough to be optimistic after a loss like that. later, i think there are a lot of reasons to be optimistic. [applause] you know why? i think the left is exhausted. our side is energized. and on election day, we are going to win. [applause] take the president. he released his budget this week. on the looks of it, he is just doubling down. left moving further to the . his teammates aren't much better. you notice they all kind of sound alike these days. all they talk about is income inequality. they say it shows party unity. what would it really shows is that they are out of ideas.

the reason they keep talking about income inequality is because they cannot talk about economic growth. they have spent five long years in power and all they have to show for it is this lousy website. [laughter] was remarkably candid when he said he would transform the country. he has done his best to keep that link. in the end, i think he's going to fail. [applause] you see, now that the president is implementing his agenda, it is a total fiasco. big government sounds good in theory, but it looks a lot different in practice. and we are learning this the hard way. this is our opportunity.

for the president and his allies, this campaign will not be a sprint -- will not be a sprint or a marathon. it will be a 50-yard dash. they will run from their record. they will point fingers. and they will try to make us the villain in their morality play. work't think it's going to because they are going to overreach. take just one example. the little sisters of the poor. trying tostration is force a group of nuns to violate their conscience. to solve a a trine problem here. they are trained to make a point. they are in charge. -- the left is in trying to solve a problem here. they are trying to make a point. they are in charge. i've been in politics long enough to know that if you throw your weight around like this, you are going to be thrown out of office. that is not the way a majority

party acts. a majority party welcomes debate. it doesn't earn heretics. it wins converts. and it knows people don't want to be pandered to. they want to be treated like adults. they want to be convinced. they want to be inspired. that's why i'm excited about our team. the way the left tells it, the republican party is in this big massive civil war. it is tea party versus establishment, libertarians against social conservatives. there is inviting, -- there is , iighting, discourse -- look am irish. that is my idea of a family reunion. [cheers and applause] i don't see this great divide in our party. what i see is a vibrant debate. we are figuring out the best way to employ our principles to the challenges of the day. sure, we have our disagreements.

and, yes, they can get a little passionate. i like to think of it as creative kinship here and for the most part, these disagreements have not been over principles or even policies. they've been over tactics. so i think we should give each other the benefit of the doubt. [applause] but we, your representatives, we have to earn this benefit of the doubt. we have to offer a vision. we have to explain where we want to take the country and how we want to get there. now there is a fine line between being pragmatic and being unprincipled. and sometimes it's hard to tell who is here to start a career and who is here to serve a cause. not whatrue test is specific path you take but

whether you move the country in the right direction. and we will. our governors in the states to our members in congress to the tea party groups across the country, a conservative modern reform agenda is now taking shape. we are offering a vision and we have got plenty of ideas. you are about to hear from one of our leaders, senator tim scott. they said, sure, let's make things a little more it will. let's let every parent shoes where their child -- parent choose where their child goes to school. [applause] because we believe to help every child get ahead, every parent should get a choice. conner's men mike graves. they want to give states more control over highways so they can build the roads they need because we believe family should spend less time in traffic and more time at home. senator marco rubio and he

wants to repair our safety net. he wants to streamline government programs and give working families a boost. because we believe in this country it should always pay to work here and we believe in the dignity of work. [applause] take congresswoman martha roby. if you work overtime, you should be able to take more time off, paid time off, if you want to because we believe that working parents know best how to manage their own time and washington should just get out-of-the-way. chairman dave camp. he wants to lower tax rates for businesses and families. right now, the tax code is 10 times the size of the bible and has none of the good news. [laughter] here is the way it works. you send your money to washington and, if you do what

washington tells you to do, you can get some of your money back. i've got a better idea can why don't you just keep your money in the first place. [cheers and applause] take obamacare. -- ok, the president don't take obamacare, but work with me ok didn't consider obamacare. the way the president talks you would think there is no alternative here and we've got plenty. senator tom coburn has one. tom price has one. each plan has its virtues. but the unifying principle is clear. we believe you should pick your health care plan, not washington. [applause] once again, the gop is where the action is. just as it was at the beginning of the revolution -- the reagan revolution. you know, people forget that cutting taxes was once

controversial, even in our own party. senator bob dole used to make fun of supply like jack. he used to say that the good of -- that a bus load he wondered to the idea. when he ran for president, he promised to cut tax rates across the board. that is what we call the battle of ideas. i saw this with my own budget. when i introduced my budget for the first time in 2008, i had just eight cosponsors, eight backers who wanted to stick their back out. -- stick their neck out. in the tea party members got elected and now the house has passed it three years in a row. [applause] this is how it always is. you fight it out.

you figure out what works. you come together. then you win. it's messy. it's noisy. and it's a little bit uncomfortable. but the senator of gravity is shifting. we're not just opposing a president. we are developing an agenda, a modern, programs, principled agenda for our party. we are going to show the country that there is a better way. the way i see it, let the other party be the party of personalities. we will be the party of ideas. i am optimistic about our the left isn't just out of ideas. they are out of touch. take obamacare, not literally, but figuratively here, ok. that this law will discourage millions of people from working.

this is a good thing. they say, hey, this is a new freedom, the freedom not to work. i don't think the problem is too many people are working. i think the problem is not enough people can find work. [applause] and if people leave the workforce, our economy will shrink here and there will be less opportunity, not more. the left is making a big mistake here. what they are offering people is a full stomach and an empty soul. the american people want more than that. this reminds me of a story i heard from eloise anderson. she serves in the cabinet of my buddy governor scott walker. [applause] she once met a young boy from a very poor family and everyday at school he would get a free lunch from a government program. he told eloise he didn't want a

free lunch. he wanted his own lunch. one in a brown paper bag just like the other kids. he wanted one, he said, he can see new a kid with a brown paper bag had someone who cared for him. this is what the left does not understand. to leavewant people the workforce. we want them to share their skills and their talents with the rest of us. [applause] people don't just want a life of comfort. a life of dignity. they want a life of self determination. a life of equal outcomes is not nearly as enriching as a life of equal opportunity. [applause] i'll tell you, the party that

, the partyhat desire that tries to make it concrete and real, that's the party that will win in november. we are that party. [applause] we are that party because that is the country that we know. and in a few years, i think we will look back at all of this creative tension. i think we will look back at 2014 14 as the time when we got it right. when we gave the country a real choice. when we earned back the people's trust. int is the moment we are right now. this is the party that is forming. thatis the battle of ideas is happening. and this is the party that is going to do this so that we can finally save the american idea. for your very much participation here. [applause] this is the year. it is now. we are coming together and we are going to do this and you're

here to help us. and we are going to look back at this time when we save this. thanks a lot, everybody. and god bless. [applause] ♪ welcomes and gentlemen, the u.s. senator from south carolina. ♪ >> thank you. thank you very much. do i see some south carolinians in the house? [cheers] the citadel cadets, didn't they do a great job this morning? [applause] how many of you, like me, believe in the future of america? because i believe in the future of america, my opportunity agenda focuses on the american

people and not the federal government. by limiting the government, we empower the people here and we don't need the big government and obamacare choosing our doctors, do we? we don't need obamacare forcing pizza places to tell us how many calories are on our pizza. do we really want to know? i don't even want to know how many calories are on my pizza. in ie to my häagen-dazs ice cream, i want to enjoy those 1292 calories and all 100 grams of fat in one sitting. [laughter] and some of you all don't want obamacare to increase the taxes on the tanning beds. now please note i said some of you all. [laughter] as i don't really care about that tax. just joking. just joking. you have to have some fun when you're at cpac, right?

americans andut self-determination. we are not about the government. havereatest assets we cannot be found here in washington, d.c. our greatest assets are not in washington, d c, except when cpac is in town. [applause] the thoughtsd in and in the ideas of people in places like greenville or a ken, orangeburg, and charleston. in thee found not executive orders of this president. do in his executive orders we find the greatness of america. we find them instead in the wisdom of our founding fathers. and on the pages of our constitution. a smaller, less intrusive more resourcess

for the creation of the next generation of entrepreneurs. economy is of our seen in the size of our ideas, not in the size of our tax bills. taxes, notcut our raise them like president obama wants to. [applause] created ins relationships when people who'll their resources together and start small businesses everyplace in this nation. in their garages. at coffee shops. and at their kitchen table. in arted my small business small apartment with some friends. para genius emerges from our class -- our genius emerges from our classrooms, from our libraries, and even from atchafalaya's -- even from our chick-fil-a's. the waffle fries, i like to know

them as freedom fries. that is where i met my mentor, at a chick-fil-a. he taught me the power of thinking. was a poor kid growing up in a civil parent household. i was losing myself. i had lost my way. i flunked out of high school as a freshman. i failed world jan murphy, -- i failed world geography, civics. now think about that. i thought i was the only one and then i became a member of the senate durin. then i realize there may a few more who did not pass it either. [laughter] and then i failed spanish and english. now, when you fail spanish and english, they don't call you bilingual. no. i'ignant. you b

the keys you don't know either language. today, the mentors of our world who change the very path of the young kids like me are sitting in audiences like this. you are making the difference. and he taught me that you can think your way out of poverty. he taught me that, if you really want to escape poverty, it comes through the power of education. he taught me that. and that is one of the reasons why my opportunity agenda understands the necessity of a good education. , nott believes the kids unions, should be the focus of our public education.

parents, and not bureaucrats in washington, should decide the path of their child's education. they should be free to choose. they should be free to choose homeschooling, public schools, charter schools, parochial schools. it should be the parents choice because when the parents have the choice, the kids have a chance. [applause] i think of one story from greenville, south carolina, a lovely young lady named rachel lewis, born with down syndrome. tooth ands fought nail for a year to keep her in mainstream classes. unfortunately, after a year, she keeping herwin little girl in mainstream classes, but she realized the very system she had to fight with